4 home study visits

We just completed our fourth and final home study visit a week ago. The whole process was quite in-depth. With out going into too much detail, I will do a short recap of each of the visits. Each visit had to be scheduled at least one week apart. 

Visit 1: Friday, March 15 at 2:00 pm.

A large part of our first visit was spent going over the questionnaires that Travis and I filled out the week or so before. It involved lots of questions about our childhoods, relationships with family, friends, and each other. We both felt we had a lot of positive things to say about our upbringings, and feel very blessed that we didn't have any major issues that needed to be addressed.  

The boys were supposed to be napping during the visit, but I made the mistake of telling Ayin we had a meeting. Oh, did that bring on the questions! Unfortunately, he didn't fall asleep before the social worker arrived, and heard her come in the front door. Needless to say, Ayin did not take a nap that day and Travis and I took turns tending to our curious 3-year-old. It's funny now, but we learned our lesson. No telling Ayin anything, and make sure he is fast asleep before the next home study visit! Thank you to Jhett for being a good napper!

Visit 2: Wednesday, March 27 at 8:30 am.

This visit took place at the agency office, with the kids at my sister-in-law's. We started out talking together about some of the same things. This visit had a much more serious vibe and we addressed some more serious topics. Trav and I each took turns meeting with the social worker individually. I'm not sure, but I am guessing they were looking for consistency among other things. With out going into everything, this was definitely the most intense of all the home study meetings. 

We are thankful for a soveriegn God with a perfect plan. All of the adoption roller-coasters remind us of this very thing!

Visit 3: Friday, April 5 at 8:30 am.

This was the only visit where the boys were asked to be present. The social worker wanted to observe us as a family. It was pretty entertaining to watch her ask our 3-year-old questions about his family. She asked Ayin what things we liked to do together. It was pretty cute when he said he liked helping his daddy make pancakes for breakfast. When she asked him what he liked about his little brother, Jhett, he just said "I don't know". I guess we should be thankful that he didn't say anything worse...Ayin and Jhett have a love-hate relationship these days.

Our social worker also did a "safety check" of the house, checking things like smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, water temperature, and the general layout of the house. It was a lot less stressful than it might sound. I think we passed. 

Visit 4: Friday, April 12 at 2:00 pm.

We made SURE that Ayin was fast asleep before our visit started. And I did not make the mistake of telling him about it. This was the shortest of the visits, only 45 minutes. It was basically just a review of some of the things we covered. We also finished our "Special Needs Questionnaire" that we had started the previous meeting. This is an extensive list of medical issues that a child could possibly have, where we had to mark "yes", "no", or "willing to discuss". This was probably one of the harder forms we have had to fill out. We tried to be as open as we could, realizing that many things deemed as "special needs" might be easily addressed in a developed country. And so many medical issues can vary in the degree or severity, so we ended up marking "WTD" for a number of things. If we put "no" for any health issues, we are not legally able to adopt a child with that specific issue without making an addendum to the home study, which would cost us more time and money. For that reason, we tried to be as open as possible. 

The home study was a lengthy and in-depth process, and frankly I am glad it's over. Now we wait for our social worker to type and finalize our home study documents. She said it could take up to a month, but gave herself the goal of April 29th. 

Once our home study is finalized, we can begin working on our dossier (packet of paperwork) to send to the country. This process involves a lot more paper work, including getting the bulk of it sent to Pierre to get state-sealed. It can take some time to send things in, get things back, etc. The estimate to get our dossier complete is 5-6 months. Yuck! I want to do this like yesterday, but international adoption is not for the impatient. Oh wait, but I am extremely impatient....oh boy....

Well, in the mean time it's actually great that I have been very busy getting ready for this rummage sale next week. 
We also still have plenty of baby blankets if you are interested! 

Thanks for your continued support and prayers. We truly need them!

new blankets coming

Well, we have our fourth and final home study visit this afternoon. I will plan on doing a post to recap all of the home study visits sometime soon. Hopefully this last visit is short and sweet. I am ready to move on to....you guessed it! More paper work! 

In the mean time, I am keeping busy with preparing for the Kingswood Rummages to start in a week and a half. Click HERE to read that post.

I have also been working on a new round of baby blankets so I have a good supply when we have our rummage sale. Click HERE to see that post.

Here are a few pics of some of the new fabrics I have washed, ironed, and cut. They are ready to be sewn, ironed and sewn again!

Add caption

And here is my bin of completed blankets, ready to find homes!

Click HERE to see a picture of each blanket individually.

