We have been officially linked with a sibling group of three - Midge, Tidge and Squidge! We have a meeting with the children's agency Medical Advisor on Monday (27th). During August there is a meeting with foster carers, pre-Matching Panel meeting, a court hearing and Matching Panel before it is decided whether we will be their parents! Introduction Planning Meetings are scheduled for week commencing 21st September with two-week introductions later that week, so they could be moving in with us in early October!
Mary has been doing a lot of surfing on the message boards of Adoption UK and getting lots of help, support and advice from others in the same situation as us. It is such a great source of information and had saved us lots of time when producing lists! Talking of lists, it has been a week of list-making! Lists of questions to ask the Medical Advisor and foster carer. Lists of things to buy! Lists of dates: 'how many sleeps until...'! Someone said that should be: 'how many shopping days until...'!
We had friends round last Saturday (18th) who are also adopting and it was lovely to share everyone's news. We also heard from some friends of ours who went to matching panel on Monday and got a YES! They meet their new daughter on Wednesday (22nd). Fabulous news everyone. It's great to keep in touch and share events, helping us to remember that there IS light at the end of the tunnel.
Today (24th) we had a phone call from the agency saying the foster carer meeting has been re-jigged to Monday. Good job Mary has already produced a 'List of things to ask FC'!
Home and cars:
There are cupboard safety catches to be attached to cupboards and drawers in the kitchen as soon as we are matched. We will be selling Mary's car and purchasing a nearly new car when we are matched. Mungo's car is to stay with us, as we can put car seats in the back of it when we take the children out separately. We need to start thinking about what we need for when the children arrive. It is too early to start buying anything yet, so Mary has produced a generic list. When we meet with with the foster carer we can identify what we will actually need. They will probably just come with some clothes and toys - no furniture or anything else. We have two weeks between Matching Panel and introductions so that should be plenty of time to get everything we need.
Work:
Mary has finished work and is concentrating on her studies. The course will help increase her salary and give her more flexibility and choice in the future. Studying must be finished by the time of introductions! Mungo is working full time in a IT role at a local company. His company, and indeed the MD, are very supportive of our plans for him to take time off during introductions and settling in. The course that Mungo is studying will provide him with more opportunities for roles inside and out of the company and provide a secure furture for him, Mary and our long awaited Midges!
Studying:
Mary: Childcare, Learning and Development, NVQ Level 3 - Received a B in her 4th assignment, has nearly completed her 5th (of 10). Nutrition and Health of School Aged Children, NVQ Level 2 - Awaiting exam date in September. Mungo: T175 (Networked Living) - Waiting for the result of the End of Course Assessment (ECA) that was submitted on the 21st May. M255 (Java Programming) - Second assignment score was 91% and third assignment is due for submission on 23rd July.
