We had our home study yesterday! Yea! Check one major thing
off the list! The last few weeks have
been full of paperwork leading up to our social worker’s visit yesterday.
Marriage certificates, financial statements, autobiographies (yes we had to
write them!), TB tests, fingerprints, physical forms, employment forms, tax
returns, reference letters and the list goes on!
A screenshot of just part of the list of documents for our homestudy...it's a long list!
The kids were troopers…they had to each get a TB test. I was
so proud of Tanner-he was so brave and there weren’t even any tears!
Suckers for everyone after their TB tests and Tanner proudly showed off his "dot" as Hadley called it!
We also had to complete 10 hours of online Hague
training…lots of time in front of the computer after the kids went to bed watching
“interesting” presentations.
Since all the forms and paperwork were collected, we were ready
for our home study visit. Thankfully my mom had offered to send someone to
clean the house on Wednesday or I would have been a crazy person. What I
thought was going to be a slow week has turned into a week full of long
doctor’s appointments for our family. Monday and Tuesday for Tanner-looks like
he’s got the beginnings of kidney stones (poor guy-he was doomed with genes
from Lance and me) and then Hadley must have been feeling left out because she
went to the pediatrician Wednesday for what I thought was an ear infection (it
of course was nothing-she’s just not sleeping because she’s a toot!).
So I was beyond thankful that I didn’t have to worry about
scrambling to clean everything! House was cleaned on Wednesday, we went to play
with the Huntons right after school (at their house so the house stayed clean)
and then dinner at the Pieratt’s so the kitchen stayed clean! Probably the
longest stretch ever that my house has been clean! We felt very loved this week...texts checking on Tanner and offering to help with Hadley and then texts and phone calls letting us know that so many people were praying for us on Thursday. It takes a village...and this little one is going to join our family and get an awesome village of friends who love well! We are thankful!
We found our social worker through two friends that had
adopted and she was just as great as they had told us! Made the interviews
super easy and laid back – even as she asked us every question under the sun!
She talked to Lance and I together and then separately. And then it was
Tanner’s turn! Overhearing some of his answers was funny. He told her he
thought the adoption was “awesome!” He told her that we like to go to 6 Flags
as a family (um we only go once a year…). And then when she asked him about
what happens when he gets in trouble, Lance and I were trying to not laugh out
loud! Hadley insisted on being interviewed too! She heard Tanner finish
downstairs and she headed downstairs saying “It’s my turn! Mommy you stay
upstairs!”
Tanner helping Hadley with her home study interview - discussing things like Paw Patrol, Tanner's favorite letter and number (he decided she would definitely ask him that question, and their ever changing favorite colors!)
So now we wait for the home study to be written up and start
working on the paper work for the dossier! But having the home study done is
definitely one big step closer to meeting the little guy!
