Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Drumroll Please!

As of 11:02 pm on 12/29/14, we received the email that our file is in order, home study complete and in the words of our amazing caseworker 'You are officially a waiting family!'

Another way to say this is 'paper pregnant'. 




Not sure how I feel about that term, but we're gonna roll with it anyway! Obviously we are VERY relieved and excited, but now the real adventure begins. We could be meeting with birth families at any moment and placed at any moment so basically we just have to be ready. I have loaded up on newborn clothes for boys and girls, newborn diapers, wipes and basically everything but the car seat. Well, I guess I only have enough diapers for 2 1/2 days but we'll catch up! Now realistically this process usually takes 12-24 months, but still, that's so fast. I'm sure I will be busily nesting and fundraising waiting for that awesome moment we meet our little one. 

So enter a giant EEEEKKKKK here followed by a OMGOSH. We are freaking out. This process was complete in 5 months. That's crazy fast. 

If you are looking for me, I'll be huddled in the corner surrounded by books about how to take care of newborns and sniffing Pampers diapers to get prepared for the amazing smell of babies. Possibly downing chocolate faster than you can say Hershey. Roller coasters have nothing on the adoption process. 



Friday, December 19, 2014

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! Time for an update......

Over the last couple of months, we have been steadily working on our home study. As of today, our home study is completed and being reviewed! This is a HUGE step forward in our adventure and a giant relief to us both.

We met our caseworker when she visited our home for the first of two meetings. She was such a huge blessing to us. I was amazed at how she had memorized our story and could repeat parts of it back to us like she had known us for years. She toured our home and we only had one safety piece to fix before she came back. We needed to prepare and post a fire evacuation plan somewhere in our home. She chatted with us and both two hour visits flew by. She gave us so many ideas to work on and also pointed out areas we needed to strengthen. I was grateful for her honesty and advice.

In addition, after 548,927.218 hours of work, I have completed our photo profile book. This is what the agencies will share with the birth families to help them chose an adoptive family. The profile book shows photos and details about who we are to give the birth family some understanding of the family they are choosing for their child. The photo book was just approved by our agency a couple hours ago so now I can get 12 copies ordered! We had our photos taken by one of our amazing friends Beth. She did such a great job of making us look almost normal!

Isn't my super hubby handsome? 



Now we just wait a couple more weeks for the home study to be reviewed and approved. Soon I will be able to announce that we are officially ready to be matched with a family at any point!

As for fundraising, if you look to your right, you will see our fundraising goal. We've raised an AMAZING $7539 towards our overall adoption costs. We are SO grateful. Our next fundraiser is one our good friend Jenni is putting together called the 'Missing Piece'. People will have the chance to sponsor a puzzle piece for $5. We have a large puzzle that we will try to complete over the next couple months. Each piece purchased will have the sponsors name written on it. When the puzzle is complete, we will put together and frame backwards to hang in the baby's nursery so we can honor everyone who donated and they get to be a piece of our adventure! Feel free to get the ball rolling now if you feel so inclined! There is a Paypal link to the right of your screen you can use, just include a note that it's for the 'Missing Piece' fundraiser and Jenni will get your name on a puzzle piece. So fun!

Hope that helps give you an idea of where we are in the process. It's all so terrifyingly amazingly awesome and exciting, but also huge and overwhelming. We are so ready to kick back and relax for the holiday's and enjoy some time with our families. We have SO much to be grateful for this Christmas season. God is and has been so good to our little family and we know that without Jesus coming to us in the most vulnerable form possible and being 'adopted' into our world as a little innocent baby, we would have and be nothing. I am so grateful for His sacrifice for me. And not only so that I could have life in heaven with Him, but also that I could be constantly shaped and molded into someone better than I could be on my own. This adoption process is shaping me so deeply and at times it is difficult, but I know that what He is preparing me for is so exciting and rewarding and I can't wait to see the story He writes for us.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate those of you who take time to follow the story of a couple crazy kids on a crazy adventure. We are so blessed by the support we have received from those around us.

Have a peaceful, joyful and fun Christmas!

Kristen

Monday, November 10, 2014

Fireplace Bench Project

We are slowly beginning the task of baby proofing our house before the case worker begins our interviews and inspections. There is lots to do but for our first hurdle I decided to find a way to make our lovely brick fireplace safe for little crawlers as it's surrounded with hard and sharp corners. I didn't love the idea of just putting a baby gate around it so searched my favorite site Pinterest for ideas.

