First meeting with caseworker

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to all of you have been praying for us.

We met our caseworker, Robyn, last night and we felt instantly comfortable with her. Robyn is relatively new to the Houston area and to our agency, which she hoped would not discourage us. If anything, I think it encouraged us even more, because she's really "gung-ho" / has the "new position" fever! She loved our home and was impressed with how prepared we were . She saw both of our children's rooms prepared and she said "Wow, you guys are ready!" I wanted to say, "well, we've had plenty of time to get prepared" but we just politely said - "yes, we are!" She asked if our home was always this clean, and Michael jumped in and said yes! She just smiled and laughed and said, "well not for long!"

Last night's conversation lasted almost 3 hours, but the time flew by. We didn't feel interrogated at all. She asked us about our family backgrounds, how we met, our work, and then moved into why we chose adoption, what our criteria was, etc.

We did find out that the homestudy is more than just last night's visit. Apparently the state requires the caseworker to clock 12 hours with us before we are licensed. After Robyn heard of all the struggles we've had with getting to this point and the extremely long waits we've endured, she said that she's determined to get this done as quickly as possible (AND we believe her!) So, we are meeting again on Monday evening at 5:30. Some of the 12 hours can also be met over the phone or through email correspondence, so hopefully it won't take too long. The purpose of the 12 hours is really for our benefit, so that Robyn can really get to know us and what are desires are so that she can make the perfect match of our children.

One of the frustrating moments of the evening was when Robyn asked if we had completed the Home Study Questionnaire. I thought I was going to fall out of my chair! Are you kidding?! The 24 page document that both Michael & I had to complete? Yes, that was completed about 6 weeks ago and forwarded to our agency's director. Apparently they didn't forward to her and she doesn't have a copy of it. She asked for a copy of it but of course, it would be the one document that I don't have a paper copy of! This was one form that we were able to fill out electronically and so I didn't print out a copy. It wasn't a big deal ~ she just asked that I email it to her this morning (which was the first thing I did this morning). In the end, Michael & I just had to laugh....it's always something :)

My sweet friend, Jenny, encouraged me this morning with this:

"In His time, In His time...He makes all things beautiful in His time. Lord, please show me every day, as You're teaching me Your ways, that You do just what You say, in Your time."

Thanks, Jenny :)

Thanks again for all your emails, phone calls and prayers lifted up. We love you guys and will keep you posted as we move forward!

Thoughts tonight....

As we prepare for tomorrow's visit (Wednesday 6pm)with the caseworker, many thoughts running through my mind.

There are the checklist thoughts: Did we move this, rearrange that, lock up this, throw out that, do this, do that......

There are the "OCD" thoughts: Are the couch pillows fluffed up enough? Are the baseboards clean enough? Is the lint off of the bed skirt in our room? Are the pictures covering our refrigerator straight enough? Are the chairs lined up right in the dining room? Are the towels straight on the racks? Are the canned goods organized alphabetically? (just kidding on that last one!)

There are the emotional thoughts: Will Robyn like us? Will she see us for who we truly are? Will our hearts be heard? Will we pass the test?

Then there are thoughts of unbelief....it's been 10 months of classes, forms and documentations, essays and training, and the 4 month wait for a caseworker to be assigned.....and tomorrow we will finally meet her!

Michael & I know that Robyn was chosen just for us and that the Lord's timing is perfect. We also know that even though Robyn is the final decision maker for the agency, we know that the Lord has the ultimate final decision in all areas of our lives.

My parents came over tonight to visit and surprised us with roses for our anniversary (4 years on Thursday!) Very sweet! We enjoyed the conversation and shared in the final results of Dancing with the Stars (ha!) But the best gift of all, were the prayers lifted up for us before they left. Michael & I are so thankful to have such wonderful, loving, God-fearing parents. Blessed indeed!

Throughout our marriage we have looked forward to having children. Infertility has only strengthened our desire to be parents, and we know in our hearts that adoption is the path God has for us. And because of this, we can rest comfortably tonight, knowing that the Lord has gone before us and will be with us tomorrow.

For those that follow my "brag" blog (www.cc-world.blogspot.com)...this will be a repeat. But for those who don't, just thought I'd post some fun pictures of me and the girls from recent weeks. We have so much fun together. They have brought much joy and blessing to my life!

God's Mission: Adoption

My dad sent this to me last week and I've been meaning to post it. Max Lucado is an incredible writer and his words really spoke to me....maybe it will do the same for you.

