No Regrets

When we first started this process, we basically spent months trying to hash out in our minds whether or not this was the path we were supposed to take. During that time, we went back and forth, questioning this and questioning that. It can be a very scary, nerve wracking thing to not have information and to jump in blind, so to speak.

I can say that we have no regrets. None. Nada. I am confident that things will continue to fall into place, as they have already been doing. I am not fearful of what is to come. We can handle it. We would not be where we are today if we were unsure about any of this.

We are excited and we cannot wait to get Addison home.

We cannot wait to tell her that she has a mommy and a daddy that love her and that she can depend on.

We cannot wait to tell her that she has a brother and a sister waiting for her at home.

We cannot wait to tell her that she will not spend the rest of her life wasting away in an institution because nobody wanted her.

We cannot wait to feel the love and joy that she will provide to our family.

We cannot wait to see her blossom when she gets home.

We cannot wait to show her what it feels like to be loved.

We cannot wait. We cannot wait. We cannot wait!

Social Worker Assigned: Check!

We finally got a social worker assigned to our case. We have a phone orientation with her on Monday at 10am EST. Our agency should have all of our home study paperwork by today (hopefully) ... once they confirm that, our social worker will schedule an appointment to come out for our first home study visit. Yay!

Fundraising

We are ready to start fundraising for our adoption. Adoption is a very expensive process and while our agency has waived their fees due to us adopting a child with special needs, we still are probably looking at close to $15,000 in expenses. I'm looking for ideas of how people have fundraised in the past ... help!

Our biographies ... a tribute to my husband

I just had to tell you all about my crazy husband and our biographies that we each had to write. We were given instructions that each biography had to be 3-4 pages, along with a list of things to talk about. We had some friends over this past weekend, and I read them a few blurbs out of Kyle's biography. We had a good laugh, with tears flowing and all.

You see, Kyle apparently is the king of run-on sentences, or even sentences that just go in circles. Here is one example (see bolded sentence):

I don’t remember having any favorite subjects in school except for Physical Education, but I do know that I had a least favorite subject, which was Math. I never could wrap my mind around why anyone would want to try and figure out why you would want to figure the time it would take 3 different people going three different directions at different speeds what time they all would arrive at their destination point!!! I always had the philosophy that if people were going somewhere and made it there safely shouldn’t we be happy about that, and not worry so much about how fast they could get there?? Or how to make X and Y = Z. I would always rather try and figure out how I could make the baseball fly further or how Michael Jordan could seem like he was flying in the air and dunk a basketball, or average 30 points per game over the course of an entire season. What I didn’t realize until my first physics class is that the subject I disliked the most (math) had to do the most with the things I liked (sports).

Say what?! Dear Lord, he cracks me up!

Here is another one (perhaps the best one yet):

I had and still do have many friends and friendships, but I now have a smaller number of “circle of close friends” that I can trust with anything including watching my children if needed and know that if I were stuck in the middle of a snow storm and my car died that if I called them they would be there in a minute no matter what time of night or day and not say “sorry I can't come get you I have to get up early tomorrow, or its too far away or call me if no one else can come get you”.

Breathe husband, breathe! Another ...

So, after the first semester I quit school and for the next year I worked odd and end jobs, in retail, landscaping, etc to see if I could figure out “what I wanted to be when I grow up”, as the placement tests that my high school guidance counselor gave me said I should be the President of the United States and I didn’t really know how or where to apply for that job.

Too funny. I love this man, but his writing skills leave a lot to be desired!

FBI Clearance

Today Kyle and I went to be fingerprinted for our FBI clearance. There were two different guys taking our prints, Kyle got the new guy who was nervous and didn't put enough ink on the roller pad. He blamed it on Kyle's "calloused hands". Kyle doesn't agree. LOL All I know is that the prints better not be returned for being faulty, because that will then hold us up about a month!

Powerful message about adoption

While I was raised going to church here and there, I would not necessarily consider myself a religious person. I do, however, have a special relationship with God, and He is the one who has carried me through the past two months of intense decision making regarding our adoption. I do believe that he chose Kyle and I to be the parents to a special needs child for a reason. I also believe that He is calling us to adopt for a reason. Many people may think we have absolutely lost our minds in wanting to adopt a child with special needs. I only hope that their hearts will be expanded by following our journey to bring Addison home. Did I mention we decided to name her Addison? :)

I wanted to share this message from John Piper ...

Things are going smooth

I have such a good feeling about our adoption today. Things just seem to be falling into place with our paperwork, and we are less than a week into it. I have read stories about families having trouble with the simplest things, like getting their doctor to write a letter attesting to their health. I dropped off our medical forms today and requested a letter from the kids' pediatrician ... I had all of them back in my hands within hours ... amazing! I think God is definitely on our side! :)

The Paper Chase Begins

We have completed the application for adoption, the home study application and the financial statement to send off to our agency, Cradle of Hope. Now the real fun begins ... paperwork, paperwork, paperwork!

It is official!

We have been researching our options and have decided to proceed with Cradle of Hope Adoption Center. They are aware that we would like to adopt a little girl with Down syndrome from Russia. We have done a lot of research and believe that Russia is the right country for us. We are very excited and nervous!