We've got our panel date 😍😍😍

Before I start .... WE HAVE OUR PANEL DATE 😍... this is the one thing you look forward to (and worry about) in your adoption journey... it's the day all your assessments lead upto before you can start the matching process 😍😖😑😃🤔.

Basically the way I explain to people is, stage 1 & 2 are like your trying for a baby, going through everything you can to make it happen, then panel is like the doctor saying your pregnant, the panel look at our report then decide if your definitely approved to adopt 😱 ( hence the multiple emojis above - it's a big deal) 😍😃... so i will keep people updated on that 👌

Anyway, right now we are at the beginning of stage 2 , this is where we have 7-8 meetings with our new social worker ( she's amazing by the way 😍 we feel so at ease with her ) 5-6 meetings together, 2 individual ones. These consist of going through our family and friend circle, our pasts in detail amongst other things, even our sex life I believe 😂😱, but for all that know us, we are open books and I'd tell Anne at aldi if I had to 😂, she's gunna get a shock though when she asks Craig & he replys " I just Hoover up for Joe & that's his pleasure 🤣🤣" so we are actually looking forward to that and will be 100% honest , like we have been from day one 😃. She's looked at our finances already and also assessed our home and all is safe ( i just cant get used to them chuffing child cupboard locks 🤣) Since our last blog post we've been doing a lot of reading up on things and we even attended an EPP course in Leeds, EPP, is early placement, usually looking after a child from birth thats not yet legally ready for adoption, so you would be fostering for a while untill they are ready to be , this does have a small risk of maybe the child moving on after time but not always and your helping that child get the best start in life, so it's definitely something we are open to do 😍😃. Over the next few months we will explore profiles of children up for adoption & get an idea of what children are out there and what child would be best placed with us, some people have certain things they want ( age gender etc) however we really are open to anything and have said from day one , our child ( children if Craig has his way 🤣) is out there somewhere and they will find us whichever way it is ment to be, we are big believers in fate so we will just see what happens 😍.. it really is feeling more real by the day & we really cannot wait, we still won't get a head of ourselves untill panel but we really do hope we get approved and our family will be complete In the very near future 💜💙😍👨‍👨‍👧‍👦.. we've met some lovely couples along this process, who are also on this amazing journey ( shout out to kerry & Neil, Jane & Janine, and Emma & Paul 💙💜) we wish you all the luck in the world and hope we stay a part of your journey even after the adoption process is over 🤩. I will try to keep you updated as soon as anything else happens, and I thank you all for your support 🤩.