Adoption Meeting

Yesterday we went to Charlotte for a follow-up meeting with our agency.  There was only five couples, so it was a lot more intimate although I don't have trouble speaking and asking questions in front of others.  I mean to me, these meetings are SO valuable and an opportunity to be clear on everything.  We learned more about what will be happening during the home assessment part...which can't come fast enough.  We are just waiting on our case worker to contact us to setup our first interview.  One of my questions/comments was:  "No pressure, but when should we expect to hear from our case worker?-Cause we are more than ready."  We also learned about when to tell our child about adoption.  I mean I knew that we should talk to Little Miracle right away through trade books, etc.  One thing that I really loved was what Angela, the Charlotte case worker, said in regards to telling about adoption.  She said, "When do you tell your child about Jesus?"  Well, duh!  Done, enough said!  We got to look through profile books of other couples, and got a lot of ideas of how to create ours.  I am going to get started soon, since this is more my cup of tea than Ty's.  He will be in charge of the video we make to go along with our book.  In a nutshell....we are waiting to complete our home assessment and profile book/video, then we will be a waiting family~

Easter basket

This past weekend was Easter, and Little Miracle got an Easter basket from the Bunny. It was filled with the goods below.

All of Little Miracle's clothes pretty much have "yellow ducks" on them. Mom said that she isn't going to know what to do if I buy something else with a yellow duck on it. (I just can't resist a good price.)

Here is what Little Miracle got for it's first Easter even thought he/she isn't even born yet. :) Owl for the nursery, Gymboree caterpillar set (outfit, booties, blanket), frog lovie, sleeper.

Sneak Peek....

Here is a glimpse of our nursery fabric~bedding. I love it!

I am waiting on something to come in the mail and then I will be able to post pictures of the nursery.

Until then, I hope you like what you see.

It's green alright...and a beautiful sight!

This past week we had some painting done including the nursery. We chose "Afternoon Delight" which is a light lime green. It appeared soft enough for a nursery yet bright enough for the modern non-traditional nursery feel I am going for in the space. Well...it is bright green! After the painters started the trim I began to worry. I kept telling myself that once the furniture went in, it would change the color and soften it. I was right...I love it!

We needed to put up new light fixtures in the master bath and afterwards we planned on putting together the nursery furniture. Ty isn't really big on home improvement projects...but my begging worked because we began to put the furniture together at like 7:30 that night because I wanted to spend the rest of the week getting the nursery put together.

We have never seen so much styrofoam, cardboard, and HUGE boxes. (The recycling guys are going to love us!) We got everything together rather quickly and we were so pleased how it all turned out. I did get a little teary eyed at one point. I mean I have waited eight years to do this...and it just melted my heart.

I am not ready for the big reveal yet. Remember patience is a virtue.

been so long...

***Click on the image to make it bigger and see the details.

It has been so long since my last blog post, but lots have been going on. I received the most special gift from my mom and dad Sunday at church. They gave me a "mommy necklace". It was so special. I have seen them online at differenct Etsy shops...hinted to Ty for Valentine's Day, but no such luck. The top circle says: "born in my heart" which is from the adoption creed and has two pearls that represent Ty and I. The bottom circle says: "lil miracle". How sweet. The seller said that she would replace the bottom circle with the Little Miracle's actual name when he/she arrives. I fell in love and I wear it everyday. When I see it or touch it, I say a prayer for our future birthmother. We have turned our prayers to her and for her decision to let us be the parents of her child. I am so blessed to be going through this adoption journey to gain a forever family. Another proud moment was sharing my gift with Mehya's mom. She was so excited to see such a special piece of jewelry and wanted one of her own~

Thanks mom and dad for such a special piece of jewelry!!!

