Christmas Miracle!

I know this is WAY over due. I've been a little busy for the last 5 weeks or so, since we found out we needed to prepare for a baby! As some of you already know we were selected by a birth mom to parent her sweet baby girl! We were at the hospital when she was born, and we were allowed to care for her and bond with her there until she was discharged into our loving arms!

I will blog all the details, from start to finish, but for now, I'll just share our MIRAcle with you!

Mira Eliza White
Born 12/1/09 at 5:43pm

8lbs. 9oz. 20 3/4"
Adoring parents: Justin and Jessica White

GOD IS SO GOOD!

Tell It Like it Is:

In honor of National Adoption Awareness month, I thought I would share with you some truth's about Domestic Infant Adoption, as found in Adoptive Families Magazine, January/February 2003 issue.

Myth:
There are no babies being placed for adoption in the U.S.

Reality:
20,000 or more U.S.-born infants are placed for adoption each year.

Myth:
Adopting parents pay extortionate amounts—tens and tens of thousands of dollars.

Reality:
Costs to adopt domestically average $15,000. After the Adoption Tax Credit, the cost is comparable to that of giving birth in a hospital.
(Also, when you use an adoption agency, you are paying for the service NOT the baby. We've heard that so many times! We have had excellent service and care from our agency, Adoption Circle!!)

Myth:
Birthmothers are all troubled teens.

Reality:
Most birthmothers today are older than 18. In most cases, it’s lack of resources that causes them to place their children for adoption.

Myth:
Adopting parents must wait five years or more for a baby.

Reality:
The average wait in a domestic adoption is less than two years.

Myth:
Adoptees are all maladjusted.

Reality:
Studies show that adoptees are as well adjusted as their non-adopted peers.

Myth:
Birthparents can arrive at any time to reclaim their child.

Reality:
Once an adoption is finalized, the adoptive family is recognized as the child’s family by law.

We have nothing but good things to say about the adoption process in Ohio, as we are experiencing it first hand. We had many of the same misconceptions of adoption that most of you have, but with a little research and education, you too can learn that adoption is a blessing, and not at all a curse!

For more information about Open Domestic Adoption, visit www.adoptivefamilies.com

21 Days

I just realized it's been that long since I've updated my blog. We've been busy helping my Sister and Bro-in-law move into their new house. Working lots, finishing our new bathroom, and spending time with family.

Here's some pictures of the awesome job my Hubby, Dad, and Brother did on our new bathroom!

Love it!

It's so nice to finally have 2 bathrooms in the house, even if we don't want to use the old one at all!!!

I recently started reading the Prayer of Jabez. I remember people talking about it before, but never got interested enough to actually read it and study it. I started reading the words everyday last week. It's pretty amazing. Today, I started reading the study guide. I already feel it's going to do great things for us. My favorite line I read today says,
"Think of it this way: instead of standing near the river's edge, asking for a cup of water to get you through each day, you'll do something unthinkable- you will take the little prayer with the giant prize, and jump into the river! At that moment, you will begin to let the loving currents of God's grace and power carry you along. God's great plan for you will surround you and sweep you forward into the profoundly important and satisfying life He has waiting."
-Bruce Wilkinson

The prayer is found in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 if you're interested.

Oh, Bless me indeed!

One of those days....

UPDATE:

Megan and Josh brought home their beautiful little miracle, Aliyah Nicole, today!!!! She's beautiful and they are so thankful for their amazing gift!

It happens every once in a while. (ok, more often than not!) I wake up feeling like it's a "poor me" kinda day. Then I snap out of it, and focus my energies toward more important things. A very wise person told me recently, instead of worrying about it, why don't you pray about it?

So that's my new plan. (not that I never did that, but I'm making a conscious effort) AND today it just so happens that I have something very important to pray about. I have mentioned about someone I met through AC who's BM (birth mother) was induced Sunday night. They have been traveling back and fourth to the hospital to feed the baby and spend whatever time they can with her. The time to sign the papers is at 5:30 today. They need our prayers. The BM, the baby, and the Mommy and Daddy-to-be will be going through a difficult but wonderful transition. There are no guarantee's, but we are praying for the right thing to happen. Will you help me, and focus your energies to pray for this family? It is greatly appreciated.

