Best 4th of July Ever!

I posted some exciting news yesterday in this post and now I am back to fill in the blanks and add more details to the story. First off, I hope you have all had a great fourth of July! I personally had the best one ever!

Lately, I have been having a hard time with the whole adoption thing. Ever since we heard the news about our last social worker not being with the company anymore and us being stalled in the process I have felt very emotional. Seeing kids, hearing people talking about kids, seeing a pregnant person, heck even hearing about a pregnant person would very well have me break down crying.

I thought that not being pregnant would take away all the hormonal nonsense, but I guess I’m still a woman. Anyway, I knew logically we had still done a lot in the process but I just felt like since we didn’t have a social worker we were back at square one. No matter how many times I tried to logic my way out of that emotional response I just couldn’t do it.

Anyway, this post is not about that. Yesterday I spoke with 2 different social workers from our agency that said that they would be our new social worker. While I was confused, I was also like, “ok, 2 social workers is better than 0!” The confusion got all cleared up and by the end of the day Joel and I had a name for our new social worker, Jenny.

I spoke with her on the phone and we scheduled the last thing we need for the home study, Joel’s individual interview, for this upcoming monday. We found out we do have to have 1 additional meeting with both of us at our house so she can meet me as well and look around our home since she is the one signing off on the home study. It shouldn’t add anytime, it’s just a hassle to figure out schedules.

Now onto why all this makes it the best 4th of July ever. I have had some great July 4th’s (all at the family cabin except this one) but this year takes the cake. On speaking with our new social worker she informed us that we are CLOSE, as in we can see the finish line close, to getting matched with kids. We literally have 3 things left on the list of needing to be done before the matching can begin.

We have been advised to start looking at the photo listings and keeping our eyes open for kids that would be a good fit for our family. This is why it is the best 4th of July. In the world of adoption it’s hard for parents to be to know when to expect what. For expectant mothers they know in about 9 months they will bring home their little one. They can prepare their home, their marriage, and their minds accordingly. With adoption there is absolutely no timeline at all. In early February when we started this process we were told it could take anywhere from 8 months – 2 years or more. It has been almost exactly 5 months and we are less than a month away from the matching process. I know the matching process can take a week to 1+ years but since we are so open I think it will be very quick. Joel and I have both felt that it will be a quick match since the very beginning.

So, in this crazy world of adoption, as a fellow adoptive mother so rightly put it “the roller-coaster of emotions”, I know a little bit of a time-line and I am closer to my kids then ever before! I know that the matching will begin no later than August 1st. While I am so unbelievable excited about this, the new parent extreme nervousness is also coming out too.

Any more news, I will make sure to share it. If I could make one request as I go, it would be this. Joel and I have friends that are traveling to China to pick up their 2 little girls that they are adopting (they left today) so if you are the praying type, please keep them, their 2 boys back home, and their 2 girls in China, in your prayers.