So far we've tried to have fun with the paper work. We've made a family tree and done time lines of important events in our lives. We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other. Grant and I are very competetive, especially with each other, so since we both had ideas of how the family tree should look we each made one. Of course once we were done we couldn't choose which we liked better. Luckily my mom came to visit and judged for us (mine won).
For our homestudy (the first step in adoption) we have to complete eight two hours sessions with a social worker. One of the sessions takes place in our house, one session each is solo. This step takes about 3 months to complete.
On April 22 we met with our social worker, Iris, for the first time. She is a lovely older woman with 30+ years experience in the adoption field. Grant and I both really like her and feel lucky to have her working with us.
On April 29 Grant and I competed in the Times Colonist 10km race. Running is something that we can't compete against each other in (at least not yet). Grant crossed the line in 43.35 and I crossed in 70.21. We are both very happy with our times and are trying to decide what race to do next.
I couldn't resist adding a picture of Qimik and his girlfriend Bailey. Bailey is about 7 months old and belongs to Grants' boss. Her family is going through a bit of chaos right now and in trying to give her some consistancy she's been spending a day or so a week with us. She and Qim get a long really well. Sometimes her enthusiasm is a bit much for him but they love to go to the beach and Qimik is teaching her how to be a good dog.
As part of our homestudy we were required to attend an Adoption Education Program. So this weekend (May 5 & 6) was our chance. It was 6 hours on Sat and 3 hours on Sun. I was working evenings and in hindsight should have taken Sat night off from work. It was a lot to digest and I'm still working through some of the information. We are glad that we went, we learned some but mostly "networked" with other parents. The program itself was a bit too general for what we were thinking it would be. Grant and I both felt it could have been more useful if it were more specialized to each country. The one part I was thankful for was a parenting video by Gordon Neufeld, he's worth looking up. He has a lot of great ideas and theories.
We took this picture on Saturday during our lunch break. Grant and I went over to the Sticky Wicket.
Oh, I guess you probably noticed my hair's different. Haha, well I've been growing my hair out for 2 1/2 years now, patiently waiting for it to be long enough to donate for wigs for children living with cancer. I was able to find a Canadian charity through the Cancer Society and shipped my hair to them this week. I was surprised to find out that it takes 10 - 12 donations to make 1 wig and it costs $1200! As for the colour, I needed a break from the brown and blonde was the only colour I haven't tried!
