Adopting again
You know, once you've gone through the adoption process (especially with 3!), to think about doing it all again isn't nearly as daunting. We've had this in the back of our mind for quite awhile but decided to move ahead with it a few months ago.
It was great to have this conversation with our kids. "What do you guys think? Do you think we could do it? You know you're going to have more responsibilities." They reacted and responded incredibly well, excited about the possible addition to the Shattuck pack.
Thinking about everything, we knew we wanted to rescue a little one, but weren't sure whether to go for a boy or girl. Didn't know exactly what color, although again we have a few favorites. Often, though, it's not the prospective adopting family's choice as you're paired up with the best match by the adoption agency.
A little over a week ago we had our home study. The lady was very nice that came over to visit. We'd actually met her before at a local store where we had an opportunity to chat about some of the "animals" her agency represents (you know how that goes...each with a different personality...and some that are real characters!). She asked all of the important questions about each of us trying to get an idea of how serious we were, whether or not we knew about the kind of adjustments that would ensue, and generally to get an idea of the atmosphere here to make the right match. In the end, the meeting went great and we left it knowing we'd hear from her later when she had a chance to talk to some foster families to see if there were any matches for the Shattuck pack.
A week or so passed and I thought I'd make contact just to get an idea of timeline and final procedures since we hadn't talked about that specifically. I received a friendly reply basically stating that sometimes it takes what seems like forever while other times it's super quick...be ready to be patient. If you know anything about our last adoption, patience is something that was deeply ingrained in us. For this second run at it, we felt prepared for anything.
Imagine our surprise when we received another email yesterday afternoon that contained information that a possible match had been made! It seems that a sweet 4-year old named Linus has been with a foster family in the area for awhile and is hoping to find a family like ours to join!! Could it be that easy? No droves of phone calls to this agency or that? No begging the embassy for help?
Linus has had a busy life, working hard to please everyone around him while growing up in Wichita. You wouldn't believe all that the little guy had to go through before making his way to his foster family in MO. And now we're just a week away from meeting him, giving him a chance to see what he thinks about us. It would be amazing if it would work out to bring him home by Christmas!
Oh yeah, did I mention that Linus is a former racing greyhound? Oops. :-) Sure thought that I'd already typed that part. We'll see how things shape up next weekend on his visit. You can read more about him and the adoption group here (his official name is "Extreme Lighten").
It was great to have this conversation with our kids. "What do you guys think? Do you think we could do it? You know you're going to have more responsibilities." They reacted and responded incredibly well, excited about the possible addition to the Shattuck pack.
Thinking about everything, we knew we wanted to rescue a little one, but weren't sure whether to go for a boy or girl. Didn't know exactly what color, although again we have a few favorites. Often, though, it's not the prospective adopting family's choice as you're paired up with the best match by the adoption agency.
A little over a week ago we had our home study. The lady was very nice that came over to visit. We'd actually met her before at a local store where we had an opportunity to chat about some of the "animals" her agency represents (you know how that goes...each with a different personality...and some that are real characters!). She asked all of the important questions about each of us trying to get an idea of how serious we were, whether or not we knew about the kind of adjustments that would ensue, and generally to get an idea of the atmosphere here to make the right match. In the end, the meeting went great and we left it knowing we'd hear from her later when she had a chance to talk to some foster families to see if there were any matches for the Shattuck pack.
A week or so passed and I thought I'd make contact just to get an idea of timeline and final procedures since we hadn't talked about that specifically. I received a friendly reply basically stating that sometimes it takes what seems like forever while other times it's super quick...be ready to be patient. If you know anything about our last adoption, patience is something that was deeply ingrained in us. For this second run at it, we felt prepared for anything.
Imagine our surprise when we received another email yesterday afternoon that contained information that a possible match had been made! It seems that a sweet 4-year old named Linus has been with a foster family in the area for awhile and is hoping to find a family like ours to join!! Could it be that easy? No droves of phone calls to this agency or that? No begging the embassy for help?
Linus has had a busy life, working hard to please everyone around him while growing up in Wichita. You wouldn't believe all that the little guy had to go through before making his way to his foster family in MO. And now we're just a week away from meeting him, giving him a chance to see what he thinks about us. It would be amazing if it would work out to bring him home by Christmas!
Oh yeah, did I mention that Linus is a former racing greyhound? Oops. :-) Sure thought that I'd already typed that part. We'll see how things shape up next weekend on his visit. You can read more about him and the adoption group here (his official name is "Extreme Lighten").
posted by Michael Shattuck at
5:26 PM
2 Comments:
You are the trickster! What a cutie. I can't wait to kiss that little nose.
Gotcha!
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