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. ;)
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