Our Foster to Adopt Journey Part 3

April 4, 2016  was the first day of Michael's spring break, and I was working, babysitting the boys. It was just like any other day and the last thing I expected was THE CALL!! 

                                                     

But that is exactly what happened! Mid morning the boys were outside playing and I was getting their lunch ready and my phone rings. I recognize the number as DSS, but it still didn't register that this may be IT! 

I answered and our case worker identified herself and then said something else that I couldn't understand. So I just waited for her to say something else. Then she said, "Katie, are you still there?" I had to admit that I hadn't understood her and could she please repeat herself. She replied with, "Your family has been selected!!" I was definetley in shock! 

But very excited!!

She then put me on speaker phone with her supervisor and they started giving me details about a baby boy, Baby J!  I wrote down everything they said as fast as I could. Then they asked if we could come in to the office on Wednesday of that week to go over everything and get more details. I told them it shouldn't be a problem, but had to make some phone calls to Andrew, the lady I babysit for, since I was supposed to work, and my mom to see if she could watch Michael. I called Andrew first and he was excited, and said lets do it! Then I got the other phone calls taken care of, and called our case worker back to tell her that Wednesday would work and we would see them then! 

For the next two days we prayed a lot for the baby, the situation, and how this would work out for our family. We didn't tell anyone, since everything was still up in the air and undecided. 

On April 6, 2016 at 9:00 we had a meeting at the DSS region 1 adoptions office. We met with the adoption supervisor, the baby's case worker, our case worker, and her supervisor. We went over all of the information for the baby and learned everything about his case. 

There was no question in our mind, we were ready to move forward! 

                            

So we signed the papers stating our intent to adopt him!! He is not legally free to adopt yet, since the termination of parental rights hasn't been signed. So we had to apply to be foster parents. That meant filling out a lot of paperwork.

But we left the office expecting a baby boy would join our family within the next two weeks!! 

Over the next two weeks, we were trying to keep life as normal as possible, and not spill the beans. With foster care, things can change at any moment, so we were a little guarded, but still very excited! 

On April 7, 2016, our Foster license paperwork was filed.

On April 12, 2016 our Foster license was approved! 

Then on April 14, 2016 we found out that we would be meeting baby J on Saturday, April 16!! They asked that we not bring Michael with us to the first meeting, but we would also get to see him again Sunday April 17 and that is when Michael would get to meet his baby brother! Then we get to bring him home on Monday April 18!!

I also texted with Baby J's current foster mom, and she sent me pictures!! Finally getting to see that precious face was incredible!! Oh how I wish I could post them here for everyone to see! 

Now that we knew when we would be meeting him, we go to tell Michael that he was going to be a Big Brother!!

                            

We knew he would be thrilled, since he has been praying for two years for a baby brother, but we also wanted to make it special for him. So on Friday April 15, 2016 we planned a campout for Andrew and Michael. We made a campfire, cooked hot dogs, drank "bug juice", then roasted marshmallows for s'mores. While sitting around the campfire we told Michael that he was going to be a big brother and he was so excited!!

We knew he would be an awesome big brother!

                                            

                             

Now that it was more official, and Michael knew, we told our closest friends and family. Everyone was so excited for us. 

Up next, meeting our son!!

Our Foster to Adopt Journey Part 2

                                                 

So as of April 18th, we had done everything we needed to do. 

We had heard rumors about DSS sending out letters to potential adoptive parents about them suspending the adoption program for 6 months! We never got a letter, so I called. I was told that if I was supposed to get the letter, I would have received it. Since we didn't get one, I took that as a good sign! 

The DSS office was having some  major employee turnover problems, and we were without a case worker for several months! 

And for 4 months we didn't hear anything! 

Finally in October we got an email from our new case worker! We had been assigned to a certified investigator (CI)! That meant we would finally be starting our homestudy!! We also scheduled our fire inspection and a Inspection with DHEC had been requested! 

November 12 we got a phone call from our CI to set up a homestudy visit. She would need to do two visits total. We scheduled the first one for November 20th. 

November 17 we had our Fire inspection and we PASSED!! One step closer! 

On November 20 we had our first homestudy visit with the CI. She interviewed both Andrew and I together, and then separately. She also took a short tour of the house. We also scheduled her next visit. 

On November 30 we had our second homestudy visit. She only interviewed us together this time. Now we just had to wait for her to write up her report and get it to DSS. 

Plus, We were still waiting for DHEC to schedule their inspection. 

