11/17/13

We have both completed out individual home studies, yay!  We are now working through a lot of education things that have to be completed.  After that we will put together our portfolio of pictures, stories, about us, etc.  those portfolios are what the birthmothers will look at when deciding their baby's forever home.  Our goal we set is to have this all completed by Jan 1st.  We covet your prayers and support and ask that you continue to pray us through this process.  We know our baby has already been chosen and created for us by THE creator.  We just cannot wait until we meet him/her! 

Our autobios

It's been a while since we (well, Jenn) have blogged.  We have been working steadily on our autobiographies. To say that has brought out the emotions would be an understatement.  These autobios are no joke y'all.  They are deep, intense, and thorough.  To be completely honest there were times when I wanted to quit and many times when I just closed the book and walked away.  I finally finished my part last night and Brian isn't far behind.  Wahoo!!!  Once they are complete we will turn them in and can then schedule our next home study.  After that we will be ready for our profiles to be shown to the birthmothers.  How exciting that is to say!!  We know that God will not allow OUR baby to pass us by, but we ask that as you pray for us please specifically ask that God give us patience and complete trust in his plan.  We love you all and thank you for your love, support, and prayers. 

Finger prints and vacation

Whew. We have had a busy past few weeks.  We completed our first home study, got all of our back ground checks completed and sent out, and we both got fingerprinted for the first time in our lives. (Thank goodness it was for a good reason and not a bad one!?). We are just waiting now for all to be cleared so that we can move forward.  In other news, we just got home from a week vacation in Cape San Blas, Fl.  We went with Ellie's Aunt B, Uncle T, and cousin MM.  We all loved being together and enjoyed a week away from our everyday lives to just relax and enjoy. I couldn't help but think while we were there that maybe, just maybe, next year we will have an addition to our clan at the beach!  So exciting!!!

1st Home Study Complete

We had our first Home Study today.  It went great and was way easier going and laid back than we anticipated.  Well, than Jenn anticipated, Brian was cool as a cucumber about the whole thing. (How can he always be so calm!?). We both ended the study feeling more confident than ever that this is exactly what God has planned for our family.  It's an amazing feeling to know without a doubt that this is the right thing, no wondering, no what-ifs, just pure trust in The Lord that he is leading us down the right path. A.Ma.Zing!  

We now have to do more paper work and apply for our background checks, be fingerprinted, all that fun stuff to make double sure we are  not criminals or illegal or anything.  I understand why it all has to be done, I do.  I totally get that we are talking about the livelihood and well being of a child. But all of this fingerprint and background business has me thinking, "wow, no one does this when you have a child the old fashion way.."  

Anyway, we were told that getting everything back and cleared could take 3-4 months, especially since we are having to do checks in Alabama and Georgia since we just moved.  So we ask that you pray for everything to go smoothly, be pushed through and go  without any problems.  We love you all!!!!

Here we gooooo

Wahoo! We now have a date to meet our agency social worker and have our first joint interview. All application paper work is completed and accepted. We are excited to meet our case worker and get the ball rolling. We will have more answers and hopefully an idea of a timeline after we meet with Lauren on the 30th. Please keep us in your prayers as the time arrives. We love you all!!

Yay!

We have reached our first goal with our fundraising for the adoption. Prayers were answered. Amen!! Poor Brian sold his "toy", a Honda Ruckus that he bought last summer. It was just sitting in our storage unit since we've moved. We prayed that someone would come along and give what we were asking for it and God answered our prayers plus a little more! We still have a long way to go but we will get there!

All the pieces of the puzzle

We watched a webinar tonight on ways to raise money for adoption. They mentioned a really cool way to remember and recognize all of those who supported the journey financially. Brian and I both LOVED the idea and so we are going to do it too! We are going to get a puzzle and with every donation we have received so far and will receive in the future we will write the donor(s) name on the back of a puzzle piece and begin to put the puzzle together. Once it is all together and/or we are in the final stages we will have the puzzle framed and hung in our baby's room. This is also a great way for us to let Ellie get in on the fun, she loves doing puzzles and we know she will love putting one together for her baby brother or sister!

Amen!

Just a quick little reminder. I love this!