New Fundraiser Idea?

Every time someone asks us if we're still adopting, they have to give us a quarter. Every time we have to tell someone, "There's nothing new.", they have to give us a quarter. Our Adoption Fund jar would fill up pretty fast!

We love talking about it, and telling people about our journey. I just thought about cashing in on the situation!

Obviously, that's a joke. We have been blessed repeatedly since we started. People have been so generous, helping with our finances voluntarily. No asking or begging! Like Friday when I received yet another gift and inspiring card from a very sweet friend from high school. What a surprise and a blessing. Thank you so much!

And last night, while visiting with my Grandparents from Indiana, they showed us a small box from Israel, called a Mite (not sure on the correct spelling) Box, in which they and their friends and neighbors are filling with their spare change for our fund. We were blessed with the stories of the people in their neighborhood are going out of their way to help us. Every little bit helps. They are saving pennies, but it is priceless to us to feel so much love.

So, Yes, we're still adopting. No, we have no news. No, we don't know how long we will have to wait. BUT...............

We have never felt so much love and support and will count our blessings everyday until we bring home our miracle. No matter how long it takes!

P.S. Pray for our friends Josh and Megan as their Birth mother, who has chosen them to be her baby's parents, will be induced this evening. They will soon be the proud parents of their second beautiful miracle through adoption!

Ups and Downs

So, what happened this week? I got to stay home from Highmark all week thanks to the G20 Summit. However, it didn't really feel like I had any free time on my hands, just more time to cook, clean, do laundry, love on Jake and Kayleigh, and grocery shop. Aside from the Jake and Kayleigh part, it wasn't a relaxing week, but I'm thankful.

We had our first glimmer of exciting news on the adoption front, but it didn't work out. We received an email about an urgent situation, in which we decided to have our profile shown. (Normally they wouldn't ask us, they just match up criteria to determine if they will show your profile or not. BUT, in urgent situations, they ask you first.) It turned out that the Birth parents canceled their appointment, which is awesome, because it probably means they decided to parent their child. However, with it being our first time since being approved, we (I) let myself start to get lost in the idea of this situation working out for us. I decided that it's better to be prepared and disappointed, than unprepared and stressed out. So I got prepared. Not over the top, just a few basic things we will need, when the time comes. Then, we found out the time would not be coming soon, or at least not with this situation. I was bummed to say the least. I think it was a good way to break us in, for our first time of actually being able to say, "Yes, we are ready". Hopefully the next time we will get a little closer to being chosen, and each time we will be more and more prepared, emotionally and physically.

It really is exciting, and I'm trying to stand back and look at the big picture. I'm thinking more about buying a car seat, finding a Pediatrician, decorating the nursery, and so on. Important preparations. God already has the right baby ready for us, whether it's already growing in some one's tummy, or just a thought waiting to be conceived, our baby is growing in our hearts, and we will patiently wait for him/her to be cuddling in our arms. *chills*

Simple as that.

So, we didn't get the big climax I was hoping for. I had to email AC about our status, and they informed me that yes, we are in fact, approved. Our profile is in the circulation drawer.

Simple as that.

No exciting moment of opening a letter and reading the great news. No celebratory moment of hugging and kissing my Hubby.

Simple as that.

However, we are very excited. Ready for the next step of this process. The ups, and downs, turns, and twists. Corkscrews. Loops. Headaches, neck pains. Upset stomach. The highs, and lows, excitement and sadness, and more excitement.

Simple as that.

Roller Coaster

I was called out yesterday, reminded that when I started this blog I promised I would update every week. I didn't go back to see when my last post was, but I know it's been a while.

Sorry. Here you go!