Before - Mean old sharp edged fireplace
 I stumbled onto this site and discovered her brilliant idea for solving the fireplace issue - creating a bench cover! So thus began a new Saturday project for us. And by 'us' I mean, my husband. Funny how that works huh?

We went shopping at our local craft supply store and picked out the material we wanted and the foam to build the bench as well as plywood and pine boards as suggested on the blog.

We chose a faux leather fabric to make clean up easier! 
Chris (aka Superman) began the tedious process of cutting, gluing, re cutting, re-gluing, well you get the idea.


Isn't he handsome? I digress....

After he got the frame built, we began adding the multiple layers of foam to make our bench seat super comfy!



And eventually, after numerous attempts at folding the material just so, we set the bench in place and then my husband told me to stay off Pinterest for the rest of our lives. Just kidding, he didn't say that. Although I'm pretty sure he was thinking it.

Voila!




All done! I'm so happy with how it turned out. Now our future little's (and their friends) will be safe to roam and play!

(Is now a good time to mention the baby gates I want Chris to build next?)



Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Of Paperwork, Nurseries and Fall

FALL!! This is my FAVORITE season. I love the change of colors and weather. I love being able to get cozy with a throw blanket and slippers. There is more changing than the seasons around our house though! Here are some updates for you all!

Adoption - Well, things are progressing quite nicely! We completed our required all day training session and it was AMAZING! We are so blessed to be working with such a wonderful adoption agency. They brought in a lawyer to give us advice on the legal aspects of adoption, an OHSU Doctor to help us understand potential health problems and tons of other information that was so beneficial. My favorite part was getting to hear from adoptive families and later on in the day from a couple of birth parents who chose adoption for their child. It was breathtaking to hear stories about the beauty of adoption. Obviously the stories shared weren't without pain and difficulty, but the end result of all these people coming together to benefit this one child was just incredible to see. Lets just say my eyes were leaking all day!

In other news, as of last Monday our home study paperwork and studies are COMPLETE and mailed to the agency! What a relief that was to have done.


Now we wait to hear from the agency and schedule our interviews with the case worker! I feel nervous about this part, mostly because I'm not sure what to expect. I've had butterflies in my stomach the last several days as we've taken the next few steps. Its all becoming so real!

In other news, my family visited a few weeks ago and we decided it would be fun to set up the nursery! It may seem early, and in fact probably is quite early, but it feels good to know it's ready to go whenever we get a call someday down the road as well as to show the caseworker when he/she visits our home. Plus it was so fun to have my mom help me decorate and organize everything! She is such a huge help with all of this. We still have some things to finish, but those can all wait until later once we are closer to actually adopting. For now, enjoy some sneak peeks!


Putting together the crib we got on Craigslist! 
We got the two dressers FREE at a yard sale! 

Don't mind the WiFi thing in the window :)


I'm in LOVE with how it turned out. My mom had the idea of doing a Noah's Ark animal theme and had been saving decorations for that purpose. It turned out so cute and relaxing. I love to just go sit in there and dream about rocking a baby in there someday!

Fundraising - Well since you asked, we have raised approximately 1/3 of our adoption costs so far! I'm just BLOWN away at the generosity and love we have experienced. HUGE thanks to everyone who has donated through bake sales and through the Paypal button on the blog! I'm so blessed by every little bit. Next on the agenda is more baked goods right before Thanksgiving and Christmas! Please let me know if you would like some yummy bread or cinnamon rolls!

Well that about catches us all up I think! I want to leave you with this quote I saw the other day. It really inspired me in this season of change we are in. Our adoption agency director reminded us at our training that adoption is for the courageous. That being said, no matter how 'courageous' I may or may not be, the truth is that I feel overwhelming fear about this process almost every day. All the what if's and the complete lack of control leaves me struggling some days because God knows, I love to have everything planned and prepared down to the tiniest detail. But He is leading me into and through a season where I have to let go of the reins and let Him lead me because there is no way I am brave enough on my own to do this. And I am grateful for that, because I know its preparing me for the future. So take a moment to think about what areas of your life God is calling you to have courage in and take a giant leap with me!

Love to you all!






Thursday, September 11, 2014

Update

Well hello there! I just realized I hadn't posted for a bit too long. I guess this can speak to the level of busyness happening in our home! So thought I would do a quick update.....

