Datucker! We are doing it both ways
. Are you in the states? We are at the beginning stages with the state though.
Today was the first meeting for the home study for private adoption. The woman's name was...S. Super nice woman.
Let's just say I got an A+
. Essentially, there was a checklist of 20 pieces of documentation that they usually receive from the couple 4 weeks from the first meeting but I of course got the whole thing done before the first meeting...it was a 3 ring binder, 50 pages long, with our autobiography written, medical reports, marriage and birth certificates, financial statements, references, doctor notes, life insurance policies, checks, copies of driver's licenses, copy of our mortgage, income verifications, State clearances, fingerprinting, background checks...are you still reading???? ALL DONE and in page protectors.
So the beginning of the meeting went like this, "...for the first portion of the meeting we will go through all the forms/documentation we will need." DH started laughing and then I told her I already had it done. She smirked and looked perplexed. I handed over the 3 ring binder and put my duplicate binder I made for us on my lap.
And then I started laughing. I said, let's just say project management is part of my day to day work.
She went through it and was shaking her head. I felt like a complete dork and thought oh no---what if she takes this as OCD and not excited to adopt! She said, "I have to say I've been doing this work for 19 years...and never had I have a couple come in here and hand something like this to me ever." I said, is that a bad thing? She said "No, this is quite amazing and impressive."
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Pick us! Pick us! I little overachieving I guess!
Anyway, then she asked how we met...why we chose adoption...etc. The whole hour we spent laughing and having a great time- sharing our desires and why we wanted to adopt. I think she really liked us. She told us at the end unless we were good actors we will have no problems and that she will try and expedite everything. So we have one meeting the next two weeks and then she'll meet the kids in early June and then she'll write the report. I anticipate everything will be complete from that standpoint by the first week in July.
The adoption agency will finish our adoption profile and then they will start presenting us to current birth mom's in two weeks. Of course, regardless of a completed home study...they select us...so I hope we will make a good impression. There are some really great adoptive parent profiles out there.
But I feel really really good about today. Happy Friday everyone!!!