We got a call two days ago that our homestudy has been officially written up and as soon as her supervisor signs off on it we can go in to see it. We are really excited to see what it says and hopefully have the opportunity to find out if they have many kids coming into crown wardship. We have actually only been in the process for about 5 months which is not long at all considering most people wait a year to two years to be placed with a child in Canada. But we feel ready and hope we can bring our child(ren) home soon.

We have two bedrooms painted and have bought a childs bedroom set with a single bed and dresser with mirror. We figure at least one of our children will be in a kids bed and we will wait to see if there is a younger one that requires a crib and will get that during the transition. We also have a TON of books and some toys, so pretty much everything else we need will depend on their ages and we will not have much time to buy all of that. Luckily we have wonderful parents that will help us with all of that. As soon as we get the call with a match they could be in our home within a week to 4-5 weeks which all depends on the age of the child. Older children take longer to transition. And although they will not be in our home for a few weeks, as soon as we make the decision to adopt them we will spend time with them everyday. This could mean spending time at the foster parents so we can see their routines, going on outings with them and having them over to our place. So during the transition we will be pretty busy with visiting the child(ren), buying everything we need, and I will be sorting things out at work.

I am planning on taking 9 months of parental leave, Dave may take some of it, but it completely depends on the development of our children. I have a background in teaching and plan on working with our kids. A lot of kids in care are below their level of development since they have either been neglected or faced abuse. These are the type of children that we feel called to be taking care of and we predict they will need work/love to get to their developmental milestone. Leaving work is a big source of stress for me. We have made so many changes over the past year and I have gone from having one staff member to being responsible for that position plus 20 student council members, 2 part time staff, and 6 placement students. Over the past few months I have been without a full time staff member since they College had a hiring freeze, but today I found out I am able to replace this position which is AMAZING! Knowing I have someone to cover things if I have to leave right away takes away a lot of stress. I know that being a parent goes above any job, but it makes it harder when you love your job and have an invested interest in the people you advise. I love my staff and students and know I will not be able to completely stay away for 9 months, especially during move in.

Well that is enough from me today. I have so much more to say...but that will have to come later.

:o) Kim