Chapter 13: Getting closer to taking the reins

By the third week of October, our house was as ready as it was going to get.  We had spent the majority of our non-working and other "free" time over the last two months going through it top to bottom.  We decluttered (gave hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of items to charity) and reorganized the basement; cleaned out the spare bedroom and painted it for Josh (suffering a chipped tooth in the process); swapped out the bed that was in there with Christi's so that Josh could have more room, moving into this smaller space; and cleaned cleaned cleaned the entire house (except for the girls' rooms). 

That Friday morning, 10/21, we had our final home study visit and home inspection - no violations, wahoo!  We completed the remaining paperwork and interviews.  Our caseworker then would need to type up all the home study, review it, and submit it to the proper parties to get it approved.  Now we would just wait.

We also had an appointment the same day with the CASA worker and the GAL.  It is nice now, to look back, and see how these big days full of appointments with various involved parties are slowing down, and will eventually subside once the adoption is final.  There are a LOT of people involved.

Too many?

Too many.

A few days later we had another visit with Charlie.  We stopped at Wendy's for lunch, but as soon as he was in the car, he had asked to go to our house.  We ate lunch, talked about birthday party plans, and took our first family picture of the six of us.  How I wish I could post it here.  Soon, when he's fully and legally ours...

His birthday!  Charlie would be turning 8 in just a few short weeks, and we found out on the visit to the Dursley's previous that he had NEVER had a birthday party!  We would absolutely remedy that and made plans for a party at Rollerland.  He was super excited and we were, too.

And the following week, I was honored to be invited to his school to see Charlie get his FIRST ever school award!  I took Grace out of her school early so she could go and support him at the awards assembly, too.  He got the award for leadership, "caught" by the school psychologist, for being proactive and seeking first to understand.  It was so special to be a part of that!  I was also able to meet his teacher and some of his educational support team.  It was really a blessing to see how much everyone there absolutely loves Charlie.

It still amazes me to know what he came from... how far he's come.  Two and a half years ago, when he came into the foster system, he could not even speak intelligibly.  Not at all!  More than one person at the school has described him at that time as being almost feral.  They couldn't get a sense of how intelligent he is because he had no way of really expressing himself beyond base emotional responses.  To see how far he has come in the care of his previous foster family and with the daily investment of his educational team at his school... I am so, so grateful and thankful.  I'm not sure I would have been equipped to parent him the way he was two years before.  But God, in His perfect timing, knew what I could handle, and allowed our family the honor of "taking it from here."  Amazing.

Amazing.