Adoption Process - We are still working away on our home study paperwork and studying. We are about halfway through the reading requirements to meet our 10 hours of training. I have completed The Open Adoption book by Bruce Rappaport. I highly recommend this even if you aren't adopting yourself. It corrects a lot of the misconceptions behind adoption, especially open adoption. If you are supporting a family member or friend through their adoption process, give it a read! It'll really help you know how to best support them.

Now I'm working on the Whole Life Adoption Book and Chris is working on Inside Transracial Adoption! We will update on those books when we finish them!





As for the paperwork, we have our background checks and fingerprinting completed. We are about finished with our individual autobiographies and present life sketch stories. Once those are done, we have to complete a physical with our doctor and send everything in! We have all our references letters done as well. We attend one other mandatory training in October and that completes the training portion.

Fundraising:

We have now completed 3 yard sales and a Cinnadopt bake sale fundraiser (in less than 2 months! WHEW no wonder I'm tired!) Between these events and donations via the Paypal link on the blog we have raised a little over $4000!!! We are so blown away by how generous people have been to us. We have received so many donations of items to sell and even just cash. SO blessed and in awe of how this is all working. So a HUGE thank you to those who have helped in one way or another. I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you all enough! (baby snuggles someday maybe?) Next up, my friend Jenni will be hosting a Missing Piece fundraiser so look for that on a future post!

House Remodel:

We finally were able to get our roof replaced (thank you to those that helped!) so now our house is looking much better. Next we are working on finishing up the trim and rearranging rooms to begin setting up the nursery! We purchased a cute crib off Craigslist so things are coming together.

That's about all that's going on in our world. So much excitement and wonderful things to look forward too!

Have a great week everyone!

Kristen








Friday, August 22, 2014

Why Adopt?


We have been steadily announcing our plans to friends, family and honestly anyone who will listen! (we might be excited a tad!) Occasionally we have met with some strange responses. Some make us laugh, some make me scratch my head and some....well some just seem confused. Comments ranging from 'oh be careful' to 'oh you just couldn't get the job done so you're gonna go this route huh?' (ok moment of honesty here, but that one made me so angry) 99% of the reactions have been joy and excitement and support for us, and I'm so grateful. But it got me thinking, maybe people don't understand WHY we are adopting. So allow me to explain.....

Chris and I have been married for 5 years, and we have always planned to adopt. I was adopted as an infant and it has always been something I'm proud of. I think the courage and sacrifice of all parties involved is amazing and I greatly admire my birth mom and my parents. So we have left the building of our family to God. Thus far, we have not conceived ourselves. For a long time this was something that I really struggled with, but now I realize that its been a gift in a lot of ways. I'm not claiming that I'm infertile, or that we will never have a biological child, but for right now, God has grown my dream of having children and moved my heart to pursue adoption. And I am BEYOND delighted with this plan He has laid before me. Are we giving up on biological children? No. Are we going to seek treatment or fertility assistance? No. We have decided to be open to pursue the family God has designed for us. The method our children come to be in our family just isn't important. What matters is they fit with us, they were made to be part of our lives. I say they because we don't know how many kids our family will hold. Again, that part is not up to us. The only thing required of us is to say yes! 

We are working with Christian Family Adoptions in Portland. Currently we are in the Home Study phase. We are doing the Loving Options Infant program in Oregon/Washington states only. This option is considerably more affordable and allows us to be closer when the baby is born. There are no guarantees, but the process generally takes 12-24 months start to finish, depending on when you get matched. Once we are approved with the home study visits, we will then wait to be matched with a birth mom and go from there. 

My hope is that helps you understand the 'why' behind all this. Adoption is not a consolation prize. It is not a second option. Its not a 'well we can't have our own children so I guess this will do'. Its a we're-up-for-a-crazy-adventure. Its a yes to something so much bigger than us. There is no sadness for me. Only a fierce determination that somewhere out there, a baby is being conceived who's life we were meant to partner with. Somewhere out there is a birth mom who's courageous, selfless choice to allow us to be part of her journey will make me a mom. It will be beautiful. And messy. And chaotic. But that's just what this life is, a messy beautiful chaotic adventure and I'm so excited for what this will bring. 

So there ya have it. My goal with this blog is to be open and vulnerable with this process. So if you would, please take a moment to leave me a comment so I know who is reading this. Feel free to ask any questions about our journey and I will answer them the best I can. 

Have an amazing weekend! ~ Kristen 

PS - Don't forget to order your baked goods for our Cinnadopt fundraiser! If you are in the Portland/Salem area we will be delivering next week. You can pay via the Paypal button on the main page of the blog. Thanks again!!