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. 

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