Somehow we are matched with the most incredible kids in the world, who come with an incredible social worker and an incredible therapist, and their whole team is fiercely dedicated to them. It honestly seems unbelievable. We are going to have the best support system possible, especially during this transition.
We spoke at length with their therapist today, and she gave us more insight into their personalities, triggers, coping skills, interests, and needs. She said that she is here for us 110%, and we responded that we are 110% ready to take any and all advice she has for us. She said that she has never heard that in her entire career working with foster kids. We found this kind of astounding. Why wouldn't you want to take the advice of someone who knows as much as she does? I'm not saying people should blindly put their faith in just anyone, but this person knows her sh**.
We are going to mail her the book we made about our house so that she can share it with the girls in their next session. They know that their social worker found a forever family for them and they are excited and nervous and curious. The book will be really helpful and we're glad they'll get to see it before we meet them. It's a nice, safe introduction to us and our home and our pets. And apparently they LOVE books. Can you believe that? I can't wait to read with them.
And then on July 14th we are going to meet our daughters! It will only be one hour (probably best not to overwhelm them) at their current foster home. I honestly have no words to describe how I feel just thinking about this.
As a reminder, the transition process often looks like this:
First meeting is short and at their current foster home. Then we set up a time to come back and take them out to a park, then another time we will have them over to our house for dinner, then have them over for a sleepover, then for a weekend. This allows us to build up trust with them, to show them that we follow up on our promises, and to ease them into our family and our home. When they feel ready to move in and their therapist and social worker think they are ready, they will obtain a court order for their official move in date. We have no idea how long this will take, but we are taking it one day at a time and we are beyond excited to get started.
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7/3
We have a tentative date to meet our daughters for the very first time on July 14th. It will only be an hour because they don't want to overwhelm the girls. It will be at their current foster home. More details as they come <3
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6/25
We are matched with our kids! I don't want to post too much info about them, partly because we are still in the early stages and partly because some of it is personal and it's their story to tell, not ours. But I will say that while we were looking for two kids, we actually fell in love with three (eek)! Three girls, incredibly resilient and wonderful and beautiful and we are beyond excited to meet them. The older two girls are school-age and the youngest is three years old.
We have no idea what the timeline will look like, and it may not be possible to predict. We need some further training and the girls need to get to know us slowly to build trust and security. They HAVE to feel safe and ready to move in with us. Rushing this process could be incredibly traumatic for them. I think it's safe to assume the transition will take quite some time (probably several months? We just don't know). But we will have tons of support before and after placement and we are excited to start this journey.
Before you get excited about seeing pictures of them, please know that we won't be able to share photos until they are adopted, at least not photos with their faces. This is for security reasons, but we promise to take tons of photos and share them with you at a later time. When you meet them you can take pictures but you can't send them or post them anywhere. And as for meeting them, please understand that we need a lot of time with them alone before they can meet others. This is for their emotional health, and we will be working closely with their therapist and social worker around all decision-making, including introducing family and friends.
Words cannot describe how excited and honored we are to be these girls' parents. We will try to keep everyone posted. Love, love, love, Ava and John 💜💛💙
