Home Study Updated and Our Visit with Little J

Hi! Well, some of my stress is gone...our home study has been updated. Our caseworker came out early this morning to do our monthly supervision and updating our home study. Our home is now off of hold!

Little J's visit went well. She was totally running everywhere and jumping all over on Friday when she got here and Andy looked at me and said "I don't know if I can do this...you better think long and hard." He doesn't understand how girls get all excited and all when they get together so I had a feeling that she'd settle down once she got used to everything. We were constantly having to tell her not to jump on the furniture or run up and down the stairs. Bedtime was hard...she didn't want to go to bed...the shadows were scaring her and she was afraid of having nightmares. The weird thing too was that Baby D got totally clingy while she was here and wouldn't let me put him down. Maybe he thought she was going to get in on his territory or something, but he wouldn't go play with her or anything and when she tried to hug him, he started screaming for me to hold him. Our caseworker doesn't seem to think that they've really had a whole lot of interaction together in the home...so it will be interesting once she moves in how things settle in. Deidra and her were pretty much inseparable the whole weekend though...although Little J totally wore Deidra out. They pretty much played outside the whole time together with the neighbors and they'd come in to eat and so forth.

Saturday went a whole lot better, Little J had calmed down a lot and was listening better. She kept Deidra pretty busy and Deidra was wore out. She didn't want Little J to leave though. Little J is pretty head strong though...we had a couple power struggles and when I wouldn't do what she wanted, she told me she wouldn't come back. When I had to leave for work, I told her that I didn't know if I'd be back in time before she had to leave, but that I had fun getting to spend some time with her and that Andy would be staying with her. She said that she liked him and that pretty soon she was going to live here and that she liked it here. So, that made me feel better. I'm glad that she liked it here even though she didn't get her way the whole time. She's sweet for the most part, but she does know what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. She's also very protective of Baby D, although he really doesn't seem to want to interact with her a whole lot. Baby J bit him and she informed me "he better not ever do that to my baby brother again." Our caseworker said that if there's ever a time that we feel that we want her to come out and explain some things to her that she will. So, I think we'll be ok. The visit went well and I think with time she'll settle in pretty well.

Busy Busy...Busy Bee!

So, the latest news is that our home is on temporary hold until we get our fire inspection and environmental inspection done. We have to submit new disaster plans, get pictures of the house submitted, and turn in our room dimensions and mark which rooms are used for the children. It doesn't sound like a lot, but on top of normal every day stuff, trying to unpack, taking care of the kids and helping Deidra with homework and stuff once she gets home, and doctor visits and caseworker visits I can just feel the stress. Not to mention both boys have had their fair share of temper tantrums the past couple of days and I'm still not totally feeling 100%. But, things are slowly getting done and I finally told myself that the house doesn't have to look perfect for the inspections....just as long as what the inspections are for are taken care of. I'm not super happy about that...I like things to look nice when people come over and I stress out over it at times, but I'm just going to have to deal with it.

My caseworker stopped over today to drop off some gift certificates and she said that if we can get the fire inspection done asap, it will take us off of being on hold sooner and she could come out early next week and do the home study update so we can get Little J moved in. So, I've left messages for the inspectors so hopefully someone calls me back soon. I'm hoping to have them come out tomorrow so that we can get my caseworker back out here on Monday. I'd like to have Little J here for Halloweeen.

Now, I'm going to go unload the dishwasher and switch some laundry around, run and grab Deidra from school, and then get back here to do her homework and get some more unpacking done. Then once Andy gets home, we'll eat dinner and I'm going to make a run to Wal-mart for some things that I need to put in place from our quarterly monitoring...protective covers for the cribs/beds, toothbrush covers, and thermometers for the fridge/freezer. Then, I have to get some clothes for the boys now that the temps have finally started to get cooler. I may look for a few things for Deidra too, although I've been buying a lot for her with clearance sales and whatnot lately. But, I may look for some more jeans, skirts and dresses for her since she could use some of those. I need to get a welcome mat for the house too as well as a rug for the entry way.

Please let our homestudy be turned in soon...

The social worker that did our home study said she was going to try to have it in last Monday. This week, she told the family recruiter that she'd have it in my this week Monday. Here it's already Wednesday and I just found out that it hasn't been turned in yet. I thought it had already been turned in. It's making me nervous to wait. The family recruiter said she didn't know what was going on either and has emailed the social worker to find out when it's going to be. I hope she didn't mean this coming Monday. Please let our report get turned in this week, Abba. We are ready to receive the kids. Granted, we'll have a lot of organizing to do once we get them as we don't know who we're getting and what age they are. I'll be all set on clothes for the girls, but I don't have anything for boys so we'll have to go to the store. I have an infant car seat, but I don't have anything else besides the booster seat that Deidra still rides in. And we have a crib and a toddler bed, but we'll have to go buy bunk beds if their old enough for those. It's good that I already know what I'm getting if needed. It's just a matter of getting the kids.