When you see me (and my necklace) say a prayer for our birthmother and us as we continue on this journey~

Adoption Meeting

Last Friday, we had our first of two adoption meetings. We decided to go to Raleigh the night before to eliminate any traffic issues, and well to spend some time together away from home. We love to go on little getaways, and we know that we may not have as many once Little Miracle comes, which is fine with us.
We had such a great day on Friday! I have to admit that I was a little nervous and apprehensive meeting other couples in the same place as us, wanting the same thing. I didn't want to feel like it was a competition, but these will be the ones whose profiles will be out at the same time as ours. It is so wrong to feel that way, but I am just being vulnerable.
When we got there and chose our seats, I wanted to introduce myself. I began talking to the couple beside us, and what do you know...they are from Winston too! It was so awesome! We hit it offright away and planned on going to lunch. During lunch, we had a great time getting to know each other and plan on getting together in the future.
It was great to meet all of the Bethany staff in person but what was so special was to see God first in there life and mission. They talked about our motivation to adopt. I love this that they said: "Bethany is not finding families for children, but children for families." We learned about the risk factors of the babies and even as a newborn, they face loss. We have to try and make sense of the past and become realistic of the future. This is our journey, but more importantly, God is on our journey with us.
Another powerful point was in discussing God's perfect plan: "Did God say okay fish, flop around for a few days, I haven't created water yet? No, God created water first for the fish to swim in." love it!
When a birthmother goes through her counseling and then birth, they get a basket from Bethany that includes a journal, devotion book, Bible, and personal needs. They told us that most of them come during their third tri-mester and that they are with them when they make their adoption plan and decisions. The staff told us that we will meet atleast once with the birthmom and then at the hospital. It is so hard to go from theory to reality.
It was most powerful to hear about the open adoption process. Ty and I had many myths and wonders about open vs. semi and even closed. We decided that we want an open adoption...to build trust, have a long term relationship, enable us to keep in touch for the future, and allow our child to know their mother and maybe even father. We thought that an open adoption meant that they had to come to Thanksgiving, etc. It is not the case at all. We have an adoption covenant that we set up together.
I asked lots of questions, especially when four sets of adoptive couples came in, along with a birthmom. It was very touching to see their babies and get to get some answers.
We learned so much about what was coming up next...which is that we should get our financial contract and then our social worker will contact us for the home study interviews. We got to meet them, and we don't know which one will be ours though. Leah (our adoption specialist) complimented us on how fast we have gotten everything done and good all of our paperwork looks so far. She is a hoot I tell ya!
Home Study looks like: 1. joint meeting interview 2. separate interviews 3. home visit 4. pastor visit (usually same day as home visit). They will have thirty days to write up the assessment...then we can show our profile online and at the agencies :) followed by the dreaded wait.
Many of the couples there were doing the domestic newborn program, but a few were pursuing international or older sibling adoption. It seemed as though many of the people there were behind us in the process. The next meeting will be the first of April where we will learn about our profiles and how to make the book/video. I am hoping to get started before then.
We both left and felt that God confirmed our hearts and the perfect plan for builiding our family through adoption. We are so excited about moving forward with this journey. After a long discussion on the ride home, we decided to shift our prayers to praying for our future birthmom. We have been SO blessed this far with our paperwork and now we need to begin praying harder for our birthparents. We covet your prayers for our birthparents too.
When we got home, our financial contract was already in our mailbox! God is good, real good.

Intense but exciting...

Yesterday, mom and I went to register Little Miracle at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I chose to register there because they have a great baby section and a lot of the things that I want, they carry...and Babies 'R Us doesn't. It was a lot of fun, but yet so intense. I have researched and read reviews of tons of categories/products but I still felt unprepared with some things.

I am very excited about registering here because they have free shipping when you purchase something from a registry! That works out great for out of town family and friends.

One really neat thing was that when I filled out the paper to get started, I had to put my "due date" which obviously we don't know. So I randomly picked June 21st. Wouldn't it be SO crazy if the baby was actually born that day? Cool, huh? I hope it is before then, but Summer would be an awesome time.

Here is a picture of me registering for bottles.