Adoption

Well... we have officially started the adoption process! Whoop! Thursday night, we met with our social worker and got the ball rolling! We are adopting from the state/Child Protective Services. The meeting went really great! I was shaking like a leaf the whole time... Tim just held my hand and kept me calm. However... the second we left the CPS building... we both lost it... I mean LOST IT! :) In a good way, of course!

We will be certified Foster Parents by September. We have a LOT of work ahead of us. There are sooooooooo many things that we have to do, but we are ready and willing to do them. Among those things are fire inspections, physical exams, Tuberculosis tests, parenting tests, CPR certifications, First Aide certifications, etc. We also have to take 25 hours of PRIDE training courses. I can't remember what PRIDE stands for... but we will learn about the children that come through CPS and how to help these precious children who have fallen victim to emotional, sexual, mental, physical abuse and neglect.

There is a 2-year marriage requirement for adoption... and we've only been married 1 year. There is another law that says that any family who is adopting from the state has to wait 6 months from the day of placement to be able to adopt. Basically, after we get a child or children, we have to wait 6 months before we can legally adopt them (If parental rights have already been terminated). What this means for us:

*We will be certified Foster Parents by September.
*Hopefully we will be able to foster children who we would consider adopting. Our social worker said that it could be October or November before we get a placement.
*By the time June 13th, 2011 rolls around... we will have been married for 2 years and we will have had them in our home for 6 months and we will be able to adopt him/her/them! :)

At first, the "2 year marriage" was devastating and we cried!! But... it's not as bad as we thought!

So..... stay tuned!!