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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Final Home Study Wrap-up

Our final home study went well! Chris was sick with a cold but held it together :) E (our SW) arrived on time and we got down to business. I think the entire process lasted just over an hour. First we spoke as a couple and then Chris went upstairs to the bedroom to rest while E finished my one-on-one interview. After that, I gave her a tour of the house and then we spoke again as a couple. She had positive things to say and reiterated that she would definitely let us know if there was any chance we wouldn't be home study approved. The only possible glitch is our debt to equity ratio which my be a little debt heavy. She'll discuss with the agency's director and let us know if we need to pay down a little more debt before we're approved. I think it will all work out.

I wasn't nervous about meeting with E. My biggest concern was making sure the house looked "good". We're not dirty folks but we have a lot of stuff and clutter that we'd been working on getting rid of pre-adoption. It's great that the house part of the home study is done. I feel like I can finally breath a sigh of relief! And, it's nice to have free time that isn't interrupted by thoughts of what I should be doing to get ready. There are plenty of boxes in our closets that still need going through but at least now we can pull one out, deal with it, and keep moving forward.

Another great thing that happened was I had a draft of our profile book printed. We used the reprographics company used by Chris' university. They have a good reputation, do quick work, and are pretty affordable. We'll send the draft to the agency and await their feedback. Once that is received, we then have to make 25 copies of the book along with 25 additional copies of our dear expectant parent letter. All copies of the letter have to be hand signed and then delivered to the agency along with the profile books. We're looking at a cost of $500+ dollars! Somehow that was an expense we hadn't budgeted for, but what are you gonna do? How many copies of your profile book did you need to provide to your agency?

All that's left to do is to start working on the nursery. There are still a few boxes and items that need clearing before the room can be painted. I hate painting but it will be far cheaper if we do it ourselves. Luckily the room is not that big :) I think it's safe now to start getting a few supplies since we expect to have our profile active in the next few weeks. I'm thinking a few diapers, onsies, and pajamas. I definitely want to get a travel system (car seat & stroller) and a bassinet or cradle for our room sooner rather than later. This is the cradle I like.  It's only $69 and recyclable. Oh yeah, we still need to find a pediatrician and check out daycare options. What was I saying about free time?

J.

5 comments:

Contumacy Singh said...

Good entry. Yikes. More shopping to do. ;)

Sweet Patience said...

Congratulations!
25 copies of your profile book! Wow!
We only had to submit 2 copies and one hard copy for the agency. I put mine in a scrapbook type photo albums (one chocolate and one yellow).
Ours looked more like a book and it was printed professionally since hubby is corporate Advertising/Graphic Designer. We inserted the pages inside of the scrapbook/photo album. So, we were blessed with not having that expense. They were very pleased with our profile. She just asked us to shorten the dear birthmother letter to two pages I think due to the time that some of the birthmom's do not have when they are reading it.

Yes, we purchased the travel system to have something in the event of an early match. However, we actually had time to pretty much finish the nursery. I think that it is wise to go ahead and purchase basic necessities that you know you will need. You do not want to rely on a shower for receiving everything right after you have a placement. It is just not smart and I have had several friends to adopt before me advising to make the smaller basic purchases while you are waiting and working on the adoption.

You want to be able to enjoy your new baby and not have to worry about going out spending thousands of dollars at one time or going out purchasing things to get you through when you have a placement. I think people don't realize how overwhelming it is until they go through it. I took the advice from friends who already went through it.
I tried to cover all bases and get the items that we needed so that we would feel comfortable for a while and not have to have a shower until we were settled in.
Happy Shopping! Let me know if you need any suggestions.

joyce said...

Hi SP! Your profile book sounds beautiful. I checked out the pictures of your nursery and all I can say is wow, it's gorgeous!

We'll probably start getting essentials before we work on the nursery. I know it seems sort of backwards, but in the event of an emergency placement situation, I want to be ready with a few things. Plus the room is small and can be painted in a weekend. The baby will sleep in our room for awhile so we'll have time to fully decorate the nursery later.

joyce

Sweet Patience said...

Essentials are great. Stock up! Try to catch Target when they have wipe refills for dirt cheap and all of their bath essentials marked down. I am also a bargain shopper, I purchased onsies, sleepers, pack and plays, and bibs etc from stores that have name brands for less. You will accumulate a good a month after a short while and you will not feel it in your wallet!
Enjoy!

joyce said...

Thanks SP!