It's Official!!!

It's official, we are approved! We are finally after 5 months of paperwork, background checks, interviews, and lots of waiting we are now approved to adopt a child domestically. I am so excited! I know this was just one hurdle, and now we wait until the time the Lord unites us with our child(ren). Now I need to start applying for grants and making fliers to put around town to get the word out that we are adopting. Please if anyone hears of anyone in the US wanting to place their child let them know about us and us about them. Once our profile is up on https://itsaboutlove.org/ I will put a link on the side of the blog so you can direct people there. Yay! Here's to hoping it doesn't take another two year!

National Adoption Month

November is here! I can't believe the year has gone by so quickly, and we have already been on our adoption journey for going on 5 months. This is going to be a good month because:

Not only is November National Adoption Month, but it is also the month when our home study should be approved! Joe said he should be done writing it today and then it will be reviewed by his committee. That should be done Tuesday or Wednesday. They may have more questions, but if not we could be approved next week! Keep you eyes peeled for an exciting post next week.

Lots of things have been brewing on the adoption front. Just this week we have actually been made aware of two separate adoption opportunities. We have decided not to pursue the first one we heard about, it just didn't feel right. The second one sounds quite exciting, but we aren't sure if it is actually feasible. Until we know more, I am sorry but I am going to keep details under wraps. Just please keep us in your prayers. Even if nothing comes from this referral, we are excited to get our home study approved and have our profile put on https://itsaboutlove.org/. We also would like all our friends, family, and followers to keep us in mind when you hear of adoption opportunities. We know there are children out there for us and we hope you can help bring us together.

Also, I want to send I HUGE thank you out to my friend Katie A. for your generous donation to our adoption fund. What a perfect way to start off National Adoption Month. Thank you so much!

EDIT: Make that three opportunities. We just go another email. All of these cases and children are so different. It is kind of crazy how this week is progressing. It could be all very exciting, or turn into nothing. We will see!

Babies First Diapers

Sorry, I know it has been a while since I have posted. I don't feel like there is much to write right now. I bought my first cloth diapers! I am excited about that. They are BumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers.

I also went to My Precious Kid and looked at diapers with my sister Stephanie, and my friend Hollie. We all bough All in 2 diapers. I bought a cow print one, it is so cute! Steph bought a blue one to try on D and Hollie bought matching blue and green giraffe prints for her twin boys she is carrying! It was so much fun.

Joe is officially writing our home study! He talked with everyone he needed to talk to and is now plowing away. He has been emailing Justin and I questions to answer, such as who is older between Kaylynn and I. LOL. It is always funny telling people that we don't know. The response is typically telling us that we should look at the time on our birth certificates. Well, New Mexico doesn't put the time on them, at least Kaylynn and mine don't have the time. Funny though, Joe suggested that I look into the hospital records. He then said he didn't need to know, he was just trying to add to the sibling rivalry. It was funny. I hadn't seen anything other than a serious side of our caseworker so the little banter back and forth was nice.

Hopefully soon I will be able to blog about getting approved!

Off Day

Everyone always tells me that I am strong. Thank you for that. However, that is not always the case, and let's be honest most times it is probably a face. Today though I wanted to be open and just share how I am feeling. I am having an off day. I have been taking time to research different aspects of parenting and raising an infant as I wait to find out if we are approved to adopt, and I am sure it will continue as we wait to be picked. It has all progressed naturally in my mind. Something someone says will lead me to be overly curious about options and what I want for my child. I started by picking out paint for the nursery. Then I moved onto diapering. I have chosen to cloth diaper and am pretty sure what system I want to use. My new tropic I have moved onto is breastfeeding. For those of you out there that don't know, yes it is possible to breastfeed an adopted child. However, learning about what it would take for me to breastfeed my child got me thinking about the fact that I have no maternity leave/benefits. It wasn't going to be a big deal when Justin was working, but now that he is layed off I won't get to have that time to bond with my baby. I am going to miss the most vital bonding months. This makes me cry. I am feeling extremely hormonal today. I don't know why all of this just hit me and I know I will be fine tomorrow or the day after, but today I am having an off day.

Blessings

Saturday after 4 hours of General Conference my twin sister and I went to Deseret Book in Lake Oswego for Ladie's Night. I had a good time spending time with her and some friends. Look what I got for a steel!

I know it is hard to read, but it says:

"Some blessings come soon, some come late,

and some don't come until Heaven

but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ

they come."

- Jeffery R Holland

I thought it would be perfect for the nursery, especially since it is normally $79.99 and I got it for $7.99! Now I need to paint the walls so that I can hang it. : ) I promise I will paint eventually.

A little update on our progress. I have been speaking with our case worker and he is still trying to contact our social worker from the state. However, he said if everything goes smoothly we should be approved late October or early November!  I really hope everything goes well and stays on track. I can't wait!

Background Checks

Our background checks came back today all clear! It was supposed to take 3-6 weeks, and today was the 2 week mark. Yep, we are that good. : ) Now we are just waiting for our home study to be written and to be approved.

Friends

Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another,

"What? You, too? I thought I was the only one."

-C.S. Lewis

I stole this from a blog I follow because it is perfect for my post today. Thursday was a hard day for me. Physical things were going on with me and we had our personal interviews for the adoption approval process.  While Justin came out of his interview hopeful, optimistic, and in a relatively good mood, I felt drained, exhausted, and a little torn down. I know most of that is from me, the expectations I put on myself, and my anxiety. I went straight to my yoga class hoping that would help me feel better, but because of some of the physical issues I was having that day I just felt worse. Pretty much I was having an off day. I do think everyone is allowed one every once in a while. : ) Well... When I got home I have a pretty package on the table waiting for me.

I was baffled by who it might be from and what it might contain. I saw the street name and thought it was from someone in Washington. LOL. I was like, "I don't have any Aunts in Washington."

I pulled out this cute unicorn and was even more confused. Then I read the card and pulled out a smaller envelope and started tearing up. This wonderful package made my day. The little guy's name is Wishful, which is totally perfect. Infertility is a rough road to travel. However, it has been made easier by the wonderful life long friends I have made who share this road. Stephanie, Allison, Kerry, Eve, Amanda, Amy, and Katie all sent me beautiful notes and donations to our puzzle fundraiser.

These women have called themselves Aunties. Family is more then blood. These women have been such a strength and a blessing in my life and I can't wait for our children to play at the park together. Yes we already talk about play dates. I have made lifelong friends whom I would never have met if not for this trial we all share. Thank you guys. You hold a special place in my heart.

Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another,

"What? You, too? I thought I was the only one."

-C.S. Lewis