Sometimes I feel as though we are over thinking what needs to be done before we submit our applications to our adoption agencies. For the past year or so we have been considering adoption and the different programs available to us, and yet, not once during that stage of this process did I feel that we were taking things too slowly. We wanted to be sure of our hearts and our resources – we so very much want to do right by our kids. However, now that we have not only picked and researched the South Africa program but already been told that our resources look positively golden for approval, I wanna get this application in now.
D is doing the smart thing and we keep our original trajectory. We had already decided that we would not apply until closer to the end of this summer/early fall when we decided on adoption at the beginning of the year. Several different things added into that decision, but the one item really front and center is that our townhouse needs work.
A lot of work.
We bought a fixer upper about two years ago. When we moved in, we had to replace two toilets, all the carpet, the stove, the dishwasher. Everything needed new paint. The furnace and A/C broke within six months (always have a buffer in your bank account!) and the basement has been used as junk storage for the last twenty fours months. Even with all the work we’ve done, I do not think we’d quite pass a home study inspection.
We have a couple of contractors coming out in the next month to do work on the house. The basement the last big-big project before we feel ready for a home study and that is something we are tackling on our own. We have a big long checklist of what needs to be done, including flooring, paint, furniture, etc. There is also a nice fireplace down there that needs inspecting and cleaning, so the added bonus will be having a fire this winter to cozy up in front of while we’re doing all the adoption paperwork.
Today was the first chance we have had to work downstairs since the start of the summer. We’ve completely cleaned out and reorganized the laundry/furnace room. All the junk that was laying around in heaps of cardboard and plastic as been divided into keeping and hauling away piles. This is the first day in about a month I have not had the adoption paperwork swimming around in my head (guaranteed to be back tomorrow as I drive in to work).
Progress always feels good and this is visual progress I can go and look at to remind myself that we are taking the steps we need to ensure our house is in good shape for kids. The townhouse is an investment in our future family. This is where we will bring our kids home, where we will cook together as a family, where we will play board games, where in four years we’ll all watch the 2018 World Cup matches and cheer at the top of our lungs. With each wall I paint and picture I hang, I smile knowing the townhouse be our children’s home and I want them to have as many fond memories of it as I have of my own childhood home.
Adopting Abroad 