We just found out last night and are so excited to share with everyone that....
Kristen gets to come home, TODAY!!!
What a great way to start our Christmas break from school!
God has answered 2 specific prayers here(well, actually a lot of prayers, but let's just stick with these 2 for now, or this post will never end!)- 1. That she would be home before Christmas (We've been praying for that since we started the adoption process) and 2. Once we found out we were getting her, we began praying that we would have these 2 weeks together to bond together as a family before everyone has to go back to work and school. Her social worker told us last night that they have never moved this quickly on an adoption, but could tell we were serious about it, because we drove to see Kristen every night, so that's why they let us go ahead with a quick transition.
How faithful is our God?! I am amazed today. My heart is just overflowing.
PS- my mom thinks I have gone a little crazy.... and she's probably right. ;)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
K's room
We still have some work to do in it... a few accessories to add here and there, some things for the wall above her bed that my mom is working on, and an easel that we got her for Christmas will go in the corner, but it's mostly done, and as done as it will be when she sees it for the 1st time, so here you go!
Her bed was given to us by a teacher who I work with. It was such a blessing! I LOVE the way her bed turned out. Seriously. I want to sleep in it! :)
I painted the "K" and added the ribbon. The flower on the left of the picture has 2 hooks on it where she can hang her backpack and coat.
The small dresser was mine from when I was a child. It matches the bed almost perfectly! I added the ribbon to the lampshade. I should take a close-up of it because the ribbon is really neat, and I've never seen any like it before.
This dresser was also mine. The bench in the middle was also given to us. It's an ottoman that I recovered and is now a toy box, and seating for her. The ribbon above has clothespins attached to the back, so she can hang up her artwork, or whatever else she wants to hang up. She LOVES to do any kind of artwork. I think this area will be full and overflowing!
I made that curtain too, out of the same fabric that I covered the ottoman in, and I LOVE this little step that I found at HomeGoods. It's got flowers and butterflies on it. She also has a Dora nighlight.
She's coming by to see it in the next couple of days, and then will be spending the night with us Friday night (99% sure on that!), so I'll let you know what she thinks after she sees it. :)
I painted the "K" and added the ribbon. The flower on the left of the picture has 2 hooks on it where she can hang her backpack and coat.
She's coming by to see it in the next couple of days, and then will be spending the night with us Friday night (99% sure on that!), so I'll let you know what she thinks after she sees it. :)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Update
Not a very creative title, I know, but it's been a CRAZY week!
Due to some misunderstandings about how this whole adoption process works, how quickly we can bring her home, etc... We have begun seeing our baby girl A LOT more! (which is extremely exciting to us!) We saw her Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and have talked with her on the phone the other days. :) This week we are seeing her every day... except maybe 1 day because of a conflict with our schedule. We are SO thrilled to get to spend all this time as a family!
Her foster home is about 45 minutes away from our house, so our routine has been: I leave work as soon as I put the kids on the bus, pick up Will and we go see her. We can't bring her to our house yet, but we are hoping for an overnight visit this coming weekend. As you can imagine, we are exhausted, and to top it off, we've both been sick this week. I like to think we're so tired simply because we are not able to be home yet, but we have to be out- I've been in more fast food playplaces in the last week than I've been in in my life, I think ;) - but I have a feeling, we are only scratching the surface of how exhausted we will be.
So here's how you can pray for us:
1. Pray for this transition time. She knows that she is coming to live with us, and that we are adopting her, although I don't think she knows fully what that means. She's struggling to understand why she can't come home with us now. Also, we cannot really begin to "parent" her with just a couple of hours here and there. We want to have fun with her, but we don't want her to think that every time she sees us we are going to be bringing her presents, taking her to McDonalds, going to see Christmas lights, etc. There will be lots of that, of course, but there will also be lots of nights in eating dinner at the table, and doing homework. :)
2. Pray for wisdom for Will and I as we speak with her foster parents, social workers, therapists, etc. Pray that we will fight for what we feel is best for our daughter, but still respect and honor their authority in our lives. (Her foster parents are on board with supporting us in whatever way we need- which is a HUGE blessing!)
