Home Study Visit

Our social worker came this afternoon at 2:00 for our home study visit. We were a little nervous but a lot excited to be one step closer to getting our paperwork done. She wanted my mom and dad to also come to the visit. I had arranged with my sister Shannon to come get the boys around 3:00. Social Worker had told me she wanted to visit with them for a little bit before they left. She met with Robert first since she had not done his one-on-one visit yet. While she and Robert visited, Blake and I played in his room. Barrett was still napping. She and Robert talked for about an hour. In the meantime, Barrett had waken up from his nap. Before Shannon came to get the boys, Social Worker talked with Blake. She asked him if he knew why she was here, if he knew what adoption meant, if he knew where the babies lived before they come to live with us. He knew the answers to all these questions. He was so serious and polite as he listened and talked to her. She talked about how his sister was going to be his real sister and be in our family forever. She talked about what she was going look like and even brought a book filled with pictures of babies from China. She also told him about China and how far it is and how crowded it is. After she and Blake talked, she asked if he knew where his sister was going to sleep when she came to live with us. He told her, "in Barrett's crib", at which point he offered to give her a tour of the house. He took her around to each room and told her all about them. He even tried to show her my closet. He looked inside and shut the door quickly and said, "Mommy's closet is kind of messy". While Blake and the social worker were talking, Barrett was running around the house like a crazy boy! He kept climbing up on the couch and sitting right next to Blake while he was talking to the social worker, trying to act as big as him. Shannon came to get the boys and took them to her house to play. At that point the social worker spent the next 3 hours talking to Robert, Mom, Dad, and I. She talked about how our baby might act, why she might act that way, what life is truly like in an orphanage, and what her mother probably went through. She gave us a lot of wonderful advice and insight in what the first 6 weeks will be like with her. She also told us wonderful things to consider when it comes to her eating, sleeping, and attaching to us. My heart truly breaks for these babies and what they have to endure. It is absolutely horrible and it effects them for the rest of their lives. We walked away from the visit with our eyes even more opened thanks to her wonderful way with words and her knowledge.

Here are the boys before church this morning.

Daddy and Blake waiting for the social worker to arrive.

Daddy and Mommy waiting...

She just needs a few more documents from us before she can write up her report. We are moving along slowly but surely...