CPR/First Aid Courseby Angie

Sat
8 Nov 2008
5:11 pm
3

One of the many items on our adoption application accomplishment list is to take courses in both CPR and First Aid.  Generally, these classes can be taught by American Heart Association or the Red Cross, which charges a variety of amounts of money (we were looking at a combined Adult & Child CPR/FA course that cost $80 per person).  Luckily, LDS Family Services contracts with the American Medical Response (the people who answer 911 calls and bring paramedics to the scene of emergencies) to give classes a few times a year for just the cost of the textbook – $8.50.

So, we spent over five hours today up in Concord, learning how to give CPR, use an AED, treat burn wounds and snake bites, and package an amputated body part to safely accompany the rest of the body to the hospital.  We practiced on mannequins, baby dolls, and each other.  Our trainer was named Gabrielle, and she made a very long day manage to be pretty fun and interesting. Speaking of interesting – the most interesting thing I learned today: If you are having a pacemaker implanted, you’d better tell your doctor if are a golfer, because that actually affects where they decide to place it! Amazing. Too bad nobody told me that at nine years old…

Sorting Photosby Angie

Fri
12 Sep 2008
11:09 am
2


Since we learned that one of the adoption application requirements is to make a photo collage, I have procrastinated, whined, and avoided to the fullest extremity. I finally decided  two days ago that it was time to jump in and start. “Starting” happens to include actually finding pictures of us to use in the scrapbook, so yesterday I began to collect, consolidate, and sort every single picture we have on the four hard drives in this house. I spent eight hours solid staring at a computer screen… clicking, dragging, typing, comparing, renaming, deleting, etc. etc. etc. I ended up with a headache that has persisted through the night, but have brought our photo usage space down from 14 gig to about 10!  I’ve also found lots of great pictures to use, as well as several videos that I had forgotten we ever made (lots of those are on facebook now).  I’ve included some of my favorite photos here for your enjoyment (click on each pic to see the full version).  Sorry they’re pretty random, and that I haven’t successfully figured out how to do captions!

Adoptive Couple Interviewby Angie

Fri
15 Aug 2008
1:08 pm
3

Today was the next step in our adoption process:  Jean came to our home and had an interview with both of us together.  We also gave her a tour of our condo and introduced her to Jaquie.  We did a preliminary safety checklist, and she talked about what sorts of things we need to take care of now, versus what we need to be prepared to do around the time of placement (i.e., buying a second fire extinguisher versus installing a baby gate on the stairs).  We’ll be meeting with her again sometime in October.

We have Jim’s interview and some paperwork left to do, and also the project that is most nerve-wracking of all (to me): our photo collage.  We need to put together several scrapbook-ish pages of pictures with fun captions and stuff.  Unfortunately, neither of us are very concientious photographers, so we have very few from the last five years.  If any of you happen to have pictures with us in them and would be willing to mail/email us a copy, we’d really appreciate it!

First Adoption Interviewby Angie

Thu
3 Jul 2008
12:07 pm
2

I drove up to Concord yesterday to have my personal interview with Jean – our LDS Family Services case worker.  She is so spunky and darling.  I love her already.  Anyway, it was really fun.  I was a little nervous going in, because I didn’t really know what she was going to ask or talk about, but we pretty much just chatted about life and families and the adoption process in general.  We talked about the many steps ahead of us, and also about what we can start doing already to, as Jean put it, “find our birth mother.”

It was very encouraging and we’re excited to be moving forward!  I meet with Dr. Murphy next week and, hopefully, will get his approval on things.  After that, our next step is our home study and couple interview in August.  We appreciate everyone’s prayers and support, and will keep you all posted!

Adoption Orientation Meetingby Angie

Fri
9 May 2008
10:05 pm
3

We drove up to Concord this morning to attend our first adoption orientation meeting! They gave us an overview of the whole process and we had the chance to meet a couple who have adopted twice through LDS Family Services, as well as amazing young woman who placed her daughter for adoption earlier this year. Hearing their stories was pretty powerful. The birth mother shared some of her journal entries from various points in the placement process: she is an amazing writer and expressed herself beautifully.

The initial application process generally takes a few months; I have several medical appointments scheduled between now and the end of July, so it will take us at least until the end of summer.  Actual placement can take anywhere from months to years. In the mean-time, there are lots of forms and questionnaires to fill out, background checks and home studies to complete, and even first aid and CPR courses to take. What an experience this is going to be!