I never was much of a fan of roller coasters. I usually end up with a sore neck for days after the quick 30 second ride. I was thinking today about the journey to adoption, and how it's often compared to a roller coaster ride. I think about the many amusement parks I've been to. Getting in line for the ride is like the time from when we started trying to conceive. Getting on the ride is like choosing an adoption agency. The beginning of the ride is the homestudy and all the paperwork, and then, your car is starting to climb up the first big hill. Climbing, climbing, climbing.

That's where I feel we are. We are almost to the top of the hill, ready for the climax and the twists and turns and ups and downs that are to follow. The top of the hill, in my mind, is when we receive our official letter saying we're approved. I'm assuming that there is an official letter. I'm beginning to wonder. It's been a couple weeks since we've heard anything. Patience. I'm trying.

On a different note, we are having our 3rd. and final yard sale to benefit our adoption fund. Saturday, 79 Broad Street, Marianna. Stop by if you're out and about enjoying the covered bridge festivals. We're hoping to get rid of mostly everything left. We have done great with our sales, raising more than $1400 to help bring our dream into reality. Thanks to everyone who donated stuff, came and shopped, and helped run the yard sales. We'll need to think of a good fundraiser for the colder months to come. We have been truly blessed to this point, and are so thankful for the support of our friends and family!

I'm hoping my next post will include hands in the air and lots of screaming ;-0

Scatter-Brained

I've been trying to put some thoughts together for a new post. I'm still not sure I have anything to write, even though I started a new one! Nothing new, (YET!) on the adoption front. I'm waiting for "official" word before I post anything new. Over the last couple weeks, I sorta disconnected myself from the process. Not on purpose, it just happened. Thankfully. I haven't looked in my very thick binder, or read our profile, or searched for info online. I think you are so consumed by all that while needing to fill out paperwork and publish a profile that when it's finally done, you have no desire to see any of that, for a while. I'm definitely there. I came across some paperwork that needed to go in our binder, and I actually had to search to figure out where the binder was! Not because our office is cluttered or anything ;-), but really because I hadn't used it for so long.

So for now, I am trying to focus on anything. Laundry, some sort of exercise, work, food, work,
anything. But haven't had much luck with the focus part. Kind of learning what it might be like to have A.D.H.D.

That's about all I have to say, and that wasn't even very interesting.

Romantic Get-away!

For our 5 year anniversary, I planned a relaxing weekend at the lake. Although, there wasn't much that was romantic! Justin's family and many friends spent many years at Canadohta Lake. We decided to go there, and Justin was excited to see the place, after not being there for 15 years or so. He was disappointed to see they took out the go-kart track, but I think everything else was as he remembered. We found a campground online, reserved a site, and planned to scope out some cabins and cottages while we were there, for future trips. Our campground left a lot to be desired. We dubbed it the "ghetto". However, we made the best of it. We took a bike ride around the lake, exploring and working up an appetite for a gourmet meal.

Here's my wonderful Hubby, cooking me dinner on the open fire, with his Redneck Oven Mits (yes, they're blue knee high socks!). I called him a Boy Scout, and he informed me that he was never a Boy Scout, he was over-qualified to join!

We rented a Pontoon boat on Saturday, and spent a few hours cruising the lake, catching some rays, and trying to catch some fish. I was very successful with the rays part, but unfortunately my sunscreen didn't work. I have the burn lines to prove it! The fishing part didn't go so well, but we had fun anyway.

On our way to Canadohta, which is in Union City, PA, we passed the Crawford Co. Municipal Building, where apparently a local artist recycles the old road signs to decorate the grounds around the building. This was some really cool stuff, we even stopped to get a better look and take some pictures. Everything you see, is made out of old road signs. Amazing!

Despite the "ghetto", we had a great weekend. We talked to some people and scoped out some places to stay next time. The past 5 years have been amazing, not always a romantic get-away, but we always make the best of it!

