Back when I was on The.Bump, a chat site that helped me get through some of my hardest years trying to conceive, I remember hearing about girls who were "matchable". As adoption was not something on my radar then, I truly did not understand what that meant, nor could I truly understand the girls' excitement. But now that John and I are "matchable", I get it.

About a month ago John and I finished our adoption profile book. It took many hours of hard work and editing, but we are really happy with how it turned out. I feel the book is honest and is hopefully something a birth mother and/or father can relate with. Only time will tell. Shortly after the profile book was printed I drove seven copies of the book down to our lawyer for him to start showing to birth parents. We will never know when our book is being looked at. While nerve wracking enough as that is, I am actually very glad I will not know it is being reviewed. I think that would be even harder.

On Friday (12/2/11) we had our home study. Jenny, from the county probate court, came to our house and spent 1 1/2 hours with us. John and I did not know what to expect, but she was very easy to talk to. We thought she would want to sit at the dinette table to quiz us and take notes, but rather offered we sit in the family room on the couch and just talk. John and I talked about our families, how we met, our work, and our wanting to start our family. Jenny played with Cider, Felix, and Bailey, all of whom made an appearance to welcome her in to our home. After talking for over an hour we gave her a tour of the house. It was funny how she commented on our color choices, the size of our rooms, etc., not on how many outlets still need to be child-proofed or what our fire evacuation route will be (do not worry, though, our fire evacuation is drawn up and on the side of our refrigerator, just in case). I am glad we liked her so much as she will be with us from now until our adoption is finalized, and will be the person to conduct future home studies once a child is placed in to our arms!

On Tuesday (12/6/11) we will head to court. For some reason, in our county, those who are ready to be placed need a pre-placement court hearing. I was unsure of what this meant, and Jenny told us that basically it is standing before the judge to have him "give us his blessing to adopt". So basically I have been psyching myself out over this home study and court date for nothing.

And now we wait. I try to tell everyone I know about us being "matchable". I hate knowing that I am bugging people, but the more who know, the better our chances of being matched within a year, as oppose to waiting two or three years. So if you are someone who has received an e-mail from me, joined our FB fan page, or has read/commented/liked my constant FB updates, I thank you. I certainly hope you do not tire of hearing from me, because we are just getting started!