File Read & First Visit!

We headed down early Tuesday morning for our three hour drive to the adoption agency.  We spent FIVE HOURS in a tiny room reading through the kids' files, writing down any information that we thought we might need in the future or that the kids might someday want.  There were six thick files, we got totally through three and leafed through the other three.  There was a couple of surprises but nothing that would scare us away (although it might have someone else).  My eyes were exhausted!

At 3:30pm we headed to the foster family's house (30 min. away from the office) to meet the kids.  The foster mom had done an excellent job of preparing the kids (to the best little ones can be prepared for this) and all the kids were excited to see us.  We spent the next three hours playing with the kids and showing them the picture book and book with CD (with my voice) that we had brought for them.  We ate dinner with them and then played a little more before leaving to head home.  I think that the kids are doing well so far...T(2) loved to have Mike hold him and they would growl at each other and then laugh, G(3) took redirection from me very well when he was pinching a sibling and A(5) introduced us as her "adoption" mommy and daddy to a visitor to the house :)  A is VERY talkative and wants us to be talking or reading to her at all times.  Both boys are delayed so they aren't speaking much (that we can understand anyway) but they make up for it in movement...those two are busy, busy, busy!

A transition plan has been made.  The girls will join us for a weekend in the town that the kids are in this weekend.  We will stay in a hotel and visit the kids in the foster home first and then take them on our own during the day.  Then next weekend we will travel down to the town again to spend time with the kids while the foster mom packs their stuff up.  We will be bringing the kids home with us on the 10th.

I think I'm still in shock that this is really happening :)

Lexy and Brooke each wrote a letter to the kids and we mailed it last night in hopes that it will make it there before we see them this weekend.

Mike said last night at (our) bedtime "in a couple of weeks bedtime won't be this peaceful"...I said "no in a couple of weeks bedtime will be the ONLY peaceful time".  But we wouldn't have it any other way :)