Thursday, March 5, 2009

parenting here we come!


we've officially began the application process to become state approved foster parents!!! this means we are also officially on our way to hopefully becoming adoptive parents as well :) after about 5 months of praying and considering foster-to-adopt as the route to take to begin our family, we are finally on our way! the meeting on tuesday night was very informative. after everything i've been reading on the internet and in books, it was nice to get some information from the source for once. the meeting covered the basics of the program and we got to mingle with a few other folks hoping to adopt through the process as well. although, we were the only couple from the group who signed up for the saturday training classes, who knows, we might still bump into the same people again sometime throughout this process.

anyways, yesterday i spent every free moment furiously reading through all the paperwork they gave us to fill out (looks like a small novel) and trying to wrap my head around this crazy process. some of the questions asked are harder than i ever imagined, but i guess i would want them answered too if i were placing my child in another person's care. there's just so much to do, but i am determined to get it done in a timely fashion! as we left the meeting, i told ryan that i wanted to have everything turned in by early next week. obviously i had not really read over everything then, but that's just not physically possible!!!! neither of us have general physicians here in louisville anymore so we both are going to a new doctor next week so we can have our physicals completed. now, with everything considered, i'm shooting to have everything turned in by Monday, March 16th but we'll see! also, i've made a long list of "to dos" already before our home worker comes out to our house. here's what i've got so far:

-re-install smoke detectors in bedrooms (we took these down when we were painting and they still haven't made it up yet!)
-verify dogs' licenses with the state and put their proper tags on
-remove the gun and ammunition from the house (ok - so this is not necessary, but ryan has an old gun and doesn't have a gun lock for it or anything, so i just want it out of the house altogether)
-buy a small first aid kit
-reorganize medicine and possibly get a medicine lock box
-get a lock for the gate on the pool
-check expiration date on our fire extinguisher and replace if necessary
-get a new driver's license (true confession - i've never gotten a new once since the townhouse we lived in when we first got married. we've now moved 3 times since then...ooops!)
-make sure all cleaning supplies are out of the reach of kids (not sure where this is going to be yet but we'll see)
-sign up for CPR classes and a baby care class
-shop, shop, SHOP!! - i am soooo lucky to have more baby boy clothes than i could ever need thanks to my sister but i want to start getting some things we will need in case we get a last minute call (or a baby girl!)

so, all and all, we are just pumped!!!! i can't believe that it is happening so soon but at the same time, i feel like i can't stand the wait. now, we're just hoping and praying that everything works out with ryan's new job so that we can commit to the may classes. thanks for all your prayers through this process. i am excited to see what God is going to do through this experience in our lives and the lives of those of you who care for us and are praying for us!

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