Life

Life has become a bit more chaotic lately in our household.  Our newest addition Tucker is 9 weeks now and threw us right back into the puppy world that we had just escaped as Meeko outgrew most puppy tendencies (most, not all!).  Baby gates have been erected, cords have been hidden, shoes are in their rightful place, and he reminds us often to pick up after ourselves!  The joy of carrying him out every few hours into the freezing cold snow and standing their waiting for him to potty has become a new norm.  He has adjusted so well and is so bonded with not only us, but with Meeko.  Meeko is an easy going dog, but we still worried jealousy or quarrels would ensue but to our surprise he has taken Tucker in as if he has always been here.  We look forward to when the two will be able to run around the backyard together when Tucker is bigger to keep up.

 

We have also been busy checking off those weekly foster parent classes.  Next week will mark our half way mark and the light at the end of the tunnel will start to approach.  Yesterday in class we were called out of the classroom mid class and were greeted by our official home study social worker.  We were told while they normally do not start the home study process until classes are completed they said they read through our application and decided to assign us with a home study social worker right away to start up!  We are the only ones in our class to be assigned a worker at this time.  Our social worker was so sweet and welcoming.  I can tell from our brief meeting that we will get along well!  She was very enthusiastic and said she was excited to get to know us and start up the process.  By starting up our home study while we are still taking our classes means the two will overlap and we will shave off at least a month if not more of what we had expected before we could get a placement.  She said she got the assignment then saw we were on the list to be in class so thought it wouldn't hurt to pull us out real fast to introduce herself in person rather than by phone.  She said she will be calling us sometime next week so we can start setting everything up from home visits, the endless paperwork purgatory, and our meetings. 

 

We are excited about the opportunity to get things going and are motivated to get everything completed as quickly as we can.  We are about to be hit with a plethora of paperwork including our medical documents, background checks, family budget, reference letters (from amazing friends and family!), and so much more! As we were driving home Brian looked over at me and reminded me that we have so much to get done before our home visits start up!  My mind then went into a scramble as it occurred to me we are knee deep into our basement renovation and we still have our first floor office that is filled to the gills with art/office supplies and random things that need to be relocated.  Since our basement room which will house our things from this room is still only framed almost ready for drywall and mudding, we are planning this weekend to box everything up from the existing office room and move it to the basement (amongst all the other boxes all piled up as we demo and build) so we can throw some paint on the walls (paint was already purchased luckily just need a primer and some ceiling paint), rip up the carpeting (goodbye the last carpeted room in our home!), and get the room up and running into a nursery for a baby/toddler.  Before our home visits we need each room completed and everything set up to be assessed before we can get approved.  A room that is in transition or not completed would extend the process.  Our other room is already perfectly in place with bunked beds and toddler bed in it, but the second bedroom is far from completed.  Suddenly this endeavour looks daunting but we are ready to slay it this weekend hopefully!  What's more boxes in our basement?!?!

 

If anyone is up to join us feel free to come on over and pick up a paint brush, any help would be greatly appreciated...I'm serious!