Home Study: DONE!!

Unless you've been living in a cave, or this is the first time you've 'met' me, you probably already know that yesterday was our home visit.  And as previously predicted, I worried for nothing!  I'll just go ahead and say it and get it over with . . . I don't know why I was so worried!  There.  Done.  :)

Our caseworker was here for about an hour and a half.  During most of that time, the three of us were seated at the kitchen table, going over paperwork and discussing the results of our Prepare-Enrich assessment (guess what . . . we're compatible!  I was very relieved to hear that; I guess we're good for another 16 years or more!).  We had to show certified copies of our birth certificates and marriage license.  I happily submitted the stack of various forms that represented completing all of the items on my "to-do" list.  We talked about what to expect next, and discussed how our views of open adoption have changed from our very first information meeting until now, and went through a medium-sized forest of paperwork.  It was pretty painless.  We gave her a tour of our home so she could verify that we have enough room to expand our family (we do!).  

I don't know if I've mentioned yet that as part of this process, we have to become licensed as a foster home. The reason for that is because there will be a period of time after the birthparents terminate their parental rights but before the adoption is finalized when the child will legally be in the guardianship of our agency, but in our care -- and that's foster care.  After our adoption is finalized, we no longer need to keep up our licensure.  Anyway, now our caseworker will be writing up her report of our homestudy, and in about two weeks we should receive our official notice of approval and foster care licensure.  That is when our resume' letters and portfolios will be officially available to interested birthmoms!!  

We have the option of having an online presence as well, through the agency's website.  I'm not sure if we'll go that route yet, or not.  On one hand, I want to because it will make us more visible . . . but on the other hand I don't, because I don't know if I want us to be THAT visible.  We can make the decision whether to go online or not at any time, so for now we're waiting for our caseworker to email us more information about it (i.e., costs) and keeping it in the back of our minds.  

So . . . that's where we're at!!  As one of my friends (who has been down this road once already) pointed out, the easy part is over.  I don't doubt that for a second, even though it hasn't really sunk in yet.  Obviously I'm well aware of the fact that we're done with this step -- there's a big empty spot on my shelf where the portfolios and resume' letters used to live (and I have to admit, a piece of my heart left the house with them!) -- but we still have two weeks until we go "live".  I can only imagine what it's going to feel like to know that our portfolios are actually out there and could be viewed at any time.  Our caseworker told us that we can contact her as often as we want for updates, and included in that "update" is how many times our portfolio has been viewed.  That's possibly dangerous information -- I'm not sure yet if I'll want to know, or how often!  I'm not worried about it right now.

Oddly enough, I'm not feeling honestly "worried" about anything right now.  I feel like things are progressing as they are meant to be.  I don't think I've ever felt this calm and confident about any major life-changing events in the history of man (or at least, me).  It's an unfamiliar yet calming feeling.  I wish I could bottle this calm confidence so I can use it later when I'm driving myself nuts because the phone isn't ringing!  :)

I suppose I better wrap this up for now.  DS is playing in his first half-time show tonight, and I need to get a little more sleep before I work overnight shift #3 of 5 tonight.  Sleep hasn't been coming to me easily lately . . . guess I've had a few things on my mind that all seem to culminate when I lay down and close my eyes!  But since I can almost fall asleep standing up right now, I better get the boy to school and then reacquaint myself with my awesome bed and pillow.  

Take care, and thank you in advance for your continued thoughts, prayers, and support while we enter The Big Wait portion of our journey!