Our Homestudy Visit

Welp, yesterday was the big day! Our caseworker came for our home walk-through, interviews and to go over the safety check-list. We had time and she had time so we did the whole interview process yesterday (I think...?). We did our couple and our individual interviews. We filled out more (very intimate/personal) questionnaires and told her our life stories. She walked through our home and answered lots of questions I had about stuff. She is really laid back and cool so we were not nervous at all (except for the few minutes before she got here)! I'm glad we got someone who is comfortable to talk to and be around. I think she'll be great to work with.

From here we have some more forms and paperwork to fill out, get some copies of documents, etc. and then we enter another waiting time. She'll write up a review of our homestudy/us and her colleagues will read that and kinda "approve" us (they'll bring anything of concern/question to her and she'll clear things up with us), THEN it will go on to getting approved by the board or directors (not sure who actually does that) which will mean we'll be licensed...but that meeting only happens once a month and I'm not sure when. :/

We're hoping to have all of our stuff turned in by next Tuesday and then we'll just wait for their side to finish up to know whether we get licensed or not. I'm guessing it might be the end of this month or the beginning of next month when all that happens (I least I hope it's that soon!). THEN we wait for a placement for who knows how long! :) 

Thanks for all the love and prayers!

Date Night

We have a date!! We have a date!! We.Have.A.Date.
Ok so it's not really at night but still...WE FINALLY HAVE A DATE! :) A date for our caseworker to come to our home and start the home study process. Eeeek! I'm excited and nervous all over again! It's next Wednesday at 11am so if you could, please say some prayers for us as we start another part of this licensing process. Thanks.

I was beginning to feel very discouraged about this whole process. A call on November 17th to start this next step and then nothing for over five weeks...*sigh* I know Christmas must be such a busy time for them but we are so ready and that stall just wasn't fun. I'm sure that is one small stall in what will be tons throughout our foster care journey but like I said before, we're working on our patience still. :) I wasn't going to call again until next week (to make sure the holidays were out of the way!) but Benjamin decided he'd call today in case she was in the office and she wasn't (or at least didn't answer)...BUT she called him back and now we're set for next week. Yay!

I'm still working on getting the house ready and finished. Thankfully we have a copy of the home safety checklist so I can make sure all of that is in order. I'm working on some art for the foster room so I'll show you that soon. :) Hope your holidays were  merry and bright!

The Crib

After months of looking for a crib on craigslist and always finding them too late...we finally have a crib. :) It came with a mattress...but that mattress smells like cigarette smoke and leaves a gap all the way around the edge. I'm buying a brand new one today...to save effort and ensure we get a good one. So much for a deal, I could of bought this same crib new for the same price. Ah well, you live and learn.

Speaking of finally finding a crib...um, we have a crib in our house! It's a welcomed (and slightly panic-inducing) sight to see when I'm walking down the hall. :) We are so excited but (I'm guessing that) just like if I were pregnant...there are SO many unknowns, that sometimes it's awesome and sometimes scary. I'm a ball of nerves and excitement all wrapped up in one these days.

We heard from our caseworker back on like the 17th...and haven't been able to get a hold of her since then. I know caseworkers are extremely busy so right now we're just waiting for directions on what the next step is. We still have a ways to go before we get approved (or not) but I wish it would speed up! I'm ready to be in the waiting for a child part. From what I've read though, SLOW is a theme in foster care. So I suppose patience must be one of the many things we'll learn from this journey. 

ps-we have a crib. :)

Dresser Re-Do

I'm working, slowly but surely, on decorating and setting up our foster room. Thankfully, we have been able to leave that bedroom empty since moving here this summer so it at least doesn't need any cleaning out! I've been storing some things in the closet but mostly it's just baby and toddler items I picked up this summer at yard sales.
After shopping around (mostly on craigslist) for a long dresser to makeover and use for the room and never finding anything I liked, I decided to makeover a tall dresser and nightstand we already had...which also saved us money. :) 

I sanded everything slightly...and I mean slightly.

I used white Krylon Fusion for Plastic to spray paint everything.
(I needed 4 cans and it could have used one more coat but I was done!)

After the drawers dried, I used Rust-Oleum Ultra Touch in green apple. 
This brand covered MUCH better and went on smoother. 

I also painted the hardware with the white spray paint...but I forgot to take pictures. It seemed to work fine.
Obviously, I don't use any of these yet but the paint seems like it will stay on well so I didn't cover it with any type of sealer/coat. This project was SO easy. I'm dying to find something else to spray paint now! I LOVED how they turned out!