We were recommended for approval to adopt at panel yesterday. Leading up to the event I had thought I wasn't nervous. But a bad night's sleep and not being able to manage breakfast for probably the first time EVER have made me think otherwise. Flash was Mr Laidback and went to work in the morning. Me on the otherhand had to indulge in a bit of retail therapy to keep busy. Came away with some nice clothes for work, but will have to reflect on whether my choices were informed and conscious as I bought stuff that I wouldn't normally!
The panel itself was not an ordeal. The whole process from arrival lasted 30 minutes. Bonnie went in first for 15 minutes to answer questions and them came out with the panel chair who introduced herself and told us the areas they wanted to discuss. These were pretty much as expected - how would we manage Flip's transition to uni and his bonding with a new child, how did Flash manage his sight issues and how would he keep track of a young child. What had we learned from the home study and prep group process. We were easily able to answer these, with a bit of humour that had the panel giggling politely and we came away feeling that we had presented ourselves well. Which was obviously the case as we had the good news within 10 minutes and the comment that the panel thought we were a lovely couple. We fooled them!! Only joking lol! We are also ecstatic that Micky and Minnie, our friends from prep group (sorry about the names guys if you are reading!!!) were also recommended for approval so a lovely couple of hours was spent at the pub celebrating with some beer, wine and chips!
So what now? Well, we will get a letter in the next week from the agency decision maker confirming the panel's recommendation and then it is all systems go in finding our new family member. Bonnie has enquired about 4 children already. We are looking for a little girl of school age. Of the 4, SW for A likes our details but a birth family member has cropped up wanting to be considered, so an assessment will have to be done on them meanin it could take several months before we know whether A will be in or out of the birth family. SW for B said they are still family finding in the local area but will keep in touch. SW for C and D have not yet answered so potentially have been on holiday over Easter. We are not in any hurry anyway - we would rather take our time to get the right match than rush into anything.
Have finally taken some crochet pics. Here they are. 2 panels waiting to be joined together, currently about 2/3 of what I hope the finished size will be. The blanket reflects the colour scheme (shades of lavender and cream) that we will be using in the bedroom when done. The single square is actually a lovely dark purple and not the brown colour that the camera on my phone has turned it into!
