Two Big Deals

Number One

On Tuesday night I went to my first adoptive mothers group get together. Five of us met for dinner. I could have stayed all night listening to and sharing adoption stories. It was so nice to talk with other women who have adopted and really, truly know what it's all about. It was like free therapy! I look forward to getting to know them better and sharing more stories and experiences as they come along.

Number Two

We're done! We had our three-hour home study visit on Wednesday. It will be submitted to the court this week, and we should be certified four weeks after that. Took us long enough! This week we are working on our online profile that will go active after we are certified. Other things we will be doing to get the word out that we want to adopt:

• creating a profile for http://www.parentprofiles.com/
• making pass along cards to distribute to friends and family (that's you guys) with links to our profiles
• making paper copies of our profile to be placed in local doctors' offices
• talking about it to everyone we know (not that I don't already do this)
• and of course, praying like crazy

Many placements come about through personal connections, so please keep us in mind.

I think the waiting this time around is going to be hardest on Olivia. She asks daily where her baby is. Sometimes it's a sister, sometimes it's a brother, sometimes it's both. She thought the case worker who came out to do the home study was bringing us a baby! She kept saying, "The babysit girl is coming to bring us a baby." She understands about adoption and that she was adopted. She knows she grew in Alyssa's tummy (she calls her "My Lyssa"--so cute!) and that we adopted her into our family. But the time thing (in relation to anything) is beyond her. The unknown is hard for all of us.

I am excited to embark on this new adoption adventure. We're still enjoying our first one, and always will. I know we'll have another great story, as we invite another amazing woman and her child into our lives.