Gathering all our documents for Application B

We have started to gather all the necessary paperwork for Application B. This step includes getting "offical" copies of our marriage certificate, both our birth certificates, medical information from our primary care doctor and a health insurance waiver that we have health insurance with Con Edison. We also had to send out our request for letters of reference from 5 people. We really need 3 but we figured if we asked 5 people we would be guranteed to get 3 back by the deadline of May 23rd. We had to chose people who have known each of us for a minimum of 2 years and they couldn't be related to either of us - sorry family members but that's why we couldn't ask you.

We are hoping to have our first meeting with Jennifer - our social worker - next week - May 2nd and then we offically begin the home study part.

We have to get fingerprinted in the next week or so! I called our town police station and they said no problem - as long as they don't have anyone under arrest!!!

So we are progressing - I can't believe it's only been a month since we went to our adoption information meeting with Wide Horizon!!!

We're PREGNANT!!

bet that got your attention! We received news yesterday that our application has been sent to a social worker and we will begin Part B - the homestudy - it's true we are considered "pregnant" or we finally have seen the BFP on the pregnancy stick!!! So excited that we can finally say those words and smile!!!

Our social workers is - Jennifer out of the Pittsfield,MA office. We've already met her at our adoption information meeting and she was just great so we are excited to be working with her! We think it's going to be a good fit!!!

In the world of adoption our "pregnancy" could last anywhere from 9 months to more but just like a pregnancy it gives us time to prepare for the children we will be matched with and get ready to be parents of 2 small children!!! If you think about it's the same thing most pregnant couples are doing with one small exception - I'll still be trying to lose weight NOT gain anything during this pregnancy :-)

So this news means we have begun the next step in our adoption journey. This is the part with paperwork, interviews, FBI clearance, fingerprinting and many, many more things to come.

Thank you for all the warm wishes and thoughts, please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move forward to realizing our dream of becoming parents.

Application A done and in the mail

We finished the first part of our adoption application with Wide Horizon on Thursday night and put it in the mail on Friday along with our first check!!! This was probably the easiest application part - the next steps are more involved and require the documents to be done by others (doctors, birth certificates...govn't officials) and will need to be notarized. As you can guess when you are dependent on others for paperwork completion it can get a little tricky with timing and hoping others are doing the quick turn around you'd like!!!

Our next step is Application B - this is where a social worker will come in. Hopefully we will get our referal to a social worker in the next few weeks and then we begin the homestudy process!!! Fingers crossed that our path to parenthood continues to go smooth.

It came in the mail Wednesday

When I got home from work last night I was so excited to see that our application from Wide Horizon had come in the mail!! WOOHOO - so excited!! Stephen and I gave it a quick glance over to see what questions we would be answering and decided that we would spend time doing it Thursday night. We needed to call the WHFC office to ask a few clarifying questions about financial assests and current residences of family members. I want to be sure that we do it right the first time so we don't have to do it a second time - can you say OCD!!!

Once we complete Application A and mail it back we get a referral to a social worker and then the real work begins!! This is such an amazing step for us!

Registration Submitted

We submitted our registration application to Wide Horizon for Children today!!! This is the first step in the adoption process and now we wait to hear back from a social worker and receive the "official" application which begins the paperwork trail!!

We knew we would be going with WHFC (Wide Horizon For Children) after our adoption information meeting on March 29th but wanted to wait until I had a chance to meet and speak with our new friend Amy Josey. Amy is Jess's sister (Jess is my hair stylist and my sister Sara's friend). Amy and her husband, Brian, are part of the WHFC family and adopted their two sons from Russia 4 years ago and she had such wonderful things to say about WHFC and the staff!!!

So WHFC is the agency we are going to work with and we are excited to begin this next step in our journey to become parents.

Our First Step

Well, as many of you know we've been trying for some time to add a child to our family. Unfortunately, we got some news in March from our reproductive doctor that made us take some time to reflect on whether we wanted to be "pregnant" or just be parents ... no matter how it happened.

After an impromptu trip to Orlando, Florida (the happiest place on earth) we decided we really want to be parents and we've decided to explore adoption both domestic and international.

We attended our first Adoption Information meeting on March 29th in Pittsfield, MA and we are excited to begin this next step in reaching our dream to become parents. We are considering both dometic and international adoption - specifically Russia where we would be able to adopt siblings and add 2 children to our family at one time.