Day 3 of the home study....done.
It feels like we've just finished the 4th quarter of an aTm vs. Louisiana High School football game. (I would have loved to picked a better competitor for the Aggies, but it wouldn't communicate how close of a game I am talking about.). Our social worker came on Thursday night. Her train got randomly canceled out of Beijing, so she didn't arrive here until 8 pm or so. The first night was going over paperwork. Medicals, power of attorney, financial statement, the whole deal.
Day 2 was pretty intense. We had interviews together in the morning so that she could assess our marriage. We talked about EVERYTHING with her. Right down to pet peeves :) . We had to recruit an army of babysitters to help out with the kiddos. Some spoke English, others did not. We ate lunch with her while the kids were at home. She wanted to see our interaction together. We held our breath, because all the kids had eaten already, and 4 kids sitting at and around a table with no food is usually not a great formula. But we managed, thanks to some crackers and sweets. The afternoon was filled with personal interviews. They asked about our personal upbringing, struggles, memories, our relationship with our family, etc. 5:00 and we were done...tired and totally done for the day.
Insert narrator here: Note, Carrie got sick the morning of the first day of the home study. So all of her answers are accompanied by blowing of her nose and an entirely irritating nasaly voice. Like that annoying Fran actor lady's voice.
Day 3: She came over at 7:30 am to get started. She had the kids take her around the house and show her around. The whole time, she's giving them instructions on how to be safe with the baby. After they are done, we sit and she gives us some heads up on adoption. What bonding looks like, things to be thinking of before we pick her up, how to handle adjustments in the home.
It was fun to feel like we're getting closer. It was wonderful to actually get the freedom to think through what raising this new baby will look like. I think it really feels more real now. Our social worker was fantastic. Thanks everyone for your prayers, everything went wonderfully.
