One Fine Day

Day 194 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

Today we got to go see J again. She is just amazing! She's 15 weeks along and starting to show just a little bit. She has a tiny baby bump that is oh so cute! Next time I see her, I'll see if she will let me snap a picture. I can just tell from her cute belly that that baby is going to be precious! Well ok, maybe I am overdoing it a little bit. ;)

We had the best time hanging out. It was super casual. We took her out to eat at Chili's and the food was pretty good. We all laughed when we found out our server was a guy that J went out on a date with once! Apparently he was a horrible date though because there was no second date.

Then we got to meet her parents, O and D. They are SO cute. They had a lot of questions for us, and we talked a little bit about how we feel about openness. We had a really smooth conversation, and we just loved them. You can tell they are just good, decent people. Having adopted four children themselves, they really understand what it's like to be going through this adoption process. They are so supportive of J's adoption plan, it's such a fresh change from our failed adoption with S in July. I have to admit that we were nervous to meet them though! It was sort of reminiscent of that awkward stage of dating when you meet a boyfriend's/girlfriend's parents for the first time. But it went really well, so no nightmare stories there.

After that we got some treats and headed out for a movie. We saw Julia and Julie which was pretty good. We laughed and joked the whole time so we probably had more fun with that than actually watching the movie. After the movie, we took her home and gave her hugs good night.

So, at this point our only concern is with the birthfather, T. But he has reassured J that he won't cause a problem. In fact, I understand that the LDSFS caseworker recently helped him read through his relinquishment papers. He may consider signing them before the baby is born, which would be optimal.

Anyhow, there is one thing that still amazes me as we continue building this relationship with J. It feels like she has always just been a part of our life. Our relationship with her is so natural, and we feel so at peace with this adoption plan. I wish all adoptive parents could have an experience like this! I think there are so many unknowns about openness that adoptive parents really get scared of the possibility of an open adoption. But so far, ours is awesome, and we want it to remain this way.

Goings on

Day 192 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

Well, we are officially moved into the new house. We are still cleaning the old place (thank heavens for Garth and Laura who are helping us!) but are almost finished. We have unpacked most of our things in the new place, and basically just have decorating to do now. Other than that, our personal life has been fairly quiet.

I have a request for all of you though. We have some dear friends of ours who just found out today that the birthmother they had matched with had the bay on Tuesday but decided to keep the baby. Understandably, they are struggling. Including us, this has happened to at least 4 families that I personally know in the past month. All of these hopeful adoptive couples are desperately in need of prayers. We understand that the decision to place can only be made by the birth mother and that the decision to place a baby is perhaps the most difficult decision a birth family can ever make. We are in awe of and honor those birth families. But when something like this occurs, it is excruciatingly painful for the adoptive couple. Such loss can only be understood by someone who has experienced it. The one thing we can do is pray. We sincerely hope that all the couples who are desperately hoping and waiting for their baby through the miracle of adoption will be led to their child soon. And we will continue to pray for all of you who are struggling through this waiting process.

Movin' movin' movin'

Day 183 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

We are moving on SATURDAY! We found a great house to rent. It's so cute. It's a 2 bedroom, 1 and 1/2 bathroom home with a small yard. The landlords don't rent out the basement, so we have it all to ourselves! Finally for the first time in our four years of marriage, we no longer share a wall/ceiling/floor with other families! We are so excited, but stressed. We really weren't planning on moving, but the rent in our other place just wasn't justifiable with a baby on the way. We figured we would rather save some money and we really lucked out to find this place for less per month than what we're paying now. The house is older, but has all new flooring and paint. It's in a great neighborhood. It has a small creek running by which is adorable. The creek is fenced off so kids can't get in it but the landlords said that in the spring there are always baby ducks to throw bread to. The landlords are also really really nice. This place practically just fell into our laps, and we are so thankful because we know Heavenly Father blessed us to find it.

Update

Day 175 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

Today was wonderful. We took the day off of work and drove down to meet our birthmom, J, in person. We get along so well with her! I think one of the reasons why I love her so much is because she reminds me A LOT of my best friend, Cessi.