Update

So, we had another busy week. Our home study is approved in the state of PA. Adoption Circle should have received our PA Home Study on Friday. I mailed the remaining paperwork needed for Ohio to our caseworker, and got copies of our profile printed. A friend from high school worked at the printing place, and she made some last minute changes and cleaned some things up for me before printing! Thanks so much, Abbie! We think it looks great, and hopefully the potential Birth parents will too! Hopefully, Adoption Circle will review our paperwork quickly and we will be officially approved and waiting soon!

Progress on our new bathroom is coming along. The cabinets, tub, shower, lights, and sink are installed. The walls are painted Toffee Crunch, and this week the floor will be laid, and the toilet will be ordered. (it's almond colored so it's not in stock) Can't wait for a bigger space and more storage! Luckily, we've been able to save a ton of money on this project by using second hand cabinets (which were pretty much brand new and going to be thrown away!) and having such talented men, especially my Dad, in our family who have spent hours helping!

This coming weekend will be our 5 year anniversary. With all the projects we've been doing this summer, we haven't had much time to relax and enjoy each other, so we are taking time to do just that. We can't wait. Hopefully the weather is hot and sunny so we can get outdoors and have some fun!

I'll update as soon as I hear something from Ohio. Hopefully sooner than later!

Calm

I'm surprisingly calm. For those that know me well know this is not a usual characteristic for me. The home visit will be in about 50 min. Our house is all in order, and it feels great to have everything clean and uncluttered. My new goal is to keep it this way! Ha ha ha!

I'm going to make breakfast, in case this is a marathon interview. We don't want our growling bellies interrupting this important meeting! I'll update later, when it's over. I'm assuming we will know today whether or not we pass, or if there's things we need to change. Hopefully it's the first one!

Thanks for all the well wishing we've gotten so far! We have the best friends and family!

Yes, I'm still breathing!

I guess it's time for an update. Nothing too exciting going on, continually being blessed through this process. We have our home visit Friday, so we've been super busy cleaning and organizing. The men have been working feverishly to finish our new bathroom. I've come to the realization that it will not be done by Friday. However, I'm fine with it, and I hope our Social Worker will be too. Our house looks great, just a few last minute things to do Thursday night and Friday morning. AND if I could just find a way to make Macy stop shedding between now and then! Hopefully the Social Worker will be a dog lover too!

Last week, we were unexpectedly blessed. We got a card in the mail, with a very nice letter, from someone (who will remain unnamed, simply because I didn't ask them if I could blog about this!) who came across some money they forgot about. They felt led by God to use the money for something good. They chose to send that money to help us, bring home our little miracle. They actually, out of nowhere, mailed us a check!!! I am still overwhelmed when I think about it. WHO DOES THAT? A fellow Christian, that's who! Thank you thank you thank you to that family, who is so loving and caring that they could have the faith to help someone so selflessly. We can't wait for the day when we can repay them, or pay it forward, to help the next person in need of God's grace.

INDESCRIBABLE. That's how I've been feeling, and this Chris Tomlin song has been stuck in my head ever since we received that card.

From the highest of heights, to the depths of the sea,
Creation's revealing your majesty.
From the colors of fall, to the fragrance of spring,
Every creature unique in the song that it sings.
All exclaiming
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name
You are amazing God.
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God.
Who has told every lightening bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow.
Who imagined the sun and gave source to it's light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night.
None can fathom
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name
You are amazing God.
All powerful, untamable
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God.
You are amazing God.

She's leaving the white gloves at home!

We just got word that our home interview/inspection will be next friday. I am extremely emotional at this point, (big shocker, I know!) for some reason. Excited about being 1 step closer but a nervous wreck about being under the microscope, hoping to be told we are fit to be parents. Fortunately, everyone who we are working with has been awesome, and the Asst. Director from Genesis of Pitts. told me not to go crazy cleaning, that she won't be bringing the white gloves. Whew! What a relief!

If you are the praying type, could you pray for us as we anticipate this visit? Maybe pray for me, that I can give my worries to God and be at peace with all of this? Deep down I know that we will be fine, but it's nerve-wracking, none the less!

