1/2 Birthday

Today, we received a tremendous blessing in our mailbox.  An anonymous donor sent us $500 towards Oliver’s adoption.  We just wanted to take a moment this Christmas season to thank each and every one of you who gave to help us on our adoption journey.  We are so very grateful for each and every one of you.  God is so good to us and He provides for us when we least expect it. 

Oliver is a tremendous blessing.  He is 6 months old today.  He is so good natured and also so physically strong.  Putting him on a blanket these days is a waste of time.  He rolls both ways, and he’s getting up on his hands and knees and rocking in a most reckless manner.  He’ll be crawling soon and Lincoln will be sorry he ever hit him with that highchair tray.  He is such a happy baby and always laughs as the silliest things.  Now if we could just get him to sleep at night!  This has been such a wonderful year and we are so excited about this Christmas with our two blessed boys!  

Photo courtesy of Sycamore Lane Photography – check it out!

Show Hope

Today John brought in the mail and handed me an envelope with a Show Hope return address.  He said he was to nervous to open it.  So I took it, ripped it open, and quickly scanned the letter.  These words stood out: “On behalf of Show Hope and the donors who make our grants possible, we rejoice with your family as you step out in faith to experience the miracle of adoption.  We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded an adoption assistance grant in the amount of $5,000.”  We immediately bowed our heads and praised God for such an incredible gift!  We have been so blown away by God’s faithfulness through Oliver’s adoption process, not just financially but just in the way he orchestrated all the little details.  Our little family is so blessed!

Now for baby eye candy:

 

This and That

We are now half way through the second week since John’s return to work.  I’m taking all the night time feedings because I don’t want John to have to do that while he’s working (though I know he would take one if I asked – he’s a good man).  I’m exhausted but I feel like I’m somehow adjusting to very small amounts of sleep.  I feel awful from lack of sleep but somehow God just keeps giving me the grace/strength to get through one more day.  By this age, Lincoln was already sleeping through the night but I think we may still have a long road ahead with Oliver!  Bring on the coffee!!

For anyone who didn’t hear through Facebook or the grapevine, the court date for Oliver’s birthparents to terminate their rights went perfect.  Thank you for praying!  His birthfather didn’t even show up – something we are extremely grateful for!  After the hearing, Oliver’s birthmom texted me to tell me things went well and that she felt so happy knowing that Oliver was in a safe place and loved.  It has been such a blessing to us to be able to keep in contact with her.  She is an awesome person and we just love her.

Last night I received an e-mail from Show Hope – one of the foundations from which we are hoping to receive a grant (ranging from $1,000 – $7,000, so a pretty big deal).  They wanted to know if our adoption went through and how things were going before they presented our case to the grant committee.  We’re taking this as a good sign that maybe we still have a decent chance of receiving a grant!  I typed up an e-mail and attached a family snapshot (shamelessly trying to schmooze them with a picture of my adorable family) and sent it right out.  Then after I sent it, I felt so nervous.  What if we don’t get it?  What if in my sleep addled state I didn’t word things right and I blew our chances?  And then I looked down at Oliver sleeping in my arms and thought “Who cares?  I doesn’t really matter – I’ve got everything I ever wanted right here in my arms.”  So whatever God’s will is in this, I’m okay with it.  In other financial news, you might notice that we’ve hit the $4,000 mark in our fundraising!  Wow!  We are amazed at how God has used so many of you to bless us.  Our hearts are so happy and full of love for all of you!

And in just general randomness:

Lincoln loves water so we’ve been trying to go to the lake as often as possible for picnics and then swimming.  He has no fear of the water and will walk out as deep as he can (up to his chin) and then try to let go of my hands!  The first time we let him get in the water, he reached down and splashed his hands and then stood up and yelled “Oh YAY!” in his crazy little boy voice.  I love to see the joy it brings him!

Oliver smiles and coos all the time now.  He is the happiest baby.  I can’t tell you how many times I look down and he’s smiling up at me!  Oliver loves to eat and is getting so round!  I think he’s playing catch up.  I’m looking forward to his next doctors appointment to see how much he’s gained!

Lincoln has developed a climbing obsession, as I suppose most little boys his age do.  It’s adorable and frightening at the same time, he’s a little too confident sometimes.  I don’t know how many times I come into a room to see him trying to climb something.

