Exciting News!!!

Ok, so we've gotten super exciting news!  Last Thursday we got great news...our social worker called to say that the birth mom who looked at our profile Wednesday wants to meet us!!  She brought our book home that night and only ours, and she only wants to meet us, no other families!! This doesn't mean she has chosen us officially, but it is a really good sign!!!

So, this is a young woman from the Twin Cities, and she is interested in an open adoption, which we also really want!  She was adopted herself, into a Caucasian family, she is African American, and so is the birth father.  At this point, he is not involved.  He is aware of the pregnancy but hasn't had contact with our agency.

The baby is a girl, due Jan 15th.  The birth has named her Chelsi and it is important to her that we keep that as her name.

Kevin, our social worker & I will meet with her and her social worker on Wednesday evening.

Sooooo, please keep up the prayers!  We are so excited but are trying to keep cautious as well.  Eli is already telling people he is getting a baby sister and is so excited, but understands she could choose another family if for some reason she feels like it isn't right with us.  

We've got a crazy week, we're closing on our new house tomorrow morning, then meeting her on Wednesday.  I'll try to post again soon after our meeting.

October Update

Hello Everyone,
Not much has been happening on the adoption front these days but we've been busy with other exciting news!  We have decided to move!  We have loved our current house and all that it has to offer (the lake, our dock & pontoon, and just the cute house and yard) but we have not had good luck with neighbors.  Many of you know we've had ongoing issues with crime, bad renters, noisy neighbors and then the main problem, no other children in the neighborhood.  As Eli has gotten older, this has become more of an issue.  Currently his best friend in the neighborhood is our very nice 50ish, Harley riding, AA member, junk collector next door neighbor.  I think it's time to find some friends his own age to be playing with!

We're moving about a mile from our current house, to a neighborhood that was built about 8 years ago...it's where I run & walk a lot and we know lots of families from school and church there.  We are super excited for many reasons!!  As most of you know, I love to decorate, so this will be FUN for me!!  We'll have 4 bedrooms, which will be great since we often have out of town visitors.  We'll have a guest room for them and space for a new baby!!!!! There's also an unfinished basement for my wild, loud boys to play all the sports they want & I can stay sane this winter!!!! And look at that cute front porch!!!!! We'll be closing on October 23rd, and will start moving a few things, but have painters coming in to do some major painting for about 2 weeks.  We haven't listed our house yet, but will do so after we move, probably around the beginning of November.

Eli has been giving us a run for our money with his behavior lately...we're trying to be consistent with our discipline, giving appropriate consequences, etc, but it's tough!

So, I'd been thinking I should write a quick update to say nothing was going on, but we just got a call about a Birth Mother who will look at our profile soon!  She is due in January, so we are excited!!!  Please be praying that this is THE ONE!!  We still have been feeling ok with the waiting, but would love to have a baby soon!!!!!

Thanks for reading, checking in and for all the prayers!!

Update on the 2 possible babies

Hello,
Just wanted to send a quick update...we just heard on the 2nd baby this morning, we weren't chosen by either birth mom.

I'm feeling a bit more disappointed, one of the babies had already been born and was at the hospital on his own for about a week before his birth mom chose a family.  The second was a girl due about the same week as some friend's baby girl in November.  It is easy to start imagining how great it would be when you know real specifics about babies!

All in all, we're doing fine.  It's hard, but we know of at least 4 more women who are making decisions about adoption plans before the end of the year, and there is always a chance for more!

Thanks for all of your prayers and for checking in!

Have a great week!
Julie

Prayer Request!!!!

Ok People, start praying!!  We just got word today of two possible babies and I'm getting a little more antsy!  One is a boy, one is a girl.  The birth mothers will be looking at profiles in the next 2 weeks, so please pray that one of them chooses us!!!!  Thanks so much for checking in!

Have a great weekend!

July Update

We've just gotten home from a 10 day trip to Kevin's family's cabin.  Someone please remind me 10 days in too long to spend in our camper the next time we plan a trip like that.  I apparently had temporary amnesia, we did this 2 summers ago, but not last year, so I guess I forgot!  We did have fun spending time with our family in Akeley...Eli loves his cousins!!!  We were at the campground in town for a couple days, which was great, but all in all, a lot of work and not much rest.  I did get a couple of skates in, and a couple of walks, but this darn weather makes it hard to exercise outside!!!  Kevin was able to do lots of riding on his new ATV, which he loves, so that was good for him.

We had been waiting to hear news about a possible baby for the last couple weeks.  A young woman, who was due at the end of August was looking at profiles.  She was only a "5" on a scale of 1-10 (1 being least certain, 10 being completely decided) about if she wanted to place the baby for adoption or parent.  She took profiles home about 2 weeks ago, and wanted to hang onto them and keep looking at them.  She also wanted to talk with a mother who had placed her baby for adoption and an adoptive family to help her make her decision.  We got an email from our social worker yesterday that she has decided to parent.  It is a disappointing email to get, but at the same time, I am in no way angry or upset with the birth mom.  How could I be mad that someone has decided they will be able to parent their own, sweet, precious baby.  I will be praying that this woman has the support & resources that she needs to care for her baby.

So, we're back to waiting.  It has been almost a year since we applied to our agency, and only 7 months since our home study has been finished.  The "average" wait at our agency is about 18 months, so we're doing ok.  We haven't had an update this month on how many birth mom's are in counseling at the agency, but will probably hear about that next week.  From last month's report, there are several more possibilities in the next few months. Keep praying for us and the birth parents!!

Thanks for checking in!

Crazy Week

So, it's been a crazy week here with the adoption. We were aware last week that a birth mother would be looking at our profile on Monday, but then Friday we heard of another who would be looking at profiles Tuesday.  Then, on Monday, we got a call about a 3rd birth mother looking at profiles.  All 3 babies were boys.  We, of course, were thrilled.  We haven't had any showings of our profile book since December.  I was trying to stay calm, and did a pretty good job. Unfortunately, we found out yesterday and today that all 3 birth mothers went with other families.

We feel sad, but know of several more birth mothers currently in counseling with the social workers at our agency, so while it's disappointing, we have more possibilities coming up.  We really are doing okay, and plan on enjoying our summer with Eli.  (Hopefully his last as an only child!!)

Please keep praying!  We trust God will bring a baby to our family!  Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and checking in with us on the blog!

May Update

So, things are getting exciting around here!  After not much action the last couple months, things are picking up at our agency.  We need to keep most of the details private, but we would love prayer for our adoption.  There are several clients at the agency making decisions in the coming months, and that means that some of them will be looking at our profile.  We are very excited, but still cautious.  It is hard to keep that balance, but we are doing well.

Kevin is done with school, Eli has one more week, we've celebrated all of our birthdays and have travelled a little.  Summer is going to be busy with weekends away, sports and Vacation Bible Schools for Eli and lots of outdoor plans!  I'm doing my first 5k tomorrow morning.  I've lost almost 35 lbs (34.5 as of yesterday) and am feeling really great!  I have plans to keep active and keep losing more!!!

Thanks for reading and checking in on us. Again, all of your prayers would be so appreciated!
Have a great start to summer!!!!!