Have you been anxiously awaiting a post with the big news that Baby Girl is on her way?! US TOO! Waiting patiently is getting harder and harder! I have kept it pretty quiet in blog land because, honestly, there hasn't been too much to update you all on. I have been reminded over and over that God's plan is way better than my plan (no matter how perfect I think I have planned it all out)!
Miss L (Baby Girl's tummy mommy) reached 38 weeks in her pregnancy yesterday...we never thought she would make it that far! We learned a couple weeks ago that she is supposed to see the doctor 3 times a week. We think that might be due to her high blood pressure and some other factors that put her a high-risk pregnancy. She had also told us that her other kids had all been born 2-3 weeks early. And then, factor in that Kirby and I are both on Spring Break with a built in week off of work, and we were just sure we would be in Cincinnati this week! But, we're not. And we are trying to embrace the time here with our boys and our last days as a family of four.
Will you pray for us while we wait? Here are some specific prayer requests:
-pray for patience and peace for Kirby and I while we wait
-pray for Miss L as she goes through these last couple of EXHAUSTING and emotional days of pregnancy
-pray for Baby Girl's health
Thanks friends! And stay tuned...hopefully we have good news soon!
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
50 Things We Have Learned About Adoption
So, we are still really early in our journey and this long road of adoption, but in honor of being 50 days from Baby Girl's due date, here are 50 things we have learned about adoption so far:
1. There is no way you can do it on your own.
2. The homestudy is not as scary as you think it will be!
3. It's crazy expensive.
4. The timing is definitely not yours.
5. You have to believe in the bigger picture.
6. It is easy to become disillusioned.
7. Even though your friends and family WANT to get it, most of them don't (and can't) really get it.
8. Start your grant paperwork EARLY!
9. Paperwork takes over your life.
10. No one cares more than you, be an advocate for yourself, your family, and your future child.
11. You have a chance to share a beautiful journey with a lot of people.
12. Your heart will break more than you thought possible.
13. You will cry when you least expect it.
14. Be prepared for not knowing things you feel like you are entitled to know.
15. In EVERY step of the way, trust that God knows the details.
16. It isn't easy explaining adoption to a 4 year old.
17. In a lot of ways, your 4 year old might understand adoption better than your adult friends and family!
18. Don't EVER abbreviate birthmom to BM :)
19. Apparently, the correct terminology for birthmom is actually expectant mom.
20. It takes a village...lean on your community!
21. The wait time from being matched to meeting your baby is HARD!
22. The hardest part (for us) was deciding what kinds of situations we would open ourselves up for.
23. Let people be excited for you!
24. Don't be discouraged when they aren't excited for you.
25. Be willing to be an open book...you will get LOTS of questions. (just to clarify...we LOVE this part of it!)
26. Pray lots and lots and lots!
27. While you are entitled by law to a maternity leave, it will most likely be unpaid. Be prepared.
28. Facebook adoption groups are a wealth of good information.
29. Fundraising is a touchy subject.
30. It is tough knowing how much of your baby's story to share with others.
31. Your greatest joy is someone else's greatest sorrow. This will be harder than you think.
32. Lots of opportunities will be presented in which the baby (or child) has birth-siblings.
33. You will learn more about drug and substance abuse than you ever wanted to know.
34. People's generosity will blow you away!
35. You will become best friends with the refresh button as you anxiously await new email updates!
36. Nesting will be an extremely strange experience.
37. Your heart will skip a beat every time you see the phone number to your agency show up on caller id.
38. Hearing other people's adoption journeys will be a much needed inspiration.
39. Baby showers feel a bit awkward, but are very much appreciated!
40. Your heart will be burdened in a way you never imagined.
41. Your marriage will reach a whole new level.
42. You will realize that you are definitely not the hero, but you will be excited to be a part of the rescue.
43. Your pennies will be pinched TIGHTLY in an effort to save everything you can to put towards your adoption.
44. There will be many times you wish you could claim "pregnancy brain."
45. People's fears and confusions about adoption show up in lots of different ways.
46. The line between being available and being overbearing is hard to figure out as you develop your relationship with your baby's tummy mommy.