3. Pray that we will get her room done(ish) by Friday! We still have a couch we are trying (unsuccessfully) to get moved out of her room, and into our living room. We got it in the room, so we know it CAN come out... but.... we may be going out the window with it... Also, our living room currently has only a chair in it...
4. Pray that we will both heal physically so we can be our best for her.
5. Pray for our hearts. We are as anxious to get her home, as she is anxious to come live with us. It's difficult to have your daughter be in someone else's home, and have other people tell you when, where, and for how long you can see her. We know it takes time, but knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
6. Pray for a meeting on Thursday at 5:00 with her social worker, and her foster mom. We will be talking about how this transition will move forward from here, and how we will move her into our home. We desperately want to bring her home over her Christmas break from school.
7. Pray for decisions we need to make regarding her education.... and a million other little and big decisions that need to be made soon.
.... we continue to be absolutely AMAZED by her foster family. They are so encouraging, accomodating, etc... We could not have asked for better people to work with. What makes it even better is that we know they love our daughter, and want what's best for her, just like we do.
Thanks friends for your love and support!
A picture of what we do have finished in her room... her bed! I LOVE the way this turned out! I might just sleep in it until she gets here. ;) Can you guess her favorite colors?
A school project we helped her with. She had to design a new suit for Santa, and then write a letter to Mrs. Claus to convince her to pick her suit for Santa.
Due to some misunderstandings about how this whole adoption process works, how quickly we can bring her home, etc... We have begun seeing our baby girl A LOT more! (which is extremely exciting to us!) We saw her Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and have talked with her on the phone the other days. :) This week we are seeing her every day... except maybe 1 day because of a conflict with our schedule. We are SO thrilled to get to spend all this time as a family!
Her foster home is about 45 minutes away from our house, so our routine has been: I leave work as soon as I put the kids on the bus, pick up Will and we go see her. We can't bring her to our house yet, but we are hoping for an overnight visit this coming weekend. As you can imagine, we are exhausted, and to top it off, we've both been sick this week. I like to think we're so tired simply because we are not able to be home yet, but we have to be out- I've been in more fast food playplaces in the last week than I've been in in my life, I think ;) - but I have a feeling, we are only scratching the surface of how exhausted we will be.
So here's how you can pray for us:
1. Pray for this transition time. She knows that she is coming to live with us, and that we are adopting her, although I don't think she knows fully what that means. She's struggling to understand why she can't come home with us now. Also, we cannot really begin to "parent" her with just a couple of hours here and there. We want to have fun with her, but we don't want her to think that every time she sees us we are going to be bringing her presents, taking her to McDonalds, going to see Christmas lights, etc. There will be lots of that, of course, but there will also be lots of nights in eating dinner at the table, and doing homework. :)
2. Pray for wisdom for Will and I as we speak with her foster parents, social workers, therapists, etc. Pray that we will fight for what we feel is best for our daughter, but still respect and honor their authority in our lives. (Her foster parents are on board with supporting us in whatever way we need- which is a HUGE blessing!)
3. Pray that we will get her room done(ish) by Friday! We still have a couch we are trying (unsuccessfully) to get moved out of her room, and into our living room. We got it in the room, so we know it CAN come out... but.... we may be going out the window with it... Also, our living room currently has only a chair in it...
4. Pray that we will both heal physically so we can be our best for her.
5. Pray for our hearts. We are as anxious to get her home, as she is anxious to come live with us. It's difficult to have your daughter be in someone else's home, and have other people tell you when, where, and for how long you can see her. We know it takes time, but knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
6. Pray for a meeting on Thursday at 5:00 with her social worker, and her foster mom. We will be talking about how this transition will move forward from here, and how we will move her into our home. We desperately want to bring her home over her Christmas break from school.
7. Pray for decisions we need to make regarding her education.... and a million other little and big decisions that need to be made soon.
.... we continue to be absolutely AMAZED by her foster family. They are so encouraging, accomodating, etc... We could not have asked for better people to work with. What makes it even better is that we know they love our daughter, and want what's best for her, just like we do.