Kingswood Rummage

Thanks to some friends of ours, we will be having a rummage sale during the Sioux Falls Kingswood Rummages! Our sale will start Thursday, April 25th and continue through Saturday April 27th. 

At the following address:

2208 South Sheffield Ave.
Thursday, April 25th: 9:00 am to 8:00 pm
Friday, April 26th: 9:00 am to 8:00 pm
Saturday, April 27th: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

How can you help?

• Come shopping! Here is the listing of just some of the items we will be selling: Amish-made kitchen table w/ 4 chairs, antique vanity, dresser w/ mirror, end table, LOTS of baby and children stuff, toys, Bumbo, toddler bed, women's clothing, shoes, wood bench, TV, microwave, treadmill, weight bench, eliptical, kids bikes (6 of them!), toy kitchen, bike trailer, high chair, hand-made baby blankets (by yours truly), hand-made wooden crosses (thanks Scott and Seth), cupcakes and cake pops by The Mad Baker and much more!

• Bring your donations! You can drop off your donations the days before our sale on Tuesday or Wednesday (April 23-24) at Sheffield Ave. We could also use any clothing racks to borrow if you have any. Items that tend to sell really well: anything baby or kid related, furniture, brand-name or like-new clothing, collectibles. But anything works! One man's trash is another man's treasure! 

• If you would like to get your donations to us earlier (if you just want your stuff OUT), I can come pick them up, you can bring them to our house in Tea, or you can drop them off in Travis's office at Embrace Church (labeled RUMMAGE).  I will be borrowing my parents pick-up for a few weeks starting April 16th, so I can come get larger donations at that time if you don't have a way of transporting them to Sheffield Ave. You are welcome to price your items yourself, but I anticipate doing the bulk of it. Please mark all items with a "W" next to the price if you do decide to price your own items.

• If you would like to help price and organize the days before the sale, just let me know. Or if you would like to help during the rummage sale, whether it be for a few hours or all three days, you can email me at jessicarwaltner@gmail.com. 

• If you don't have any furniture, kid stuff, or misc. to donate, we would welcome any snacks, pop, bottled water, or baked goods to sell during the rummage. Anything that is individually packaged would be great. We won't be selling any hot foods, as that requires additional permits from the city.

• Pray! We would love your support through prayer. Pray that the adoption process continues in a smooth and timely manner. Pray that the rummage sale is a fun event for all parties involved and that it would be well worth the effort. Because this is A LOT OF WORK! :)

Check out the Kingswood listings at www.kingswoodrummage.com. They will be available staring April 19th. 

spring cleaning

Happy first day of Spring!  Kind of hard to tell around here. Remember last year? People were getting sunburns and out planting their gardens by this time. Crazy.

Along with spring comes spring cleaning! For me, that means some deep cleaning...like pulling out all the appliances and sweeping up the Cheerios, crumbs, and nastiness that managed to sneak its way under there. Dusting the top of our 1 ceiling fan, cleaning the tops of the kitchen cabinets, cleaning windows, and maybe even reorganizing a closet or two. And the garage. And the basement.

 

It also means getting rid of our junk and clutter that has built up over the winter or over our last move or over the last 20 years... 
Getting rid of clothes the kids have outgrown or toys they don't need after making a haul at Grandpa and Grandma's during Christmas. Maybe we read the book "7" by Jen Hatmaker and are inspired to give away a bunch of STUFF that is just taking up space or collecting dust and maybe someone else can use it. If you are anything like us, you have one of those extra deep closets and you have no clue what's in the back of it. So why keep it? (I ask myself)

 

Well I just might have an idea for you! This summer we will be having a rummage, garage, yard sale. SO, if you are one of those people that do have a few things lying around you would like to donate (get rid of), we would be happy to accept your donations (stuff, furniture, clutter, etc).

 

Tea Pot Days are the weekend of June 14-15. We are planning on having a second rummage sale that weekend. We have found a gracious host for the Kingswood Rummages in Sioux Falls the end of April. See that post HERE.

Our sale hours will be:
Thursday, April 25th: 9 am to 8 pm
Friday, April 26th: 9 am to 8 pm
Saturday, April 27th: 9 am to 1 pm


How to donate:

I can pick up your small items/bags, just send me an email. (jessicarwaltner@gmail.com)

You can bring your large and small items to our house any time and we will store them in our garage.

You can bring your small items/bags to church and drop them off in Trav's office (please label your bag RUMMAGE).

If you have any large items or furniture, I will plan on borrowing a pick-up for a week or so and can come get those items at some point.

If you would be willing to volunteer your time in the weeks before and the weekends of the sales, we could use extra hands pricing items, setting up tables, and bargaining with shoppers.

check it

We finally have our home study visits scheduled! The first in the series of four will be this Friday afternoon on March 15th at our house. 