Finished up the homestudy...

We passed our homestudy. She's going to write up the report this weekend and have it in to Amy by Monday. She said we will more than likely be licensed right way and she licensed us for 4 children based on the size of our home. We could have some placements as early as next week. We are excited. The homestudy wasn't bad at all either, which was a huge relief.

Thank you, Abba, for being with us through this.

Our first homestudy visit is tonight...

Our first home study visit is tonight and I am already nervous. I have butterflies just thinking about it. I know everyone gets nervous about this part. I just hope that Leslee likes us and that things go well. I'm hoping that Deidra will cooperate with her part of the interview as well. I told her last night that she needs to answer like a big girl and keep her thumb out of her mouth while she does so. So, I'm hoping that she'll do ok. Heck, I'm hoping that we all do. They tell you that some things will make you blush when you answer and we'll talk about anything and everything...anything and everything we've ever done. So, I'm really hoping that it won't be too bad.

Abba, please be with us tonight and I pray that everything goes smoothly.

Swirling around with different stressors...

Andy took off of work early yesterday since we had to be at the showroom for the house within 48 hours of signing our contract. Wednesdays we have gym, so we couldn't go today and we need to clean the house up for the home study as well on Wednesday. Anyway, we left the house and got a few minutes away and Andy says "Jess, your car is sounding awfully loud." I hadn't noticed anything before then. We proceed down the highway through the construction areas and every so often it would get a little louder. There really wasn't a good spot to pull off the highway. We were almost out to Richmond Hills and we start hearing something dragging and we notice the cars behind us are keeping their distance. We get off at the exit and pull into the showroom parking lot....yup, my muffler is dragging on the ground going right into my tire. Andy fiddles with it for a little bit and we call my Mom to see how to get it off (her working as a parts manager for the Chevy dealership has it's benefits). He can't get it...I was anxious to go in and pick out what we needed to for the house. We picked out some beautiful brick for the house and we got through about 3/4's of the packet that we had for all the options. We are planning on going out again on Saturday and bringing my Mom with us. She's awesome at decorating and I just want to see what she thinks of our choices that we made and make sure that everything we picked will go together. We have to go back and pick our bathroom and wiring choices, but we already have a pretty good idea of what we want.

They closed at 7 and so we had to leave...we fiddled around with my car some more until Andy finally got it off. Then, I just felt stressed about trying to figure out when we could get my car in as I knew that we also needed time to clean up the house for the home study as well today. I thought about calling in, but with how short-handed we are, I just couldn't do that to them. I had such a bad tension headache. Andy finally said that I could take his car to work and to take Deidra to school and he'd get my car in to get fixed. We came up with the plan that if he was still waiting on my car at noon, he'd call work and I'd leave to trade places with him so he could get into work as he had some moves he had to do today.

I went in to work and explained the situation and they were stressing about me having to leave early. I stood out in garden and felt the tension all through my back and head...I started praying and giving my stress to God to handle. It wasn't a half an hour later that Andy called me at the store...my car was already fixed and it was way cheaper than we thought it was going to be. He was going to come and trade cars with me and head into work. Everything totally worked out fine. Thank you so much, Abba, for hearing my prayers. They were relieved at work as well that I didn't need to leave early and now, I just have to worry about getting the house ready for tomorrow. I'm so nervous about the homestudy...I keep telling myself that everything is going to be fine...it's just the unknown and not knowing what to expect that makes me nervous.

Abba, I thank you for watching over us and letting the car get fixed so smoothly. I pray that we'll be able to get the house back in order within no time, and that our homestudy will go well tomorrow night.

Our homestudy will be this Thursday...

We got the call yesterday! I am so nervous, but yet excited at the same time. She seems really nice though. And the family recruiter reassured me that she was certain that everything would go very smoothly. So, that helped. We just have to give the house a really good touch up on Wednesday night before we all have to go to work and schoool again on Thursday. We'll have one more visit probably after that and then all of our stuff will be sent on to licensing. In just a couple of weeks...we'll be ready to receive our first placement(s). YEAH!

Keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly for us if you will. I see no reasons that it shouldn't, but it's the not knowing what to expect that has me all nervous. Abba, please guide us through this process and let everything go smoothly.

The e-mail from the family recruiter to our actual social worker...

"Andy & Jessica are ready to go on their home study! Hooray…let me know and I can get the file to you this evening or anytime tomorrow."

I can't believe that we're finally ready. I'm both excited and nervous...is that possible? ;-) I sat looking at their wall of pics today and it just made me all the more excited to get our first placement(s). I so cannot wait. :-) Abba, please help everything to go smoothly for us here on out. I pray for a quick and smooth home study.