Adoption process update

We have now finished all of the interviews and the two home visits. I finished getting the case worker the list of all of the places we have lived and all of the places we have been employed. A background check will need to be ordered from all of those states. Unfortuately, this will mean a delay in getting our approval by approximately 2-3 months (because there are some many different places to get reports from).

I also prepared a photo album which included all of the required photos, and then some. We needed to submit photos of each of the rooms in the house, front & rear view of house, and any place where we have food. I also included photos of the pets, and included captions for the photos to explain what they are showing. A short description of each family member too. Something for other case workers who have not met us to learn something about us and our interests. In all, the report was 27 pages- with 2-3 photos on most pages.

The average time in takes to get a family matched with a child is about 3-4 months. So now instead of getting a placement in late summer, it will probably be in Nov/Dec. Which might work out better as then the children will not switch schools until the beginning of a new semester.

The school calendar here starts the new semester right after the Christmas break. And school will start on Aug 7th this fall. Which is only a short time after we plan to return from our trip to Oregon. The kids and I are going to drive there and back, pulling the camping trailer. That way we can bring the animals with us as Jonathan will be on temporary duty (TDY for those who understand military acronyms) part of the time we are gone and won't be able to care for the cats and birds (we were already planning on taking the dogs.)

We do have a short list of potential children to ask about once we get approval. However, I will not post links at this point because many things could happen between now and when we get approval and can ask about them. If you would like to see the children that are currently available for adoption, you can go to these websites.

http://www.adoptuskids.org/ (national site, just go to "meet the children" tab on the upper part of the page. Fill in the search form and be sure to check which state to search on- Georgia for us.)

http://www.myturnnow.com/ (this is specific to Georgia)

You will find many of the same children on both websites, but some are only on one.