By now, we have been in the adoption process for a year! 

On December 11 we got an email from the CI saying that she was finished with our homestudy and sending it in to DSS! 

By this time, I was getting very frustrated with DHEC so I called our case worker to find out what the hold up was! She said that they are behind, and it had to be scheduled within 90 days of the request, which meant it had to be done by January 28th. Well, I didn't like that answer and called DHEC myself. I spoke with a very nice lady and she said she would write an email to the person who does the inspections to see what they can do. So we waited...

On January 4, 2016 we finally got a phone call from DHEC to schedule our inspection! It was scheduled for January 20. 

So on January 20, DHEC shows up for their inspection and of course, we passed! 

Now all we were waiting for was DSS to finish going over our homestudy and approving it. 

On January 20 I also got an email from a new case worker, yes we got another one! She informed me that we needed to update some of our paperwork, and sign some new papers, since a bunch of ours would be expiring the next week! So we took care of all of that over the next few days. 

On January 25 we got a copy of our homestudy to review. DSS had finished reviewing it, so it just needed our approval. We made a few changes, and clarified a few things for DSS, and sent it back. 

February 2, 2016  we got an email stating that we had FINALLY been approved to adopt!! All we had to do now was go sign the papers! 

On February 4, 2016 we went to the DSS office to review and sign official homestudy. We are officially approved to adopt!!

                               

So then the real wait started!! We were waiting for the phone call saying that we had be chosen!! 

DSS was sure to tell us that we wouldn't hear from them unless we had been chosen. So just because we weren't getting any updates, didn't mean things were not going on behind the scenes! And that was so hard! Just waiting and never hearing anything. 

Up next, the phone call we had been waiting for...

Our Foster To Adopt Journey Part 1

The foster to adopt journey is completely different then private adoption! I knew that going in, but I had no idea just how long the process would actually take.

 (I'm going to break this up into several posts, since this will be very lengthy)

Let me take you back to 2014. Andrew was going on a mission trip to Mexico to work with orphans. Michael started asking for a baby brother. And I started to get the baby itch. So I asked Andrew to pray about expanding our family and to come home from Mexico with an answer. You see, we were very happy as a family of 3. Michael was, and still is, a great kid. And we felt so blessed to have him! But we knew Michael needed a sibling, we just weren't sure when. 

Well, Andrew came home from Mexico no more inclined to grow our family then he did when he left. So, we waited. I wasn't desperate for another child, so I was pretty happy to wait. 

Fast forward to November and Andrew tells me that he thinks he is ready!! I couldn't believe it! It was the furthest thing from my mind, but I was excited to start the process of adopting again. We knew that we would go through the foster care system this time. We have several friends who have done it, so we were pretty familiar with how it worked. 

First thing Monday morning, I called the DSS office and told them we would like to start the process of adopting! They referred me a third party agency, who was in charge of doing all of the intake paperwork and the training. I called them and got our initial application submitted the same week! The lady told me to expect the approval process to take 8 months and I thought she was crazy! I just knew we were going to have it done in record time! Ha ha ha!! Little did I know...

We got assigned to a case worker, the first of three, and she called to set up our orientation class. This was the end of November, so I was thinking we would be able to be in the next month's class. Well, it was already full, so January 26, 2015 would be our first of many classes. (Remember that date, because it is very important!) 

During the month of December and January, all we could do was wait for orientation. I called our caseworker to ask if we could go ahead and fill out the application, but she said no. So we waited. If you haven't noticed, waiting is definitely going to be a theme in this story.

January 26 finally arrives and Andrew and I go to the orientation class at the DSS office. 

                              

At the orientation, we learned all about the adoption process and how things work through the foster care system. We were handed a giant folder full of forms to fill out and sign. Background checks, fingerprint forms, SLED checks, and of course the giant 15 page application for each of us. 

That next week was full of medical exams for all of us, TB tests, fingerprints, and taking the dog to get shots. We also scheduled our all day trainings for two weekends in February. 

We spent Valentine's Day 2015 in training all day, and also spent the next Saturday in training all day.  

                                                  

After our 14 hours of training, we still had to do a adoptive families training. When I called to schedule that, the next available class wasn't until April 18, so I scheduled it, and then we were back to waiting. Over the next month, we completed our 15 page applications and got all of our paperwork together, so we could turn it all in when we went to our last training. 

                                                       

                                 

April 18 we went to our Adoptive family training at the DSS office and we also turned in all of our paperwork. 

