i guess they think babies shouldn't get rabies?

In addition to doing the 'fun' stuff to prep for Ellison, like choosing fabrics, registering for nonsense, and daydreaming about all that luxurious free time I'll have during maternity leave, we're also working hard on completing our home study. Due to a variety of factors (key among them- we're not using an agency), our home study is way way way less intense/expensive/drawn-out than the 'typical' (or maybe 'stereotypical' is more accurate) adoption home study. We basically have to gather a whole bunch of documentation, including fingerprinting and background checks, and once it's all together we'll meet with our home study social worker (in our home, duh) and spend a few hours going over everything...and then that's pretty much it. I'm extremely thankful that it won't be the traumatizing experience many home studies seem to be. However, we're still having to come up with a bunch of documentation that's taking some time. And as low-key as this home study is...even STILL I find myself rolling my eyes that we have to do all of this to prove we're fit to be parents. Some people get accidentally knocked up in the back of a Jeep at age 15. Some people have to get signed affidavits from their doctors, employers, personal references, veterinarians, and neighbors, plus provide eleven pieces of documentation regarding every single piece of money they've ever earned/spent. I'll let you guess which group I fall in. Ha.

Most of the stuff is really easy to gather-- copies of our driver's licenses, recent utility bills, pay stubs, W-2s, marriage license, and health insurance cards. Some of it is moderately annoying, such as having our bosses write up statements about how long we've been employed and how much we make, filling out the federal background check and fingerprinting forms (and going to get them done), and getting physicals (and having the doctor write up statements that we are in adequate physical/mental health to raise a child), and stuff like that. Then there are a few things that are totally hilarious to me, chief among them being the requirement that we provide proof of rabies vaccination for all pets.

I know that shouldn't be hard. But what if-- not that this would ever happen to ME, of course...just checking for a friend...-- well, say someone had a 10-year-old outside cat. Say this cat had lived outside for a long, long, long time. Now, the cat is certainly FRIENDLY and is known to greet visitors and homeowners with enthusiastic meows and rubbing up against ankles...but like, it's an old outside (neutered, don't get me wrong- my friend isn't a total savage) cat. This cat does not get picked up, placed in cars, and driven to vets. It just doesn't. This cat is thankful for his daily meal on the porch and a glider to rest his weary bones on. He kills mice in exchange for a sheltered spot (inside a pet carrier) to hide from the rain sometimes. This cat is not up-to-date on shots, trust me. Kitty doesn't care about having shots. Don't nobody have time for that.

Buuuuut now say the caregivers of said cat were interested in adopting a child. NOW all of a sudden they need to provide documentation of a rabies shot. Well...what the heck. Those people have two options: Lie about it. Either hide the cat (and evidence of it) away and pretend it doesn't exist, or borrow a friend's cat-rabies-shot-documentation and pretend it's their own. That's kind of a crappy option, really. Lying on a home study seems like a crappy way to get started with parenthood, right? So there was really only one choice: capture the cat and go get a stupid shot.

Alright, so maybe this is actually a story about US and it IS our cat that has been shamefully non-rabies-vaccinated for the last 7 years or so. NO LONGER, my friends. NO LONGER. As of yesterday afternoon, Aidan is 100% vaccinated against the dreaded rabies and now we are one step closer to being fit parents. You can all breathe easy. It was quite a little adventure...first we had to FIND the silly cat, who spends his day in the woods...and catch him...and put him in a cage...and as you can probably imagine, he was NOT a fan of that whole ordeal. Sadly, I had to stay home and put a second coat of paint on the bookshelves so Matt had the joy of doing the vet visit by himself. I had visions of Matt and the vet having their eyes mauled out once the semi-feral cat was released from the cage, but apparently things went better than expected and everyone survived. I guess even Aidan sensed the importance of behaving well so that his sister can come home soon. 

So now we have the glorious Rabies Vaccination documentation and can check another item off our 'things to do/collect for home study' list. Luckily we're not 100% terrible at being pet parents-- Lola actually DOES go to the vet every year, so her shots are already legitimately up-to-date. Yay for that. One less thing to deal with now.

This was not actually the extent of our pet adventures yesterday, but it's all I have time for for now. Perhaps tomorrow I will share my newly-patented educational course: Preparing Your Dog for a Baby that Cries a Lot 101. Spoiler: it was a huge success.