Since I love posting pictures and not just boring text, enjoy this one!

Praying for Patience

It's been 4 years since we officially starting trying to conceive a child. I often think about how different our life would be if we would have been successful within the first few months. Our life would be different, but I'm not sure if it would be better. I am so grateful for everything we have been through, and (no offense to those of you who had no trouble conceiving) we feel "chosen" to take the path we are on. Adoption is not for the weak at heart. We are pulling every ounce of faith we can find deep down inside to get us through this. We are still trying to figure out God's plan, and we are starting to pray for the child that will be ours. We ask that you help us with those prayers.

Adoption Update:
We have completed all the paperwork for the PA homestudy. We are waiting for our agency to set up our home visit, which will hopefully be in the next week or 2. We have been working on our profile, which is the story of our life and pictures which will be shown to potential Birthparents. Once that is all completed, we will receive our approval letter, which will be sent to Adoption Circle (Ohio agency) along with the other things required in Ohio and our profile. Once they review everything, we will be approved and waiting. We are praying that will be by the end of August/beginning of September.

My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
-Phillipians 4:19

For Megan :-)

I posted on FB last night that I had some good stuff to blog about, then didn't have time to blog. My friend Megan has been stalking my blog all day waiting, so I'll write a quick update before she goes crazy!

We were so excited Wednesday night when we realized we had all our paperwork completed for the homestudy, we couldn't wait to get it in the mail! For those of you who have never done a homestudy, it's a huge hurdle in the process. HUGE! There were so many questions and requirements to complete it's not even funny. Hopefully everything is filled out correctly, and we get the call to schedule our home visit/interview/inspection soon.

We spent the weekend in Virginia visiting some of Justin's family. We had a great time, visiting with our cousin's Mark and Misty, Kaitlyn, and their new little one Cannon. It's always great spending time with family. We saw fireworks both Friday and Saturday night, and laughed alot! I'll post pictures later. Some of the family even donated to our adoption fund, which was completly unexpected! Also, while driving home from Virignia, my sister called me and was so excited she couldn't wait to spit out the words!!! There's a little church in the town where I grew up, that has decided to make our adoption fund their mission for the month of July!!! We didn't ask them, we don't even know the minister. A friend who goes there was telling the Minister our story, and they want to help! They have decided that any money that comes in and is designated to go to the missions fund, will go to us. They also have a jar where people can donate their loose change and it will go to us to! The financial burden that comes along with the adoption process is one we decided to grin and bear. We know that God has brought us to adoption for a reason, and that he will provide the funds to help us bring home our miracle! The fact that this church and community have decided to take interest in us, is humbling, and it brings tears to my eyes. God is so good, and we continually are reminded of it. We are blessed beyond belief, and I can't wait for the day that we can repay all the people who are being so generous during this time.

It's almost surreal, watching this blessing unfold before our eyes. Before we decided to adopt, Justin was hung up on the financial end of it. Fees, and more fees, and oh, did I mention fees? It is overwhelming. I told him that God has brought us here, and he will provide. At that time, I really don't think I believed those words. I would have said anything to help persuade him to take the leap! Thanks to the "Big Guy" upstairs for helping me out with that!

I hope some day I can write the appropriate words to describe this whole process. It's changing my life, and I hope that if 1 person is touched from our story, they will also take the leap and adopt. I will be a better person, truly facing adversity and surrendering it all to God. We will have a stronger marriage, having been tested to the max and coming out on the other side, with a greater respect for each other and our faith.

More to come about our entire journey, from the start of our dreams to be parents til now. Sorry Megan, I know that's gonna drive you crazy too. I'll send you a private message when I post so you don't have to stalk my blog all week! ;-)

By the way, Megan and her husband Josh are fellow adoptive parents from Adoption Circle. She's been sharing her wisdom with me, keeping me sane so far. Pray for them as they are in the process of their second adoption, chosen by the birthmother of a miracle to be born in October.