Anyway, we started the day out by going to her doctor's appointment with her. We met her doctor and we got to listen to the baby's heartbeat!!! This is the same doctor who delivered both of her other babies she placed, so she really feels comfortable with him. We are going to be able to go to another doctor's appointment with her in October to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl!

After the appointment, we took her to IHOP because it was still early in the morning. We had a good time just chatting and eating breakfast. Then we wandered around the mall together. After that we gave her a ride home. All together, it was a pretty great day! Next time we go down we're also going to get to meet some of her family, so we're pretty happy about that. The only thing we're concerned about right now is the birth father, T. He says he is supportive of the adoption plan, but his family is VERY negative about it. So we are praying that things will work out with him. Please join us in those prayers.

So other than that, we went to my little sister's wedding this past weekend. It was great! It was really neat to be able to watch them be married in the temple, and remember the day almost 4 years ago when we were in their place. Plus Ashley looked beatiful!

Malone will be starting his classes again soon. He's looking forward to getting back into the structure of school, but not looking forward to being so busy with research and two classes. I'm not looking forward to that part either, but I guess we have to pay our dues just like everybody else!

One last thing. We are looking for a new place to move to. This apartment has just gotten too expensive, and with a baby on the way we are looking to save as much as possible. Anybody who lives here have any good suggestions?

The Secret's Out!

Day 171 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

So here's our big secret.

Mind you, nothing is for sure yet, but everything is looking very positive.

We were contacted yesterday by a birthmother who is already registered through LDS Family Services. She found our profile on the Its About Love website and she said she just fell in love with us. I'm shocked! She lives about three hours away from us, and is due February 19th. The birthfather and their families are supportive of the adoption plan. They are all LDS. She wants us to go to her doctor's appointment on Monday!

I am currently in a state of shock! More info to come later...

Secrets

Day 170 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

I have a secret...

But I'm not going to tell you yet...

MUAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh)

The Prize

Day 155 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

All right, I think I've kept you all waiting in suspense long enough... for now.

The prize is going to start off with a $25.00 gift card to the vendor of your choice. Now I know what you're thinking... "what does she mean by: start off with?" By that, we mean that periodically, we are going to be adding something new and great into the pot to compile one GREAT grand prize. By the time October 1st rolls around, the prize is going to be pretty amazing. You'll just have to keep checking back to see what's next!

Now remember, if you haven't sent me your address yet so I can send you pass-along cards, you need to do so ASAP to maloneandbrittanyadopt@gmail.com. But anyone can jump in the contest all the way until the very last day! (For those of you who have already sent me your addresses, look for them in the mail very soon if you haven't gotten them already!) Just let me know every so often how many cards you have given away, and I will keep a running tally here on our blog so you can check out your competitors. Once you've given away all that we sent you, just email us and we'll send you more. We aren't afraid that any cards will be "wasted." We are perfectly happy to send as many as you'll give away!

There are also bonus ways to get "points" towards your total. If you add our adoption button (see the right side of our page) or if you blog about our story and our giveaway we will give you extra points. I am working on compiling "the rules" for you guys so this will be less confusing, but seeing as how this little game is still in the early stages, I'm still working things through in my head. :)

In other news, Malone and I will be attending the National FSA Conference on July 31st and August 1st. We're so excited to meet so many of you there! We've heard it's always amazing, so we're really looking forward to it. How many of you out there will be there?

I can't believe we just did that

Day 152 Waiting for our baby through the miracle of adoption

We did what I thought we would never be able to do yesterday.

Yesterday we were presented with another birth mother who was interested in matching with us. We SO BADLY wanted to scream: YES YES YES YES YES!!!

We prayed...

It was NOT right for us. We received a CLEAR answer to our prayers. That baby girl is not meant for our family, but is meant for someone else.

So we said no.

We are waiting for God to lead us to OUR baby, not just any baby. We need to connect with the RIGHT birth mother, not just any birth mother.

But saying no broke my heart nonetheless. I don't know how much more my heart can take before it physically breaks into pieces.