Here is the checklist of all the paperwork we had to complete before we started the home study. 

The FBI fingerprints/background checks were what kept us waiting to begin the home study, as they take about 8 weeks to process. Not to mention one of our personal references...but they will remain nameless. :)  

I have to admit I loved putting a check mark in front of each form as it was completed. Sometimes when I make my to-do list on an especially productive day at home I will add things that I have already done just so I can check them off! I am so cool.

This is our adoption binder to help keep us organized through this process. So far I have made copies of all of our paper work and keep it in the binder in case we would ever need to refer back to it. Our agency also keeps several copies on file for us. I have also put all of our training resources and handouts from classes in here along with random things like maps of Uganda. 

For our finances, I started making a list of "money in" and "money out" on the back of a piece of scrap paper. Travis assured me that was lame and was quick to make me an Excel spreadsheet with the proper "credit" and "debit" columns. It took him about 2 minutes to set it up and it's probably one of his top 5 favorite things to do. Being married to a nerd has it's perks I guess. ;) 

I have put a few of these notelets around the house to remind me of God's provision and faithfulness and to hopefully help me to memorize some verses.

One of the two verses by my nightstand, and no the other one isn't from Song of Songs. ;)

A couple other verses are in our kitchen and on the bathroom mirror. 

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

blankets

bringing.blankets.home. INVENTORY

 Blanket Inventory:

Since I have had several requests for people to "take a look" at the baby blankets, I have decided to post pictures of all the blankets I have left. At the end of the post, I also took pictures of fabrics I have paired together that will be sewn into blankets. If you like one of the fabric pairs, just let me know and I will make that blanket next! When I sell a blanket/receive a donation, I will take that picture down. :)

Click HERE for the original baby blanket adoption fundraiser post with details.

The Flannel Swaddler:

multicolored animals: orange/white chevron (boy)

green/gray birds and trees: black/white birds (neutral)

purple paisley: purple/white checker (girl)

pastel green/orange/gray/brown animal: green (boy)

 gray/red/white/turquoise bike: turquoise (boy or neutral)

The Baby Minky:

pink/green/yellow park: brown minky (girl)

  

pink/white flowers: brown minky (girl)

Blankets To-Be:

I also have some fleece to make a couple of child-size fleece tie blankets if anyone is interested.  My boys have a couple of these and they are great for naps, winter car rides or sleep-overs! Super-warm!

yellow/pink/orange owls: black/white dots

jessicarwaltner@gmail.com

book worm

Just a little recap on what we've been up to lately. We have been doing a lot of reading, online classes, and other things to help prepare us for this adoption. I'll share some of the things that have been keeping me busy. 

I recently read these 2 books:

Adopted for Life focuses on the Bible's perspective on adopted and how we as Christians are all adopted in to God's family. The author also shares his story of adopting two little boys from Russia. A very solid book!

Travis and I recently rented this movie: Somewhere Between

 

This awesome documentary tells the stories of 4 girls from 4 different families who were adopted from China and currently live in the United States. You can see the trailer here. It's pretty emotional at parts but SO good. I will definitely be purchasing this DVD and making my family watch it with us again. Sorry family. ;)

Voddie Bauchman Adoption Sermon

Friends of ours, whom I have mentioned before, recommended this sermon about adoption. This is the second thing I have "stolen" from Becca's blog but I don't think she will mind me sharing. Sit down with a cup of coffee or cocoa and get comfy because this hour-long message is definitely worth your time! 

One of our training requirements was to complete 10 hours of online classes through Adoption Learning Partners. The classes that Travis and I did are as follows: 

Adopting the Older Child

Conspicuous Families

Finding the Missing Pieces: Helped Adopted Children Cope with Grief and Loss

The Journey of Attachment

Medical Issues in International Adoption

I thought all the classes were really interesting and helpful. Some of the information was review from our other training. But it never hurts to hear something twice. 

A few other books I have read or am in the process of reading over the last few months: (I do have a bad habit of starting several books at once)

Did I mention I am also in a book club that meets once a month? I think we are meeting next week and I haven't even gotten the book yet. But our book this month is about a failed abortion that lead to an adoption and based on a true story. Sounds like a tear-jerker and something right up my alley!  

Well that about does it. But of course all these books pale in comparison to my Bible. Even though a lot of the books I have read stem from the Bible, they can never replace time in the Word, time spent with God. 

I should also mention that I have been sewing more baby blankets if you are interested. Click here for more information. If you would like to see some of the new designs, just ask!