CPR for dummies

(Cris looks like he is in Child's Pose from Yoga.)

We had a really great night that started with Cris making some plantain chips and frying up some Yucca fries.

Followed by some freshly made ceviche which was yummy and then onto some Chimichangas. We were all so full it was hard to imagine getting on the floor to do CPR.

Jerel was really great at making this a fun CPR class. I am very grateful for him coming to teach us this evening. Here is a link to his website if you have a group of people who want to take CPR: http://www.lifelinkmeded.com/

The best part of tonight was just having other couples going through the same thing as us to hang out with. We are definitely 3 totally different couples but that is ok. Cris really enjoyed the evening too, which those of you who know my husband know that he is extremely guarded when it comes to making friends. I can tell he really likes both couples. He must have asked me 10 times after they left if I liked them. Any one who knows me knows that I like everyone. Cris and I are complete opposites, but it works. It is really great to interact with other couples as a couple.

So, another busy week ahead of us. Our social worker has all of our official paperwork to submit to her supervisor. That should be early next week. Tuesday we do fingerprinting again  (the first set we did was electronic and only good for 30 days). Friday I have an Office Manager Lunch, Saturday we have M.A.P.P. class and a wedding reception that evening for one of my assistants. That will be a fun evening :)

Oh yeah, and Alex starts the mural Friday!!! I should get the final sketched this week sometime! I am super excited about that!

I am going to call to move my fire inspection up, since I now have the forms.

We received an invite for a Matching Event in June up on Lake Norman. Where they bring children who are available from all over the state to meet up with prospective families. This one will be learning how to Wake Board, go tubing and other fun water activities! That should be a lot of fun! It will be great to see the kids involved in activities.

So lots going on! I am so very excited about everything.

 

Homestudy :)

So Ms. Baptiste our social worker was here for our home study!
She loved the house, the furbabies, my cooking and of course us :)
We really didn't get interrogated like I thought I was. Our social worker review our paper work and gave us tips on things we should add or take out. So many others I have talked to said how they were asked all kinds of questions. She really liked our responses and laughed at a lot of them. She knew that the adoption panel would really love our profiles. So all in all it was good. She said she knew we would get approved , which was comforting!

I got a sad email today. One of the girls we were really interested in Gabby has a family that she is currently doing visits with, so there is a very good chance that she may not be available when we are ready.
Cris & I are ok with this. We really feel strongly that what ever child we are meant to have, we will have.

On a funny note... my friend Leigh had this on her facebook status... It looks like a hilarious book :)
I am sure lots of my friends know this feeling!

http://moms.today.com/_news/2011/04/26/6534646-want-another-bedtime-story-sweetie-heres-one-go-the-fk-to-sleep

Moving right along

Lots of great things happening now! Our Background checks cleared!!! Yay! Not that I was worried...but you never know. I have been know to marry a weirdo or two. hehe. So now that I know Cris isn't a wanted felon we can move on:)

Our home study is Tuesday at 5:00! That worked out perfect, I have Monday off for Easter. So I will be steam cleaning the rugs and mopping floors. I normally do that stuff over the weekend, but my pups can get the carpets dirty in a day or two. I have been organizing closets today.

Our social worker Ms. Baptiste is awesome and I will be cooking for her since she is coming at 5:00.
Oh, what to make??
Skillet Lasagna and fresh baked bread and salad? BBQ Chicken and potato salad and corn? I so many great recipes. I guess it will depend on the weather so I can see if grilling is even possible.

Friday Alex starts on the mural, the dogs get groomed and we are hosting CPR at our house for 2 of the couples in our class. That will be cool.


Well, I need to get out into my garden to plant seedlings. We have tomatoes, cucumbers and a bunch of herbs :)

M.A.P.P. class 3

We are more than half way through our M.A.P.P. training. Yea!!!! Today we  did our medication certification...yippee. Nothing too exciting. After class we went top Brixx for lunch with Leigh Ann, Jerel, Michelle and Mark. We had a great time. We really like getting to know them. The class has been good, but meeting them has been the best part!

We get 2 weeks off from class due to the Easter holiday. It will be nice to have a break, but I would prefer to keep on pushing forward. I am hoping to get our homestudy scheduled this week. Michelle & Mark just got their scheduled for this coming week. They started back in the fall, and were waiting on this class to move forward. Considering that we just started in February, we are moving right along.

I have been researching lots of benefits that she will be eligible for. I found that in NC any child who in foster care and/or adopted after the age of age 12 is eligible for up to 4 years of college in any NC State school. Including tuition, room and board, a laptop and books and supplies.
What a fabulous benefit for these kids! Whether or not we adopt Gaby I think this is just awesome.
Another program I found that I think is awesome is through OFA where they send care packages to kids who have aged out of foster care and are in college. http://orphan.org/what-we-do/programs/care-packages/
This is something I am going to get involved with myself.

We have a crazy few weeks coming up. We get our girls furniture tomorrow!! I am really excited and will post more pictures tomorrow once in the her room. We have stuff going on the next 4 weekends. then 2 weeks off and then our cruise!! Yay! We are going to the Bahamas with my brother, sis in law and niece Taylor. We can't wait to spend time with them!

M.A.P.P. class 2

We had class again today. It was a shorter class, which was nice.
We discussed things like attachment, how to look for underlying reasons for behavior and appropriate ways to discipline. There are so many discipline techniques that biological families that are not acceptable for an adoptive child. I am sure that after we have our daughter and their our issues that people will have their opinions of how they feel that we should discipline her. However, she will not be like every other kid out there and forms of punishment that may work for someones biological child won't work with a child who has been in foster care.

