Meeting Time

Last night, Billy and I were scheduled to attend an informational meeting with the agency we were considering for our home study. The meeting was in Royal Oak, so true to our style, we took that opportunity to hang out in Royal Oak for a bit before hand, and have a nice dinner. We usually like to go to Bastone, but Jennifer has been talking about the Royal Oak Brewery so went there. It was a nice, calm meal before the meeting, which I was nervous about.

I really should not have been- out of the 30 some different agencies we have contacted and spoken with, we hands down loved these people. In fact, we liked them so much, that we completely changed our initial plan, and our now going to use this agency for everything- the home study, the adoption, all of it. We have even decided to do a domestic adoption, instead of the international adoption we had been pretty set on.

This whole process is something I could probably write a book on already, just the research alone. Billy and I feel we have traveled the world in search of the perfect program, and every time we decide on something, the country closes, or something just doesn't feel right. Our number one choice for International was Kazakhstan, even with its drawbacks, such as costing as much as our home and having to stay in country 6 weeks. To us, this was worth it. I don't think people who have had children naturally can understand this maybe; you reach a point where these options seem doable, if the end result is a happy adoption. But Kazakhstan closed, and the other countries we looked at were just not right for us, in one way or another. We had finally decided on Honduras - but although we were excited, something about this program didn't ever really click with us, but we were so anxious to begin and get started, we made the decision to go with Honduras. Maybe one day we will revisit this idea, if we ever decide to adopt a second time- I haven't closed the book on Honduras completely yet, I consider it an option for a future adoption.

The meeting last night answered and addressed every worry we had about domestic, in an honest, genuine, personable manner. We really felt like these people cared about us, knew us from our emails, and knew what they were doing. There was also a family there who had finished an adoption with the agency about 8 months ago; they did a fantastic job of answering questions, as people who have been there before. We didn't feel like we were getting a business spiel, rushed into anything, or that we were bothering anyone. We were one couple among about 8 others, which when you are on a waiting list, you like to see small numbers. It was a two hour meeting, but it seemed to fly by, at least for me- my ADD husband had a bit harder time sitting still, but one thing about Billy; he may seem like he is not listening because he is doodling, but he is hearing every word, and remembering it all. He just needs to keep busy in these situations, and his drawings help him to not fidget to much.

We left, not really saying anything too much until we got in the car. Then we looked at each other, and practically said at the same time, "I love this agency". For the first time, everything felt right, every bit.