Day 50

This past week was exciting for Dan and I as we spent a lot of time filling out our formal application for domestic infant adoption. Filling it out makes it seem 'real' to me. I am praying and hoping that the wait won't be too long. I sent the formal application in today and I am trying to get the other information, along with our first payment, into Bethany later this week.

Here is what the time-frame looks like for Dan and I:
-Once we get our paperwork and first payment into Bethany it will take about three months to process and get our home-study done.
-We will be assigned a social worker who will interview us and our references and then we need to start working on our profile. Our profile is what the birthmother uses to pick the parents of her child.
-Do our homestudy, (the social worker comes to our home to make sure it is 'baby-safe' i.e. no random holes in the wall or electrical wiring in random places. We would sooo fail a home study right now).
-After the homestudy is approved our profile is sent to Bethany where it will be published on their website and made available to prospective birthmothers. We are hoping that the wait will not be long but it is all dependent on a birthmother picking us. It could be right away, or it could be a year or more.

Not knowing when Dan and I will be parents could drive me crazy...but I have decided to use this time to get everything ready for Baby Van. There is so much that needs to be done. So, being the obsessive list maker that I am I have started a list of all the things that need to be done before Baby Van arrives....:

-Clean out and prepare Baby Van's bedroom. Right now it is Sam's room/catch-all for random items. It needs to be super cleaned and decorated. I am excited to start decorating.

-Obsessively read everything I can about parenting, babies, adoption, etc.

-Attempt to remove all evidence of drywall dust from my home. Mike and Dan laughed at me this weekend as I cleaned the keyboard with a Q-tip, but I know they appreciate a clean keyboard so keep laughing boys!!!

-Organize, organize, organize! I haven't really organized things since Dan and I moved in. Things are kind of just strewn about in different closets. Now that we are nearing the end of construction I no longer have an excuse.

So, that is the beginning of my list and the basic outline of what we know so far with the adoption process. I was again humbled this past week by receiving a check in the mail from one of my friends. We now have about half the initial application fee taken care of, which really, really helps. Dan and I are so very appreciative by the support of so many people and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!

I figured I would post a picture of how our kitchen is looking right now. Dan has done such a good job. We still need to get a sink, countertop, and tile the backsplash but I think it is lookin' good! I'm so thankful for a handy husband. Oh, AND he hooked up the dishwasher without us having a sink. How cool is that!?!? No more doing dishes in the bathroom sink! WAHOO!!!