Since class finished early we went to lunch with 2 other couples. Leigh Anne and Jerel and a woman named Michelle and her husband. They are also adopting. It is nice to talk to people going through the same things we are.

I found out that the finger printing we did through the Sheriff's Department are only good for 30 days. That is a bummer but the good thing is they will have finger printing the first Tuesday in May in the evening where we take our classes. So, it will work out fine.

We also need to have CPR. I am certified, but Cris is not. Luckily Jerel is a CPR instructor, so we are going to get together for an evening of dinner and CPR..fun fun!

Not next weekend but the weekend after I am going to try to do the furniture exchange. I can't wait to get the furniture for her room!!!

Monday I have to call and try to set up for a fire marshall to come and inspect our residence. It is crazy the amount of things we have to do to adopt. I totally understand, but it is a little frustrating when almost any idiot seems to be able to have a child, but we have to have every aspect of our lives tested and analyzed. Imagine how few people would be on this earth if they had to go through all of this to get pregnant.

Need Your Help- What are your favorite inspirational quotes?

Hi everyone! Alex came to check out the room and brainstorm with me. She came up with a great concept.

Starting with something similar to this on one wall having that wall represent night 

Then in the corner will be the cherry tree flowing over the window with a quote wrapped into the tree like a vine....That is just a starting point for an idea.

So this is where I need everyone's help. What are some great quotes that you like that will be inspiring for a child???

Leave a comment with your suggestion :)

Bedroom Set

I am super excited. I am trading the new queen size mattress that is in my spare room for a twin bed and mattress and dresser with one of my girls at work :)

She also gave me a cute pink side table and a wall decal that is chalkboard material :)

I think I am just going to have the mural on just one wall, leaving the other walls the cream color that they are now until "She" gets here and can decide what colors she wants for those walls.
 Lord knows if we do get an older girl the walls will be covered with Justin Bieber.... Oh Jeez...

Here is the furniture...

First sketches of the Mural

Alex has been working on the original sketches for the mural. I love what she has done so far.

These are just first drafts. We are getting together Thursday for her to see the room and discuss this more.

There will be lots of cherry blossoms and a quote that we are working on...Alex has some ideas.

I love how happy he looks running :o)

And I love dragonflies!!

I think all these things will be cool no matter what age.

You can see more of Alex's art and photography at Portrait Art For Pets and Their People

5% of all her proceeds go to local humane societies.

M.A.P.P. Class One

So our first class was today and amazingly we made it on time! Those of you who know my lovely husband in person know that Cris is on "Ecuadorian" time...which means always late. He has been so great through out everything so far! We are in a class with about 28 other people. Class was interesting and very interactive. And the participants definitely took part. Which is nice!

Class started with a 5 minute presentation of Foster Care and Adoption through the eyes of a child ... it made me cry. I am such a sap. Today's discussion was mostly about how children end up in Foster Care.
The class is filed with people from all walks of life and some are there to be Foster Parents and some for Adoption. I know I could never just be a foster parent, I would not be able to keep unattached enough to not be broken hearted when a child goes back to their family. Most  of the people seem cool, I was surprised at how many people were much older, many were grandparents. Those people were there to do Foster care. There were a few couples that want to adopt. I meet some cool people which I can see becoming good support for each other through out the process and after, once we are all thrown into being families. Cris and I clicked with one couple in particular... Leigh Anne and Jerel. And I also liked this other couple Mary Elizabeth and her husband Roger...they are adopting for the 4th time. Mary Elizabeth grew up about 30 minutes away from where I did. Leigh Ann and Jerel seem to be the most like us . They are dog people like us :o)
Most people seemed to be looking for children around 6. They told us that 93% of the children in the system right now are African American with an average age of 11. And that they also work cases for the older children first. Since we have a range of 6-12 I am hoping we will get good placement in line.

I am glad we finished our million question profiles because we received homework... another 23 essay questions.

I have a little editing to do on my scrapbook, but overall I am very happy with it!
Waiting to hear back on our fingerprints and then we can have our home study.

Cris is still interested in pursuing the surrogate route using his sperm and a donor egg in Ecuador but is going to hold off for a couple years yet. We are going to concentrate on this now and then eventually look at expanding our family either by surrogate or adoption again. I get nervous about the surrogate route because we would have to deal with Immigration again, and that was nerve wrecking getting Cris his permanent status. But we will cross that bridge when we get there.

Cris had to go into work for a bit, so I think I will work on editing the scrapbook :)

M.A.P.P. Starts tomorrow :)

Yea, we start our M.A.P.P. training tomorrow. I am super excited to start with that!
It will be nice to be around others that are going through the same thing we are too!
I hope that there are some fun people there.

As far as the mural goes, Alex has still been working on the sketches for me. And she has them ready to go over with me. So far she has a cherry blossom tree and a schnauzer. I can;t wait to meet up with her and see what she has. I think that those things will be generic enough that it won't matter if "she" is a 6 year old or a 12 year old. We can change the look of the room with the furniture we choose and bedding and accessories.
I am getting so excited!

So we are waiting to hear back on our FBI and SBI fingerprint checks, but I am sure they are fine. 

I am just so please at how easy things have gone with everything. I know that God already has our daughter picked out for us! :)