God's Mission: Adoption by Max Lucado

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us. Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear. Here is how it happens. You come before the judgment seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes. Because of his justice he cannot dismiss your sin, but because of his love he cannot dismiss you. So, in an act which stunned the heavens, he punished himself on the cross for your sins. God’s justice and love are equally honored. And you, God’s creation, are forgiven. But the story doesn’t end with God’s forgiveness.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:15–16 NASB).

But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Gal. 4:4–5 NASB).

It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more. He gives you his name. It would be enough if God just set you free, but he does more. He takes you home. He takes you home to the Great House of God.

Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. I certainly don’t mean to offend any biological parents—I’m one myself. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases our cribs were filled easily. We decided to have a child and a child came. In fact, sometimes the child came with no decision. I’ve heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I’ve never heard of an unplanned adoption.

That’s why adoptive parents understand God’s passion to adopt us. They know what it means to feel an empty space inside. They know what it means to hunt, to set out on a mission, and take responsibility for a child with a spotted past and a dubious future. If anybody understands God’s ardor for his children, it’s someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us.

God has adopted you. God sought you, found you, signed the papers and took you home.

Homestudy Scheduled!

Our caseworker, Robin, called me this morning @ 8:50am to introduce herself and talk to me for a few minutes. She was very sweet and was very excited about working with us. Thank you Lord! She received our file yesterday and has just begun to go through it...I can ONLY imagine how long it will take, since I know how many forms, documents, letters and such that she will have to review.

At the end of our conversation, she said that she was more than willing to work with our schedule in regards to the homestudy (weekends, evenings) since we work ~ which I thought was great! So, our homestudy is officially scheduled for next Wednesday the 7th at 6pm. Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare our hearts and minds for the meeting next week.

Yikes! This is finally REALLY happening :)

On a side note, Michael & I are truly at peace with the assignment of Robin as our caseworker. We prayed for very specific things and already in 2 different conversations we had with Robin today, those specifics have been answered and revealed to us. All in God's timing! Robin told us that she's been praying over our file today and for our children to come. It's so awesome to finally feel like we have an advocate on our side!

Thanks to everyone for their continued thoughts, encouragement and prayers along our journey. We'll be sure to keep you posted.

Note to self.....

......remember that the kitchen and bathroom cabinets have childproof latches on them!


Geez! I can't even tell you how many times Michael & I have tried to open a cabinet to be stopped dead in our tracks. Proof that the latches do indeed work :)

Assigned!

My phone rang at 8:12pm from a (713) number and low & behold, it was our agency director! She was calling to let us know that our case worker has been assigned and that they are scheduled to meet to discuss our case/file on Thursday. The caseworker will then contact us Friday or Monday to schedule our home study! WHOA!

Won't you please be praying for the Lord to work in the hearts of the director and the caseworker during their meeting and especially when we meet with the caseworker for our homestudy. We really appreciate it.

We're a little apprehensive about this but we know that the Lord is in control and He will give us His perfect peace through the rest of the process. We'll keep you posted!

Childproofing party!

That's right! We had a big childproofing party for 2 at our house on Friday night....we opened up all the windows (yay for fall weather this past week in Houston!), turned on the music in every room, gathered up the drill, screwdriver, screws, hammer, cabinet & drawer latches, mouting tape, pencil, measuring tape and partied down! Doesn't that sound like your kind of party?! Well, it wasn't so much that it was fun, but we had to approach it like it would be to be motivated to get it all done. Now, some of you might be wondering what childproofing was left to be done, thinking that it had been completed months ago. WELL.....one cabinet was completed a few months ago and we've been procrastinating ever since. However, Friday night was THE night to get everything done in the house.

Here's what we were able to accomplish on Friday night/Saturday morning: safety latches installed on all 18 cabinets, all ceiling fans were cleaned, all air filters were finally changed (now that we're not using the A/C ~ ha!), broken toilet fixed, kitchen cabinets cleaned out to make room for the re-arrangement of all the cleaners normally found under the kitchen/bathroom sinks (products can't be left under the sink under the State of Texas rules, closet in nursery was cleaned out, bookshelf and all it's contents were sorted through, cleaned out and moved into another room, and 5 loads of laundry washed, dried, sorted and put away!

Michael & I finally retired to our bed around 2am....it was a full evening indeed. But do you know how wonderful it was to wake up Saturday morning and have everything on your list marked off? PRICELESS! I was able to spend Saturday morning with the girls at their gymnastics class, as well as go shopping & out to lunch with them. Then Michael & I were actually able to watch both of the movies that we rented for the weekend! Yesterday was a great day of relaxing, watching football & BBQing.

