I Can See the Light at the End of the Tunnel!

So I really think the paperwork process for adoption is like the "labor" part that adoptive parents go through. But, we are proud to announce that almost all of our paperwork is complete! We have turned in almost all of the hard copy documents that are required. We just have to get them a copy of our temple sealing certificate. We have completed the entire pre-home study online application, and now we just have to create our profile! This is the part I'm nervous about. It's hard to know what to say. There are no words adequate enough to express our love and respect for the men and women out there who consider placing their children for adoption. And I'm just nervous that I won't say the right thing or something. This is the point where we just have to pray and ask that Heavenly Father will guide our words.

Now we just keep working, and waiting for our caseworker to arrange the home study. Then all we have to do is wait for our background checks to come through, and we'll be APPROVED! It's like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. But of course, after approval, the real fun begins: the waiting game. But we've decided not to use the word "waiting." We prefer to use the word "finding." By that we mean that we're going to do everything within our power to find the RIGHT baby for our family. I hope all of you out there are willing to help us work to find our baby!

Corn Maze and other Halloween Fun!

This past Friday we had a super fun double date with my brother and his wife. We went to a corn maze/haunted hallow/Halloween extravaganza! We go to one every year, and this year we went to one that we haven't been to before. It was awesome! Just enough haunted to be slightly scary, but not pee-your-pants scary. Hubby likes that kind of stuff, but I guess I'm not that adventurous. Anyhow, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. So I need your opinion, do you think we should use any of these for our adoption profile?

A Mumbo-Jumbo of Recent Stuff

So I have been so caught up with the adoption process that I haven't really updated any of you on all the other parts of life. So here you go- a load of pictures for your viewing enjoyment! Two of the pictures are of our completed Halloween Gingerbread House of 2008. This is the third year we've made a Halloween gingerbread house, so I guess it's become a family tradition! Two of the pictures are of us with four of our twelve nieces and nephews. Can't you tell that they highly recommend us as parents to our future children? They think we're pretty rad. And I have to say, I can't blame them! :) The other picture is of our nephew "helping" us frost cookies. Don't you love his method?

Woohoo! Getting things done!

So things are moving along pretty steadily with the adoption application stuff. One week ago we had our intake interview and so far we have:

Background Check: Gotten fingerprinted, filled out the application, paid for, and turned it all in
Classes: Taken all the adoption certification courses on Friday and Saturday
AA Study: Half-way through filling it out
Bluestep: Pre-Qualification almost all filled out
Preference Checklist: All done

There's still so much to do, but I've been working on it a little bit each day, and it's coming along!

I'll keep you all posted!

Overwhelmed and Excited!

So yesterday we had our first interview with LDS Family Services! If I could describe my mentality now in two words, they would be "overwhelmed" and "excited." What a mountain of paperwork to complete! But our caseworker, we'll call her Angel, is amazing! She is super positive, and really motivated to help us get our approval pushed through in about 8 weeks. Now the responsibility is ours.

Angel can't get anything done until we complete some of the paperwork, so I started working last night. So far, we filled out the application for our background check, and need to go get our fingerprints taken for that to be done. Since the police department does this any day of the week, our goal is to have that turned in to LDSFS by Friday. I also started working on the AA Study.

Angel said that there are currently about 20 couples in our area whose files are active. Our area has a goal to complete 100 adoptions per year. They have completed about 80 so far. I'm not for sure what this means for our chances to be chosen, but hopefully it's good. But we told Angel last night that we aren't just looking for any child. We are looking for the right child for our family.

So I will be busy busy busy this week filling out paperwork. Then this weekend we'll be going to the marathon adoption certification class. Usually the classes span about a 6 week period, but they want to try condensing them down into two days. This is the first time they're doing it, so we're kind of like the guinea pigs. We will be attending the class on Friday from about 6:00 p.m. to about 8:30 p.m. and Saturday from about 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It will be a long haul, but it will be really nice to just get them done. And hopefully it will just help to get us approved faster!

We will also be getting involved with our local chapter of FSA (Families Supporting Adoption). They have a lot of people who have volunteered to help couples who are filling out the paperwork, or support for waiting families, or pretty much anything else we may need.

