"Birthing" Again

Has it really been 15 days since my last entry??!!! Wow!!! And so much has happened!

Keith was out of town for all of last week. I think that's the fifth time in a month, thanks to his company's merger. So needless to say, I'm tired. I didn't sleep well again while he was gone. Three hours one night...five on another...and so on.

BUT...

Here's the coolest news!

Keith & I finished up our adoption classes. Then we filled out gobs of paperwork & passed our home study with flying colors. And along comes Saturday.

Saturday...yesterday...was the day the adoption people had a meet-n-greet for prospective parents. You had to have been fingerprinted & had a background check, and completed the above requirements to make it into this m-&-g. It was held at Gameworks, a restaurant & gaming center (which Keith's company coincidently owns) here in Ybor City.

The way the m-&-g was organized was quite interesting. Parents-to-be were asked to put on green t-shirts provided. Name tags were handed out. The green shirts were a cool way to identify us for the children who were up for adoption. I love the way they make the parents stand out & not the kids. That way they won't feel awkward. You know how kids are! Coffee was available, an agenda was handed out, and science boards were covered in photographs of all the kids available, including ones that didn't attend. Parents were sent to a conference room for a welcoming & orientation. 

 We were split into three groups according to numbers on our name tags. The first group stayed in the conference room, and they played a game with the kids in age range approximately of 6-12. The second group (ours) went to the gaming floor to meet the kids in age from 13-17 (our preference). The third group went to the restaurant to meet with the kids in ages 0-5. After a given amount of time, all adult groups rotated to the kids to meet a new age group. It was an excellent idea, since some parents come thinking they want a child...say, age 5...but may actually fall in love with a child...say, age 10.

Something like that happened to us.

We went with the expectation of adopting one, although we went with an open mind on numbers...sort of. We said, "Weeeeeell, maybe two."

We fell in love with THREE. And they are TEEN SIBLINGS! The oldest boy is 17, the sister is 15, and the youngest brother is 14. They are the sweetest kids! They want so badly to be a part of a family. How can we say no?? Especially when the young lady asks you, "Do you want us?". When I answered that yes, we would be interested, she rushed me over to her case manager. Funny how things work...her case manager knows the childrens' counselors knows our case manager knows our Guardian Ad Litem attorney who happens to work with us..and the GAL atty says,  "ya know...those kids are some of our kids we are working with". What a small world, huh?? Could all be in our favor. We hope so.

So now we are looking at how to do our bedrooms. We have five of them, and two bathrooms. It'd be great to have another bathroom, but we've made do with what we've had before & four kids home at a time.

For the first time, I'm trying to think how it will be with another girl around the house. I have two step-daughters, but both in their 30s. They were already grown & married & had kids by the time I came along. Keith & I finished raising our last four boys. Well, almost. The last two are still home, ages 13 & soon-to-be 15.

I was standing in Victoria's Secret yesterday, examining a new bra they have...something that feels like soft, slick styrofoam (very strange!)...when it occurs to me. I'm going to have to buy undergarments for a girl. What about other clothes & earrings & fingernail polish & purses, oh me, oh my. And dealing with monthly hormones. Lordy! I have enough to go around for the both of us! Just ask Keith! He thinks it will be good for me, though. Maybe so. I'm just used to raising boys. I never really cared about what sex of a child God gifted me with. But I'm not ignorant to girls, being a school teacher. And I know what CAN come along with all those teen hormones, boy OR girl.

So this could be an interesting journey. After all, this is the 15 yr old girl...soon to be Sweet 16...who said to me,

"I've always wanted to be a momma's girl. Is that ok with you?"

 

 

Tags: adoption, Guardian Ad Litem