Our Meeting With the Birthmother (Adoption Update)

Yesterday we met with the birthmother and her parents and the day was filled with all kinds of emotions. It's hard to explain exactly how you feel when you are about to meet the young woman who is giving you the biggest gift of your life. There were feeling of nervousness that would interchange with excitement and if you are my hubby it was just cool, calm and collected. I love how different we are because at times like yesterday he helps keep me grounded. So, while we sat waiting at the adoption agency for them to arrive Reggie enjoyed relaxing on the couch and I desperately tried to stop sweating so those little rings wouldn't show up under my arms!

Once she arrived we were able to sit and talk with them for the next 3 hours. She is cute, driven, sweet and everything we could ask for in a birthmother. Her parents were also so gracious and loving towards us. We felt so at ease with them and feel honored that they choose us when there are so many other waiting families.

We will be meeting again soon and this time they want to meet Rhett. When we picked him up from my friend's house yesterday he wanted to know, " Where is my sister?" So, when we told him not just yet, but that the birthmother wanted to meet him he was excited.

Reggie and I appreciate all of you who have been so committed to praying for us over the last 2 years of our adoption process. It has definitely been felt and we are so grateful.

These are the items that we need covered in prayer as we near the due date of this precious baby girl:

*Pray for the health of birthmother and baby.

* Pray for strength for the birthmother as she follows through with the hardest decision of her life.

*Pray for the birthfather to have a peace about the adoption plan and that he be willing to sign off on his rights quickly.

*Pray for the grandparents as they deal with all the emotions of placing their first grandchild for adoption.

*Pray we are able to secure a loan from the ABBA Fund (interest free adoption loan) and raise the remaining amount needed through God moving the hearts of others to give as they feel led.

We have been matched!!!! (Adoption Update)

We are so excited to announce we have been matched with a birthmother! I received the call Friday morning from our adoption agency and could hardly believe it since our profile book has only been in their hands for 2 weeks. Remember my last post? Well, I must say that all that drama over the profile book was definitely worth it!

Now for the details:

Gender - GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (can you tell how excited I am!)

Due date - September 30th

Delivery location - NC

We travel to meet the birthmother and her family tomorrow morning and will find out many more details then. Please pray for this meeting and that she and her family will have a peace about choosing Reggie and I. More than anything we want to show her Christ's love and let her know how thankful we are that she made the choice of life for her baby. She is truly a hero!

I was thinking back over our journey to where we are today and how God has led us to this very point. It was 2 years ago on July 23rd that our hearts ached for our baby as we found out it would be a stillbirth, then last year on July 23rd we received a call that we were matched with a birthmom and were overjoyed but after months of prayer we knew we needed to step away from this adoption, and now on this July 23rd we again have the joyful news that we have been matched with another baby. A lot of growth has occured for my husband and I during this past 2 years and we have been stretched in ways we never thought possible, but the sweetest part is knowing that God has had us in His hands all along, He never left us and no matter the outcome of this adoption He will still be there.

Prayer:

Thank you Father. Thank you for loving me so much that you have allowed this sometimes difficult and sometimes joyous journey to shape and mold me into the woman you desire me to be. Help me to always see your plan as perfect even when the timing seems long and the journey seems tough. I feel honored to be choosen to adopt and I am blessed to have an even deeper understanding of your love for us through this process.

Amen.

Adversity Builds Character and Adoption Update

Have you ever had a day or a week that seemed to be filled with adversity from every angle? That would describe my past week. It began with these adoption profile books (pictured below). For those of you new to the adoption process or if you just need a refresher from the last time I made these, they are the books you put together to help the birthparents choose the family they will place their baby with, so they are important and special.

After talking with our social worker I was energized to finish them when she mentioned there was a new birthparent couple that they had just started working with and they would soon pull some profiles books to show to them. I spent most of the July 4th holiday weekend getting 4 copies redesigned (I had to add new pictures, new pages, etc.), reprinted and constructed. Yay! I thought I am done and now we can let the waiting begin. But then in rushes the adversity. I headed to the printer and decided I will put one copy together at their store. Little did I know the glue was having a chemical reaction to the paper type they printed my pages on and before I knew it the color was dissolving off the pages! So, I hurried to pull the pages off the book so I could replace them, but holding open 15 pages so they don't all glue together is harder than you think. Oh, did I mention I had my 4 year old with me at the print shop that is not so kid friendly. There were a lot of "Rhett, don't touch that", "Rhett don't hide there", "Rhett just stand here and don't breathe!" He had me right where he wanted me with my hands glued to a book and no where to go. They were so nice to try to print the pages again right away only to find that the printer was jammed for reasons they never did figure out. That meant we would have to print them to another printer and I learned something new. Did you know that different printer brands print the same file totally different?! The colors on the new pages were so different from the first pages that we had to redo the entire book , even the pages that seemed to make it through the glue process. And, as all this was going on I was getting a call on my cell phone, which was in the car, from the sweet woman that I was suppose have dropped off the profile book to 30 minutes earlier.

I know why little kids just sit down sometimes and cry when things aren't going their way. I thought about that and how good it might feel. I finally did get that book made after 2 hours in that print shop and bribing my son with candy ( I normally don't resort to such measures, but hey we all have weak moments).

Here they are, just waiting to be looked through!


The week only brought more adversity when our ice maker started sounding like it had a machine gun inside and made more ice than would fit in the ice maker, I broke part of my tooth off when I decided it would be easier to use my teeth to break a piece of string instead of scissors, my hubby called to tell me that his car would not start and then a few minutes later he called to say it finally did, I realized that eating all the M&M's out of the trail mix really will keep you from losing weight (they seemed so small!), Rhett got his first black eye when he caught a baseball with his face instead of the glove, the ATM decides not to give me the money I withdrew and ate my card and just today my sweet hubby called again to let me know this time he really was stranded at work and we would have to tow his car way more miles than AAA will cover.

I was frustrated in the beginning and it has now almost become comical. I keep waiting for that hidden camera show to pop out of my bushes and say "Surprise you're on hidden camera!" Reggie always jokes about what a great subject I would be for that show. I mention my week to hopefully encourage some of you and help you remember what I need to remember which is, adversity really does build character and it's how we act when no one else is around that shows our true character. So, I'll get back to my time of learning through adversity and try to develop the character traits of Christ during the process. And, I must not forget to be so thankful for those days that seem so uneventful!

A Special Ladies Luncheon

I have always wanted to give a luncheon that would honor my very closest friends. No baby shower, bridal shower, no none of these just a day that I could show these ladies just how special they truly are in my life. So, last Saturday I was able to do just that.

These ladies are no just any ladies so I wanted to make sure every detail was in place.

A sit down lunch so I could serve them and try to show them how grateful I am for all they do for me. During the lunch I was able to read to each lady how they have made an impact in my life. Needless to say, I did not get through it without tears!


And, because I wanted them to remember the day and just how special they really are, I made some favors I though they would enjoy.

Personal Library Kits

Homemade Bubble Bath

*Side note: This is what happens when you decide to put the pots you made the bubble bath in through the dishwasher instead of hand washing. This was the beginning of the bubble madness, they eventually filled our kitchen floor!

Personalized Stationary

All my favorite ladies, aren't they beautiful! Love you girls!