The Waiting Game

Alright folks, this is a pretty legit adoption update. So if you haven't been reading any of my other random posts, but want to know the latest info, I highly recommend you read this one. Okay, here we go...

Last Tuesday, the 19th, I was emailing back and forth with the social worker at our adoption agency. We were talking about the last of the paperwork the hubs and I needed to get done and looking at dates to schedule our home visit. In between those emails, I suddenly got a new one from her titled, "Possible match??".

My mind immediately went crazy! I tried to calm myself down a little bit and then opened the email to read about it. She told me that they'd had a birth mom just recently contact them who is pregnant with a boy and is due May 22nd. Yes, less than a month from now! The social worker wanted to know if we were interested in the situation and if we would like to have our profile shown.

(As a side note: For anyone who doesn't know, in domestic adoptions the birth mom chooses the couple she would like to have parent her child. Every adoptive couple makes some type of profile/photo book about themselves. The birth mom looks through those to make her decision.)

After reading the email, I first called the hubs to tell him the crazy news. He was absolutely speechless. All he could manage to say was, "Umm...umm...umm. Could you just forward me the email?" haha! After I did that, I called my mom because I knew she'd be able to talk to me about it!

After a lot of quick praying and thinking we decided that yes, we are very interested and yes, we would like to have our profile shown to this mother. The agency told us that they are trying to get two families to show her. They have a couple of leads on another family through another agency, but said they always prefer to use their own families. So my best guess is that, including ours, she will have two or three profiles to look through. She is meeting with the agency this Wednesday, the 4th, to do that.

So now we are just in the waiting, and praying, game. We simply have to be patient and wait to hear any news from the agency. We are trying our best to not be anxious. We know that God already has our child picked out for us. If this is it, fantastic! If not, we will move on. We are praying for nothing other than for God's will to be done.

Puzzle Update - Week 3

Well, we didn't sell any puzzle pieces this week. Which is kind of a bummer 'cause I've really missed working on it. It was a little overwhelming at first, but now I really like it!

But I'm not worried about going a week without selling any pieces. I know that God will provide for us the money we need, when we need it. Thank you again for all the continued love, support, and prayers. We really appreciate it!

Easter Weekend

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! Ours seemed to be very busy, but lots of fun. Aren't those just the best weekends??

On Saturday we attended a great birthday party for a sweet little two year-old boy. After that we headed up to the hospital with my brother, sister-in-law, and their kiddos to visit my grandpa. He's been pretty sick for about a year now and seems to be in and out of the hospital a lot, so prayers for him are appreciated.

Once we were done there, the hubs and I went to Josh's Sno Shack with a good friend. We saw on their Twitter account that if you came in Thunder gear that day, you got a dollar off your purchase. We couldn't pass that up! We very much enjoyed our first shaved ice of the season.

Somewhere inbetween all of that, the hubs took me Easter dress shopping at Kohl's. Let me tell you, I was not the only procrastinator there! That place as jam packed. Every dressing room was a disaster and you were lucky if you could even get into one! But somehow, I was still able to find a great dress that was on sale and made me look super skinny, so I was pretty excited about that.

Our Easter day was simple and lovely. Church was great and then we went to lunch at Qdoba with my parents and some friends. We had our Growing Kids God's Way class that night and then afterwards hungout with some good friends until about 10:30. Like I said, it was a busy weekend, but definitely a lot of fun. We are greatly blessed.

The hubs sitting down with the kids at the birthday party waiting on instructions for the Easter egg hunt. Yep, that's the man I married! haha!

Opening our present.

A Thomas umbrella! He had seen this before and specifically requested it. We couldn't let him down.

And a Thomas train!

First Josh's of the season. So yummy!

Wonderful Easter morning.

The Easter Candy Bark I made. It was very sweet...like a little shot of sugar. But still yummy! You can find the recipe here.

Happy Easter

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Matthew 28:5-8

I pray that you all have had a wonderfully blessed Easter weekend with your friends and family as you remember the gift of the Resurrection that Christ gave to us. Today, may your heart be filled with the same joy that those women were filled with that day. Oh, and may your belly be filled with a few chocolate bunnies too!

Progress

We have made some significant progress with our adoption process. After our application was approved, the agency sent us a giant "to do" list of things they needed. Well, as of Thursday, we have completed all of that!

On Thursday Mike and I went to have our fingerprints done and get our physicals completed. All of it was surprisingly quite easy and simple. Our fingerprints were taken digitally and it was a really cool process to watch. The woman who took them was absolutely hysterical and had us laughing the whole time. Our physicals were incredibly basic and the whole appointment lasted about 10 minutes or less. I knew it wouldn't be too personal of a visit when they called us back together! haha!

After we had those things completed, we headed to the post station to mail everything off to the agency. Then we celebrated by treating ourselves to some snacks at Merritt's Bakery. Mmm, mmm!

