Tiny update

After almost 8 weeks since our referral and no new info, we are thrilled that we got the medical report for Noah.

He is a healthy boy!! He weighs 35lbs (must be almost 3...) and is negative for all the diseases they test for.

We're thankful for a little update. Hope to hear more soon!!

Wait wait wait

How has it already been a month since I posted?? Dang it!

People who are adopting/have adopted internationally talk frequently about difficulty in the waiting and not knowing. The obsessive email checking and day dreaming of a child that is loved, but hasn't been met...
I honestly never really related (why would I?) and furthermore never expected myself to be there.
Well, much to my chagrin, I'm there. I'm checking my email too many times daily, getting chocked up when someone asks me how I'm doing and feeling desperate for more information on our boy. I have heard nothing since our referral in April and that's just kind of a bummer. I should hear something any day (hence the obsessive email checking) but until then, I wait patiently...or at least try :)
Our kids are SO excited for Noah to be home...they are constantly thinking of new fundraising ideas. Lately we have been selling donuts in a park on Sat mornings in our neighborhood. I love their enthusiasm and wanting to be a part of bringing their brother home. Violet took a picture of Noah to school last week as her "share." I love it.
Hopefully my next post will be more informative :)

Fundraiser!!

First fundraiser...it's a puzzle. I have seen other families doing this and I love the idea. People donate $10 or whatever amount you want for a piece (or several) of the puzzle and I will write your name on the back. We will glue it and hang it in Noah's room when he is home. When he is old enough, we will be able to show him how many people were a part of bringing him to his forever family.

So to buy a piece, go to Adopttogether.org ...search for our name and in the message to us, put the name or names you want on the puzzle piece(s).
Our kids are so excited about this they are currently sitting outside with signs trying to sell pieces. :)

Feel free to share with whoever you want ! :)

Thanks!!

Gold coin

Ezekiel got up from bed tonight with a worried look in his eyes "mom, I have to tell you something."

"Ok...what's up Ez?"

"I left a gold coin in my pocket of my shorts and they are probably in the washer so we need to get it out!"

"It's fine, Ez, we can get it tomorrow."

"No!!! If we leave it in, it will break the washer, and we will have to pay lots of money to fix it and we won't have enough money to adopt!!!"

Tears glistened in his eyes as he said this...and I got down on my knees and hugged him. I reminded him that when God asks us to do something, He provides! Ezekiel then told me we should probably stop buying junk like Target $1 toys so we have enough money to adopt. :) I love his heart for adoption.

By the way, we have named him Noah.

Exciting news!!!

I'm sorry I have not been great about frequent updating! But here's an exciting update...

We have accepted a referral for an adorable 2 year old boy from Democratic Republic of Congo!!!!!!

For those of you new to International Adoption...most people wait a LOT longer for a referral so we are thrilled. Also--a lot can happen before this child is officially ours. We have paid an acceptance fee and from here, he will have a medical exam and his birth certificate will be obtained. From there it's a little complicated...ask me in person and I can give more details:)
We would love prayer that everything goes smoothly!

Also--we were expecting to have more time to save money and fundraise. We have opened an account on adopttogether.org --if you want to be a part of our adoption by giving, it's tax-deductible. Super awkward asking for money...and we don't expect it! But we are asking God to provide the money we need! Some people want to be part of adoption not by adopting themselves but giving to others so here is a chance for that. We plan on doing some fundraising too so stay tuned!

Also if you go to the site, type in our last name and our site will pop up...cute pic of the kids...but yes, Violets eyes are closed :) I will be updating that picture soon!

We are still deciding on a name for the cutie. His given name is Constant.

Thanks for your support as we enter this next stage of life!

Paperwork!

So.Much.Paperwork.
I knew there would be a lot...it just seems we have done so much and then we wait...
And we also expected a lot of waiting :) 

So the exciting news is that our Home Study is done...just waiting for a few corrections, and then we should have the motorized final copy in our hands! Next step will be fingerprints for Immigration. 