 

That’s it for now.  If you think of it, pray that if it’s God’s will, we would receive a grant.  Thanks!

 

Court Date

John and I heard from our caseworker today and Oliver’s birthparents have a court date scheduled to sign off on their parental rights on July 29th, at 11:00am.  We’re so excited to have the court date scheduled so soon.  It’ll be nice to breathe a sigh of relief once that is over.  We don’t have any worries about his birthmom but there’s been some concern about the birthfather trying to contest the adoption, and from what we know it would not be a safe place for Oliver.  But we know that God is in control and that he loves everyone involved.  Please continue to cover the whole thing in prayer.  Thanks!

An Update with a Splash of Sleep Deprivation

Things are going well here.  We’re quickly learning how to juggle two under two.  Not to whine but it’s harder than it looks!  We’re tired but we’re surviving.  I say a lot of things I don’t remember.  Apparently one night I said we ‘needed to eat Oliver’.  I meant ‘feed Oliver’.  There’s lots of napping and caffeine.  Since I’m a night owl and John’s a morning person, we have a system worked out where I take the late night feedings and he gets up with the boys in the morning, while I catch a little sleep.  It’s been working out pretty good for both of us, but I have no idea what I’m going to do when he goes back to work!  Today when I woke up, I bent down to kiss Lincoln and his eyes flicked up to my hair and he grinned and laughed.  The lack of sleep must really be showing if my 16 month old notices!

Oliver is doing great.  He’s such a sweet but spunky baby.  He let’s you know when you’re not doing things the ‘right’ way.  I know that no one will believe this but last week I was talking to him and he looked up at me and smiled – with his eyes and everything!  For such a little guy, he can really eat.  At his last doctors appointment he weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces – he’s gained almost a whole pound in two weeks time!

Lincoln is doing really well adjusting to Oliver.  Sometimes when Oliver cries Lincoln will bring Marcel (Lincoln’s lovie) over and throw him at Oliver!  Good thing Marcel is really soft!  We’re still working with him on how to be gentle with Oliver.  Almost every night they both drink a bottle (or cup in Lincoln's case) of milk on my lap.  It makes me so happy hold both my sweet boys at the same time.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed our thermometer to the right of the screen or not, but this week we broke the $3,000 mark!  It amazes me how God has been using each of you to bless and support us through our adoption.  For those of you who are curious, Bethany Christian Services has graciously agrees to let us make monthly payments of $2,000 until our post-placement fees are paid in full.  Thanks to all of you, we were able to make our first monthly payment without having to borrow anything!  And we’re half way to making next months payment as well!  It’s pretty amazing and exciting what God can do.  Thank you so much for all your prayers and your support!

~Katie

 

 

Home

Our baby boy was born on June 20th at 4:50PM and his name is Oliver Finn.  He is perfect in every single way.  He weighed in at 5lbs 9oz  and 18 inches long.  When Lincoln was born (he weighed 9lb 10oz)he didn’t fit hardly any of his newborn clothes because he was so big.  Oliver has the exact opposite problem.  He was swimming in his coming home outfit!

When I’ve had more sleep I’ll try to post more about our hospital experience.  It was a hard and beautiful thing.  Please continue to keep everyone involved in your prayers.

One last thing, I was getting Lincoln ready for bed tonight and I took him over to where John was holding Oliver.  I told him to get a kiss from Daddy and then to tell Oliver goodnight, and I moved to put Lincoln’s face next to Oliver's and Oliver turned his head right up against Lincoln.  I exclaimed, “Lincoln, Oliver just kissed you!” and Lincoln got the biggest smile on his face!  It warms my heart to see my two boys getting to know each other.

Garage Sale

We have had a couple of amazing days.  Yesterday we received exactly $1,000 in donations for our adoption!   Wow, right!?  Then today was our big garage sale to raise money for our adoption and I think it was pretty successful – we brought in $318!  It was such a blessing to meet so many interesting people and to be able to share with them what a blessing adoption has been to us.  I never get tired of talking about adoption!  It’s a pretty awesome thing.  So, that brings our total money collected to $2,243 – the thermometer is rising!  The generosity and love people have shown us just blows me away.  It makes me slightly teary and very happy to think of each of you that have so generously given of your time and/or money.  We are so thankful for you! 