Now that all of our paperwork is completed, we will get our home study scheduled. That will probably happen about a month from now. Then once the home study is done we will officially be on the waiting list. I can't wait!

Mike checking us in at the police department.

Hilarious lady taking Mike's fingerprints. She had to roll our fingers back and forth on the scanner and Mike kept trying to do it himself. She told him to turn around and talk to me to distract himself so she could get her job done. haha!

Waiting for our physicals.

Celebration time at Merritt's!

It seriously took me like 15 minutes to decide what I wanted. haha!

Enjoying our goodies! And yes, we ended up with three things and split them all. Krinkle Cookie, Cheesecake Brownie, and a giant Cake Ball.

Puzzle Update - Week 2

In Week 2 we have sold 60 puzzle pieces! That makes for 136 pieces put together total. We were able to finish the first heart square we started and then moved onto the border, which is close to being complete. Only 864 pieces to go!

Sorry for the poor picture quality. The lighting in that room is kinda weird.

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If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can go here to learn more about our puzzle fundraiser. Also, here's some info on donating...

How to Donate: We are selling the puzzle pieces for $10 each. If you can, please donate money in-person or by mail. If that's not possible, you can click on the "Donate" button on the right sidebar under "Adoption Donations" to send money via PayPal. Please add your name(s) in the special note to sellers. Thank you!

Family Times

Last Saturday some of our family got together to celebrate my lovely mother's birthday. We had dinner out on the patio, played on the neighborhood playground, and, of course, enjoyed some cake. It was a wonderful evening and made me feel very blessed to have so much of my family living close together.

Mom - I hope you had the best birthday. You are an amazing woman and I aspire to be as wonderful a mother as you have been, and continue to be, for me. I love you!

Dinner on the patio.

Such a good uncle!

Beautiful girls.

Sweet nephew.

The fastest slide ever! It scares me a little bit every time. haha!

Piggy Back Rides on the walk back to the house.

Helping Nana blow out her candles.

Cake Time!

And ending the night with brother sporting a Drillers snuggie.

Sunday Song

"And Now My Lifesong Sings" Casting Crowns

I once was lost, but now I’m found

I once was lost, but now I’m found

So far away, but I’m home now

I once was lost, but now I’m found

And now my lifesong sings

I once was blind, but now I see

I once was blind, but now I see

I don’t know how, but when He touched me

I once was blind, but now I see

And now my lifesong sings

And now my lifesong sings

And now my lifesong sings

I once was dead, but now I live

I once was dead, but now I live

Now my life to You I give

Now my life to You I give

Now my life to You I give

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Let my lifesong sing to You

Adoption Update

Well, I don't really have all that much to update you on. I'm just not very good at coming up with titles for posts, so that's all I could think of. haha!


We mailed in a large stack of paperwork (as you can see pictured) yesterday. Hopefully that will get things moving along with our homestudy some more. Once our background checks and what-not have come in, the social worker with our agency will come out to our house a few times for some home visits.


We have doctor appointments next Thursday for both of us to get our physicals completed. After we're done with that we will head over to the police station to get our fingerprints done. What a fun and invasive morning that will be! ;)


I gotta say...when I pictured becoming a mom, I never thought that the police, social workers, and FBI would be involved! haha! But truthfully, I'm so incredibly excited about it and can't wait to get even further along in the process.


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Adoption Costs

*Puzzle for adoption fundraiser - $19.78

*Postage for mailing application - $4.95

*Application fee - $500

*Postage for mailing paperwork - $1.73

Running Total - $526.46

Puzzle Update - Week 1

It's been just a little over a week since we started our puzzle fundraiser and it's going very well. We have put together 76 pieces so far. We feel extremely blessed by all the love and support that has been shown to us. Only 924 pieces to go! ;)

Our puzzle setup in the nursery.

We almost have an entire heart section put together so far!

The names on the back. Once it gets bigger we won't be able to do this, but for now, we can't resist flipping it over to see what the back looks like!

(FYI - You can click on the pictures to see them bigger, if you'd like.)

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If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can go here to learn more about our puzzle fundraiser. Also, here's some info on donating...

How To Donate: We are selling the puzzle pieces for $10 each. If you can, please donate money in-person or by mail. If that's not possible, you can click on the "Donate" button on the right sidebar under "Adoption Donations" to send money via PayPal. Please add your name(s) in the special note to sellers. Thank you!

Sunday Song

This is something I used to do a few years ago when I was blogging regularly, so I decided to start it again. Basically, I just try to post an encouraging song every Sunday morning. Right now Mike and I actually have an "Adoption Playlist" of songs that are encouraging to us and bring us comfort, so the first few songs on here will come from that. I also try to include the song itself or a YouTube video at the bottom of the post so you can listen to it. Enjoy!

"Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" Chris Tomlin


Amazing grace
How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me

His word my hope secures

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures

[2x]

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow

The sun forbear to shine

But God, Who called me here below

Will be forever mine

Will be forever mine

You are forever mine 

A Lovely Weekend

Things are moving along with the adoption. Like I said before, we're just in the stage of lots and lots of paperwork. It can sometimes take awhile to get past this point, therefore, I can't let it consume all my thoughts. Which means, I will also be blogging about lots of random things going on in our lives. How exciting, right?? ;)

We've had a pretty nice weekend so far. Last night the hubs and I went to the first Friday night Drillers game with my brother, sister-in-law, and their kiddos. We love baseball in our household! There's just a magical feel to the sport and I love being at games. Last night was the absolutely perfect weather for a game too! We sat in the lawn seats so the kids could run around and play. We enjoyed ballpark food (beer, hotdogs, nachos) and just got to enjoy being together. It was great.

Ahh, Friday night at the ballpark!

Niece #2 and Niece #1.

Nephew enjoying his hotdog.

Beautiful Niece #3, who looks just like her momma and her momma's momma.

The hubs and I with Niece #1.

Blue Moon and a Chicago Hotdog. Mmm, mmm!

Enjoying the fireworks show.

This morning the hubs and I ran some errands, one of which included depositing some more money into our adoption savings account. Woohoo! Then this afternoon I joined some girls for a relaxing pedicure and frozen yogurt. That was a very nice treat!

Pedicure and frozen yogurt with these lovely ladies.

We're ready for the warm weather!

The hubs is now working at his second job. When he gets home we plan to work on the puzzle some more and maybe watch a movie. I know, real exciting, huh? ;) But that's our life for now. I'm sure things will be picking up some more in the near future!

Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

I know I've said before that I never realized how many choices come with starting the adoption process. Well now, I'm shocked at how much paperwork comes with the adoption process, and we've just started! On March 19th we put our application in the mail to the agency. On March 28th our references received their information to fill out on us and we got a packet with a lot of information in it.

Here's our current list from the agency of things we need to get done...

• Medical exam on each adult in the home
• Medical History form on each adult
• Statement of Income and Assets
• Financial Statement of Monthly Expenses
• Agency Agreement
• Residence History Form
• Request for Background Check (one for each adult)
• Two sets of fingerprint cards for each adult
• Request for Child Abuse and Neglect Information System Search
• Copy of current marriage license
• Copies of two months of pay checks stubs
• Copy of health insurance card and copy of handbook verifying when you can add an infant to coverage
• Copies of drivers licenses and social security cards

Sheesh! Can you even imagine if everyone who got pregant had to go through all that?? I'm not complaining though. I know it's all for a good reason, but still, kinda crazy.

So that's what we're busy doing right now...lots and lots of paperwork. Once that is completed, we will schedule our first home visit with the social worker at the ageny. And, I do believe, we will have even more paperwork to fill out then. I can feel the carpal tunnel setting in now!

I'll have a puzzle update post for you soon. (And if you don't know what I'm talking about, go here). I will say, it's going very well and we feel extremely blessed. Thank you to everyone for all the continued love, prayers, and support.

Puzzle Fundraiser

As many of you know, there are a lot of fees that come with adoption. We have estimated that our total costs will be around $30,000. Thankfully, we do have some money saved up and have already been able to borrow a small amount. There is a tax credit we can receive once the adoption has been finalized and we do plan to apply for some grants. We are also continuing to budget our income and personally save for this, but there are still a lot of fees that will come up quickly, which have to be paid for upfront. Therefore, we have come up with a few fundraising ideas.

The one I'm here to tell you about today is our puzzle fundraiser! We have purchased a 1,000 piece puzzle and are asking our friends and family to buy a piece for $10 each. When a piece is purcahsed, we will write that person (or persons) name on the back and add it to the puzzle. So, if we have 20 pieces purcahsed, we will be able to put together 20 pieces of the puzzle. The puzzle can't be completed until every piece has been purchased. Mike and I have started it off by each purchasing a piece ourselves (see pictures below).

Once the puzzle is complete, we will preserve it in a double-sided frame and hang it in our childs room. This will serve as a constant and beautiful reminder of all the people who helped us bring our baby home. As our child grows up, we will be able to show them the names of those people who longed for them to be a part of our family.

How to Donate: If you can, please donate money in-person. If that's not possible, you can click on the "Donate" button on the right sidebar under "Adoption Donations" to send money via PayPal. Please add your name(s) in the special note to sellers.

I will post updates on the puzzle as pieces are purchased. I have also added a "fundraiser thermometer" to the blog to show how much money we have raised/saved. We, of course, do not expect to raise all of it. We know that God will provide for us the funds that we need, in the way that we need to receive them. More than anything, we ask for your continued prayers as we proceed further down this journey.

The puzzle we bought. It's called "Hearts Abound".

Two pieces already put together!

From Mommy and Daddy. :)