Home Study Meeting #2, Boys eat Thai food

March 3, 2008


My meeting with the social worker went very well today. She doesn't bite! The first thing she asked me was Have you ever been arrested? I said No. She said Are you sure you have never been arrested? I looked at her like what do you know that I don't. She said, littering, trespassing anything? I said No, really. I've never been arrested. I was a little scared seriously racking my brain. She finally explained herself. I guess if I was arrested in Indiana, it wouldn't show up on the 3 police checks we've done in KY so far but it will show up on my federal check which we'll do sometime in the next month. Yikes - I think I was instantly sweating! Hoping the hour long interview wouldn't be like that. Fortunately, it wasn't.

For our home study we are only waiting on a couple documents. That's great - considering we only became aware of most of the list 16 days ago! The social worker told me she was going to do the majority of our report the last week of March. We have to give her all our documents by 3/20 so she can do that. She said she'd do it faster if time allowed and she had everything so I hope to give her all the documents by 3/15. We've scheduled our home visit for April 7th so the report will be amended for those items (talking to the kids and checking out the house) and we'll review it along with Holt simultaneously. 5-6 weeks is pretty good for a home study.

Update on the boys' thoughts - We've started a new tradition - Eating at Thai Siam as often as we can afford to - and by that I mean pocketbook and waistline! Chris and I love the food so we're likely to come home from Thailand weighing a lot more than we left the states if we aren't careful. Matt tried everything we ordered and liked almost everything. He's very excited to eat the real stuff. Mark (poor Mark) is convinced he'll starve to death while he's there! We encouraged him to try the plain chicken (Satay) but his only comments were... "that's not like Kroger chicken, that's not like McDonald's, who knows where they even get their chicken? 2 whole weeks. 14 days. On my." While trying not to laugh at him, we assured him that Burger King and McDonald's are international companies. With any luck - we'll find a pizza place too! And we will take food with us. How many Ding Dongs should I pack???

In the meantime I'm reading Toddler Adoption which is a great book. Mary Hopkins-Best keeps it real - sometimes too real. It's been a huge help in learning what's ahead for us. Although none of the families interviewed in the book adopted their toddlers from Thailand, it's still very relevant. I highly recommend the book if anyone is considering adoption.

So we talk about Little M everyday. We are less nervous and anxious than we were a month ago when I started this blog. Our social workers are great and very responsive to our questions and requests. With all the Easter dresses out, it's hard not to imagine how old she'll be, how big (or little) she'll be, and what color we'll buy! Oh, by the way, the lady in front of me at Gymboree today spent $183 on one bag of pink and purple clothes. I nearly fell over. My 2 "Easter" polos were $19 (total not each)!