Could not have been better!

Today was....amazing!  I woke up anxious, nervous and with butterflies in my stomach.  So many things going through my mind.  What if they don't like us?  What if we aren't what they expect?  What if we can't keep them happy during the visit? How will it be to visit with these children with a social worker, an adoption worker and their foster mom there?  What what what...... the questions racing through my mind on the 1.5 hour drive there never seemed to stop.
Thank goodness for the calmness of M, and the beautiful sunrise on the drive.  Ok....and maybe the crochet dishcloth for keeping my hands occupied while I made it.
The very first thing we saw when we opened the door to the foster mom "C"s house was "Star R".  He was holding his welcome book from us.  Pointing to a picture of M and I saying "you're here" "you came, you came"!  He was so excited and so happy!  Next "Star J" came bounding around the corner to see us.  They were so impressed that we were the people in their books.  We sat with them on the couch as they shared with us the books, and the pictures. What a neat experience to see ourselves through their eyes.  While at their house we got to color with them, play dolls and dinosaurs, read books, and ask about all their favorite things.  Then the workers and us took the kids out for lunch.  Would you believe they already wanted to hold our hands and be right beside us!  (We were told not to expect them to want any contact...but they did!)  "Star R" told us about Pokemon and Bakugon (sp?) and "Star J" told us about Dora.  "Star J" had the funniest eating habits sitting across from M...lol.  She would take a bite...then make smilie faces at him.  It was rather adorable. 
Both kids were so full of smiles!  When we were leaving "Star R" asked "will you stay for supper with us?"  Oh, how we wanted to.  We told him we couldn't tonite but would love to visit him on tuesday. So "Star R" asked if we would have supper with them tuesday instead. lol.  (I think they actually liked us!)  When we walked them out to their social workers car....it was really hard to say goodbye.  (Good thing tuesday isn't too far away.)  As we each buckled in a star, and gave them high-5's "Star J" asked M for a "huggie".  How cute it that!
We really could never have dreamed or hoped that our first visit with them would have been so phenomenal!  It really could not have gone any better. 
So, the next step....is 3 more visit just M and I going to their house.  Then one visit with "Star A" going with us to meet them.....then the visit move HERE!  It sounds like if the visits keep up like this...they could be living with us by the end of February!  We would have brought them home today if we could have.  But...placement protocol as it is....we have to be a tiny bit patient.

The start of forever.

So I've been introduced to this fabulous world of blogging, and figured hey, why not, its worth a shot. My intent with this blog is to keep my close family and friends informed with what is happening in our lives....without needing to post it all on facebook. Our life is going to be changing rather soon, and we don't want it posted all over the place. Don't get me wrong. I still love facebook. I will just be limiting what I actually share on such a public space. Thanks for understanding, and for sharing the specials times with us.

 So, you may wonder what has been going on....well....here is 2011 in a nutshell....
 Applied to adopt through social services. LOOONNGGG home study process, very invasive, and 30 hours of parenting classes through PRIDE training. Our bio daughter (now "Star A" for blog purposes) completed grade 5, and grew even taller...however that is possible. She got to attend sailing camp again with Navy League Cadets. And had a ton of fun with friends through the holidays. Now... to end of the summer....we got put on the Provincial Adoption Registry through Social Services our home study was complete, and we were ready for the next step. Now fall, and "Star A" started grade 6!!! WOW, that little girl of mine is suddenly growing up into a lady right before our eyes! What a blessing she is! The most amazing thing I ever created! December was a big month. As M started a new job at a potash mine. Little did we know that was going to just be the start of our changes.

Are ya ready? you sure? We got some big news to share!!!

WE GOT OUR ADOPTION CALL!!!! Yep, Jan 9, 2012. Just over one year after this journey started. The process is a long one to call these new children ours...but we know it will be worth it! And yes, I said children. As in, more than one. "Star A" can't wait to be a big sister!
 We are adding to our family a 6 year old boy "Star R" and a 4 year old girl "Star J". They are a first nations sibling set that we are very happy will get to stay together!
 We have not yet got to meet the children....we have one more sleep for that. However we have met with their Social Worker and Foster Mom. From what we have learned they sound like typical children. Nothing that we don't think we can handle. We know there are going to be challenges and rewards along the way, and we are really looking forward to sharing our journey and our lives with those we hold dear.

Thanks for your support!
 M and B

p.s. As we will post pictures on here, please do not post them on other networking sites. You may copy them, or print them for your own, but please respect our need to keep some things out of the public eye.

p.s.s. Once the children are placed in our home (around the end of Feb) they will forever be our children. The finalization process takes about a year. After that, pictures of the kids can be posted online. Until then, its on the request of our adoption worker that we keep things off of places like facebook. Once again, thanks for understanding.