Sparkly Green Earrings

I am reading this book, "Sparkly Green Earrings" by Melanie Shankle. It's a memoir of sorts about being a mother. My sister gave it to me after she read it in one night. Yes. One night. It's that good. And that's coming from a proclaimed "non-reader" (unless it's the weekly People Magazine.) In the book she talks about she and her husbands decision to only have one child. It was simply that. THEIR choice. She talks about how one day she did have a fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe, she DID want to have another baby. So when she told her husband his reply was that he was perfectly happy with their family of three but perhaps they should pray about it and let God reveal his plans. She prayed that God would change her husbands heart. She prayed that he would decide that yes, in fact, he did want another child. What she saw was that God changed HER heart. She no longer wanted another child and began to feel complete just the way they were. This spoke volumes to me. God changed HER heart. When she was praying for him to change someone else's. That happened to me too. I spent countless nights, days, and hours praying for a miracle. I prayed that the reason for our infertility would reverse, go away, become a medical mystery. I prayed that those little soldiers would stay alive and swim where they were supposed to, not die the second they hit my fallopian tubes. That didn't happen, but another miracle did. God changed MY heart. I finally let go of the dreams I had always had of having a whole football team (or cheerleading squad) of kids. I no longer longed to be pregnant and feel those little kicks or hiccups, I no longer wanted to feel the morning sickness that plagued me when I was pregnant with Ellie (yes, I wanted it THAT bad). I don't know exactly when it happened but it did. I was at peace. Finally, after three years. I am at peace with what God is doing. It's HIS plan, not mine. I can see him working and it's an amazing journey to be a part of. He's not done with our family, I believe that. When he made us, he knew we were going to adopt. He knew the long bumpy and even heartbreaking road we would take to get there, but he never left our side. We now long for the day we get that phone call that our baby is on the way. Yes, it's different than what my plan was. Its God's plan. And that is the best thing of all!

Yay!

After speaking with several different agencies we think we found the one for us. Our information packet and application finally arrived!! I don't think I have ever been so excited to fill out paper work in my life.

and so it begins...

The news is out. We have now let our family and friends know that we want to adopt. That was a way more difficult step to take than some would think. Letting it known also meant letting our infertility problems known too. That was not easy for us. But we have been so humbled by all of the positive feedback,love,support,and most importantly prayers,that it has literally brought us to our knees. So, THANK YOU. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for supporting us and especially thank you for praying for us. God is so good and he can make it happen! We have been discussing adoption for over a year now. We were ready to make it official and then, WHAM, we were hit with a BIG move for our little family of three. Brian was offered a new position with his company and that meant we would be moving out of Georgia to Alabama. I know, that's not far at all. BUT, when you have grown up and lived in the same town your entire life (or most of your life, in Brian's case) it was HUGE to us. So we put our adoption wishes on hold until we felt it was right to pursue them. Let me tell ya, God has done some amazing things in our life in the past 4 months. We know without a doubt that now is the time to begin the adoption process. Some people know our story but if you're reading this and you don't, I will give you the short story. Brian and I have known each other since I was 14 years old and Brian was 16. We instantly became friends and continued our friendship all the way through high school, college, and even post college. We were always just that, friends. Brian is a Marine and in 2004 he was deployed to Iraq. We kept in touch through letters and emails. When Brian returned home we all went out to celebrate his return. Something changed between us that night that we both couldn't ignore. We loved each other already on the friendship level, but it was beginning to feel like more than that. We began dating and never looked back. In 2006 we got married, 2008 brought us our first born, Ellie Grace. When Ellie turned one we began trying for baby number 2. We tried, and tried, and tried. We tried until it wasn't fun anymore. (Too much information? sorry!) We then sought medical help from my doctor and they began to run tests. We learned that we suffer from "secondary infertility". Because of the situation we were told we could try conceiving through medical help but chances were, it wouldn't work. We tried anyway. We tried, and tried, and tried. Nothing was happening. Heartbroken and mad we turned to God. We prayed, we cried, we bargained with God (well, Jenn did!?) After many emotions and many prayers we felt we were meant to adopt. We truly feel that this is in God's plan for us. We were meant to bring a special child into our family and give them the love and support they otherwise would not have. So welcome to our journey. This is just the beginning. We are honored to have you along this ride of ups and downs and highs and lows. Hold on. It's gonna be a good one!