Thanks friends for your love and support!
A picture of what we do have finished in her room... her bed! I LOVE the way this turned out! I might just sleep in it until she gets here. ;) Can you guess her favorite colors?
A school project we helped her with. She had to design a new suit for Santa, and then write a letter to Mrs. Claus to convince her to pick her suit for Santa.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
It's a......
GIRL!!!
Why do Will and I look so happy/nervous here? Because we were on the way to meet our DAUGTER for the 1st time today!
Her name is Kristen and she is 6 years old. She's in 1st grade. She is absolutely beautiful, and SO sweet! We will be working to transition her into our home over the next few weeks. On the short end of things (the way I want), we will move her into our home full time over her Christmas break. On the long end of things, it should be sometime mid-late January. Until then, we will be visiting with her for progressively longer amounts of time.
We are so thankful and praising God for His answer to our prayers for a child! We are also thankful for her amazing foster family who have loved and cared for her, and are willing to work with us to make this a quick, smooth transition.
Thanks for your prayers, friends! We are overwhelmed with love from our God, friends, and family!
P.S. Will is already looking at shotguns. ;)
Her name is Kristen and she is 6 years old. She's in 1st grade. She is absolutely beautiful, and SO sweet! We will be working to transition her into our home over the next few weeks. On the short end of things (the way I want), we will move her into our home full time over her Christmas break. On the long end of things, it should be sometime mid-late January. Until then, we will be visiting with her for progressively longer amounts of time.
We are so thankful and praising God for His answer to our prayers for a child! We are also thankful for her amazing foster family who have loved and cared for her, and are willing to work with us to make this a quick, smooth transition.
Thanks for your prayers, friends! We are overwhelmed with love from our God, friends, and family!
P.S. Will is already looking at shotguns. ;)
Saturday, September 17, 2011
You had a what?!
On Wednesday night, Will took me to the ER. For those who don't want to read the whole post (b/c it's kind of lenghty) I'll skip right to the end. I was diagnosed with complex migraines and I now have medicine to take if something like that ever happens again. B/C there's no way to know with 100% certainty that it was the migraine, and not a TIA stroke, I am also on an asprin regimine to reduce the risk of blood clots.
For those who want to know more... read on. :)
When I woke up Wednesday morning, I felt great. I got to school, and around 10:00am, I started feeling funny (nice, medical term for you). By 10:15ish, I was dizzy. The dizziness continued and then I started seeing black dots. I couldn't focus on anything, and I couldn't write. Then, I began to have some confusion (ex. I couldn't remember my students' names, or how to spell them) and I started saying things I didn't mean to say (ex. I meant to say, "go to your seat"and instead I said, "go outside for recess" OR my words didn't form, and I spoke jibberish). Some of you may remember when that reporter who covered the Grammy's did that same type of thing on air- it was JUST like that! At this point I was pretty concerned about what was going on. I thought it might be Vertigo, or something like that. I knew I needed to get my kids to lunch, and then I could figure out what to do. As I was taking them to lunch (it's about 11:15 now) my right arm started to go numb, and so did the right side of my face and tongue. I went to lunch, and as I was eating I began to feel better. By 11:45, I felt great- just really tired, and a slight headache. Since I felt better, I just thought it was one of those weird things that happens, and I went on with my day. After school, I had a meeting, so I didn't get home until around 8. When I got home, I mentioned what happened to Will, and he immediately called our friend, Bryan, who is an ER nurse. Bryan told Will to get me to the ER, so that's where we headed- but not before I tiddied up the apartment a little bit ;).
We checked in to the ER around 10:00. We waited about 45 minutes and they got us back to a room. After a stern talking-to by the ER nurse (basically he told me I should have come in while those symptoms were occuring, and I wasn't doing the children any favors by trying to work through something like that) we were told that they thought it was either a TIA stroke (a mini stroke) or a complex migraine. They said that there is no test for a migraine, so they have to begin by ruling out the stroke. That night, I had blood work, a CT scan, an EKG, and a chest x-ray. The ER Dr. looked at the tests, and said he didn't see anything, but more tests would certainly be needed and they needed to keep me overnight for observation.
