We are officially.....Active!

Our paperwork is done, our bio/couple profile has been created and proofed and we have contacted our attorney.   In the adoption world this means that we are "active" with our agency and that they will be giving our bio out to the birthmoms coming to their office. 

Now all we need is a birthmother to find us and decide that she wants us to raise her child.

Some people might tease (especially if they have hung out with us regularly), saying, "Can you even imagine?"  But at least we know that he or she will get to know the great outdoors and we will have a blast teaching him or her all that we know!

Scary thought, huh??

Chloe & Molly hanging out at the house

 Madison playing in the snow, she had a great time!

 

Scott & I at our happy place, Smoky Mountains in Tennessee!

I will keep you posted on any new news, but we are once again waiting!

Blythe

Now we wait....

Scott and I just had our home study visit today and so now we wait.  We wait to get our home study finalized so we can then wait for a call that someone wants to meet us and then we wait to be picked by a birthmom. 

I must say the adoption process, while it seems long, the paperwork at times seems endless, it really hasn't been too bad.  We had to collect pictures for the agency and that for me was a lot of fun to look through everything and see where we had been and the memories of what we have experienced together over the past 7 years together.

We recently attended a newborn care class with the agency, Ready the Nest, and that class had a lot of good information and tips for what to worry about or not worry about with a newborn.  They even talked about all of the things we could do while we wait, so off to researching pediatricians in Columbus!

It's not good-bye, just see you later!

The past week or so has been crazy to say the least!  Our good friends Brian and Rachel moved to Ft. Wayne as Brian was promoted to a senior pastor postion with one of the Methodist Churches there.  While Scott and I are both very happy for the move, it was hard to see them go. 
They have know us for the past 5 years, Brian even married us!  Brian and Rachel are like family to us, especially after our summer trip to South Dakota last year.  True friends come and stay with you for two weeks in a camper traveling across the country!  We are even talking about doing it again next year, maybe to Colorado.

Scott has also been very busy over the past 4 days working on projects at the parsonage to get it ready for our new associate pastor.  He moved in today and seemed to appreciate all of Scott's hard work.

I had lunch with Rachel last week and we talked about their move and how excited she is for her new job this fall with one of the schools.  We also both promised to not say good-bye, just see ya later!  We will hopefully be seeing them Sunday to bring them their house plants and some of the last of their stuff from  the house. 

I can't wait to see their new house and what they have accomplished over the past week!



Brian & Rachel in front of the Needles in Custer, SD

June Update!

I know it has been awhile since my last post but there really isn't a whole lot more exciting news at the moment. 

We attended our informational seminar with our agency a couple of weeks ago.  It reassured me and Scott that this is the agency we want to use.  From walking through the front door of their office it felt welcoming and warm.  This seminar had about 10-15 people all wanting to learn more about adoption and all of the various options.  At the end of the seminar we signed on with the agency and got our packet of paperwork to complete.  We were even given homework!

For our homework we had to complete a packet of information about our families. They use the information to create our genogram for the home study and birth mother.  It was fun to talk to family and get information about our family members, some fun stories came about in the midst of collecting everything we needed.

Last week we had our office interview with the agency.  I really didn't know what was involved in the office interview but it was pretty harmless.  They basically wanted to know about our relationships with our family and how that impacted us as adults.  If you know Scott, you know he cracked a few jokes even to the point where they asked "how do you have a serious talk with him"???    :)

Our next step is to attend an 8 hour class to complete another requirement of our home study.  We will have that meeting in August.  For now we will work to get the rest of our paperwork completed!

And the list begins!

Over the past several weeks I have been reading the book, Adoption for Dummies which has become a great resource.  I have been borrowing the copy from the library but I think I will actually just purchase my own copy!

Anyway, in reading through the book, I have come to realize all of the things we get to look forward doing over the next few months.  Here are just a few of the fun things we get to do:

  1.  Filling out TONS of paperwork!  First our application, then a more detailed list of personality questions.  From what I have been reading if we were doing an international adoption this would about triple in the amount of paperwork.

  2.  Creating our family profile.  This sounds like it should be fun as it is basically our life stories up to this point and we get to include pictures.  Hopefully our birthmother won't think we are a couple of goobers!  We have tons of camping/hiking pictures so hopefully they don't mind natural settings...

  3.  Getting the "prostate exam" equivalent masked as a home-study.  We will be scrutinized and evaluated pretty thoroughly.   This is to make sure that we can provide a safe, loving environment for the baby and to make sure that we are a stable family unit.  We will have to be clear that the crates are for the dogs and not our version of a "play yard".  :)   Thank goodness too we now have a functional kitchen with a sink and everything.  We probably would not have passed this time last year if we had tried!

  4.  Parenting training classes.  This will actually be great for both of us.  I think it will be good for us to figure out our parenting style before we have a kid but also classes like first aid, etc will be good for both of us.  Scott is so afraid of breaking a baby I want to make sure he is comfortable too as I will not be the only one holding our baby until the age of 12months!