One last thing...we received word from our agency that our caseworker is to be assigned to us by tomorrow (Tuesday).....just 4 weeks late, but better late than later. Hopefully, we will actually be given the name of our caseworker tomorrow. We're praying for just the right caseworker to be assigned to us, as this person really makes the final decision in the approval process. Won't you be praying for us? We'll keep you posted on the status of our homestudy, as soon as we hear something. Hopefully, it will be soon!

24 pages later....

and dare I say it, our last paperwork has been completed and forwarded to the agency for review. This was all that was needed to complete our file and to be assigned a case worker for our homestudy. We have been told that we SHOULD get a caseworker assigned to us in the next 2 weeks, but we're doubtful that it will actually be that soon.

We still have to complete childproofing the kitchen cabinets....this is probably one of the few times that I've procrastinated on a project. It's so time consuming and frustrating! But we just need to get it done.

We'll keep you posted with an update as soon as we hear anything. Thanks for your prayers!

Results of 200+ pieces

1. Open box.

2. Pull out pieces of wood.

3. Pull out more pieces of wood.

4. Find bags (yes, plural) of bolts, screws, nails, dowels, washers, and other items never seen before.

5. Scream over the new knowledge that there are over 200 pieces of hardware to put this "great deal" together!

6. Look for instruction book.

7. Find instruction book at the bottom of everything.

8. Scream again when you realize that there are 38 steps to putting this "great deal" together.

9. Start at 7:00pm.

10. Finish at 9:30pm.


Final result:

11. Bag up all left over pieces of hardware, in hopes that you followed the instructions properly and the company was just being generous with extra pieces!

Just looking....

This is what happens when you go to IKEA to "just look".

Suddenly, what once was this.....

Now looks like this.....

I love bright & whimsical and just couldn't resist....what could be more fun that hippos, lions, giraffes, camels, ducks, crocodiles, turtles and more....

Here are a few items we also got for the other bedroom ~ still working on the decor for this one.

Let Go, Let God

What a comfort it is to know that I can let go and let God lead me in all matters and in all that matters. What I am releasing is the mistaken belief that I need to direct and control all the various aspects of my life. What I am accepting is the greater good that is emerging and unfolding. With God leading the way, I am free of all fear and doubt. My trust in God strengthens me with the resolve to live my life fully. What is in store for me this day and in the days ahead? I may not have all the details just yet, but there is no doubt that the light of God shines brightly in and through me. I am ready and eager to step forward into a life of inspired living.

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.”—Jeremiah 29:11-12

Conversation with the Director

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us during our time of no communication with our agency!

As I've blogged before, Michael & I have grown increasingly anxious, frustrated and concerned over the length of time it has taken us to be assigned a case worker. We have been waiting for one since the end of May and were assured in mid-July that we were next in line...and now it's mid-September and we still hadn't received a call. In my last post, I wrote about how we had contacted the director of our agency in hopes that she might be able to provide some insight into our case. As of yesterday morning, she had not returned our phone calls or replied to our emails. Since we didn't hear from her, I sent one final email to our original recruiter to let him know of what we were feeling and to express our great concern over the director not contacting us. I informed him that we had contacted other agencies to discuss the possibility of transferring our file and that we had really hoped to avoid that.

About an hour later, we receive a phone call from the Director. Isn't that amazing how that happens? She called me first, but I was in a meeting at work, so I missed her call. She called Michael at work and missed him as well. I called her back and she was on the phone with Michael on his cell. He got off the phone with her and he called me to say that she would be calling me back on my work phone ~ great, except I wasn't at my desk. So, sure enough, I get back to my desk and see that she called and left me another message. At least she was being thorough! We played phone tag a few more times and we finally were able to connect yesterday evening.

The director apologized for the delay and went into a long explanation of why things had happened the way they had with good reasons and sad excuses ranging from being short staffed, over worked, family emergencies, changes in the law and within their organization this year, as well as a huge increase in interest to foster care and adoption (the one good reason I could find). She reassured us that our file was on her desk, that it had been reviewed, that nothing was wrong, except that we did have one more form that still needed to be completed. Without this form, a homestudy cannot be scheduled. WHAT? We have asked over and over and over again, if there was anything missing from our file, any more forms to fill out, etc....and we were told many times that everything was there and in order. Wrong. So, she emailed the form to us and asked that we complete it and get it back to her. I told her we'd get it to her as soon as possible. Once the form is received, our caseworker will be calling us. She said that she was working on "sooner, rather than later" and hopefully we'd be licensed in the next 2 - 3 weeks.

