Update

Just another update for everyone.

We obtained pictures of our very clean house and of ourselves. We use shutterfly and print the photos out at Target which is soooo simple and perfect for us not to mention people can view them online. And no, I did not get paid for that commercial.

I wrote my Autobiography but I'm sure I'll be tweaking it for a few days. We received some answers from our agency that we were waiting for so that was good. I was starting to worry about the customer service aspect but I am feeling better now.

We gained access to our agency's Yahoo group so now we can follow everyone else's progress, see pictures, and even get people to take pictures of our child once we get a referral.

We finished the pre-adoption education courses so that was good.

We picked up a few things for our daughter today cause KB Toys is going out of business here and everything is 60-80% off. We got an African-American ballet teacher Barbie doll and another African-American cheerleader doll, a posable type, bigger than Barbie. We are planning to have all races represented with toys but these were kind of no brainers since they were on sale and even though it is getting better, we just don't find toys representing various ethnicities all the time.

Elizabeth

First Home Visit

Wahoooo we got our first home visit over with. Of course we cleaned the house like crazy, it needed it. Our social worker is VERY nice and thank god, she likes dogs. She was originally going to just interview Bill but then decided to go ahead and do the long interview with both of us. This really threw Bill off because he thought it was just going to be him and he was getting really distracted by the dogs. Luckily she said the dogs were fine and he and I were relaxed which made the dogs relax into the couch lumps that they normally are. She asked us a bunch of questions about us, our home, our families, our experience with kids, our motivations, our hobbies etc etc. Next week she meets with me and then on 2/6 she will meet with Bill and Josh. Today we also accomplished getting photos of ourselves, medical insurance confirmation and the Troy police department was nice enough to write a letter confirming that we have never been arrested. And because the house is soooooo clean I took photos of it and I am going to have those printed tomorrow so we can turn them in as well.

Thanks to everyone who has supported Bill and I over the past few days in which we both freaked out about this visit!

Elizabeth

Adoption Education

Almost done with the pre-adoptive education requirements and I thought I would share a list of the topics covered...

Attachment and Bonding
Behavioral and Mental Disorders
Culture and Identity
Effects of Institutionalization
Effects of Stress in Early Life
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Malnutrition
Prenatal Exposure to Drugs and Maternal Smoking
Sensory Integration Disorder
Special Regional Considerations
Travel and Transition

Now I know they have to prepare us, but coldn't they come up with one cheery/positive topic??? =)

Draft of letter to Liberian government

As part of the process we have to write a letter to the Liberian government explaining why we want to adopt from their country, not why we want to adopt. I drafted a letter tonight and sent it to the agency for some guidance before finalizing it. I don't know exactly what they want to hear. I don't want it to sound like we are "saving" her because I don't think that is the case. But we are definitely giving her a whole different kind of life and a bunch of opportunities.

Anyway, the draft is below - Elizabeth

Sunday January 13, 2008

To Whom It May Concern:

When we decided to grow our family through adoption we embarked on a long process of researching and learning. We investigated adoption programs across five different continents before determining that Liberia was the right program for us. Liberia is the country that makes the most sense in our heads and feels right in our hearts.

When we discovered Liberia was an option for us we began researching more about the children and the country. We were both previously unaware that freed African American Slaves had colonized the area, what a unique history! We were very intrigued by the similarity of the symbols of Liberia and America and the long history between the United States and Liberia. We feel that as Americans we should reach out to Liberia since the country has been supportive of the United States. As we read the stories of war and human rights atrocities our hearts went out to the people of Liberia who have watched their beloved country deteriorate.

Then we began finding stories about Liberia’s journey toward healing that has begun over the past few years. The citizens of Liberia are bravely working towards restoring their country but face a long uphill battle. Your country is growing very quickly and has a large youth population and we are aware that many Liberian families struggle to care for their children. If we are given the gift of a Liberian daughter we will spend the rest of our lives raising her to become a smart, successful and beautiful Liberian-American. We will not forget our daughter’s homeland; our plan is to continue to give back to Liberia in honor of our daughter. We will also encourage her to learn about her homeland and will support her in honoring Liberia in any way she sees fit.

Sincerely,

William Sevigny and Elizabeth Harding

Kinda Discouraged

Elizabeth here: So everything I am reading says that over the past few months the Liberia process has slowed down. I did my research fully and it really would have made sense to go with a smoother program like Ethiopia but I really feel strongly that Liberia is the country for us and Bill agrees. So I guess we just have to have faith. All the stories I have read have resulted in the families getting children, but it seems to be taking 18 months or so. Soooo ideally we could have her this year but it kinda looks like by next summer as long as things don't really change again. There are just so many unknowns and everyone has such different experiences that it is difficult to figure out what an "average" experience is. I'm waiting to get access to our agency's yahoo group, I'm hoping once I get on there I will have more of an idea on timelines from other people adopting from the same place. Not to mention increased support.

On a happier note, the Patriots just won and are now 17-0 we just need 2 more wins!!

Small Town Life

Troy is tiny and has nothing going on. We really only wanted our social worker to come to the house once, on her last visit. But now she is coming here all 3 times because there is nowhere else to meet. The first visit she just meets with Bill so Elizabeth can keep the dogs out of the way. Problem is, visit 2 is with Elizabeth and Bill won't be home. She says she doesn't mind dogs at all, but I'm wondering if she will feel the same way after dealing with our 3 stooges. Not to mention, this means we have 4 days to get our house in order. And that wouldn't be an issue if it was just regular cleaning for a regular person, but she's not a regular person because she decides whether or not we are allowed to adopt.

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Homestudy Visits

Well we scheduled our interviews and home visit today. Mary, our social worker, will be meeting us 3 times. All of the meetings are between now and Feb. 6th which is really quick! We also started the adoption education classes online. They are very informative and the online format is great.

Elizabeth speaking here: I'm pretty nervous about the whole home visit thing. They ask all sorts of questions. As most of you know, I haven't exactly followed the traditional path but I am hoping they see that as a bonus because our daughter isn't going to be following the traditional path either. We have to clean like crazy. Not that she's going to care, but I do! We are also totally going to bribe the dogs with bones to keep them occupied while she's here. It would be really nice if the feet of snow covering the lawn thawed and we were able to put them on their runs outside but I doubt that is going to happen.

In telling people about the adoption we have found 3 different families that are interested in adopting, who knew that many people considered it? I think there are just soooo many misconceptions about the children and the costs. I hope some more public education happens so other people will find out that they too can adopt.

Social Worker

We got the name of our social worker today. Her name is Mary and she will be contacting us within the next 2 weeks to set up our first meeting. I sure hope she likes dogs! I did mention to the head of the agency that we had three and that a dog-loving social worker would be much appreciated, hopefully she came through for us.

Still working on paperwork. We have doctor's appointments scheduled. We are getting our financial form, criminal records checks and some other agency documents notarized this week. We are also going to be starting our adoption education, 10 hours are required, hopefully this week that will start.