Yes, I've finally started blogging!

I've been asked many times now, "Why don't you start a blog?"  And I think, "That's a lot of work and who would even read about what's going on in my life anyway?"  And then I also think, "I don't have much to write about, other than funny things my piano students say or do".  But that's all changing now!  Adoption is definitely worth writing about.  And don't worry:  if you're one of the few who wants to know the latest way my students are trying to bribe me for less homework, I'll still tell you :) 

Adoption wise, here is the latest:
We've chosen a wonderful local agency, Adoption Angels, that specializes in domestic infant adoption.  We met the director a couple of weeks ago, and fell in love with her.  That weekend, we filled out a 10-page application, which included great detail of our finances, our feelings on race and ethnicities other than our own, and our thoughts on child discipline, among many other things.  It wasn't something we could fill out in an hour.  For example, here's one of the questions we were asked:

Describe your ability to maintain the cultural or ethnic identity of a child from a different background:

And then we were given 2 little lines to fill in our answer. 

What would you have written?  Probably something better than us, which was along the lines of "We feel we are very capable to maintain the cultural or ethnic identities of a child from a different background."  Our answers to other questions were much better than this, and I promise, they took much longer to fill out.

Thankfully, we know they didn't mind this answer because 3 days after mailing in the application, we got a voicemail saying we were accepted to the program!   It was incredible, being able to celebrate that moment, particularly since we were surrounded by family when we got the news. 

Since then, we've begun Planning.  There are so many little steps, and I know I don't even know all of them yet!  It kind of feels similar to planning a wedding, which I have to admit, I loved.  The first thing we did was ask the agency to set up our home study.  Here is the way our application summarized what this is:

A Home Study is an investigative evaluation of your family and home to determine your suitability for the special circumstances of bringing a child into your home through adoption. This is an excellent learning experience as it helps you to shape your expectations and preparedness for an adoptive placement.

This is a very condensed definition for something that costs over a thousand dollars and will involve stacks of paperwork as well as joint and separate interviews for Waylon and myself.  Oh yes:  a friend recently told us that some of the questioning will be reminiscent of the Newlywed Game... as in, we'll be separated and asked the same questions to see if our answers differ.  And we should expect to share some really intimate things with the total stranger conducting the study.  Can't wait to do THAT.  (that was sarcasm ... I know you're still learning how I change font to show emotion)  Don't worry:  I'll be sure to let you know at least most of the embarrassing questions. 

This blog is getting a little long, and I want to make sure you aren't getting too bored to come back in the future, so I'll stop for now.  I'm glad you're reading :)