So, we opened up the attachment on the email and couldn't believe it....it was 12 pages long WITHOUT our answers! Are you kidding? She made it sound like it would be a really simple form to return. Indeed, that was definitely the wrong assumption. Not only is it 12 pages long, but both Michael & I have to complete one individually. Want to know the kicker of it? There's NOTHING new on this form. Nope! Not one new question! There are 12 pages of questions that we have been asked repeatedly and upon which the agency has in triplicate. However, it doesn't matter. It's a new regulation. We have to fill out the form and answer all the questions all over again. It would be nice if the questions were all "yes or no" or multiple choice or check a box, but they're not. It's essay form and they want as much information as possible. Thankfully, I have a copy of every form we've already filled out, so we should be able to copy and paste the answers.

Dealing with the state foster care system has definitely given me a real taste of red tape bureacracy! While it has been more than frustrating at times, I have to remind myself that these standards are high for the protection of the children. In the end, I know when our children are finally home with us, that everything we went through will all be worth it.

Check back soon for more updates :) Thanks for your prayers ~ keep 'em coming!

Crossroads.....

I wish that I were writing today to say that I have an update on our adoption....but alas, that is not the case.

Michael & I have been very patiently waiting for some updates from our agency but we are not getting a response. Since our file has been "in limbo", in "waiting", in line, etc....we decided to go directly to the Director of the agency for a status update. We contacted the director and over a period of 4 days, left 2 voicemail messages and sent 2 emails and have yet to receive a response from her.

Last night, we contacted another agency highly recommended and we were able to talk to the counselor in regards to our case. She agreed that the process has taken way too long and that we should've been assigned a case worker by now. She said that they'd be more than happy to help us on our journey. BUT....don't you love those "buts". Since we're not licensed (which is what we've been waiting on), we'd basically start over from day one, INCLUDING all of our training?!!? To say that I was flabergasted would be an understatement! The training is provided and mandated by the state of Texas, so I couldn't understand why they wouldn't accept the training we completed a few months back. She explained that while they use the PRIDE training, they also add a lot of things into their training, and therefore, we'd have to go through it all again.

Now what? Michael & I discussed it and we just can't see repeating everything that we just went through again. There are 4 other agencies, including CPS directly, that we can contact about transfering our case file. In the meantime, we've sent one last email to the director in hopes that she might contact us today. Praying that she will do that so that we can stay with them and press forward.

Please keep us in your prayers ~ especially for wisdom on what to do next.

A friend shared this verse with me today:
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you, For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior!" Isaiah 43:2-3a

Thanks for all of your encouragement and support! We love you all!

Another inspection passed!

Well folks....we did it! We passed the Fire Marshall's inspection of our home on Friday! WHOO HOO! Thanks to my friend Byron (who is a firefighter) for pointing me in the right direction and providing me with the link to the Checklist that the FM would use on the inspection. The FM went straight down the checklist! Needless to say, all the preparation paid off since we passed with flying colors! It only took about 15 minutes for her to complete the inspection...and I thought...man, I was stressed over this?! Now, if we didn't have the checklist, we wouldn't have passed! I mean, who has a latch over their attic door, a fire escape plan posted in the house with a fire drill schedule, a 10 foot radius "item free" by their breaker box...just to name a few things we had to do!

Michael & I have still not received much contact from our agency and we have given them another 2 weeks to contact us, provide us with an update...anything....if that time comes and goes without anything, we will move to another agency. We have really tried to avoid this, due to the red-tape involved in transfering our file; however, if they're not doing anything for us anyway, the extra time won't make a difference.

We know that God is in control and His timing is perfect ~ that is our comfort during the quiet times! We'll keep you posted!

Summers in Houston.....

are anything but pleasant! Michael & I love to work in the flowerbeds each year, but this summer has just been too hot. Forget about maybe working in it after work, when it's cooled down to just 95 degrees!

However, despite this heat, we have seen the growth of 2 plants and thought we share them with you.

Our new best friend....