So, at about 3 am they took me to a room that is an extension of the ER called the Clinical Decision Unit. It is made for patients to stay for 23 hours or less. I had a private (small) room, but I shared a bathroom with another patient. The nurses there were wonderful, and they even brought Will a recliner so he could stay with me.
The next morning, I had an MRI, an echocardiagram, and an ultra sound on the arteries in my neck. This was when I realized the seriousness of what was happening. At this point, they were talking more like they thought I had the TIA stroke, and were doing tests to figure out why it happened. They were looking for a hole in my heart, or build up, etc. in my arteries- some place where blood clots might be shooting out. They were also telling me that there was a chance I would need some sort of surgery.
The rest of the day we waited for test results, and to see my PCP. When he came in, he looked at my test reults and said he didn't see anything on them (PRAISE THE LORD!)- no holes, no blockages, no brain damage! He said there was no way to be 100% sure, but he felt like since my tests came back clear, and because of my age, history, etc. it was a complex migraine. He wanted the neurologist to look at me the next morning, and he wanted to do an EEG, just to make sure. He also explained how similar and serious these 2 conditions are: (medical people, correct me if I'm wrong!)
A TIA stroke means that you have a blood clot that gets lodged in the blood vessels in your brain, but then it frees itself a little while later. Brain damage can occur b/c of the lack of blood and oxygen getting to your brain. A TIA stroke is often an indicator of a full-blown stroke to come. FYI- if you think you are having stroke symptoms, you need to get to the hospital ASAP because there is a therapy they can do to reverse the effects of stroke within the 1st 3 hours!
A complex migraine means that the blood vessels in your brain constrict so much that blood and oxygen don't get to your brain. Eventually, however, they do open back up. People with migraines are more likely to suffer a stroke than those who do not. According to the dr., I may never have one again, or I could have one in 5 minutes.
The next morning (Friday), the neurologist came to examine me, and he agreed with my PCP that it was probably the complex migraine, and not the stroke. However, he said it really is just his best guess about what happened. He told me I could GO HOME! Yay!!!
....so my treatment from here on is this: I follow up with my PCP in 2 weeks. I take an asprin every day, and I have medicine that I take in case I have another episode like that. My dr. told me I should feel better within 30 minutes of taking the medicine, and if not, I need to call. Hopefully, I never have to take that medicine. :)
Thank you all for your prayers, fbook messages, text messages, phone calls, visits, etc. I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from everyone! Also, I am amazed at how my husband handled this situation. Even the nurses were shocked at his dedication to me. He never left my side (except to go home to pick up some things I needed), and he made sure I had everything I needed at all times. He talked with drs. and nurses, and kept our family up to date on everything that was happening. Will, I am amazed by you.
Also, I can't close out this post without talking about the grace of God in my life. He truly saved me. I should have been in the ER Wednesday morning while I was having those symptoms, but I didn't go until 10 hours later. I mean seriously, I could have had irreversable brain damage, or I could have had another episode while I was driving and crashed my car! I am so thankful that he gave the drs. and nurses wisdom in treating me and that I have made a full recovery. He truly is the Great Physician! He also gave Will and I both a peace that permeated our being. We were aware of the seriousness of the situation, but we were never panicked by it, or scared of the future. He gave us the ability to trust in Him. He is good.
For those who want to know more... read on. :)
When I woke up Wednesday morning, I felt great. I got to school, and around 10:00am, I started feeling funny (nice, medical term for you). By 10:15ish, I was dizzy. The dizziness continued and then I started seeing black dots. I couldn't focus on anything, and I couldn't write. Then, I began to have some confusion (ex. I couldn't remember my students' names, or how to spell them) and I started saying things I didn't mean to say (ex. I meant to say, "go to your seat"and instead I said, "go outside for recess" OR my words didn't form, and I spoke jibberish). Some of you may remember when that reporter who covered the Grammy's did that same type of thing on air- it was JUST like that! At this point I was pretty concerned about what was going on. I thought it might be Vertigo, or something like that. I knew I needed to get my kids to lunch, and then I could figure out what to do. As I was taking them to lunch (it's about 11:15 now) my right arm started to go numb, and so did the right side of my face and tongue. I went to lunch, and as I was eating I began to feel better. By 11:45, I felt great- just really tired, and a slight headache. Since I felt better, I just thought it was one of those weird things that happens, and I went on with my day. After school, I had a meeting, so I didn't get home until around 8. When I got home, I mentioned what happened to Will, and he immediately called our friend, Bryan, who is an ER nurse. Bryan told Will to get me to the ER, so that's where we headed- but not before I tiddied up the apartment a little bit ;).
