It's becoming real!!

Well, in the last day or two this really has become real! We had a final interview with the adoption agency and he expects to have our home study done and approved by the end of October! So amazing! Thank you Lord! As if that weren't enough, three days later we had our home inspection with the County (finally, right)!! It went swimmingly. All the obsessing actually paid off and was really quite necessary. Even Tom repeatedly said thank you for my craziness as if it hadn't been as such we would likely have needed more visits! 

So, now, our Social Worker says we should be licensed by the end of the week! WOW!! Now, I know this just means we are capable of caring for a child but it could still take months before we get placement. This is still very true and i'm trying not to get too excited, but it is hard not to at this point! 

Additionally, Tom started his volunteer work at San Joaquin Hospital and met a few social workers who were there to take custody of a child being born. He passed along our names, which I am hoping will speed up the process! Please pray for us in this time. I know the right child will come along in the right time, but it is certainly hard to be patient! 

Since we now have the go-ahead (basically), I finally assembled the stroller and car seat (they were just chilling in the box). So strange to be so close! 

For those curious about how much of my obsessing was necessary, here are the things I know now that I didn't know prior:

• Fire Extinguishers (only necessary if you are licensing for special needs kids)
• Alcohol doesn't need to be behind lock and key unless you're going for teenagers
• they didn't comment on the outlet plugs, but they were all there, so maybe it wasn't necessary
• Having the deadbolt and lock on the handle to the garage was sufficient, but we did have to have the majority of tools locked up or out of reach for children
• They didn't check for bag clips for food in containers (I know others who did though)
• All poisons MUST be behind a lock (combo or lock and key), even in the garage. 
• They will open each and every drawer and cupboard to check that it is either safe or has a child safety lock on it. 
• kitchen trash can needs a lid
• if you have dogs, make sure all poop is picked up, all holes filled in and no loose boards or junk in the backyard. 
• you will have to open and close all windows in bedrooms (to prove they work)
• They will test your water temp. At it's hottest it should read between 105 and 120. If it is outside this range they will tell you to adjust your water heater and may or may not require a second visit to test it. For us this meant having it on it's second to third lowest "warm" setting above the "vacation" settings.  

With all that said, it was much less painful that I suspected (although partially due to us being so overly cautious). Most of the time was us sitting down and waiting for the social worker to check all the paperwork and go over everything. 

Mostly, I'm just happy we are done with this portion of the process and are now just excited to be open to a child. I have had my phone glued to me since the social worker left! Hopefully soon we will be a family. :D