Yes, we are happy to introduce you to our new best friend, Ryobi. Ryobi has been a life saver over the past few weeks. He has been there just when we've needed him. He's pushed us farther than we ever thought imaginable and hasn't given up on us once. Nothing is too difficult or too small for Ryobi. He really has been a true helper and supporter in all our efforts to childproof our house. There's no telling where we'd be without Ryobi....probably still putting in

screws with a Phillipshead screwdriver and going insane!

p.s. no, we're not done with the cabinets yet. It took us 30 minutes just to get the first cabinet lock on! We decided that we had finally mastered it and would take a break....that was 3 days ago!

Pictures from our trip

Here are just a few of the pictures that we took while in Hot Springs, Arkansas....Michael took a hold of the camera a little bit (a lot) on this trip. He apparently really likes the clouds! :)

Enjoy!

Update (Updated with pics 8/28/07)

Just a quick update....

1. A/C inspection - Completed & Passed
2. Gas Leak inspection - completed & Passed (picture below...this is what we got for $250!)

3. Attic door latch put on (after 3 trips to Home Depot)

4. Dryer vent re-attached & towels dried
5. Childproofed the oven and the refrigerator (doesn't everyone? ha!)
6. Photos downloaded from vacation but not posted yet
7. Vacation over and reality set back in at 5:40am this morning.

Things still to do:
1. Fire Marshall's inspection
2. Return childproofing items to Babies R Us because they are worthless
3. Childproof the cabinets...funny how that one still seems to be on the "to do" list
(do you think this might be the reason why????)


4. Call our agency again for another update.
5. Post pictures of our vacation as well as a few other fun things.

Hope you all have a good night...I'm off to finish the book I started on my vacation :)

1 for 2....(updated with pics 8/28/07)

Well, 1 of 2 inspections were completed today. Why only one? That's exactly what I want to know. I was diligent in getting these inspections scheduled in PLENTY of time ~ especially when most A/C contractors and plumbers are dealing with emergencies. The A/C guy was supposed to be here at 9am this morning. Not, between the hours of 9am and 5pm...but straight up 9am. Well, I'm not sure what happened, but he never showed up, never called, and didn't return any of my phone calls. So by 10:45, I was looking through the Yellow pages online trying to find an A/C contractor who could come out and check our perfectly working A/C. I called the first contractor listed, got them scheduled for tomorrow between the hours of 9am - 12 noon and best thing yet....they were cheaper by $25! (hey ~ every little bit counts!)

The plumber arrived between the hours of 9am - noon (as promised), called 30 minutes before arriving (as promised) and completed the gas leak tests within the time promised. YAY! We passed! (not that we were worried). One thing crossed off my list! I was in the middle of drying some clothes when he arrived, so we stopped the dryer for the test, as he had to get behind the W&D to test the gas line. After he left, I went back in to start the dryer. Fast forward about an hour...I went to get the towels out of the dryer and was taken aback by the heat permeating from the laundry room....what in the world? Well...when my wonderful plumber pulled the dryer out from the nook and put it back in, he pulled the vent out of the dryer and that would explain the extreme heat, as well as red lint everywhere! UGH!

I have yet to hook up the dryer this evening, as it is a major undertaking of unplugging both the washer and dryer, moving the washer out, then the dryer, then pushing the dryer back in while hoping that the vent stays connected, then put the washer back in. It's a VERY small space! (again, I don't understand why anyone would build a laundry room to fit within inches of a regular sized washer and dryer!)

A few other things checked off my list today:
1. Move everything within 10 feet of the electrical box in the garage.


2. Prepare all the labels to mark what each breaker goes to.
3. Only to find out that once I actually got to the breaker box, all the breakers were already labeled!


HA! That's ok....it certainly beats turning on all electrical things in our house, Michael & I on our cell phones with each other, Michael flipping each breaker and me running around the house trying to figure out which light went out. Actually....that might have been quite fun :)
4. Purchased our double-locked medicine storage. Yes, we have to have all medications under double lock! How in the world do you do that? Well, a friend told me that they used a tool box as their first locked storage and then bought a locked cabinet and put it in their laundry room. We went with the tool box, bought a pad lock for it and then bought a filing cabinet with a lock and placed it in our closet. Works out pretty well, too, since we needed another filing cabinet!
5. Changed the air filters! This isn't part of the inspections but they certainly needed to be done.

I was still hoping to get a few other things marked off my list today, but that's ok....there's always tomorrow! Here's hoping that the A/C guy shows up this time!

p.s. Michael & I had a wonderful time in Hot Springs and took lots of pictures (will upload soon). It was great to just get away and relax. It was hot but beautiful. We definitely want to return...maybe in the fall when it's cooler.