Everhart Album: We Survived

Today was a our first interview with our case worker, and all went well. We met at the agency office around 9:30 a.m., and didn't leave until 1:30 p.m. Obviously, there was a lot to talk about! The interview was actually very laid back, and started with both of us answering questions together about how we met, what attracted us to one another, what our personalities were like, and what our relationship looks like now that we are married. It was especially fun talking about how we resolve conflict, deal with anger, and handle stress...I am definitely being sarcastic here! We went over our financial stats and how we planned on affording adoption and why we chose Domestic adoption vs. further infertility treatment or International Adoption. All in all, it was a lot of what we had already answered on our application. Then, she split us up and talked one-on-one about our families. We had to explain what our parents and siblings were like (especially fun to "describe" my brothers!) and what our family dynamics looked like growing up. While we were waiting for the other to complete the individual interview, she had us complete a workbook/survey on transracial adoption. As I mentioned earlier, I was a bit concerned with what Jordan might happen to say during our interviews. He has a way with miscommunication. So when he told me in the car on the way back home that he mentioned how he got "whippin's" as a child (which seemed to alarm the case worker), I had to roll my eyes. I tried to explain that "spanking" might have been a better term, as "whippin" tends to put an image of being lashed with a leather strap. He disagreed. Men. Whatever. "Whippin's" and all, we are now clear to go to the seminar next Thursday and Friday, and then will meet back up with our case worker to complete the home study.

Speaking of home, we did manage to get the furniture put back into the bedrooms after the carpet was installed. Duke's chair however, is being put out to the curb, and it might just be the first of many sacrifices the poor little guy is going to have to make. When we first got Duke, he decided that our red IKEA chair was his dog bed. We moved it everywhere around our apartment to accommodate him. When we were gone and he was fenced in the kitchen, the chair went in the kitchen. When we slept at night, the chair went in the bedroom. It was his security blanket. When we moved to our house, we put the chair (which by now looked like a sad salvaged dumpster find) into our office. It became where Duke spent most of his day when he wasn't out sunning on the patio. However, it was obvious that we no longer had room for the chair (and it looked and smelled worse than my brothers undies) with the guest bed being moved to the office. I decided to buy Duke a new, actual dog bed. So today, I brought it home for him to try out. He did sit a while, but not sure if he's as impressed with it as I am. As I'm typing, he's sleeping in my spot in bed...forget his designer dog bed! So here are a few before and after pics.

The initial take over (the cutest puppy ever!)