Here We Go!!

Accomplishments #2, 3 & 4

Mid January we met with Sunrise in Vancouver. The trip was quick and made for a loooong 2 days driving 8 hours on Sunday, meeting Monday.. then another 8 hours home. Hudson was such a trooper, the roads weren't as bad as I had imagined and the meeting went GREAT! We were introduced to the staff at Sunrise as we most likely won't be seeing them again. Wonderful people, we are looking forward to spending the next few years working with them.
We made our payment for our application, home study and criminal record checks. Our wait time for a referral is around 2 years… but things change at the drop of a hat, so who knows!! "IF" Swaziland opens up that could speed things up drastically; but there is no set time on when or if that is going to happen.
We were told to wait around 2 weeks to hear from our SW before she would be available to start our home study. I'm so impatient… once I have my mind set on something I want to get started ASAP. Waiting is the game! 4 days later she phoned!! 4 DAYS!! Over the moon excited!!
We have printed and filled out every form we can. References done! Medical history appointment made! Release of criminal records (there aren't any) done! Mini resume.. check! Motive for adoption.. done! I think she was expecting us just to go over them to get prepared to do them? Well, now they're done.

When I sat down to write this post (almost 2 weeks ago now) life got in the way and things came up. So I'm sitting back down to finish now… All of our forms are complete, at least the ones that were currently sitting waiting to be finished that is. Medical history is all filled out and everything has been mailed off to SR. To our dear friends who graciously filled out a personal reference form for us, a huge THANK YOU! It means the world to us!!
We have completed our AEP and the learning summary essay… Talk about grueling… its true! A wealth of information and knowledge and I can tell you I've walked away with much more education than what I started with. Along with way too many headaches from being glued to the computer! I am glad that portion is over.

Next SW visit is Saturday.. did I tell you I spent a whole day cleaning last time she was here. I was that crazy lady running around trying to have everything in order and guess what? She didn't even look! GAHHHH! oh well… we'll do it again on Saturday. This time she plans to look over the house. Since the paperwork has been done we've been filling up on documentary movies: Girl Adopted, Somewhere Between, Stuck etc. I went online to look at some books, something I could take with us on our trip. There was so much to choose from I honestly didn't know where to start. If your looking for a good read based on real life events, check out Cathy Glass! Though they are not all based on adoption (mostly foster care) they are amazing stories that tell it like it is. I am half way through my first one and I can't put it down.

We are off on a family vacation, leaving this weekend.. I can't wait! Bring on the sunshine, easy going days and a little relaxation. We will try to get in a little "hello" from sunny Maui in the next week or two and send you some sunshine ;)