Dreams

All my life, I can remember having dreams about being pregnant. Strange dreams, like I delivered my baby in the hallway between the cafeteria and the band room at my High School during school hours, but I wasn't a student. I dreamed my Sister's baby came out looking like the Asian guy with the fuzzy hair from the 40 Year Old Virgin. I've often had dreams where I knew that the baby I was holding was conceived and delivered by me. Last week for the first time ever, I was holding a baby in my dream. We had been placed with the child, and the Birth Mother of this child signed the permanent surrender forms and the baby was ours. The funny part was, that all I was worried about was the fact that our paperwork wasn't completed, and if they found out, we couldn't have the baby. I remember saying over and over in the dream, "But our paperwork isn't done yet"!!!

It wasn't sad, it kind of made me chuckle, simply because our paperwork ISN'T done yet! I just wonder if, in real life, when I'm in that situation, will I care if my paperwork is done or not???

YARD SALE!!!

We have the best family and friends. They donated their unwanted stuff for us to sell, with all proceeds going to our adoption fund. As you can see, (and seriously this picture doesn't do it justice!) we had A LOT OF STUFF!!!! This picture was taken before everything was sorted and priced. It was humbling to us that so many people took the time to collect their things, and help us out. They gave us some really great things too. My mother in-law, sister's in-law, Mother and myself spent hours Friday sorting and pricing. Even though it was raining first thing Saturday morning, we got up, set up some tents, and hoped for the best. We can't thank our parents, Mel and Wayne, and Heather enough for giving up their Saturday to help us run the sale. Not to mention thanks to Marz and Rick, Adam and Heidi, and Adam and Melissa for all the stuff they donated.

Kayleigh was there, looking cute and making us smile!

Wayne and Callie were trying out the goods to make sure they were suitable to sell!

Our awesome friends, Jack and Katie, who donated many things for the sale, came out to show their support! That's them on the right. See, I told you, we have the greatest friends!

This is Donna and Melanie. Donna generously donated many things, and also stopped by and scored some cool stuff!

So people came from 8 a.m. on, and even the 1 time it rained, their were still people showing up. It was truly a God thing, that the rain held off, and we sold a ton of stuff. I don't know the exact figure, but it was more than we could have ever imagined. AND we still have a garage full of stuff so there will be another sale in a couple weeks. God is so good, and he really is leading us on this journey. People were so supportive, wishing us well, and some even gave us an extra donation for the cause. Amazing. Complete strangers. Caring. For. Us. Amazing.

This picture pretty much sums up the day. We were all exhausted, but Kayleigh was the only one lucky enough to sneak in a few naps!

Thank you to everyone that donated stuff and money, gave their time to help sell, and for the many people that came and bought our stuff. Last but not least, thank you to God for such a humbling experience. We are so blessed.

Philippians 4:19

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

The Sweetest Thing

Saturday we attended a Baby Care Basics class at our adoption agency. It was a great way to "allow" us to get excited about taking care of our own baby. They taught us about attachment parenting, which is crucial in adoption to help your newborn learn that you are their "favorite face". How can a newborn, who has spent 9 months in a different woman's womb, hearing HER rhythm, knowing HER voice, understand that YOU are the one they can trust to feed them and love them and provide for them?

Well, starting with a loving, caring Daddy like this could help .......

It was SO SWEET!

I was so in love with my "Daddy-to-be" as he nurtured and loved on our "baby" during class. He did such a great job diapering, bathing, and swaddling the doll, and he's going to kill me if he ever reads this!!! This was the only picture I got, and he was so embarrassed I even took this one! He'll get over it!

It was awesome for us to experience this type of class with other adoptive parents. They understand where we are. The teacher of the class is a 2 time adoptive parent herself. It was a great experience and I'm so glad we got the opportunity to go!

Expect the Unexpected

That's my new favorite saying. I'm pretty sure it's the only way we're going to survive the adoption roller coaster. Expect the unexpected.