 

Thinking about this verse a lot tonight:  “Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”  Psalm 36:5 

Update ~ 6/13/13

We met up with Jen today for another doctors appointment.  Baby boy is moving around a lot and his heart rate is good.  Jen’s been having some cramping and a few contractions but nothing too regular yet.  One more week until his due date!  I’m getting really eager to meet and hold this little guy in my arms.  And I know that Jen is ready to be done being pregnant – I think he’s been pretty squirmy this past week!

After her appointment, we went out for a midafternoon snack with her and her friend that drove her to the appointment.  We sat and talked and laughed about nothing in particular and it was so nice.  It was such a blessing to get to know her better.  If the baby hasn’t made an appearance by next Thursday we plan meet up again for another doctors appointment.

Thank you for your prayers – keep up the good work! :)

Our Most creative donation yet

Today when we got home from a well baby doctors appointment, there was a package, from some of John’s family, waiting for us.  We were pretty surprised and really excited!  Who doesn’t love getting unexpected mail?  Inside were two boxes of ‘cupcakes’ each made from different baby things.  They were so cute, that I didn’t even want to get them out of the box but eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I succumbed.  I’m glad I did because inside each cupcake was some money for our adoption!  I love how for this one they put it in the pocket.  Seriously – how cute is that!?  

 

We are feeling so loved and blessed today!

Doctors Appointment

We had the blessing of attending a doctors appointment with Jen today.  We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat and see pictures of his ultrasounds.  He’s going to be a cutie – I can just tell!  Jen has said that we can be as involved as we want to be, so we’re going to another appointment with her next Thursday.  I’m so glad that we’re getting to spend this time getting to know each other better. 

For those who are praying, Jen’s Mom, who is her support person, is traveling for one or two weeks.  Really pray that she comes back sooner so Jen doesn’t have to go through this alone.  Of course, John and I will be there for her as much as we can, but it’s just not the same thing.

 

Thanks for reading, praying and supporting us through this!  You guys rock!

~Katie

Meeting Adjourned

We met with Jen (birthmom) today for the first time.  I wasn’t nervous at all, except for about a half an hour before we got there, and then only a little nervous.  It was nice, having one adoption under our belt, knowing kind of what to expect.  I think Jen was pretty nervous at first but she opened up some as the meeting went on.  She’s pretty shy and quiet, but very sweet.  She has the most beautiful eyes and smile.  Her mom came with her to meet us and it was really nice to get to know her too.  We’re really excited to get to know both of them better over the next month and then more over the next 18 years or so, too.  Jen said that she was okay with us picking a name – something I’m super excited about.  We have a middle name picked and have it narrowed down to two first names and she liked both of them, so yay!  Now we just have to chose one!  She also said that she would like us to be as involved with the hospital process as much as we want and asked me to be in the room with her when she delivers.  I’m really excited that she wants me to be there.  I want to meet this little guy as soon as I can!

When John and I started researching adoption, openness in adoptions seemed so intimidating and scary.  You (somewhat selfishly) think you don’t want to have to commit keeping in touch and possibly meeting with some strange woman for the next 18 years, but the truth is she’s not some strange woman.  She is your precious child’s birthmom and you end up loving her, because you and she – you dearly love the same baby.  You end up waking up at night worrying about her, wondering if she’s okay.  You end up in some weird way wanting to ‘mother’ her.  I wish I could somehow tell other potential adoptive parents how much you end up loving the fact that you know your baby’s birthmom.  It’s not scary, it’s not inconvenient, it’s a blessing.  I am so grateful to have the privilege of knowing my son’s birthmoms.

So anyway, thank you everyone for your prayers today.  I know they helped!  Both John and I felt like things really went smooth and we’re excited to hopefully meet with Jen again soon.  Please keep praying for her too, her family has not been very supportive (other than her mom), and it’s been really hard on her.  Also she has some health issues that could make labor and delivery unsafe for her, so pray that the doctors will have wisdom in treating her.

 

~Katie

Details

So as most of you know from our Facebook status or an email – the birthmom who looked at our book last Wednesday chose us!!  We are beyond excited!