47. People are important...find the ones who support your journey and let them in!
48. Be excited and available to walk through other people's journey with them...adoption is great!
49. The journey is exciting, terrifying, and every emotion in between.
50. We really have no idea what we are doing!
**We are actually only 43 days away from Baby Girl's due date, but this post took me a lot longer to process and write than I thought it would!
Thanks for praying for our journey!
4. The timing is definitely not yours.
5. You have to believe in the bigger picture.
6. It is easy to become disillusioned.
7. Even though your friends and family WANT to get it, most of them don't (and can't) really get it.
8. Start your grant paperwork EARLY!
9. Paperwork takes over your life.
10. No one cares more than you, be an advocate for yourself, your family, and your future child.
11. You have a chance to share a beautiful journey with a lot of people.
12. Your heart will break more than you thought possible.
13. You will cry when you least expect it.
14. Be prepared for not knowing things you feel like you are entitled to know.
15. In EVERY step of the way, trust that God knows the details.
16. It isn't easy explaining adoption to a 4 year old.
17. In a lot of ways, your 4 year old might understand adoption better than your adult friends and family!
18. Don't EVER abbreviate birthmom to BM :)
19. Apparently, the correct terminology for birthmom is actually expectant mom.
20. It takes a village...lean on your community!
21. The wait time from being matched to meeting your baby is HARD!
22. The hardest part (for us) was deciding what kinds of situations we would open ourselves up for.
23. Let people be excited for you!
24. Don't be discouraged when they aren't excited for you.
25. Be willing to be an open book...you will get LOTS of questions. (just to clarify...we LOVE this part of it!)
26. Pray lots and lots and lots!
27. While you are entitled by law to a maternity leave, it will most likely be unpaid. Be prepared.
28. Facebook adoption groups are a wealth of good information.
29. Fundraising is a touchy subject.
30. It is tough knowing how much of your baby's story to share with others.
31. Your greatest joy is someone else's greatest sorrow. This will be harder than you think.
32. Lots of opportunities will be presented in which the baby (or child) has birth-siblings.
33. You will learn more about drug and substance abuse than you ever wanted to know.
34. People's generosity will blow you away!
35. You will become best friends with the refresh button as you anxiously await new email updates!
36. Nesting will be an extremely strange experience.
37. Your heart will skip a beat every time you see the phone number to your agency show up on caller id.
38. Hearing other people's adoption journeys will be a much needed inspiration.
39. Baby showers feel a bit awkward, but are very much appreciated!
40. Your heart will be burdened in a way you never imagined.
41. Your marriage will reach a whole new level.
42. You will realize that you are definitely not the hero, but you will be excited to be a part of the rescue.
43. Your pennies will be pinched TIGHTLY in an effort to save everything you can to put towards your adoption.
44. There will be many times you wish you could claim "pregnancy brain."
45. People's fears and confusions about adoption show up in lots of different ways.
46. The line between being available and being overbearing is hard to figure out as you develop your relationship with your baby's tummy mommy.
47. People are important...find the ones who support your journey and let them in!
48. Be excited and available to walk through other people's journey with them...adoption is great!
49. The journey is exciting, terrifying, and every emotion in between.
50. We really have no idea what we are doing!
**We are actually only 43 days away from Baby Girl's due date, but this post took me a lot longer to process and write than I thought it would!
Thanks for praying for our journey!
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Mommy Freak Out
"Just stop being so CRAZY and obey me!" Tears instantly started streaming down my oldest son's face as I literally yelled in his face. And then tears instantly started streaming down my face. We quickly looked at each other and he jumped into my arms for a big hug.
This week has been ROUGH in our house! An allergic reaction to food dye for our oldest and early terrible twos for our youngest have led to moment after moment of mommy (and daddy) frustration. To the point that 2 nights ago I proclaimed, "We have got to do something different! Our parenting is leading to this?! We cannot do this anymore. Changes must be made!"
Mommy guilt is a real thing. I know I'm not singing a new tune here, but it hit me in a new way this week. It is times like this I really need to remember to preach the Gospel to myself. My mothering is not faultless. My kids are not perfect. My house is a wreck (have you ever been to our house?!). My marriage suffers. Yet when God looks down at me, He doesn't see any of this. He sees His perfect image reflected in me. Wow. When I really sit, think, and reflect on this it seems crazy. My HOPE is in Christ and is not found in the craziness of my little world. It's true, people! Crazy.