                                 

Since all of our training was done, and all of our paperwork was complete, all we had left to do was our fire inspection, our DHEC inspection and to be assigned to an investigator so they could do our homestudy. 

Things were moving along, and it looked like we would be finished before that 8 month time frame. Or so we thought...

To be continued...

Baby J is 15 Months Old!

Today, our sweet baby J turns 15 months old! When Michael was a baby, I did a monthly post about everything he was doing and how he was growing. Well, we missed out on the first 15 months, but now is as good a time to start as any.

                                                     

Baby J, you came into our lives only a week ago, but we love you so much already! You are such a fun, happy baby, and are busy busy busy! You are so active and you don't ever sit still! Here is what you are up to:

- You have 12 teeth! And to be honest, I'm ok with he fact that I missed those sleepless nights of teething. 

- You eat and eat and eat all day long!! You love spaghetti, refried beans, Cheerios, puffs, goldfish, applesauce, oatmeal, cream of wheat, and yogurt! You still eat some baby food, but we are giving you regular food everyday to see what you like or don't like. So far you don't like cheese. 

                                                       

- You wear a size 3 diaper. 

- You are in size 12 month clothes and the 18 month clothes are really big on you. 

- you weigh 20 pounds and are 28.5 inches tall. 

                                                         

- You are an awesome sleeper! You go to bed around 7:30pm and wake up a little before 8:30am. You also take a 2 hour nap. We try to get you to just take one nap a day, but sometimes you fall asleep in the car if we go somewhere in the late afternoon. 

- You love the dogs!! You squeal every time you see them! We are working on being gentle with them. 

                                                            

- You love your pacifier! You would suck I but 24/7 but we are trying to get you down to car rides and in the crib. 

- You have done awesome with this transition to our house! 

- You love your Daddy! And get so excited to see him walk in the door after work every evening. 

                                                           

- You have met all of your grandparents and lots of other family. You were also very popular at Church on Sunday. 

                                                            

- You had your first chiropractor appointment today and did great! He adjusted your neck, back and hips. Hopefully this will help with all of the snot!

                                                             

- You love your big brother, and just smile at him every time you see him. You love to wrestle with him! 

                                              

- Your favorite toys are balls! If you have a ball to throw or kick, you are one happy kid! 

- You don't say many words, but you can say Dada, ball, and mama!

                                                              

I can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next few months! We love you and are so thankful that God chose us to be your parents! 

Introducing Our New Son...

Last Monday, we welcomed home our second son.

                                               

Since this is a foster to adopt situation, I can't share details about him, his name or his beautiful face. So, for the time being, you will have to look at his beautiful curly hair!

                                               

He is almost 15 months old and is a very active little boy! Michael is super excited about becoming a big brother, and loves his little brother so much! 

We have actually been in the adoption process through DSS for over a year now! We are thanking God for this beautiful new blessing! More posts to come about our sweet Baby J!

Snow Day Fun!!

Well, we had a little bit of some snow and ice on Friday/Saturday and we ended up with a snow day on Friday and Monday.  

We had a layer of ice on top of a couple inches of snow.

 It didn't make for great snowball fights or snowman building, but it did make for great sledding! 

Flash wasn't too sure about the snow. 

While I was washing dishes, Flash found a nice napping place! 

We had fun staying home for a couple days, but we were glad to see it all melt and get back to our regular scheduled. 

Meet The Newest Member of our Family!

I would like to introduce you to Flash, our new Yorkie-Poo Puppy!

We got him on Wednesday, January 13th. He was a complete impulse buy! And has turned out to be such a great decision! 

As you can see, we are a little puppy crazy over here! He is the sweetest little puppy! Potty training and trying to teach him not to bite is what we are trying to focus on right now. All is going well and we love our little Flash Max Wolff! 

Pie Face

For Christmas, Michael got the game Pie Face! I forgot to buy the whipped cream before hand, so we couldn't play it on Christmas Day. But he wanted to bring it to the Wolff's on Sunday and play with them. We had so much fun and everyone got a turn getting pied!

I was the first to get it and I just laughed and laughed. 

Uncle Mike got it!

And Michael got it!

Papa and Maggie both got pied too! Aunt Amy took several turns, but never got the pie face! 

After posting the videos on Facebook, mom asked me to bring the game to Becky's house on Nee Years Day. 

Everyone had so much fun getting pie in their face! 

Becky

Mom

Leilani

Jalen

Dad

Michael

Several others got pied also, like me! 

What a fun game!