update

We FINALLY had our ffirst official interview with the social worker. Her name is heather and i THINK it went really well. it was much more indepth then I thought it would be! She was here for about 2 hours and we discussed everything form why we wanted to adopt to wait times and kids and dogs and safety. It started off with just small chit chat then we got into our reasons for adoption. For us, it's because we have always wanted a little girl adn were blessed with four amazing sons. We had decided NOT to have another child naturally and go with the adoption route to give a needy child out there a home and love. She was pretty satisfied with that and quickly moved on to explaining the way CAS works and the types of children that they have to place and deal with. It was a bit scary to think that these poor kids have to go through so much in their young lives.
She talked about some of the issues that might occur with children being removed from their homes. This is part of what the pride program is going to prepare us for. When she brought up an option that Pat and I had not considered, it opened a whole new can of worms to talk about. She mentioned the fostering program which I was very much against and I explained why to her. I get VERY attatched to the kids in my care, so much so that as a potential family member, the child we would "foster" would be extremely hard to give up if the issue came about that she had to go back to her family after a time. heather told us about foster to adopt. A placement program that deals with babies more so than older kids. In general, the baby, sometimes newborn right out of thehospital bed, is placed with you being a foster family with the intention of permanent adoption. They only do this when they are pretty much certain that the chances of the birth family getting thechild back are pretty much none. I had honestly ruled out a baby just because I know how hard it is to get one if not through private adoption and major fees. Even overseas you have very little chance of getting a baby under 1 just because of the red tape and time needed to process the adoption. I accepted that I would not get one and talked myself into thinking that I didn't want one, a baby that is. When Heather brought up this possibility, I admit it was very tempting and exciting. pat is all for it but I still have that feeling of what if, what if she IS taken from us after time spent and loving her and accepting her and having her accept us. Its a gamble, a risk but as Heather pointed out, The path we've chosed for adopting this was will always be a risk.
We discussed the time involved in waiting for a placement and the possibility of having to accept a child with some sort of issue or disability. We were prepared for that and have stated our prefrences in that regard. i will talk about that more later in the fall.
It didnt take long for us to get around to our kids and how they feel. She requested the private interviews for next month and will talk to each of them. She even asked Kyle if he ever remembered being spanked or hurt in any way as a child!  Kyle said no, didnt remember anything like that at all.
Heather said she needed five minutes with all teh kids, man Ihope Kameron behaves. he can be a bit rude when he's shy. After that it will be more delving into our childhood, which pat and I both had to fill out 11 page forms about our childhood and past. Mine was pretty straightforward but pat's will need some discussion. He unfortunately had a much more traumatic childhood and teenage years than I did. I am lucky to have a fab family and loving and supportive. He didnt have that and has very little contact with anyone in his family. One brother is all he talkes to. Its sad. I dont know what I'd do without my family's support.
So now, we have four more appointments booked with her over the next two months and our pride starts in three weeks and we go from there. So far, so good!