We checked in to the ER around 10:00. We waited about 45 minutes and they got us back to a room. After a stern talking-to by the ER nurse (basically he told me I should have come in while those symptoms were occuring, and I wasn't doing the children any favors by trying to work through something like that) we were told that they thought it was either a TIA stroke (a mini stroke) or a complex migraine. They said that there is no test for a migraine, so they have to begin by ruling out the stroke. That night, I had blood work, a CT scan, an EKG, and a chest x-ray. The ER Dr. looked at the tests, and said he didn't see anything, but more tests would certainly be needed and they needed to keep me overnight for observation.
So, at about 3 am they took me to a room that is an extension of the ER called the Clinical Decision Unit. It is made for patients to stay for 23 hours or less. I had a private (small) room, but I shared a bathroom with another patient. The nurses there were wonderful, and they even brought Will a recliner so he could stay with me.
The next morning, I had an MRI, an echocardiagram, and an ultra sound on the arteries in my neck. This was when I realized the seriousness of what was happening. At this point, they were talking more like they thought I had the TIA stroke, and were doing tests to figure out why it happened. They were looking for a hole in my heart, or build up, etc. in my arteries- some place where blood clots might be shooting out. They were also telling me that there was a chance I would need some sort of surgery.
The rest of the day we waited for test results, and to see my PCP. When he came in, he looked at my test reults and said he didn't see anything on them (PRAISE THE LORD!)- no holes, no blockages, no brain damage! He said there was no way to be 100% sure, but he felt like since my tests came back clear, and because of my age, history, etc. it was a complex migraine. He wanted the neurologist to look at me the next morning, and he wanted to do an EEG, just to make sure. He also explained how similar and serious these 2 conditions are: (medical people, correct me if I'm wrong!)
A TIA stroke means that you have a blood clot that gets lodged in the blood vessels in your brain, but then it frees itself a little while later. Brain damage can occur b/c of the lack of blood and oxygen getting to your brain. A TIA stroke is often an indicator of a full-blown stroke to come. FYI- if you think you are having stroke symptoms, you need to get to the hospital ASAP because there is a therapy they can do to reverse the effects of stroke within the 1st 3 hours!
A complex migraine means that the blood vessels in your brain constrict so much that blood and oxygen don't get to your brain. Eventually, however, they do open back up. People with migraines are more likely to suffer a stroke than those who do not. According to the dr., I may never have one again, or I could have one in 5 minutes.
The next morning (Friday), the neurologist came to examine me, and he agreed with my PCP that it was probably the complex migraine, and not the stroke. However, he said it really is just his best guess about what happened. He told me I could GO HOME! Yay!!!
....so my treatment from here on is this: I follow up with my PCP in 2 weeks. I take an asprin every day, and I have medicine that I take in case I have another episode like that. My dr. told me I should feel better within 30 minutes of taking the medicine, and if not, I need to call. Hopefully, I never have to take that medicine. :)
Thank you all for your prayers, fbook messages, text messages, phone calls, visits, etc. I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from everyone! Also, I am amazed at how my husband handled this situation. Even the nurses were shocked at his dedication to me. He never left my side (except to go home to pick up some things I needed), and he made sure I had everything I needed at all times. He talked with drs. and nurses, and kept our family up to date on everything that was happening. Will, I am amazed by you.
