We finally got word that Alex's adoption finalization has been scheduled. Praise the Lord! He will officially be a Fischer on June 3rd.
I did have a little bit of a scare today. Our social worker in Arizona let me know that there is one additional form that needs to be signed, but it must be done before we finalize. Are you kidding me? Is it possible that we will have to delay again?
Nope! Thankfully, the document that needs to be signed should arrive at our house on Saturday. We'll sign it and mail it back and it should arrive in plenty of time to be processed before June 3rd. Whew! That was a close call! We do have a few documents that will need to get to AZ by the end of next week, but we should not experience any delays.
It is a little weird to think that we will soon be done with home visits, licensing requirements, and calling in for update hearings. We won't need to get permission to leave the county (yes, county, not country). We don't need to carry a document that allows us to obtain medical services if the need should arrive.
While I am excited to be able to simply live our lives, I'm also a little nervous (and maybe a little sad) to say good-bye to the amazing support system that has been in place for the past 9 months. While we have to deal with a lot of processes and policies, we also have access to a lot of services. We'll still get some of the services, but it won't be the same. It's all on us now!
I look forward to being able to "introduce" you to Alex in two weeks!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Happy Mother's Day
My journey to motherhood was a long one. I do not for one second take for granted the title of "Mom;" a title I would not hold without a loving decision made by Brooke (our boys' birth mom).
Every year, in the midst of the celebrations, I feel a bit of sadness as I consider how today must feel for her. My mind goes back to the moment she handed CJ over to us. The tears in her eyes as she thanked us for loving her little boy. I think about the phone call asking for help with Alex, and the follow up call to let us know that she was pregnant with Jake. I reread the letters she has sent us that describe the pain and loss she feels, while at the same time the peace in knowing they are being loved and cared for.
While she will never read this post, I pray that she feels the love we have for her. The respect we have for her decision to place these boys with us, when she had other options that she could have considered. I hope that no matter what happens in her life, that she will remain in touch with our family because she is forever a part of it.
Every year, in the midst of the celebrations, I feel a bit of sadness as I consider how today must feel for her. My mind goes back to the moment she handed CJ over to us. The tears in her eyes as she thanked us for loving her little boy. I think about the phone call asking for help with Alex, and the follow up call to let us know that she was pregnant with Jake. I reread the letters she has sent us that describe the pain and loss she feels, while at the same time the peace in knowing they are being loved and cared for.
While she will never read this post, I pray that she feels the love we have for her. The respect we have for her decision to place these boys with us, when she had other options that she could have considered. I hope that no matter what happens in her life, that she will remain in touch with our family because she is forever a part of it.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Could this be it?
This morning, I begrudgingly wrote "compile licensing renewal paperwork" on my to-do list. If I'm being honest, I had been completely ignoring it for the past few weeks. While I didn't want to work on it, I knew that I need to have it started just in case Alex's adoption finalization happens after June 30th.
I got all of the kids down for their naps (yes, that's right, all three down at the same time) and I pulled out the licensing packet to start the process. As I went into my e-mail to gather a few documents, I noticed an e-mail from our case worker.
Our consent form was received by Clark County from Arizona, which was the missing piece when it came to finalization. Finally, a step in the right direction!
Our case worker gave me the green light to contact an attorney and two minutes later I was leaving a voice mail for the attorney's assistant. An hour later, she called back and I gave her the name of our case worker. Thirty minutes later, she called again to let me know that our case worker had already sent her all of the necessary documents and she was ready to prep our paperwork. After giving her a few pieces of information, she promised to have the document ready for us to sign on Friday. Once that is complete, we will wait to be assigned a judge and hearing date. Things are moving!!
Obviously, there can always be delays. I think the process of adopting Alex has proven that delays can be constant. However, I feel confident that we will complete his adoption by the end of June.
I cannot tell you how blessed I feel by the people who God has placed in this process. Our case worker is ah-mazing! Despite a heavy case load, she responds to requests and questions within the same day, whenever possible. She is flexible with visits. She genuinely cares about our case (which makes sense since she's been working on it for almost two years now). We had a great attorney for Jacob's finalization, but decided to work with an attorney who frequently works with county foster care cases. I've only been working with them for a day, but I'm already impressed. The assistant has gotten things to our case worker immediately and has been in contact with me several times today. I can already tell that I will like working with them.
This process has been tough, but the challenges and frustrations are starting to fade as I focus on how great it feels to be at the end.
I got all of the kids down for their naps (yes, that's right, all three down at the same time) and I pulled out the licensing packet to start the process. As I went into my e-mail to gather a few documents, I noticed an e-mail from our case worker.
Our consent form was received by Clark County from Arizona, which was the missing piece when it came to finalization. Finally, a step in the right direction!
Our case worker gave me the green light to contact an attorney and two minutes later I was leaving a voice mail for the attorney's assistant. An hour later, she called back and I gave her the name of our case worker. Thirty minutes later, she called again to let me know that our case worker had already sent her all of the necessary documents and she was ready to prep our paperwork. After giving her a few pieces of information, she promised to have the document ready for us to sign on Friday. Once that is complete, we will wait to be assigned a judge and hearing date. Things are moving!!
Obviously, there can always be delays. I think the process of adopting Alex has proven that delays can be constant. However, I feel confident that we will complete his adoption by the end of June.
I cannot tell you how blessed I feel by the people who God has placed in this process. Our case worker is ah-mazing! Despite a heavy case load, she responds to requests and questions within the same day, whenever possible. She is flexible with visits. She genuinely cares about our case (which makes sense since she's been working on it for almost two years now). We had a great attorney for Jacob's finalization, but decided to work with an attorney who frequently works with county foster care cases. I've only been working with them for a day, but I'm already impressed. The assistant has gotten things to our case worker immediately and has been in contact with me several times today. I can already tell that I will like working with them.
This process has been tough, but the challenges and frustrations are starting to fade as I focus on how great it feels to be at the end.
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