Home Study Complete!

Last night, we had our final home study meeting with our social worker. She came to our house this time and got to meet Dylan for the first time. He put on a performance for her, as he does for most people. He showed her his room, his big boy bed, his toys, and proved that he knows his colors and animal sounds. All in about 30 seconds. He's such a show off! :)

Our meeting went great! We talked a lot about the next stages of the process, and I feel like we're making good progress with our paperwork. I showed her the dossier documents that we have done, and she said they look good. Shout out to the staff at Huntington Bank, the Ottawa County Clerk's office, and my doctor's office! They have all been so helpful, efficient, and professional in helping me get these documents ready! :)

We also talked about what we want to put on our dossier as far as the age/gender/health of the child(ren) we are hoping to adopt. When we first started the adoption process, we decided that we wanted to adopt an infant girl, as young as possible. However, after doing some pretty extensive research, (which I am infamous for when I become passionate about something) we realized how great the need is in Ethiopia. We wanted to open our home and hearts up to a wider range of possibility. So we have decided to include twins or siblings in our request. We still want to make sure that the child(ren) are younger than Dylan, and that at least one is a girl. Now we are just waiting for the Lord to reveal what His plan is. We can't wait to find out the details of how our family will grow! :)

A couple things we need to research more are the transitional period (when we bring our child(ren) home), and attachment issues (getting our child(ren) to feel safe with us and understand that they are a permanent part of our family). Our SW was telling us how culutral differences can make transition difficult, even for infants. For example, the way a child is used to being held, how often they are used to being held, the type of bottle nipple and food they are used to, what a caregiver says to calm them down, etc. Also, in an orphanage there are not the same stimulating activities available for the babies that we take for granted here. They don't always get tummy time or use of jumpers/entertainment seats to help develop their muscles. All of this needs to be taken into consideration when we meet our child(ren) and take her(them) home. What we expect from a 6 month old here, is not what we should expect to see in Ethiopia. As we were discussing this, I thought to myself, "this should probably scare me...why am I not scared?" Truthfully, hearing all of this just seemed to make me more excited. I just can't wait to get my hands on this child, and love her to pieces! I can't wait to see the changes that will take place in her development and personality. I just can't wait! :)

We were so excited at the end of our meeting, and we decided to go out and celebrate! We took Dylan on his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese. I was so disappointed that I forgot to pack my camera, but I did get one silly shot on my phone. Dylan had a great time, but he did NOT like Chuck E. Cheese when he came out to walk around and play with the kids. Brandon said he was afraid of Chuck E. Cheese when he was little too. :)