Also, I can't close out this post without talking about the grace of God in my life. He truly saved me. I should have been in the ER Wednesday morning while I was having those symptoms, but I didn't go until 10 hours later. I mean seriously, I could have had irreversable brain damage, or I could have had another episode while I was driving and crashed my car! I am so thankful that he gave the drs. and nurses wisdom in treating me and that I have made a full recovery. He truly is the Great Physician! He also gave Will and I both a peace that permeated our being. We were aware of the seriousness of the situation, but we were never panicked by it, or scared of the future. He gave us the ability to trust in Him. He is good.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Happy Fall, Y'all!
I did a little fall decorating tonight. It may be a little early, but I don't care- school's started back, and so has football, so it's fall to me. :)
We used these vases during the salt covenant during our wedding. I love to fill them with different things, depending on the season. 
Since we have such a small apartment, I don't have a lot of storage space for decorations. I keep this centerpiece on my coffee table all year, and I fill it with seasonal items= space saver!
The pumpkin and the wreath I actually got at Big Lots a couple years ago. I was surprised to find them, but it just goes to show that if you keep your eyes peeled you can find cute things at good prices!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Back to school
The 1st week and a half of school have been a complete whirlwind, (as usual!) but I did find @ least 1 new project that we will continue in the future! Check it out!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Adoption
Since we announced that we are adopting a few weeks ago, Will and I have both had a lot of questions about our adoption, so I've decided to address a few of those. Will and I are always happy to answer ANY questions that anyone might have- don't worry about offending us. ;)
Q. Why are you adopting?
A. There are a lot of answers and reasons for this but I'll shorten it as much as possible.
-As Christians, the Bible commands us to care for those who are less fortunate than us.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." -James 1:27
While we do not believe this means that every Christian needs to adopt, we do believe that every Christian has a responsibility to care for orphans and widows in some way. For us, we believe it means adoption.
-Adoption is an earthly picture of a Christian's adoption into God's family after Salvation. We once were enemies of God, until He saved us. Once that happens, a Christian becomes a child of God! Amazing!
"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. "-Romans 8:17
"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another, But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:3-7
-We have sought the Lord's will about adoption since we were engaged. We have always known that adopted children would be part of our family whether or not we had any biological children. We have been patiently waiting and asking the Lord to prepare us for the time He would say, "Go!" We believe we have clearly heard His call to go get our kids!
Q. Where are you adopting from?
A. We are working through the State of Kentucky's Foster/Adoption Program. We do not have a desire to Foster at this time, but some of the children in Foster Care are legally free for adoption. We would be looking at those kids, or kids from other states who are also legally free for adoption.
Q. What age/How many?
A. We have said up to age 7-8ish.. and up to 2 children.
Q. Do you care what race they are?
A. Nope!
Q. What about special needs?
A. As we go through our training classes, they will teach us about all sorts of disabilities and what some needs of children with them might be. We will have to honestly pray through what we feel like we can handle. Some things are obvious- we live in an upstairs apartment, so a child in a wheel chair probably wouldn't be the best choice right now, for example. Because our children will have been removed from their homes, they will have some sort of emotional, physical, or academic need beyond what other children their age would have.
Q. Don't you want to have biological children?
A. Absolutely. We want God to build our family any way He chooses. We have had some fertility issues, and a miscarriage. We have done some fertility treatments, but have just barely scratched the surface of that. At this time, we feel like we need to put our time, energy and resources into adoption. This does not mean that fertility treatments are not an option for later, or that we think they are bad. It just means that for right now, we are adopting.
Q. What if you get pregnant while you're in still in the process of adopting?
A. We will have to discuss that with our social worker. Generally, they won't place a child in your home if you have had a baby and/or adopted within 6 months. (This is our understanding anyway.)
Q. What is the adoption process?
A. It varies by agency, so this wouldn't be true of all adoptions- but for us:
1. We had to attend an informational session.
2. We are currently attending 10 training sessions (ours are 2 sessions/day for 5 Saturdays)
3. We have TONS of paperwork including: a Family Profile, financial statement, medicals, credit references, personal references, acceptance scales, etc.