Last night, I snapped this picture of the boys.
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They were so happy when I picked them up after school. We came home and jumped on the trampoline together for an hour. Jaxon said, "This is like my best dream come true. I love our family so much." It definitely doesn't erase the hard times, but it makes them a tiny bit easier. That's it for the sappy, mommy-blog post. Join me in praying that more mommies out there fight the guilt and embrace their hope in Christ. Happy Thursday.
This week has been ROUGH in our house! An allergic reaction to food dye for our oldest and early terrible twos for our youngest have led to moment after moment of mommy (and daddy) frustration. To the point that 2 nights ago I proclaimed, "We have got to do something different! Our parenting is leading to this?! We cannot do this anymore. Changes must be made!"
Mommy guilt is a real thing. I know I'm not singing a new tune here, but it hit me in a new way this week. It is times like this I really need to remember to preach the Gospel to myself. My mothering is not faultless. My kids are not perfect. My house is a wreck (have you ever been to our house?!). My marriage suffers. Yet when God looks down at me, He doesn't see any of this. He sees His perfect image reflected in me. Wow. When I really sit, think, and reflect on this it seems crazy. My HOPE is in Christ and is not found in the craziness of my little world. It's true, people! Crazy.
Last night, I snapped this picture of the boys.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Why the blog?
I have started to realizing that blogging your personal and close-to-the-heart journey is kinda hard. Like, a lot harder than I thought it would be. There is constant tension inside of me...should I share this? Is this too much? Will people care? Do I care if people care? I have wrestled lately with why I write this blog. Originally, I wanted it to be a place for our families and friends to stay up-to-date on our journey. That slowly transitioned into a desire to be a place for other adoptive families to find help and encouragement on their own journeys. Then of course, there is always the, I-don't-want-to-forget-the-details-of-this-journey reason for writing. More than anything, I have realized I just want people to know our story. Adoption seems scary. I recently read a statistic that said something like (I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact numbers or source) over 50% of Americans consider adopting while only 2% of Americans actually do. It's scary, people! Where do you start? How do you beat the paperwork game? How in the world do you come up with an extra $35,000?! How do you interact with birthparents? How do you explain adoption to your child? My hope for this blog is that people read our journey--a regular family from Kansas, trusting God for the big things, and doing it--and find it just a little bit less scary. Thanks for reading and praying for our journey!
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Big Brothers!
Wondering what the boys are thinking about being big brothers???
Hahaha! In all seriousness, they are super excited! Well, at least Jax is...and we tell ourselves that Hudson is (even though he can't quite communicate that with us yet). When we found out we were pregnant with Hudson, Jaxon was convinced he was getting a little sister. So much so that he convinced most of us that there was indeed a little girl on the way. We didn't find out the gender of the baby, but we all felt pretty sure that it was a girl. Needless to say, it took a little bit of adjusting to when Hudson popped out and was actually a boy!!! This time around, he was a little bit smarter about things and would make comments like, "I know God is the only one who really knows if I am getting a sister or a brother, but I REALLY hope he gives me a sister!" Here was his reaction to finding out he really does have a baby sister on the way...
Thanks for praying for Baby Girl! Would you add her big brothers to the prayer list? They will have quite a bit of adjusting to get used to here in a couple months :)
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Adopt Together
In an effort to run one last BIG adoption fundraiser, we have started an AdoptTogether page. Straight from their website, AdoptTogether says this:
AdoptTogether is a non-profit, crowdfunding platform that bridges the gap between families who want to adopt and the children who need loving homes.Visit our page at https://www.adopttogether.org/lovechoseyou. If you feel led, please feel free to share it with others via Facebook, Twitter, or email!
At AdoptTogether, our vision is to live in a world with no more orphans-- a family for every child. Whether you’re a family who wants to adopt or a future donor, you’re a big part of turning this vision into a reality.
