This is me being Patient....

(the picture we used for our home study file w/ DSS)

(The approval letter that came with our license)

(Our license!)

(The envelope our license came in! On my hubby's birthday & I let him open it!)

So, several posts ago I mentioned I am trying to learn how to be more patient and wait for things to happen.... It's still hard.... Yes, we are finally licensed..... But, everyday each time the phone rings I take a deep breath thinking-- This could be the call that will change our lives.... Of course that call hasn't come yet.... No calls from DSS have come yet....

I thought while I am 'waiting' I would post some pics... I have seen/read/followed a few blogs that people 'document' every step of the process and then plan to print it out for their child to have as a keepsake.... Above are pics I took when we got our license in the mail! Sorry about all the white spots but, I didn't want some info to be shown on here for privacy reasons! This was the only way I could think to block it out-- sorry it's a little messy :-)

Hope you enjoyed the pics.... sorry I didn't post them sooner! Hopefully we will get a 'call' soon!

We got mail!

Our official 'license' arrived in the mail today! It's my hubby's birthday so I let him open it! It is so nice to be done w/ the home study process.....

Thanks for the congrats and good wishes!

Verbal Confirmation Received!

The day we have been waiting for since January came today.... Our home study case worker called me this morning and told me we have been approved and she is putting our license in the mail today.... YAY! I was SOOO happy.... My hubby's birthday is tomorrow and I was hoping we would be licensed by then, and we are!

Although I am very happy and excited this day has come, I keep telling myself it could take some time to get a placement at all let alone one that is within our requests....

But, for today this feels great! We couldn't do anything else with out this news so, I am happy! Secretly hoping a placement comes soon though ;-)

Almost there!

I got a call from our home study case worker this past week.... She wanted to make an appt to meet with us to have us read our draft of our home study and if all is well, sign off on it.... I am meeting with her tomorrow at 8am.... My hubby can't get off work to make the appt so, she will leave it with me and I will have him review it, sign off and return it to her office on Tues.... She says Wednesday morning she will take it to her supervisor and once it's approved, she will mail out our license.... She says we might have it by the end of the week....

With that said, then a new waiting period begins.... We never know how long it will take to get a placement... It could be hours, days, weeks or months! But, at least we will be certified when it happens!

We are almost another step closer to our goal! Can't wait!

So far so good!

This past week we had 3 visits/inspections:

Monday 8/10- Fire Marshall inspection- No violations!

Tuesday 8/11- Home lead test w/ our home study case worker- No lead!

Wednesday 8/12- Sanitation/Health inspection- Only violation that I know of so far (still waiting for water test results which take about a week she said) is our hot water temp was 130 degrees so we have to turn it back to 110.

All in all we are thrilled that that is all that went 'wrong'.... When the case worker was here she said once she gets our reference checks finished and the reports from this week's inspections she will finish writing our narative and then schedule a visit for us to 'read' it.... Then we should be certified... She hopes to have us completed by the end of Aug/ begining of Sept!

Wow, sometimes it's crazy (in a GREAT way though) to believe that we will soon be done this process.... We have been working on this since January and with in the next month (hopefully) we will be certified and could accept a placement if one becomes available!

So, so far so good.....

Inspections scheduled!

We finally got the calls we have been waiting for! We have our health and fire inspections scheduled for next week! Monday afternoon will be the fire inspection and Wednesday afternoon will be the health inspection.....

I have a few finishing touches on our house to prepare for both this weekend (finish child-proofing the house and finalize our fire escape plan) and hopefully both will find our home fit for a child and then once our case worker finalizes our paperwork and reference checks we will be certified soon!

Maybe by my hubby's birthday in September we would be available for a placement when one comes available :-)

You know you are getting old when......

We are still waiting for the fire and health inspectors to call and set up our appointments.... Since nothing new has happened since I last wrote about the Foster Care/Adoption home study process I though I would share this story with you..... I hope you don't mind!

About 10 yrs ago when I was new to the area I now call my home, I was working at a daycare. A family at the daycare was looking for a baby sitter and one of the administrators (whom I had done some baby sitting for too) suggested me.... We talked and I began sitting for them.... I got very close to this family and for a couple of years would take the children from school (where I worked) to either their house or one of their parents @ work and also baby sat on weekends.... When I decided to leave the daycare and pursue another job opportunity I lost touch with them and didn't baby sit for them anymore... I have always thought about them and wondered how they were..... but, after some time I let life get busy and didn't keep in touch. The last time I saw these children they were 8 (a girl), 7 (a girl) and almost 4 (a boy) yrs old. That was in December 2001....

So, over the weekend I was on Facebook and saw a 'suggested' possible friend and it was a 'baby/child' that I knew from the daycare.... Last time I saw her she was about 4 yrs old.... Now she is old enough for Facebook? No way! Curiosity got me so, I looked @ her friends and saw 2 other 'babies/children' from the day care... These 2 I knew when they were just a few weeks old... Wow! I can't believe it... These children probably won't remember me as much b/c I spent less time w/ them so, I didn't/don't plan on contacting them....

So, it got me thinking.... Does anyone in the family I was so close too have Facebook pages? Guess what? 3 out of 5 of them do! The Dad and the 2 oldest. I told my hubby about finding them and took 24 hrs to decide if I should contact them or not.... It's been almost 8 yrs since I saw/talked to them..... Would they remember me? Would they care? I did promise them I would keep in touch and didn't.... Would they be angry? Would they be glad?

I decided to contact them.... If I got a negative response back I would leave it alone but, I just had to know! So, last night I friend requested them and sent them each a message (reminding them who I was) and all 3 have accepted my friend invite and 2 (the Dad & the middle child) have sent me a message sounding happy that I have gotten back in touch with them....

Why didn't time stand still? How come these children are pre-teens & teenagers? The middle girl told me she is Oh my gosh!-- starting high school this year! Yikes!

So, here are 2 answers to my title:

You know your getting old when.... the kids you used to watch Disney movies with now have Facebook pages!

You know you are getting old when.... the kids you used to babysit could now babysit your (future) child/children!

I lied... I still don't 'feel' old! But, I still can't believe that the children I once knew are growing up and not still 8, 7 and almost 4 like the last time I saw them :-)