4. We will have 2, 2 1/2 hour home visits to complete our Home Study.
5. We will (hopefully) be approved.
6. We will get our referral, and have a few meetings with the child.
7. The child will be placed in our home, and we will continue to have home visits with our social worker for about 3 months.
8. We go to court! :)
Q. How long does it take?
A. We have been told it will take anywhere from 4-6 months from when we started classes (May 14) to be approved, and we can get our referral anytime after that. We are hoping to have our kids by Christmas.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Are you sitting down? NOTHING! Since we are working through the state and these children are considered "hard to place," the state subsidizes their adoptions, and it will not cost us anything, beyond our own travel expenses to adopt them!
Thanks for sharing in our journey! We will continue to post as we go through this process! Please keep us in your prayers!
Q. Why are you adopting?
A. There are a lot of answers and reasons for this but I'll shorten it as much as possible.
-As Christians, the Bible commands us to care for those who are less fortunate than us.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." -James 1:27
While we do not believe this means that every Christian needs to adopt, we do believe that every Christian has a responsibility to care for orphans and widows in some way. For us, we believe it means adoption.
-Adoption is an earthly picture of a Christian's adoption into God's family after Salvation. We once were enemies of God, until He saved us. Once that happens, a Christian becomes a child of God! Amazing!
"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. "-Romans 8:17
"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another, But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:3-7
-We have sought the Lord's will about adoption since we were engaged. We have always known that adopted children would be part of our family whether or not we had any biological children. We have been patiently waiting and asking the Lord to prepare us for the time He would say, "Go!" We believe we have clearly heard His call to go get our kids!
Q. Where are you adopting from?
A. We are working through the State of Kentucky's Foster/Adoption Program. We do not have a desire to Foster at this time, but some of the children in Foster Care are legally free for adoption. We would be looking at those kids, or kids from other states who are also legally free for adoption.
Q. What age/How many?
A. We have said up to age 7-8ish.. and up to 2 children.
Q. Do you care what race they are?
A. Nope!
Q. What about special needs?
A. As we go through our training classes, they will teach us about all sorts of disabilities and what some needs of children with them might be. We will have to honestly pray through what we feel like we can handle. Some things are obvious- we live in an upstairs apartment, so a child in a wheel chair probably wouldn't be the best choice right now, for example. Because our children will have been removed from their homes, they will have some sort of emotional, physical, or academic need beyond what other children their age would have.
Q. Don't you want to have biological children?
A. Absolutely. We want God to build our family any way He chooses. We have had some fertility issues, and a miscarriage. We have done some fertility treatments, but have just barely scratched the surface of that. At this time, we feel like we need to put our time, energy and resources into adoption. This does not mean that fertility treatments are not an option for later, or that we think they are bad. It just means that for right now, we are adopting.
Q. What if you get pregnant while you're in still in the process of adopting?
A. We will have to discuss that with our social worker. Generally, they won't place a child in your home if you have had a baby and/or adopted within 6 months. (This is our understanding anyway.)
Q. What is the adoption process?
A. It varies by agency, so this wouldn't be true of all adoptions- but for us:
1. We had to attend an informational session.
2. We are currently attending 10 training sessions (ours are 2 sessions/day for 5 Saturdays)
3. We have TONS of paperwork including: a Family Profile, financial statement, medicals, credit references, personal references, acceptance scales, etc.
4. We will have 2, 2 1/2 hour home visits to complete our Home Study.
5. We will (hopefully) be approved.
6. We will get our referral, and have a few meetings with the child.
7. The child will be placed in our home, and we will continue to have home visits with our social worker for about 3 months.
8. We go to court! :)
Q. How long does it take?
A. We have been told it will take anywhere from 4-6 months from when we started classes (May 14) to be approved, and we can get our referral anytime after that. We are hoping to have our kids by Christmas.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Are you sitting down? NOTHING! Since we are working through the state and these children are considered "hard to place," the state subsidizes their adoptions, and it will not cost us anything, beyond our own travel expenses to adopt them!
Thanks for sharing in our journey! We will continue to post as we go through this process! Please keep us in your prayers!
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