Home Study complete!

Woo Hoo! We did it! We completed our home study and now we wait! I have to say it was not the easiest two hours...she finished our couple interviews or tried to finish them as the boys were running around like crazies during the whole interview. It's hard to discuss your philosophy of parenting when you want to stop and YELL at your kids to sit down and zip it! About an hour in we gave up on our perfect parents facade and let Oliver turn a Thomas video on that he found in the entertainment center and asked to watch. We put it on in the kitchen and gave them about a dozen peanut butter cookies each and our case worker goes "Ohhh...it DOES get quiet!!" HA! Favorite moment! She was great...didn't pass any judgement on any of it so it was fun to sit and chat and joke around. Oliver gets so shy when spoken to directly so he didn't have much to share verbally until she asked to see his room and he then went on and on about his books, his CD player, his bed, the stair banister the "worker men" came to put in, etc. Oh kiddos...can't live without them! Now we wait to receive the written home study that we mail in to the US Dept. of Homeland Security and then they fingerprint us for FBI and then send us our I-700 and that is the last piece of paper we're waiting on! Almost there folks...almost there. And by that I mean paper work done...not waiting part done but little steps.

Ahhhh...now the house is clean (well everything is hidden anyway...Josh calls cleaning around here "hiding" since we hide things better than we clean them!!) and the boys are down (long weekend with birthday parties, sip and sees, home study interviews) and we're waiting on our chicken and pineapple pizza and FREE cinnapie to get here while we relax before our crazy week starts up!

The "lady" and the "baby"...

We have our final home study visit tomorrow and this is the one where our case worker will come to the house and inspect it and will finish our interviews. She will also try to "interview" Oliver (anyone living in the house with us over 3 years old has to be interviewed). He cracks me up...he knows we're adopting and we talk about our new baby and we usually call her "sister" as in we're thinking we'll request a girl most days (but God is the author of this journey so we realize that might change as we journey down this road). So when I was cleaning up this afternoon (the kind of cleaning where I "arrange" the toys and threaten him to not touch a single one) he knew something was up. I told him the "lady" was coming...he said "The lady to talk about the baby with no mommy or daddy?" Aha...yes that lady! So we've been getting everything picked up and cleaned up and I started to wonder how clean is clean if you know someone is coming over to inspect your home to see if you're fit to raise another child? I know it will be no big deal and I doubt she'll check for dust or look to see that our bathroom hamper is sweater storage at the moment or that the high chair probably has enough food in the cracks and crannies to feed Wyatt at his next 3 meals alone! But it is a little stressful if I stop to think about it! Guess I won't let myself think about it past this blog post. Oliver told Josh during bath time tonight that the lady is coming tomorrow to talk about the baby. Then he thought to ask where the baby will sit because he thought she was bringing the baby with her and if there was going to be a new baby then they would need a spot for her in the bathtub. Josh tried to explain that she would not be bringing the baby but would only be talking to us to make sure we have enough room for a baby. Oliver will probably think we're playing this long, drawn out imagination game about a baby as the year passes by and he still doesn't have a baby sibling! Oh the day we return with our child and he can't believe his eyes...that in fact we WERE telling the truth this entire time! Sweet boy...at least he's willing to help us clean for the lady who's coming over to talk about the baby! We'll let you know how it goes...

The pressure of being 3...

The boys started pre-school last week. I thought that sentence would make me sigh with relief and walk around with a big smile but that is not how it happened. I will say before any pre-school drama started I was having a hard time with the smiling part when thinking about school starting up for the boys. We've had a great summer playing and being lazy and growing and hanging out and this would be Wyatt's first time away from mom for that long of a stretch. We do go to the gym every day during the week but the most the boys are in the nursery is for two hours (the limit!!) and they are together playing and it took a while to get Wyatt used to that and happy at drop off. So I was mourning our summer schedule a little bit...knowing that we're one year closer to the year I have to let Oliver go completely, 5 days a week, 7 hours a day and that already makes me sad! (And I never thought I'd be THAT mom...guess I'm realizing that luckily for my boys that I am THAT mom!) Oliver was ready, ready, ready...this is his third year at his school and he loves school! I also knew Wyatt would love school as soon as he got warmed up. Tuesday came and went and I realized that maybe I bit off more than I could chew with Oliver's class. I'll spare you the entire dramatic run down of my week but let's just say that it ended on Thursday with me completely SOBBING in a teacher conference in Oliver's class. L.O.V.E.L.Y...never been much of a CRAZY before but now I am THAT mom too! Anyhow...that kid is extremely intelligent at times, loves books and reading and can now make up his own stories to go with the books, jams out with the best of them to his Jack Johnson Curious George CD and Bible songs CD (nothing like "I'm in the Lord's Army" blaring to get you going in the morning!!), and has the best little conversations with me, Wyatt, and anything else that will listen! However, that child also refuses to put any stock in to potty training! He knows the routine, he knows how to go, he knows why to go, he knows where to go and what to do, but BULL if he cares if he actually DOES any of it!! His school requires the kids in the 3 year old class to be potty trained...and just knowing HOW to use the potty is not enough, you have to actually DO IT! So this week turned in to our first heart tugging parent decision and we decided to remove all pressure and put Oliver in the older 2 year old class. If he was born on his actual due date that would have been the only option anyway and it would have been decided for us so I feel good about our decision...we did the whole follower thing last year with him being the absolute youngest and now he gets to do the leader thing and be the oldest by a month or so. We've talked to him and he doesn't care so why should we? And I have a feeling this won't be the last time we have to make a heart tugging decision about our child. I know we won't always be able to take the pressure off to make life easier but when your 3 shouldn't your life be as pressure free as possible? Won't there be time for academic challenges later in life...like when you're 5?? HA! By the way...Wyatt is loving school and will probably choose to stay in the toddler class forever...messy projects, a play ground just his size (OUTSIDE is what he yells all day long!), two FANTASTIC teachers who have proved to be worthy of the tuition we pay in more ways than just one, and 5 other boys to play trucks with (none of whom take his toy to show him the "correct" way to play with it) I love those boys...and hopefully they'll love school! I can finally say that with a sigh of relief and a smile on my face!

