16 pages to read...check!
26 signatures...check!
4 online adoption education courses including worksheets and evaluations...check!
2 medical exams scheduled to be completed by the end of the month...check!
3 reference letters to be completed by other people...hopefully getting done soon!
1 marriage certificate...check!
2 birth certificates...almost check.
Fingerprinting and background checks...will be done as soon as above paperwork is submitted and complete.
And a partridge in a pear tree.
We received our packet of State of Minnesota Department of Human Services forms on Feb 4. We have been pushing ourselves to get all our paperwork in for this portion of the process by the end of February. If we can meet that deadline then we can do our final on-site education course with the adoption agency in March and be assigned our social worker for our home study. If we can't get it all submitted then we have to wait until April. (Boo)
Needless to say, the last couple weeks I have been pouring over the forms multiple times reading, rereading and re-rereading (and then repeated this process about a hundred times) to make sure that everything was complete and correct. I only had a couple mental and emotional breakdowns as I was convinced that we're not perfect enough to get a child. I know it sounds silly, but man this process really makes you feel self conscious because you know complete strangers are evaluating your life and making a determination on whether or not you can successfully parent a child. Then after sleeping on it you realize that every parent screws up their child, so we'll be fine. =)
Last thoughts: In an adoption process, if you have trouble keeping a sense of humor during the transition process of when an adopted child first comes home, here is what one of our required courses suggested, "sign up for a joke of the day email service." (no joke)
