Adoption and ABA Therapy

Well I am getting started on the adoption process and at the same time getting started on my foster license. It's alot but it will be well worth it when one very beautiful bouncy little boy is legally mine. It's just a lot of paper work and classes but nothing to horrible. I went out and got a couple of things that I needed for the house (smoke alarms, fire extinguisher, ect) to make it suitable to pass the home study. Now I just have to worry about getting renters insurance (which I should have gotten a while ago) and getting all the paperwork together, and completing the classes. I would say the adoption should be final somewhere around Feb or so. Aiden will be just over a year old by that time.
There is still a lot that I have to learn about the whole process and reading other foster/adopt forums online have really helped. You can read and read about something but you don't really get a feel for it until you read someone else's experience's. It's all still a little confusing only because every state has its own requirements, its own name for the foster parenting classes and adoption classes, and so many laws that you should know.
Once I get my foster parent license I plan on keeping it updated because it might be something that I would like to do in the future when the kids are older. Like in a couple of years. Hopefully I will have met someone by that time but honestly I really am not looking. I have my hands full with the kids, the adoption, starting Alex on 20 hours a week of ABA therapy, Aiden has occupational therapy once a week, Alex has speech therapy once a week, doctor appointments, getting Alex to school 4 days a week, and just trying to keep the house clean that I really don't think that I have the time to put into a relationship right now.
But I am happy for now being a single mom and if that is forever than so be it.
I can't wait for Alex to start therapy and for Aiden to be mine forever. It is all alot of time but both are well worth it for the boys.

More good news

Alex's IEP meeting was last week and it was great. It was much more informal than the first one was and everyone was on the same page which was so great. Everyone showed up that I expected to be there, including his father. Alex has alot of goals for this year and the supports I felt he needed to reach those goals. They are expecting him to be able to be mainstreamed by kindergarden which is really awesome. Everyone basically seen the same things I am seeing at home but remarked on how far Alex has come, which is great. It wasn't all about what he couldn't do which I don't think I could have handled right now. This year we are going to work on the social aspect of speech, getting Alex to interact with his peers, helping him to express his emotions and why he feels that way, help with understanding when he needs deep pressure and being able to ask for it (or ask for permission for a hug), working on his attention span and getting him to do the things that he doesn't particularily enjoy to do (like working on fine motor skills), ect. It is really great that I didn't have to fight for the services and supports I really felt he needed. I don't know, it just feels like everything is finally falling into place. The school is doing what they can to help my little man and he will be starting ABA really soon. I just can't help but have a feeling like something bad is looming around. Because it seems like when everything is going really well, something really bad happens. But we will hope that doens't happen here.

All Moved In, Some Great News, Everything Falling into Place

Well we are all moved in. The kids are handling the transition well. I thought Alex would have a tough time but he is doing so great. He loves having his own room again. I really like it here, it is so peaceful that at times I forget that I am living in a bigger city.
I got a call yesterday from Alex's case worker. He was on the waitlist for the state funded ABA therapy since July 2008 and I was told that it would take 2 years to get off the waitlist. Last time I talked to his case worker which was May or April, I was told that it was going to be ATLEAST another year. But I got a call yesterday stating that he is off the waitlist as of the 19th. I was almost in tears. School, occupational therapy and speech therapy have done wonders for him and I can't wait to see what ABA therapy will do for him. He has come such a far way in the past year and a half, It has been just great. He will be recieving 20 hours a week, which will only add stress to our already hectic schedule but it will be well worth it.
They come into the home so atleast I won't have to trudge both boys out into the winter weather to get to therapy so that is a plus. AAAHHHH I am so excited that Alex will have the opportunity to have ABA therapy.