Journey to Adoption #2

I've mentioned a few times about our beginning of the journey to Adoption #2.  I mentioned meeting with our case worker.

Well, we met with our case worker and are just so excited to begin.  At teh first of the year, we'll begin our second homestudy.  We'll go back through all of our paperwork, editting where needed.  Luckily, we did the paperwork the first time not that long ago, so not much will need editting.  We will them redo/revise our profile.  We will also do another video. 

Our caseworker said that we could be back into circulation very early next year.  That makes me SO HAPPY!

The first time around, it took about 3 months for our Homestudy to be approved (this is after we had done everything WE needed to do), our licensing to go through, and our profile to go into circulation.  Thinking timeline for #2, I was hoping it would be shorter.

Our caseworker confirmed that.  Our license is still valid, check.  Our Homestudy was approved the first time and because we're quite involved and attend all of the functions Catholic Charities puts on, the director of CC knows us well.  This means that getting our second Homestudy approved is no big deal, they already know us and don't need to start fresh, check.  The birthmom counselors already know us (because our profile was shown to a lot of birthmoms the first time) so going into circulation is so much faster the second time around, check.

The process is much easier, less time intensive, and much easier this time around.  That makes me SO HAPPY! 

In addition, there are A LOT of birthmoms right now.  In fact, our caseworker almost called us to ask us come up with a profile quick last week to show a birthmom because we fit her qualifications perfectly, despite not yet being homestudy approved.  They found a few other families though, and although bm hasn't picked anyone yet, she's pretty sure they will.  But that's great, our caseworker already wants our profile out there.

Due to our openness, we fit a lot of birthmoms' criteria.  We also have a child of a minority race already in our home, making us more appealing to birthmoms of a minority race because we're already "walking that walk" as our case worker put it.  The bms can then feel confident that we'll welcome any child with open arms, and boy would they be right :-). 

All of this makes me hopeful for a quick wait time.  But at the same time, I'm realistic.  I know it could be a long time, it could be years.  And in reality, I'm okay with that.  I'm in a different place than I was alast year, waiting the first time.  We have Anna.  And I'm confident that God has a plan and that His plan is best.  I KNOW that I will survive through a fallthrough.  I KNOW that God will bless us with another child if that is His plan.  And I KNOW that through it all, I can stare at my beautiful baby girl and confirm God's love for me.  This time around, I have hope, something I didn't always have last time.  I have peace.  I have joy.  And I have willingly given up control.

The thought of adding another child to our family makes me giddy with excitement.  I LOVE being a mom and I can't wait to see the plans God has for us. 


On a less happy note, please say an extra prayer for the birthmom we were matched with first (our fallthrough).  Our caseworker gives us updates on her once in a while and we received some sad news about her situation.  Please pray for her and her children.  I truly believe God put her in our lives for a reason and right now that reason is to offer prayers.