  5.  Decorating the baby's room.  I have already started looking at the furniture and bedding options and trying to envision the room I want to create for our little one.  We have tossed the idea around of a Purdue Boilermaker room as it faces our neighbor's IU nursery...always a rivarly!

  6.  Waiting, waiting, and more waiting.  This will probably be the hardest part.  Once we have filled out all of the paperwork, created our profile, and become active we have to wait to be picked by our birthmother.  I have already been thinking and praying about the woman who will be making that amazing choice to allow us to parent her child.  What a gift she will be giving us and she doesn't even know it yet.  Be patient with me during that time, waiting is the hardest part!

I do find it pretty amazing, the process of adoption.  One line it the book basically said that all of the paperwork and the hoops you have to go through is kind of like our labor for our child.  It is painful, stretches you physically and emotionally and ultimately brings you the greatest gift possible.

So as of June 13th, we start our laboring process, wish us luck!

Busy weekend!

After a long week at work Scott and I proceeded to have a jam packed weekend!  Our nephew William came down for the weekend  to join Scott in the Tour De Trails bike ride Saturday. 

While they were off riding, I was at our church's community garden for the blessing of the seeds.  This has become an annual tradition where one of the ministers says a prayer for the garden and those who tend it each summer.  It's generally a small gathering where everyone gets to know each other and of course like any good church gathering, there is coffee and refreshments! 

Saturday afternoon all three of us got cleaned up for the wedding of my friend, Tim.  The wedding was in Indy and we enjoyed the ceremony and the reception.  Tim and I met at Common Ground Christian Church in Indy almost 10 years ago.  We both ended up in the same house church.  Several other people came to his wedding that had also been in our house church group so it was a great way to catch up. 

Sunday I sat down for a minute before we were off to a graduation open house for Scott's cousins Ben & Anna.  I was reading through our Sunday paper when I came across this article by Sharon Randall.  I have attached a link to the article.  It is her top 25 tips for staying married.  I thought it was a good reminder of what keeps a marriage strong.  Our lives can get so busy with the day to day that sometimes were take our spouses for granted. Feel free to check it out!  I will be putting my "hard copy" on the fridge where I will see it each day!  

http://www.redding.com/news/2012/may/21/sharon-randall-25-tips-staying-married/

Random thoughts...

As I was driving home early from work this afternoon I was thinking about some of the ways in which adoption and pregnancy are both similar and different.

Similarities:
   --You will likely wait for your child to come for several months
   --You get to have fun showers with friends and family
   --There are exciting twists and turns along the way
   --You are given the greatest gift possible

Differences:
    --With adoption you don't end up "eating for two", making it much easier to lose the baby weight  ;)
    --You could have kids with all very different backgrounds
    --Your child will have more than 1 mom and 1 dad to celebrate on Mother's day and Father's day
    --You get to pick out out your kid with adoption...to a point!

I am sure many more random thoughts will come my way, aren't you excited???  :)

New Beginnings!

October 13, 2012 Scott and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary.  It's hard to believe that much time has passed!  Over the past 5 years we have both enjoyed fun vacations to the Smokey Mountains, South Dakota, family biking trips in Michigan and more. 

Mount Rushmore, Summer 2011

Hiking in the Smokies, April 2011

Crazy Horse, Summer 2011

Along the way we have also had some adventures in adding a baby to our family. 

After having a miscarriage, we sought the advice of a fertilty doctor.   After some tests it was determined that IVF would be our best bet.  We thought about our options, talked with friends, did some research, and decided that adoption was a great option for our family. 

At first I struggled with the thought, "Will I ever be able love an adopted child as much as I would love a biological child?"  To help me figure out that answer, I felt a nudge to work in the nursery at our church during Sunday morning services.  In doing that for the past 2 years, I have come to realize that I love those children so much and it became clear to me that I could love a child, regardless of whether I carried them or not.

As with a lot of women, when Scott and I talked about starting a family, I imagined myself pregnant and what that would be like.  It took some time for me to be ok with not being pregnant and instead embracing our experience in a different way.

Saturday we celebrated Scott's 40th birthday and we also announced to our family and friends that we have started our adoption journey.  We have taken the plunge into parenthood and we are just starting out on this journey. 

If you know us you know that we enjoy hiking.  We often try the challenging hikes and this seems to be no different!  The reward at the end of the road will be just as wonderful as some of our most difficult hikes and I am looking forward to the hills and valleys just as much.  I know that there will be difficult days ahead, but I am keeping my eye on the fact that we will have a child that has been chosen just for us.

I wasn't sure how our family and friends would react, would they be excited?  Would they wonder why we had chosen this route?  How would they react if we had a biracial child?  Well, on Saturday we received overwhelming support in our decision and it really did feel like we were telling everyone we were pregnant!  It was great to know that we have a support system and that they are excited about our little bundle of joy.

Now we must wait.  Our first meeting with our agency is in June.  It's funny because it almost feels like we are waiting for that first doctor's appointment to confirm our "pregnancy".  It will be an exciting journey and I invite you to enjoy the adventure with us.

I am not sure what the dogs will think about the new addition, but as anything, I am sure they will adjust....as long as treats are involved! 

Molly, Chloe, and Madison, Spring 2011