We Love Garage Sales and Craigslist

And the waiting period officially begins...

I know, I know, I have mentioned the waiting period as if we were "really" in the waiting pool, but I swear now we are officially waiting. Hurry and wait - that has been our motto and our life lately. Now that the paperwork is turned in, our family book is complete and sitting on agency coffee tables and baby gear is being collected from garage sales and craigslist - we have an opportunity to be carefree and revel in spending time with each other and our lovely pup, Ursa. The calm before the storm as the saying goes.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we just got back from an adoption class weekend. I could tell you all about how amazing it was, the incredible stories we heard, the extremely useful advice we received, the inspiring people we met, how much the class confirmed our commitment and excitement for this journey and so much more, but instead I am going to share some powerful words with you that I think reflect some of the important lessons we learned last weekend.

Adopted Children's Rights
From Making Sense of Adoption by Lois Melina

1. Children have the right to know who they are and how they joined their families, and how to grow up knowing the truth.

2. Children have the right to freely ask questions and express their feelings about being adopted.

3. Children have the right to a positive attitude about their birth parents.

4. Children have the right to be accepted as individuals with a unique genetic heritage.

5. Children have the right to be recognized by society as full and equal members of their adoptive families.

6. Information about our children's origin is private and belongs to them. They have the right to choose to share certain information.

7. Transracially adopted children have a right to a positive sense of racial or ethnic identity.

These are important rules to live by and David and I are committed to them as I hope you are too.

Now off to get some more weeding done in our garden before the sun goes down. I love summer.

A new look

Hello out there in blogger world. It has been a long time and now we have a new look, but don't you worry it is still about the same great adoption. Things have been fairly quiet in our adoption world, which we are very grateful for. We finished our interviews for the homestudy and it has been turned in to the agency. The next big milestone is our class which is coming up in two weeks.

There has been a lot of talk about the class and we are really looking forward to it. First, we will meet other prospective adoptive parents in our area. It has been amazing connecting with all of the bloggers out there. We love being part of a community even though we don't see you face to face (just screen to screen)! It will be equally amazing to meet some folks in person at our class.

In addition to meeting new folks, we also are looking forward to hearing the panels...adoptive parents, adopted children, adopted children from a transracial adoption, the list goes on. Hearing the stories will be amazing. We also are reading books that are required by our agency. Here is our reading list:

Making Room in our Hearts by Micky Duxbury

Inside Transracial Adoption by Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall

20 Things Adopted Children Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge

Family of Adoption by Joyce Pavao Maguire

All great books!

We have been enjoying sunshine and dry summer weather here in Oregon and haven't had much time inside. Our vegetable and flower beds are producing copious amounts of food and beauty and we just couldn't be happier right now.

Must run outside and pull more weeds before the sun goes down. Pictures of new crafts soon!

We are in...let the crafts begin!

Yesterday we had our final interview with the social worker and officially got the approval that we are now done with the home study! Great news and so relieving that that part is over. We already finished our family book as you all have seen, so we are just that many steps ahead. Things are moving fast and now we are just busying ourselves to get ready for our garage sale in July to raise some money.

One other thing that has officially begun is my craft season preparing and nesting. Check out the pics below of some of my beginning projects...

Here is the diaper bag made from an old skirt and two retired curtains






Here is the bird mobile for the baby's room...





Here are the collages ready for framing...





More crafts and pictures to come. I will just say this...my knitting is out of control!