3 down, 1 to go...

Josh and I drove to Huntsville, TX this weekend to get some home study interviews taken care of. On Sunday afternoon we drove up towards Huntsville stopping in The Woodlands on the way to have a nice dinner at Hubble and Hudson Bistro. We enjoyed having dinner without the boys who were staying at my parents house. We then headed on to Huntsville where we met with our social worker at Starbucks. I went first for my interview while Josh went to check us in to the lovely Comfort Suites. After an hour and a half of talking about myself and my childhood/family it was Josh's turn! He did the same and then we thought about trying to catch a late movie but as Josh had gone running Sunday morning at 4:45 he was pretty tired so we went on back to the hotel. The next morning we met our social worker again for our couple interview at 8:00. No big deal...lots of discussing strengths/weaknesses and goals! We headed back to Houston and spent the day at my parents house swimming and enjoying the day off! The boys both start preschool tomorrow...I'm having a hard time with that this year (which is a whole other bag of worms and a post for another day) and am somewhat dreading it tomorrow. Wyatt has never been to school and while I know he will LOVE playing with other boys (there are only 6 boys in his class) and he will LOVE his teachers he will still have a hard time letting go of momma and I dread having to drop him off even when I know it's in his best interest. Oliver has gone to this preschool the last two years and he loves school but this is the start of a new class with higher expectations. He's the youngest with just turning 3 and I'm worried for him but will give him a month and see what happens...I'll be praying them both through the day tomorrow! Oliver is also supposed to be potty trained and while he spent the entire weekend in big boy underwear he hates to stop what he is doing and say he has to go. He'll go if you make him and has no problem doing it on the potty but he is not going to tell you to take him unless he has started to have an accident and then realized he needs to go. Hence the apprehension! But God is big and He is their God too so we'll be laying it down tonight instead of worrying about it and losing sleep! I just love those little boys and it will be hard to let them go...now probably not too hard when I'm having lunch with girl friends or my mom or getting things done without two monkeys in tow but you get the gist! Happy Labor Day!

Today is the day...

Oh, I love Sundays! It is so quiet out there and on the roads to church (which is a little sad if you think about it) and I love that Josh and I are getting up and getting dressed and going to the same place. Can you tell I'm a stay at home mom?? HA! Josh has been training for the January marathon here in Houston and he's been getting up extra early (4:00 a.m.) on Sundays to meet up with some coworkers and run long distances. I love that he goes that early so he can be home in time to get the boys up and dressed so we can get to church on time! He also has been bringing home warm Shipley donuts (donut holes for the boys) after his runs. I told myself that today would be the day that I did not eat one of those donuts after imagining the effect of these weekly donut breakfasts on my waistline but then he comes in with WARM donuts!!! WARM, delicious, glazed donuts...willpower gone (so is waistline soon too!!). Oliver loves Sundays too...donuts and church! Of course church to him means a classroom with other 3 year olds and cardboard blocks, a HUGE book shelf filled with wooden blocks, toy trucks, puzzles, stickers, etc. so who wouldn't love church?? And start off that adventure with a bag of donut holes and it's a magical day! Wyatt can now also say donuts and yells this word regularly...he tried this trick last week after open house at preschool and Oliver chimed in so we had donuts for lunch!! (It was an emotional open house for me so I gave in!!!!) Anyhoo...all this to say I love church (and donuts!)

Now today is not just church and donut day...Josh and I are headed to Huntsville tonight (another story...our home study case worker lives in Huntsville which somehow means we drive to her...not sure I fully understand that...) and start our individual interviews with said lady. We're staying the night (thanks Gigi and Pop for keeping the boys as they're not invited!!) and then finishing our couple interviews in the morning. I will definitely post again when we get home to let you know how it went! We're excited to get it going as this is one of the last steps in our dossier compilation and we can get our papers in to officially be on the waiting list!! So any prayers that today would go smoothly would be greatly appreciated...that and that our answers aren't completely off the wall! :) Gotta love separate interviews! Have a great Sunday!

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I believe LIVING FAITH can end poverty!!!! Do you?

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