As a THANK YOU for your donations through AdoptTogether, we would like to offer the following for each level of donation:
$10--a personalized thank you card from the big brothers for helping bring their baby sister home
$25--the FIRST PEEK at our first photo as a family of five (and a card)
$50--a LOVE print specially designed by Aunt Kelsey (and a family photo and a card)
$100--a heart necklace handmade in Kosovo//the outer heart is copper and the inner heart is silver//symbolizes that EVERY baby grows in our HEART (and a card)
$150--a heart necklace and a LOVE print (and a card)$200--a heart necklace, a LOVE print, a family photo, and a card
Details about the necklace:
This is a beautiful, hand crafted, fair trade heart pendant made with classical technique (AKA: a hammer) in Kosovo. The outer heart is copper and the inner one is silver. The chain has a silver outing. This is a beautiful symbol of adoption, motherhood, or love as you picture the love growing in your heart. These necklaces were donated to us by a sweet family that is currently fostering to adopt 3 children in Atlanta, GA after journeying through their own God-ordained adoption story.
Details about the prints:
Each print will be printed as a 5 x 7 photograph and send via mail. You can also choose to have the digital file emailed to you if you would rather. Please choose from the following designs.
 |
| Song of Solomons |
 |
| I love you |
 |
| Winnie the Pooh |
 |
| Black Chevron |
 |
| Together |
 |
| Small Things |
 |
| love |
 |
| Love You Forever |
 |
| World |
 |
| Adventure |
 |
| All You Need |
BIG NEWS!!!
We thought it was the right time to go ahead and share our BIG NEWS here on the blog! We have been matched with a birthmom and are expecting a little girl at the end of March! We are so excited and still processing what it might be like around here with a GIRL!!!! Our birthmom, I will call her Miss L on the blog, is from Cincinnati and we have talked on the phone once and done a little bit of emailing back and forth. She is very sweet and confident about her decision to choose adoption.
We were officially matched with Miss L on January 2nd...what a great way to ring in the new year! We shared the news with our families, but felt like it might not be best to go public with anything until we had talked to Miss L. There was something about that phone call that seemed similar to making it past the first trimester in a biological pregnancy. The anticipation of that call was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. We rescheduled 2 different times before we were able to connect with Miss L. Our social worker reassured us that this wasn't abnormal and happens more often than we probably thought it did. Turns out she had gotten hit with the flu pretty badly and was trying to catch up on sleep. We were finally able to talk to her on January 13th and it was so great! Yes, it was definitely awkward at times, but overall it was so reassuring to be able to talk to her and get to know her a bit. She was very curious about what it is like in Kansas and we tried really hard to convince her it wasn't all farms and tornadoes out here! We spent this week sharing the good news with the people we wanted to share it with in person before sharing the news publicly online.
We have a couple of really specific prayer requests to share with you:
-Please pray for Miss L! Pray for her health, her heart, her family, and anything else that is laid on your heart.
-Pray for baby girl! We don't have many medical records, so there isn't anything specific other than her general health.
-Pray for our finances. I will share a more in-depth post about our finances, but we still need to raise about $7,000.
Thanks for joining with us in this journey! We couldn't do it without you!
We were officially matched with Miss L on January 2nd...what a great way to ring in the new year! We shared the news with our families, but felt like it might not be best to go public with anything until we had talked to Miss L. There was something about that phone call that seemed similar to making it past the first trimester in a biological pregnancy. The anticipation of that call was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. We rescheduled 2 different times before we were able to connect with Miss L. Our social worker reassured us that this wasn't abnormal and happens more often than we probably thought it did. Turns out she had gotten hit with the flu pretty badly and was trying to catch up on sleep. We were finally able to talk to her on January 13th and it was so great! Yes, it was definitely awkward at times, but overall it was so reassuring to be able to talk to her and get to know her a bit. She was very curious about what it is like in Kansas and we tried really hard to convince her it wasn't all farms and tornadoes out here! We spent this week sharing the good news with the people we wanted to share it with in person before sharing the news publicly online.
We have a couple of really specific prayer requests to share with you:
-Please pray for Miss L! Pray for her health, her heart, her family, and anything else that is laid on your heart.
-Pray for baby girl! We don't have many medical records, so there isn't anything specific other than her general health.
-Pray for our finances. I will share a more in-depth post about our finances, but we still need to raise about $7,000.
Thanks for joining with us in this journey! We couldn't do it without you!
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