I checked my email this evening, like I do 800 times a day. This time I found an email from AC (adoption circle) informing us of possible adoption situations. Completely unexpected. Not that we are anywhere close to being ready to show our profile, but it gave me hope that there really are situations available. So there was not only 1 situation, but 2. 2 in the same day. One day, we will get those email, and actually be in the position to respond with whether or not we are interested. Crazy.

I've made it known that we are not focusing on the day that we become someone's mommy and daddy. We are focused on the daily tasks at hand; working hard, making money to pay for the adoption, doing homestudy paperwork, and completing a profile. When that's all done, and only when we're approved and waiting, will we be able to focus on that day our miracle is born. Until then, we will go with the flow, and pray for the situations that we read about in the email.

Expect the unexpected.

Busy Weekend

I spoke with the Asst. Director of G. of P. and she's sending our homestudy paperwork. She seems very helpful, and even said she's going to make the process as simple as possible. We'll see. We already have a thick stack of papers that we have to complete for AC's part of the homestudy review, or whatever you wanna call it. However, I think the thing that is worrying me the most is the fact that we have to have a final draft of our profile and birthmother letter by July 14th! YIKES! Creativity is not my strong point!

Today I spent the day with Heidi and Jake, watching the little cutie so his Mommy could pack for their beach vacation! Lucky ducks! Tomorrow my sister and I will be going to a bridal shower, graduation party, and grocery shopping. Then Justin and I will be meeting up with our friends Jack and Katie to watch the Pen's game. Sunday will be church, Justin's softball game, then birthday celebrations for Melanie (sister in-law) and Adam (brother in-law). Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it all!

AND just because I think posts without any pictures are boring, here's one taken at Tappan Lake last summer, for good measure!

Anticipation

On Friday, I received the OK from Adoption Circle (AC) to start our home study, which is awesome because we originally thought we would have to wait until after our next training session with AC on July 14th! Whew!

Since AC is in OH., we have to use a PA agency for the home study. We are hoping to use Genesis of Pittsburgh for that. I'm waiting this morning for the Asst. Director at G. of P. to get into the office so I can bombard her with my many questions and get this ball rolling. I might go nuts between now and 10:30 when she is supposed to be in the office!

Instead of driving myself crazy in anticipation....I'll try to divert my thoughts to what has been bringing me the most joy over the last 2 months! My Niece and Nephew!

Kayleigh (left) and Jake (right)

James 1:2-3

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance". James 1:2-3

I never was pleased with the title of my first blog. I simply settled with that name for lack of anything better. I'm turning over a new leaf, and I'm going to blog weekly. I promise.

Lots of things are changing in our life, not only our blog. Yearning to start a family for many years, Justin and I have decided that God is in control of our life, and he has written our journey to parenthood. We have stepped out of the way and let him lead. This has lead us straight to adoption. There were many other options for us, every conversation lead us to the miracle that can be had with adopting a child. In January, we started looking for an agency and found Adoption Circle in Columbus OH. We've heard many great stories and have connected with a couple happy families who have nothing but good things to say about AC. In March we were accepted into the Domestic Infant Adoption Program, and now the roller coaster ride begins!

Our first Orientation and Education (O & E) was Tuesday, May 19, 2009. We were in a room filled with many couples who understand what we've been through, because sadly, most of them have been through it too. I pray for each and everyone of them as they begin this crazy process.

I will post much more information as we go along, but feel free to ask questions. We will be adopting a baby, we don't care what sex the child is, and have not narrowed down our decision on race, but we are praying about bi-racial, special needs, and Caucasian. This will be a learning experience for us all. We are very excited and want to share our story with everyone. I will ask 2 things, 1,please be positive at all cost, as we need all the support we can get, and 2, please pray for us, as this will be the hardest thing Justin and I have ever dealt with. Our love for each other is stronger than ever and we can't wait to share that love with a child. We thank God for the opportunity to experience this miracle. It truly is a blessing.