I lied.

Ok-  so, I lied.  I said that I thought you'd be bored by a detailed post about our last month and that I'd tell you about it in bullet form.
That was my intention...but I decided to share a little more.
Where shall I start?
How about our home visit!

As I'm sure many of you know, a Home Visit is just that:  a social worker visits your home, checks it out, asks you numerous questions, interviews the folks in your family, and then decides if you are suitable to be adoptive parents.
Ummm-- no pressure.
Here's how it all went down:
we received a call on Thursday night (a few weeks ago).  Yes, that's right-  the Thursday night before the Friday that we were going to Houston to watch Amby and Jeremy (my older brother) run in the Houston Marathon.  Amby and Jeremy have been training for months to run the marathon, and we were pumped to join Linda and our cousins to cheer them on.
But I digress.
Ok-  so, we got a phonecall from our social worker to set up our Home Study.  He said that he'd like to visit us to talk about the adoption.  (thankfully, Amby answered the phone or I guarantee that I would have gone in to semi-charming (annoying) babbling idiot mode)  Eric (the social worker) said that he was available any evening we'd prefer-  the sooner the better.  We were so thrilled for this new step in the process, that we immediately agreed to the following Monday...nevermind that we'd be in Houston all weekend.  Nevermind that I'd be leaving for Africa the following Friday.  Full steam ahead!  Bring it on!
So, the madness ensued.  We cleaned our closets!  We cleaned the garage!  We cleaned the refrigerator!  By golly, we were going to be so clean-  how could he refuse?
Fast forward 24 hours.
My sweet, sweet nephew got the flu.  We decided that the girls and I shouldn't go to Houston-  Amby would fly down, run the marathon, then fly back.  Poor guy-  very anti-climactic (he did great, by the way-  finished faster than anticipated...especially given the less-than-ideal weather conditions!  Jeremy, too).
Our weekend didn't turn out as planned, but I was able to clean out the freezer, with the extra time I had.

Ok-  I know...it sounds like I was slightly OCD.  BUT, we were told that the social worker could (and would) check anywhere and everywhere to be certain that our house was a viable option for a child to live safely.  There's a fine line between due diligence and control issues.  I may have crossed that line a few times over the weekend.  It's probably in Amby's best interest that he was in Houston.

Finally, Monday arrived.  We had a plan:  our social worker would arrive.  He'd talk to the girls, then Missy and Kyle would swoop in and take them (the girls) away & Amby and I would charm our social worker and he would see that we were the ideal family for a child...bad-a-bing-bad-a-boom.
done.
And that's pretty much what happened.
Yes, I was a babbling idiot.  Yes, I'm sure I over-shared during my interview (he talked to us together as well as separately).  Yes, Amby is much more relaxed and natural.  No, the social worker didn't eat the dip I made as a last ditch effort to convince him that we were normal.  Who was I kidding?
And the girls had a great time at the Richardson's-  they ate chicken and noodles and played board games.  Heaven.
And now we are waiting.  Supposedly, we will hear if we are approved for adoption in the next couple of days.  As hard as it is to wait, we have peace.  It's a crazy "peace that passes understanding."  It's almost like it's out of our control.  Oh.  That's right-  it is.  Out of our control, I mean.
Thankfully, He's got the whole world in His hands.
And that includes our house-
and our hearts.
We are grateful.
And waiting...