Home Study Classes

This past weekend we took a 3 hour class for our adoption home study. It was very informative, but also very basic. It is a great class to take if you are considering adoption. They give you tons of stuff to think about. Lead by 3 people from the Dove headquarters, we sat in with 6 other couples. Out of those 6 only 1 had actually turned in an application while the rest were all considering it. I love that these people came just to hear more and have their questions answered and fears talked about.

We have also taken 2 classes online. They have been very good. Conspicuous families was a good one. Basically it was all about multiracial families and how do we integrate our lives more to help our kids feel less like an outsider. I imagine there is some level of that feeling that will one day come to any adopted child just because they are adopted. Add to that the fact that they are black in a white family. Add to that the fact that they are from another country. We have a lot of work to do in order to be in a place where we have more "color" in our lives.

The exciting thing is that more and more people are popping up around us that are either in the process of adoption or considering it. That's exciting! I liken it to this: Ever buy a car and all of a sudden it seems like tons of other people around you have purchased the same exact car? It's kind of like that. All of a sudden we are connecting with people that are somewhere in the process. Even people who are asking, "What agency are you using? We are considering adoption, but feel like we have no idea where to start." It's fun! I would love to be part of a local "revolution" of people who suddenly begin to adopt and have some part in influencing that. I know that having conversations with people about adoption brings awareness to so many things. I love that.

Here's something crazy. A little over a year ago I started up a podcast called chickchat with 2 dear friends Becca and Bex. We host this podcast that is"an open and honest discussion all things girl." I know you may wonder what in the world am I doing as one of the hosts. Well, I am the token guy voice in all of this and I absolutely love it. You can read more about it at www.chickchatpodcast.com You may have to wait just a little bit because we got hacked in a major way and even one of our hosts got a virus as a result. Ugh! We are working on getting it up though. OK, back to the crazy part of all of this. When we started this, adoption was not really even an open topic. At this point now though ALL THREE OF US ARE IN THE ADOPTION PROCESS!!! Can you believe that? How crazy is that?

A few other updates for those who know the ins and outs of the adoption process and want more details of where we are at: We have mailed in our requests for copies of birth certificates (mine is more expensive and takes longer because I was born into a military family and out of the country...way to thank your military personnel, government...good job); I am getting the required physical (cough, cough) on Thursday so I can get a doctor's note saying I am ready to be a parent; We have gotten a ton of papers notarized; We are working on a bunch of questions, some of which I can type and many of which need to be hand written. It's a lot of work, but so well worth it.