So... buckle in folks. We're going for a bumpy ride. I'll keep you all posted!

Feeling Better and a few tasty tidbits!

Okay, so I know I only posted just a little bit ago, but here's a revise of my news. I talked with our caseworker and she's going to be able to fit us in MONDAY at 5:00 pm instead of waiting until next Friday! Now I'm feeling so much better.

So you want the tasty tidbits?!?!? We're going to be able to take all of our adoption classes October 10th and 11th! It's an adoption class marathon!!! It's amazing that we're going to get all of this done so soon. If we didn't go on the 10th and 11th, we would have to wait until January. I know Heavenly Father is helping us along in this process and it just reaffirms to me that we are pursuing the right avenue to add to our eternal family.

Okay, so the tastiest tidbit of all... our caseworker says that she thinks she can get us approved in TWO months! I told her we would have to get the background check and everything done, and she said that they have been receiving their results back at this office in 4-6 weeks on average. She's going to give us the background check papers Monday, and we're going to get them taken care of right away. That means that we could be considered by birthmothers before the end of the year! I'm so excited about all of this, I almost can't contain it.

Having said all that, I will say that I'm still trying to keep my expectations down and not get too anxious. After all, if I dont expect to be approved for 6-9 months, anything sooner will be a fabulous surprise!

Disappointed

I'm just a little bit disappointed today. Our interview with LDS Family Services just got rescheduled for next Friday. Our caseworker said that she had an emergency come up this morning with a birth mother and the birth mom lives about 2 1/2 hours away. Long and short of it is that all her appointments for today got cancelled, including ours. I'm pretty bummed. It's really hard when you feel like every week you wait is just another week longer until we receive a child. But I think the Lord continues to try and teach me to be patient. In fact, it feels like every lesson the Lord has been trying to teach me for the last 3 years is patience. So I'm going to be Captain Obvious here and say that I guess I need to stop being so demanding and leave it in Heavenly Father's capable and caring hands. So that's what I'm doing. I'm sure there's a purpose in this. I guess that just means that I'll have another opportunity to get all dressed up and something to look forward to next week!

I'm spreading the word! Will you join me?

November is National Adoption Month, and after reading a friend's recent blog post, I wanted to start spreading the word early. The following story is just one of the many reasons why we need to educate people that adoption is an option.

"http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,430541,00.html

Hour-Old Newborn Found Alive in Miami Trash Bin, RescuedTuesday, September 30, 2008

MIAMI — A newborn boy is safe after being found in a trash bin in Miami. Authorities say the child was apparently only an hour or so old. He was found in a trash bin Monday night when a janitor taking out the trash heard the baby crying. The boy's umbilical cord was still attached. The child appeared to be healthy but was taken to a hospital to be monitored. Florida's Safe Haven law was passed in 2000 in response to a rash of babies left to die in canals and trash bins. The law allows a parent to surrender a newborn, no questions asked, to any hospital emergency room, open fire station or other facility capable of providing emergency care."

6.1 MILLION people in the United States suffer from infertility. Can you imagine how many of those people would have gladly accepted that abandoned baby into their homes to love and care for? And the aforementioned case, sadly, is not unique. This horrifying crime is happening all over the United States! Worse than that, many of these babies do not survive this abuse!

There are so many happy families that could be united if these pregnant women were educated about the fact that they have an option to place their baby for adoption. I cannot speak for all adoption agencies. However, I know that through LDS Family Services, the pregnant woman is not only provided with a family that is stable and happy, but the birth mother also receives counseling, and access to medical and other essential needs. Imagine if the mother in the story above had chosen to place her baby for adoption rather than abandoning him in a trash bin. Rather than being chased by the police, she would be respected for the difficult decision she had made. Isn't that a much better option? I would think so. Do you?

Please help me spread the word. This is about education. In this case, ignorance is most certainly NOT bliss. If you know anyone, or if you know someone who knows someone, who is in a situation where they might consider placing their baby for adoption, please let them know about us or about any of the other families who want to adopt. I know that with your help, we can be the answer to somebody's prayers, and they will be the answer to ours.