It's 2011

Well the calendar has changed and we have collected all the home study paperwork. Still thinking and considering what the next move will be. We have until March to finish without having to redo our child abuse clearances. Things with P are going great, he is growing and changing so fast!
As we move through the next few months, hopefully some questions will be answered and we will finally decide where we are going with all this.

The Latest

I know it has been awhile for the two who are reading this :)
We had our second appointment with our social worker on November 4th, Kate is awesome, she listened and we discussed and hubby and I came away feeling much better. We spent most of November waiting for hubbies child abuse clearance from Montana, that arrived and sent off to Kate. All in all most of the paperwork is done for the home study. We are stalling a bit while we make some other decisions. I know all very mysterious, but really it isn't.
All in all things are great. P is continuing to grow and change, soon to be 4! It is amazing how fast time goes.

Nothing, absolutely nothing

Happening that is. We are still waiting for a few pieces of paper, one a child abuse clearance for Lance from Montana. That has been the biggest challenge so far, getting those darned clearances. So as with any adoption it is all a waiting game. In other life bits, we are really busy. Home life just keeps getting busier and busier. P is enjoying soccer, school and playing with his "best friends" M & G.
So keep checking back and maybe we'll have more news soon.

Paperwork under control

Hubby had his fingerprints done today, so another check mark in the done column. After P went to bed tonight I worked on all the other pieces that our social worker needs for the home study. Next week I hope to put the packet in the mail to her. All in all things seem to be coming together nicely. I have also been thinking about the nursery, what bedding design to pick. I am not inspired by anything I see right now. P's room was jungle animals, now it is airplanes and rockets.
Any suggestions??

Fingerprints check

Ok, so just my fingerprints are done, hubby has his appointment tomorrow, but it's still done! This set of prints is for our child abuse clearance for the home study. We also have a packet of papers that have to go to the social worker next week, all kinds of stuff, from financial to medical profiles. Nothing exciting, but all necessary. I was reading another mom's blog today who recently returned home with their second son, it was eye opening. We have talked about the transition P will have to go through, he is really attached to me. But I think it is going to be harder than even we imagine. Time will tell on that one though.
P is having his struggles with growing up right now. He is much more particular about his likes and dislikes. This week he is telling us he doesn't like his room and wants to change it. So we rearranged the bed and took down some pictures, we will move on to new decorations as the week progresses.
So things are progressing nicely!

First setback

Yup this is the first of many posts that will be entitled "setback". It's not really a setback, just an annoyance I guess. We were scheduled to have our fingerprints done today for our child abuse clearance for the home study. So we both get calls this morning that the live scan system is down so our appointments are canceled, please reschedule. UGH, it was difficult enough to schedule this one. So we are scheduling separately, hopefully for next week.
So the paper chase continues!!!!

The official beginning

We today is the official beginning of our adoption paperwork. The packet arrived yesterday from CSS, we have our first home study appointment this afternoon, so we are off on this journey! The initial set of paperwork isn't very daunting, the part that takes the most time is the home study and fingerprint reports.
On another note, today is Ps first day of preschool. He is in the morning 3 year old class at the local private preschool. Two of his best buddies are in his class so he went off with no problems. When I left he was sitting at the table next to G playing with Win*nie the Po*oh toys.
We are thrilled to be starting this journey again, I admit it is a little daunting to think about, but in the end it will all be so worth it.
We hope you enjoy the ride with us.

Funny Conversation

Today while P and I were swinging we had a conversation about his new baby brother or sister. I told him we needed to think about names, and did he have any ideas. His first name was Lollipop, next came Popcorn, third was Head and then Feet. After many laughs and me reminding him that those weren't really good names, the list only got worse from there, let's just say he is 3 3/4 years old and likes dirt, poop and bugs.
I changed the subject after that. We are still waiting to officially start our paperwork. But, these conversations are priceless!

Waiting and Wanting

We are in a bit of a wait mode, waiting for the official packet from the agency. I have the paperwork templates from our last adoption, but I need the new packet to cross check. We do have our first appointment with our social worker scheduled so the homestudy can get started. This is my very busy time at work, so between that and this there may be some late nights getting everything done.
We have having ongoing conversations with P about the new brother or sister. He is marginally on board, I can't say he is overjoyed, but interested maybe?
This is the P man last week on a mom/son hike.

Application Packet in the mail!

The CSS application packet went out in the mail today. Because of the Labor Day Holiday Weekend we don't expect it to even get opened until September 7th. In other good news we have our first appointment with Kate our social worker on September 14th. We took her first available time because her schedule and ours are so busy in September. I can't wait to get our dossier packet to compare the papers with the last time (Carol at CSS said they weren't much different) and start working on them. The most time consuming part is the home study and getting all the background checks done. I have also started the lists, lists of names, lists of what we need, color cards for a girls room, all those fun things.

Almost there

Well, we are almost finished with the agency application. I need a few signatures from hubby, and one letter from the doctor. SO my hope is that by next Wednesday the paperwork is the the mail. Once the application goes in we should hear from the agency in about a week with our Dossier packet. I have a note on the calendar to call Kate our social worker on Monday and get our first home study appointment. I am much better organized and aware this time around. There is some specific papers that Kate will have to do for us for St. Petersburg, so I will give her that information at our first meeting. I am planning on organizing all the templates this weekend so when it is a go, it will be a quick turn around.j
P is doing great, we are talking a little about the next adoption. We are concentrating on sharing mommy right now. We are also doing lots of cleaning out of the house, getting rid of junk. We are also thinking about the things we need to get and even souvenirs we would like to buy this time.

And so it begins again!

We have been discussing the possibility of adopting again since our third post placement visit in June. We decided this week while out to dinner for our 9th wedding anniversary that it was the right choice for our family. P needs a sibling. Let me qualify that by saying he is going to have to learn to share mommy, and that is not going to be easy. He and I had a conversation in the car the other day that went something like this:

Me: Would you like a little brother or sister?
P: ok
Me: That means you are going to have to share your toys.
P: No, my toys
Me: Well you could share some of them.
P: No, all my toys.

I guess we have some work to do.
We have also had a few conversations with the dogs this week, oh how their lives will change. Mia is just learning to tolerate P touching her, add another youngin into the mixture and I think she might move out.

We have just started our application paperwork for the adoption agency. I am gathering all the necessary bits of information needed.
In the sidebar I will keep a list of the paperchase and milestones.

I hope you enjoy the journey to our second Russian love.