As I've stated earlier, I live in a small 400 sq. ft. house. While living here alone, I've had to make certain adaptions to things because everything is so much smaller than what people consider a "typical" house. For example, I have a 24 inch opening to allow for a stacking washer and dryer, which would normally not be a problem, right? Just get a 24 inch stacked washer and dryer available at Home Depot or Lowes and you have a fairly normal sized washer and dryer. Well, here's the catch with my home. The company that designed it set up the laundry area for 110v, and even stacked washers and dryers usually run on 220v at least for the dryer. That makes it complicated to find a complementing set for my laundry. So I turned to what RV dwellers would have... a combo washer and dryer which is 24 inches wide and runs on 110v. I have to do smaller loads of clothes, but it works for now. I recently found a large separate set, through the same company, that I think will work much better. It will be here within the next 2 weeks.
Now, the issue of baby gates in my home has come up several times, long before my decision to adopt through foster to adopt. I have a small loft upstairs that functions as my bedroom, while leaving the full size bedroom on the bottom floor open for my potential child. Now, even before considering adoption, I've had to figure out how to keep my dogs out of the loft. They are similar to small children, except that they seem to destroy even the most indestructible thing you can think of. I've looked for baby gates that would work in my home forever! The problem is this... the opening at the base of my stairs is only 21 1/2 inches wide. Baby gates come as small as 25 inches wide. Custom sized gates are usually intended for larger openings, not smaller... so what's a potential parent to do? My mother and I have decided to make my own. The problem is ... I am terrible with power tools, or tools of any kind really, except maybe a screwdriver. This is going to be an adventure in and of itself.
They call this a process, and it truly is a process, a learning process that never stops. Since starting the foster to adopt process, I've bought and downloaded several books to my Nook, just so I don't walk into things blindly, or with unrealistic ideas. Some things have been scary, "A child will really try to get an adult to hit them?!" and some have been heartwarming. Altogether though I am still very excited about this process, while still feeling a little daunted by it at the same time. It's a mountain that's for sure, but I know I have the will and strength to climb it. I've done my best to find resources, either online, or through books, or friends that have adopted. Books can be a little frustrating because they cover more than one topic, and a lot of them seem to assume that the adoptive parents are married. There are some that make mention of single parent adoptions, but most seem to cast it in a bad light, as if by being single and adopting I am some how lower the chances of my potential child's success.
Soon my little brother (well I should call him my younger brother as he's almost a foot taller than me and a well developed young man) will be out of school for the summer and I will have him help me move my queen sized box spring and mattress to the loft. Oh, but how will we succeed at that if the stair well is only 21 1/2 inches wide? The loft is open to the floor below, with a small banister installed to avoid falls. We will lift the mattress from the first floor, over the banister, and into the loft. Hard to do when you can't full stand in the loft to use all of your strength, but we've done it before with a cheaper, more flimsy mattress, and I believe we can do it again with my firmer mattress, and the box spring should be simple because it is solid and lightweight. After that, we will be taking the built in night stands in the first floor bedroom out, and putting a twin-sized bed in the bedroom, and I will be preparing my little one's room, which I am very excited about! I'll also be personalizing the loft as my bedroom, which I'm not really looking forward to that much lol.
Tomorrow I have my CPR class, and will discuss the other classes with the director of the foster to adopt program. I've thankfully finished all of my current paperwork, have my pet's vaccination records, have my high school diploma, and my reference paperwork all finished! The director has already received 2 of the reference letters, and I will be hand delivering one of them tomorrow. The other two are in the mail and should get to him soon. I've set my appointment for my FBI fingerprinting for Monday at 1:30 central time, and I will be setting my doctor's appointment too. After that, I have the homestudy and all of my classes, and hopefully I'll have a child placed with me! I've read some stories that it can take up to a year or more to finalize an adoption through this system, and that is a little daunting, because during that time so many things can change, and what if the child is taken from me after I've fallen in love with them? All I can do is hope and pray that doesn't happen. As for now, all I can do is work the steps and seem where it goes. I'll upload pictures of the child's bedroom once I get it finished because I'm so excited about it, and I hope to keep that forever.
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