The Call for the 2nd Interview

Before I get into the phone call, just wanted to let everyone know that I have changed the background to "Love Letter" because this is our "love letter" to our child.  I don't plan on changing it anymore.

Last week we had another "hiccup" in our journey.  My cancer doctor was to write a letter on our behalf.  He told us that if we didn't receive within 2-3 weeks to call and request it.  I called twice to request this letter and finally received it.  I turned it in to C.C. who talked it over with her boss, Karen.  The letter was "just the facts" and didn't give any prognosis.  So Bethany called the doctor's office but was not satisified with her talk with the nurse.  She asked me to call his office and see if I could get him to write another letter with a prognosis.  We, Arthur and I, both thought that this was the deal ender but C.C. kept saying that it wasn't.  We had to wait thru the weekend before we could call the doctor's office.  On Monday morning I called and left word for the nurse to call us back.  She called later that afternoon and we talked about the letter that was sent.   I told her about what Bethany had said.  She informed me that Dr. Finan had written a letter on our behalf but that was not the letter that was sent.  She said that she was printing his letter out and would have him sign when he came in.  Tuesday, the nurse called me to let me know that our new letter was on the way.  We received it today and it has a prognosis and everything that Bethany was looking for.  YAY!!!!

Also, today we received a call from C.C.  She called to schedule our 2nd interview.  This will be the seperate interviews.  I told her that anytime would be good with us.  I let her know that both of our employers know that we are trying to adopt and both are supporting us.  I told her that if we had an appointment at 10:30 in the morning that both of the employers would say "OK!"  She said that Bethany was having a seminar this next week (March 25th) and she knew that her mind would be on the seminar and asked if we could schedule it for the week of the 29th.  I said that would be fine.  She then asked what times were better for us.  I asked her what times she had opened.  She said she could see us on Tuesday morning or Wednesday afternoon.  I told her that Tuesday morning would be perfect.  She also asked about the letter from Dr. Finan.  I told her about the mix-up with the letters.  She was excited to hear that a new letter was on the way.

God knows what is best for us and He will provide for us....for ALL of us! 

Another hurdle tackled....

I told earlier of results of the meeting with C.C.  We were given a 13 page questionnaire to fill out.  Bethany was profiling us trying to see what type of parents we will be, what are background as children were like and what is going on in our life now.  Tonight we have FINALLY finished the questionnaire.  We will send to the Jackson office tomorrow and C.C. will receive in about 2 weeks.  Then she will call with further instructions. 

Arthur has his day-off cut out for him tomorrow.  First, he needs to mail questionnaires to Bethany, then has to go by and see C.C. because of insurance issues.  Next it's off to spend money to buy money orders to process our FBI background checks and money orders to process our Mississippi background checks.  Then we have to go get our fingerprints taken so that we can send the fingerprints and money orders to VA so that they can process us to see if we have a criminal background.  It's all in the best interest of the child.

All with knowledge of our backgrounds of derrogator nature, please keep to yourselves for now! Ha! Ha!

One final note, our references have recieved their letters and 2 have sent the letters back as of this weekend.  Only one more reference letter needs to sent back!!!

Take care all. God bless and good night!

Our reference letters

During our meeting on Tuesday, C.C. went over our references and their address. I got a call from a reference last night that she received a letter from Bethany. Things are starting to move right along now. Thank you Aunt Sara for sharing the great news!!!!

Now we just need to get our fingerprints printed and send it off to the FBI. We also need to start our questionnaire and get it sent off. Once you get past the first couple of pages, the questions are not that bad.

I'll be updating over the weekend......

Our 1st Interview

Today was the 1st interview we had with our social worker, C.C. Both of us were very nervous because we really didn't know what to expect. C.C. was a very down-to-earth person. She sat us down and told us what to expect and what we were going to talk about.

First we talked about the cancer. She wanted to know what we thought of letting the birth mother(s) know about my cancer. I told her that I really didn't care, but I thought that the birth mother might shy away from us because I have had cancer.

