Oi Veh!

In California again. I tell ya! Luckily this is for fun. My sister is having a baby shower. I can't miss that right? And in August she will have the baby. I can't miss that either right? Maybe I should move her up to Oregon. ;)

We finished our classes. Now we wait for a caseworker to be assigned to us. Then more classes. And home studies. And FBI/Criminal background checks. Amazing what you have to go through. But, I agree it needs to be done. We had some people in our class, who I'm afraid to say I judged, that scared me. I wouldn't want to place children with them. You know that weird feeling you get. Just a creepy feeling. The one you cannot explain....but you don't want to ignore it either. Hopefully I'm wrong.

The new development is that my cousin is going to come live with us. Her name is Barbara. She is 17 and going to be a senior this year. We figure the older we get the children the less time they are in the home. :) You know.......17 and 3/4.......College scholarships.......and a very high paying job in the future. Those are the kind of children everyone wants right? We are very excited she is coming to stay. We need someone to practice on. Hee Hee. I hope we don't screw up too bad.
Blog to you soon :)

Remodel

Ok. So we are getting our house ready for a family. Oh Boy, is that a lot of work. A little over a year ago we put some french doors in our dining room. We love them. But, it used a wall to one of the bedrooms.....that now needs to belong to a child. I don't know how many children are out there that want french doors with lots of clear glass to go into their bedroom. SO.....we decided to move them to the other side of the dining room. Everyone thinks we are crazy....but we don't care :) Then we have to wall off where the doors were. But while we are walling off we decided we might put another wall in the living room area....and create a Den. Everyone wants a Den....don't they? I mean.....if we build one wall.....how hard will it be to build another? Right? Right!
Have I ever mentioned that I love change? I remember that one of my friends said every time they come into my house it is different. I told her that I guarantee that to everyone. Well.....here we are. Changing again. It's funny....I thought putting a wall in the living room would make it seem smaller. Not so. It actually gives me another wall to put things on and it seems bigger. I don't get that. But its true. Here is the trick. I have bookclub at my house next week. Do you think we can get it done in time? We shall see.......

Blog to you soon!!!

Still going strong

We are half way done with our classes now. We made it through the Sexual Abuse one just fine. It actually strengthened our desire to go through with this. It has been a great experience for us. I tell you....this lady that teaches the class.....she does it with so much passion that it makes me want to go back to college. Just because I know these classes are going to end.....and I don't want them to. We have learned so much. Things that birth parents probably aren't aware of. I actually had a friend the other day that was having problems with her 5 year old daughter. It was a communication problem. In our classes they are teaching us to learn and read their 'tells'. And how to communicate with them at their level. It was so obvious to me what was going on (due to the classes) and my friend had no clue. She has been around this child since birth and is still not sure how to communicate with her. And it isn't my friends fault. I really believe that every parent should go through some kind of class to understand the development and normal characteristics of the child. I know they have a 'What to expect when you are expecting' book. Do they have one for after the birth and through the ages of the child? I hope so. I am so grateful for these classes. There are so many things that I would have taken for granted, or done on instinct. And sometimes, I have learned, instinct is wrong. I cannot wait to pick your brains on all of this.

Blog to you soon!!

Classes

Two classes down. Six to go. As we were sitting in these three hour classes we found ourselves wondering.....why didn't we do this before now? There are over 1100 children in Marion county alone that do not have a family. The teacher is great. She was a foster child in the 50's and emancipated at 16. She never found a family of her own. (Father, Mother, Brother, Sister) Of course she married and had her own children. But, just think about not having anyone. Most people won't adopt the teenagers. They feel that they are too out of reach or set in their own ways. It saddens me to think of them after they are out of the 'System'. No one to come home to. No one to spend the Holidays with. As annoying as some family's can be......I have a hard time imagining life without them.

The classes are only on Monday and Tuesday. We are having a hard time waiting the week in between to go to the next one. The teacher says that she usually talks most people out of being Foster parents or Adopting than she talks into it. Most people aren't ready for the challenge. She says she will lose about half of the class (as of now 65) after the Sexual abuse day. She is so honest and to the point. She is telling us the worst of the worst scenarios. Which we think is great. If you are prepared for the worst.....then it should be a piece of cake if it isn't. Right? This so far has been an amazing experience.....and we haven't really even started.

