Adoption Class

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

We attended our Pre-Adoption III Class on Saturday. The only other couple there was adopting from China. They turned in their paperwork 7 months before we did, so they are well ahead of us in the wait department. At our class, we discussed being a multi-cultural family and what that entails, the adoption tax credit, stupid things people will say to you in public in front of your kids ("How much did she cost?" is one example.), among other things that have slipped my mind at this exact moment. There were also 2 guest speakers that were adult adoptees. It was an interesting class, especially hearing from the folks who were adopted as children and how they view adoption today. One had a very open family, who talked with her about adoption all her life. Her adoption "story" was one that they built on through time and gave her age-appropriate information as she went along. She has adopted 2 children as well. The other lady's family did not discuss adoption that much with her when she was younger, and she grew up feeling that her birth family did not love her and that is why they "gave her away." She also recently found out that she wasn't her adoptive parents "first choice." (very sad) We like the idea of the "adoption story" and building upon it as they get older. I guess we need to get busy with our "story." There will be no doubt that our children are adopted, but we want them to know that they were loved by their birth parents and are loved by us as well. We plan to do life books for them with their "story" included.

We had some additional paperwork notarized yesterday (Thanks, Eleanor!), so we are well on our way to being finished. I faxed that notarized paperwork to the agency to be reviewed to make sure that everything is in line. I just received an e-mail saying that everything looked great, except for one thing...guess which documents those were...yes, the documents from the police department! UGH...please read below post to hear that story. The notary expires in September, and our agency says that they need more time than that. I have a call into her now to explain the fiasco and to see if she has any idea of how to combat that problem. I may have to hire a traveling notary to go with us to the police station and do it all over again. What drama...

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day this past weekend. Have a great week!