Then we had to tell about what had brought us to adoption. So we went thru the 18 years of our marriage. We talked about the Germany years, the Virginia years & the fertility treatments we went thru in Virginia. Next, we talked about moving back to Mississippi and taking a break from the fertility treatments. We then followed with the trip to Jackson to that fertility specialist and what a disappointment that was. Keesler AFB fertility clinic was our next stop along the way and the disappointment after the hurricane. Talked about Fertility Clinic of New Orleans and how we enjoyed working with staff there.

C.C. printed off our homework that we have to send to Jackson before we know when our next interview is. I was reading thru some of the questions tonight before starting this blog. Sample questions are: Describe your personality, include what you view as your strengths and weaknesses. What significant events or experiences have shaped your personality. Describe a personal achievement that gave you satisfaction. List some personal goals for yourself and family. 13 pages of questions like this. Some of the questions are not so bad. Guess ya'll know what I will be working on this weekend.

After about an hour and 45 minutes we were ready to leave the interview. I guess it went well because we have homework. We have officially started our journey. We were told the waiting period could be anywhere from 2 - 4 years. They can't give specifics which we are aware of. We have prayed that God will see us thru this and we know that He will.

After the interview, we came home and FINALLY fixed our scanner. I have scanned some more pictures to shutterfly so that we can print our Family Profile aka Memory Book. We were able to look at a couple of profile books at the interview and have a new idea of what needs to be done. Michelle has started us off well with scanning our pictures from the 1st Memory Book gathering and starting our album. With the ones that I've scanned tonight, we still have a lot more to do. The ones that we saw have letters to the birth mothers in them. LOTS of pictures of the couples and their families and pets.

Until we have more information, here are some of the pictures that I scanned tonight.

Me!

Debbie, me and Andy

Snow Day 2/12/2010

Today I was off because of the snow. Arthur had to go to work because they have a class starting this weekend.

I decided to get up and go play in the snow. I have pictures to follow. I just keep thinking I can't wait to get our little one so we can show him/her how to build snowmen, to make snow angels and to have a snowball fight.

Our house!

Biscuit being introduced to snow - she didn't like it too much!

Ammunition for when Arthur comes home!

He only thought he could hit me.

He even moved in closer and thought he could hit me.

But he couldn't hit me because I'm camoflauged!! Yes I am wearing his hunting coveralls, waterproof boots, hat and gloves. (Well, the gloves have already gotten soaked and are sitting the ammo bucket.)

Now it's my turn to get him.

It's the wind-up; the throw; and can you believe he caught it! Then he threw it back at me and I caught it!!!!!

Today, 2/9 we recieved our 1st phone call from our case worker, CC. She left a message on our answer machine to set up our first formal interview. Arthur got the message first and called me and played the message for me. I immediately called CC to set up the appointment. Her first available appointment is February 22nd at 4:30 so we took it. YAY!!!!! God is so good. We have put this in His hands.

As you can probably tell from the post on Sunday, the words started flowing but I didn't proofread very well. So sorry I'll try better from now on!!

Bethany requires us to have a "Memory Book" to show the birth mothers. This Memory Book is basically a scaled down scrapbook of our lives together. On Saturday, February 6th we hosted our 1st "Memory Book" gathering. Attendees, as the baby will call them, were MaMa Vee (Arthur's Grandmother), Aunt Michelle, MiMi (Arthur's Mom), Nanny (Sonya's Mom) and the both of us. Aunt Sara and Alec were going to come but Alec was unable to make it and Aunt Sara volunteered to stay with him.

We all had a very good time looking at ALL the pictures we have accumulated over the years plus the ones MiMi brought of Arthur as a child. We had lots of laughs and a lot of pictures we laughed at. I also realized during this time I have a lot of pictures that need to be put in some albums.

Before the next meeting, I need to get all the specifications for the Memory Book (number of pages). I also have to scan some pictures to my computer.

Here are some of the pictures from the 1st gathering:

L to R: Nanny, MiMi, MaMa Vee, me, Michelle

L to R: MaMa Vee, Arthur, Nanny, me, Michelle