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