Blog to you soon!!

Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig

WE ARE HOME!!!!! Oregon.....what a great state! So fresh, so cool, so quiet :) We returned home on Friday night. And I have already rearranged my house. Most of the people who know me knows that that is not a surprise. We are starting our remodel this week. I don't think Dan is as excited to be home as I am. Hee Hee. Too much work.

We did have some terrible news this week though. Our neighbors behind us decided they didn't like the 20 foot arborvitae in their back yard......They yanked them all out :( I actually cried. It destroyed the look and the privacy of our back yard. I am ready to move now. We are trying to figure out what to do to the backyard to make it more cozy. Suggestions?

This month will be very busy. We start our classes for adoption tonight. So Excited. We have classes every Monday and Tuesday night for the whole month. 3 hours each. We cannot wait until we are done. We are so ready to be a family.

IT IS SO GOOD TO BE HOME!

Happy Place

As part of our Adoption process we are told that we need to take a vacation BEFORE we have children placed with us. To kind of unwind, relax and prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. (All you mothers know exactly what they are talking about......don't you?) We have been searching all sorts of vacation plans (note previous blogs) And it is a tough thing to do. We are in family mode in our minds. All we want to do is play. We couldn't think of a 'serious' 'grown-up' vacation. Is that weird. We have planned out the next 15 years of family vacations though. :) So after many weeks of different vacation plans.....we decided 'DISNEYLAND'. I know, it is a bit odd. But we are still children ourselves. The funny thing is, I feel so guilty about not taking our children. And we don't even know who they are!!!???!!! How weird is that?

It has been a strange experience. The whole adoption process. Years ago we thought we would adopt a baby. We even filled out ALL the paperwork for the agency. And let me tell you....it is a lot of paperwork. But it just didn't feel like it was time. We hummed, and hawwed. And then withdrew from the process. We couldn't really tell you why. Then a few years later we thought, OK....we need to get this taken care of.......and did it all over again. But again, we withdrew. There was something holding us back. Not that we didn't want children.....it just wasn't time. Now, it is kind of funny. We cannot wait until we find them. Almost like something exploded inside us. This process takes too much time. The great thing is. Our children are out there already. They have been born. We don't know where they are, Who they are, or when we will get them. But they are there. Looking at the same stars we are. Waiting for us to come and get them. This was the opportunity we have been waiting for. There is no way that I could care for an infant in my condition. To have to pick it up hundreds of times a day would have been physically impossible. I would have done it anyway.....but would have paid for it too. With this adoption the youngest we can get is 18 months. Already toddling. Not needing to be picked up ALL the time. Ready to play. Ready to communicate. And I have to be ready to tell them that we went to Disneyland without them:)

Blog to you soon :)

BEST NEWS

It's been a bit since I've been on here. I haven't had any time to just talk or write. It's been a great week though. We went home for a few days this last week. I love doing yard work. Oh, I missed it so much. Even in the rain :) We got to spend time with friends and family. You couldn't ask for a better Vacation. Although....it does not fall within the "Dream Vacation" realm. Have any of you been to the 'Melting Pot' in Portland? YOU HAVE TO GO. It was absolutely wonderful. I recommend taking great friends with you. It definitely made the evening. And the food......YUMMY. GO! Enough said.

The best news: We have decided that we are ready to be a family!!! Can you believe it? After 14 years of trying to do it naturally.....we have decided that adoption is the way for us. We are so excited. We start all of the classes and home studies this next month. And who knows, we might have a family by Christmas. Maybe. We are so ready for this next step in life. I know I wouldn't have been ready if it weren't for such great friends. Seeing them be a family and how much they wouldn't trade it for the world. All the love and frustration that comes with it :) We are hoping to find a family group. Maybe 3-4 siblings that need parents. We thought.....if we are going to do it....we might as well do it. All the advice you can give us will be greatly appreciated. I know my bookclub group will be immersed with questions. I know I will be making a list.

Blog to you soon ~