I’ve been a little preoccupied. Now, I don’t expect you all to sit at your computer patiently waiting for the next post on this humble blog to pop up in your newsfeed or in your inbox. So I don’t expect you to have noticed that I haven’t even posted Charlotte’s 10 month photos/update. Actually, I haven’t even taken her 10 month photos. Weeping. I’m weeping at the thought of that. It has definitely become much harder to take her photos as the months progress, and the arrival of summer has packed our schedule full of activities way more important than mini photo shoots and blogging:

• I have been picking up a few extra days of patients at work now that my sister is home for the summer and is able to watch Charlotte. She loves spending time with her Aunt Mel and cousins.
• Charlotte and I have also been enjoying play-dates at the aquarium, park, and the good ‘ol baby pool in the backyard.
• Chris and I finished our resource parent {foster parent} and adoption training through the city of Virginia Beach and are now in the process of completing our home study. The process is very extensive {as I think it should be}. We met with our case worker 2 weeks ago to fill out paperwork {background checks, DMV records, and the like}. We also had to answer questionnaires and decide on the ‘parameters’ we feel comfortable accepting {for us, we only placed limits on age – birth to 3} , any race or gender is welcome in our home! Eventually we will expand the age, but our current room/bed/toy situation is perfect for a younger kiddo in need of a safe place. We went to DHS to be fingerprinted last week and met with our caseworker again to provide an extensive history {our family history, relationships, work history, education, parenting style, support systems, etc} and this week our case worker is coming by for a preliminary home inspection. Once our home study is complete our application will be put before a board for review and approval. Once we are approved we will be ready to have another kiddo in our home. It could be that same day we are approved, it could be in a week, it could be months… we will just wait.
• I have also been planning Charlotte’s first birthday party. Talk about emotional. I probably should have done way more at this point (with a little over a month to go), but I have been in severe denial.

Stay tuned for Charlotte’s 10 month update later this week. I am PROMISING right here in written word so I had better deliver.