A Calm before the Storm?

If the saying "there's always a calm before the storm" were to apply to our adoption plans then I guess that's maybe what you could call this week. However if this is the calm we are in for one crazy ride ahead.

Yesterday morning we had our final visit with our social worker to wrap up our home-study. We should receive the final copy of it by the end of the week. It seems kind of surreal that we're actually done with the administrative part, or at least for the most part, of the process and the next step is actually applying to birth-mothers to be matched and get our baby. We've been looking forward to this point for so long now it seems almost surreal that we're actually just about here. It's so exciting to know that finally these situations we get emailed about weekly we'll actually be able to apply for. Its also really weird to think that our child may very well already be growing as I sit here and type out this post. Surreal is really the only word that can be used to describe this process.

We still have a couple things left to do on our end before we can start the matching process. We have been a little slack on assembling our parent profile but we will crank that out this week too. And we still have to secure our loan for the remaining balance for the adoption, however we can't do that until we have a completed home-study. So that's another thing to figure out this week. Then there's just one other small thing this week, the triathlon. See what I mean about if this is the calm, I'm not sure if I want to see the storm?

I'm anticipating a good race, so far the weather looks pretty favorable and I'm as trained up as I can be so there's really nothing more that I can do on my part for the race. Frankly, I'm super happy to get a break on the Akron Marathon training and get in some good swim, bike, run time and not have to put in another 20 mile run, but that's a different story for another time.

The fundraising has been even better than we could have ever imagined. When we finally decided to actually put ourselves out there and ask for help we really didn't expect such generous donations. No amount is too small, we are just as thankful for the $5 ones as we are for larger gifts. It's all just helping us achieve our dream of having our own family. For that there is no thank you enough. So far we've received over $800! We are so thankful for every penny, it's more helpful than any of you could ever imagine.

I believe that's it for now. Thanks for all of your support thus far in our journey. We will probably need it more than ever in the next few weeks as we really crank into this thing. Anyone wanting to cheer me on in the Tri, or at the very least watch me suffer a bit, feel free to come out to the Portage Lakes State park off 93 sunday morning. I think the park road closes around 7 so get there by then to make sure you get a spot to watch! Erin will be there with a small wife contingent cheering us on, come keep her company!

Thanks again everyone!

Love wins,
Adam & Erin
www.youcaring.com/buttacavoli