At this point I don’t have a ton of details, but I’ll share what I can.  The birthmom (we’ll call her Jen for now, to be respectful of her privacy) is due on June 21st with a baby boy. Lincoln’s going to have a baby brother!  She and the birthfather are both 21 years old.  Jen’s mom supports her adoption plan, but some of her other family members haven’t been as supportive, but she says that she won’t change her mind because she knows adoption is the right thing to do for her baby.  Throughout the pregnancy, Jen has smoked about 5 cigarettes a day, please don’t judge her, but pray that the baby is growing safe and healthy.  Also she’s only been getting prenatal care since March.  I read up a little on how smoking affects the baby during pregnancy and it’s some scary stuff, but I know that God is with him.  Jen wants to meet us, so we have a meeting set up for May 21st at 3:00 to meet with her and her pregnancy counselor.  We’re really excited to meet her.  A little nervous, but very excited!  The birthfather was hesitant about adoption at first but the last time the pregnancy counselor talked to him he seemed more open to it, so that’s good.  After what happened with Lincoln’s adoption, it’s a little hard not to worry about the birthfather contesting the adoption.

That night after we found out, to celebrate, we got McDonald’s for a picnic and then to a local baby clothes store.  We didn’t buy much but we did splurge on swim trunks (who could resist such tiny swim trunks?), and the outfit on the right, which is for Mr.Baby to come home from the hospital in!  Since getting the news, my nesting instincts have gone into overdrive – there is so much I want to organize, and sew, and do.  I’m feeling the pressure to get everything done that I thought I’d probably have a year or more to work on!  Last Friday I did a big day of freezer cooking and got about 10 meals prepared(2 lasagnas, 2 beef enchiladas, 3 chicken enchiladas, 2 bourbon chicken, and 16 breakfast burritos).  I don’t want to have to think too hard about dinner once the baby’s here.  Then this past weekend, John and I have been trying to work together on some things around the house.  Installing baby gates, setting up the Pack & Play sleeper next to the bed, stuff like that.  Today I got out all the newborn clothes out of storage.  Since Lincoln was born in February, I didn’t think I’d find very much that we’d be able to use but I was pleasantly surprised.  I ended up with a decent sized pile of clothes, so today is all about laundry!  I love how tiny newborn stuff is – it’s just ridiculously cute!  

Please pray over our meeting on the 21st, it can be a little nerve wracking and awkward for everyone involved.  Also pray for Jen, that she would continue to have peace and receive more support from her family and friends.

Thank you guys for all your prayers and support! 

~Katie

So it begins…

Hi everyone!  We wanted to share some news with you.  We're adopting again! 

We contacted our case worker about six weeks ago, excited to get started with another adoption only to find out that the fees had nearly doubled since Lincoln’s adoption last year.  The fees have gone up to $21,000 compared to the $13,000 in fees we spent for Lincoln’s adoption.  When we found that out, I pretty much cried for a week straight.  And then one morning I just told myself that God must have something different for our family and I was okay with that, I really was.  I had peace and I didn’t really spend too much time thinking about it after that day.

Then out of the blue two weeks ago, our caseworker contacted me and told me that she had talked to her supervisor and convinced the branch manager, to discount our fees of $3,750 which would bring our fees down to $17,250.  To us that was huge!  We pretty much immediately said “Let’s do this!”  So even though that’s still a lot of money for us we feel like this is God’s will for our family so we’re stepping out in faith.  We’re going to apply for just about every grant we can find but there’s no guarantee we’ll get one or any for that matter, so we’re also going to be doing some fundraising.  If you have any creative ideas for fundraising let us know!

John had that week off right after we found out about the fees and we were able to get all of our paper work and appointments done in just one week!  Usually that takes a couple of months to do, at least!  Plus our case worker case worker got our fingerprint clearance back unusually fast and I was able to get our profile book done and ordered in record time!  I feel like I can see God’s hand moving things along so smoothly for us.  Makes me wonder if there’s a baby out there that needs us sooner rather than later, but I don’t want to jinx it! :)  So our home study is almost completed, our case worker has her report written, she’s just waiting on a few of our references (you know who you are:)) and then we’ll go into the waiting pool again! 

We actually heard from our case worker yesterday and there's a baby boy due in June who's birth mother will be looking at our profile book (among several others) on Wednesday! We didn't expect to have our book shown before our home study was (technically) complete but we're excited about the possibility.  So please pray, if you would, for this birth mom on Wednesday. Even if she doesn't choose us she could use our prayers. Also pray for us as we are starting this journey again. It's a little intimidating but we feel confident that God is with us and this is His plan for us. If you have any fundraising ideas or want to donate $17,000, please let me know.

 

Katie