There is a law that is going into effect in June 2014 that says you must adopt through a "licensed" agency...meaning the independent route will look much different. If we want to be able to do it through this route...we must have our referral(s) and be close to finished with the legal side of the adoption before next June. Because the legal process takes 9-12 months, we are praying for a referral before THIS June. SO...we are hoping to know who our child(ten) is(are) in the next few months! That makes things feel so much more real...

So thats the update for now... :)

Isn't 3 enough??

I have been asked several times "isn't 3 enough?" Or..."isn't your life crazy enough?" So I wanted to address these questions. Maybe you have thought them yourself about us...maybe you have even asked these questions! First I'll answer the 2nd question...yes, our life is fairly crazy. Jason and I both work night shifts (currently) around each other, our 3 kids are all involved in activities, and we try and enjoy our own activities as well. So yes, life can feel crazy. Is that reason enough for us to not pursue another child? No. We don't believe that is a good enough reason for us not to add to our family through adoption. Speaking for myself - I am excited, but I think I am definitely realistic. I have fears that I won't be a good enough mom for 4 (possibly 5) kids. I have fears that my house will never feel neat/clean again...but I struggle with that now. I have fears that I will fail. Don't we all? Regardless of the number of children we have! That is just part of being a parent! We don't know if we are always making the best or right choices for our kids...but we try! And we often fear we are failing. 

"Isn't 3 enough?"
Yes! Three kids is definitely enough! But our motivation isn't necessarily to just increase our number of children. I think actually some of our greatest motivators are the facts that we know about orphans that we are responding to. The fact that every 18 seconds a child becomes an orphan. The fact that there are over 147 million orphans over the world. The fact that many of those orphans live on the street. The fact that even of the children in orphanages, many do not get enough food in their stomachs, do not have medication they need, do not have clean water to drink, do not have a mommy or daddy to kiss, hold, comfort, scratch their back at night, put a bandaid on, laugh with and belong to. My heart hurts thinking of tiny children without hope. With no one on earth to delight in them and nurture them. Imagine your child in that position. Imagine not having the privelage of being born in America, but being born in Africa, into poverty. Imagine having children you can't feed, or getting sick and not being able to care for your children. Really imagine that. It is devastating. And we are choosing to do a small thing. To love and care for the "least of these." Another huge motivator for us is that we believe God has called Christians to care for the poor and the orphans. One verse widely used is this:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27
We believe a way we can show our love for Jesus is by adopting an orphan and loving them. We don't feel like we are super stars or awesome incredible amazing people...we just feel like we are being obedient and trusting God. :)

Update on our paperwork...we will be mailing the last of our paperwork for our Homestudy tomorrow and our Social worker said he is almost done with our home study. Hoping to be done in the next week or so. Now we are working on getting the rest of our paperwork ready. 

Gotta start somewhere

First post on our new blog :)

I feel a little overwhelmed at where to start here...so I guess we'll start with what most of you already know. We are adopting from DRC or Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa. In this country, there are over 5 million orphans and 5 out of 10 kids do not make it past the age of 5. For those not math savvy...50% die before they are 5!!! Thats crazy sad. The more I read and immerse myself in learning more information about this country, the more saddened I am. And excited that one (maybe 2...more on that later) orphan will have enough food in their bellies and arms to hug them and a warm bed and the knowledge of how much Jesus loves them under our roof.

Are we a little crazy? Maybe.

We think its awesome God has chosen this road for us. 

Right now we are finishing our Home Study...lots of paperwork, medical exams, 2 social worker visits, adoption training...to prove we could safely add another (or 2) child. Ok...so we are being "certified" for 2 children. We are going into this planning for 1, but if that child happened to have a sibling, we would happily adopt the sibling as well. We have no idea if that will be the case or not, but we are open to it.

We do not know the gender, or the age, or anything at this point. We are still in the "paper pregnancy" part of adoption.

A few recent changes in DRC have caused a stir among some adoptive families because a 3-6 month investigation is being enforced (maybe it always was?) and that may delay going to Congo to pick up our child by a few months...at first I was bummed, knowing it would be a longer process that originally thought, but Jason reminded me - its better to know for sure that its ethical! How awful would it be to find out we adopted a child that had a parent that wanted him/her?