Two months!

I had a friend recently ask me what advice I could give her about foster care now that I am a foster mom. Her question got me thinking and these are the 4 main things I could come up with!

1.Foster care isn't as scary as I thought.
I had lots of fears going into the foster care world. I had heard a lot of horror stories. I was scared, but thankfully God gave me the desire to give this a shot. Our story has not been anything like the horror stories I had heard, or dreamed up in my head. It really could not be any better. Our big kids have adjusted great, Adelyn loves having older siblings,our families are a great help, and our big kids do great in social settings!

2. They are NOT their files.
A few minutes before we met our kiddos for the first time we had the brief chance to read their files. It was scary. I was panicked. I didn't know what we had gotten ourselves into. Fast forward a few weeks. I was re-reading their files and was laughing at how different they are in real life. They are just kids. Their past happened, but it doesn't define them. I had always heard that, but now I understand.

3. Older kids are AWESOME.
Plain and simple! I love that my kids can talk and are somewhat independent. It comes with challenges, but the advantages way out weigh the disadvantages.

4. Our marriage has NOT been ruined.
This was a biggggy. I had heard that foster care puts a huge strain on your marriage. Honestly, having Adelyn was way harder on our marriage than adding our two big kids. We work together and we laugh at the craziness going  on around us. We are a team have had a blast going through this together. I think we might even fight less now!

I prayed and prayed for us to have a positive experience with foster care. I can honestly say, this has been a great experience. I love our kids and I love this crazy, beautiful story I have been blessed to get to be a part of. We definitely have hard days and days when I think this wasn't such a good idea, but those quickly pass. God is making beauty out of ashes and I get to have a front row seat.

Great Sermon.

Sometimes during my conference/lunch period at work I have time to listen to a sermon. Today I felt like listening to The Austin Stone. I randomly picked one by Matt Carter and I was not dissappointed. It was so good. I kept thinking I wish everyone I know could hear this sermon! It was like something I just needed to be reminded of and kind of like a reality check for what my life looks like. Check it out, you won't regret it!! Great marriage advice that went along with my Perfect Guy blog post!!


Four Ways to Receive God's Word from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.

*Summer Picture Wrap Up*

Annoucing to the first time grandparents :)

 

Last day of a looooooong end of school.

NYC Mission Trip!

 

Almost every Monday night my family would run in a 5k race:)

Towards the end I did much more walking than running.

One of my favorite pics of me and mawmaw.

Just love to look at this sweet baby!

First outfits for baby Adelyn/Jude!

Mini Destin Vaca!

Painting the baby's room!!

The new mom mobile. Loveee it.

First day of Year Four!!

Baby, Baby, Babyyyy

We had our *big* ultrasound last week. Big as in we COULD have found out if Baby Thompson is a little girl or a little boy. However, we stuck to our plan and made it out without finding out. It was tough and if Ryan would have been willing, I probably would have found out. Oh well!! What a wonderful day the delivery will be :)

*16 Weeks*

*Profile*

*Laying upside down, you can see his/her spine*

*Little baby arm!*

July 4th!

Ryan and I had a great time on July 4th! I was a little sad we did not have my family's pool to hang out during the day, but we made it work anyway.  We watched the hot dog eating contest at Ryan's grandparent's, and enjoyed their pool, stopped by a bbq birthday party, whopped up on some people at ladders, then ended the day with a wonderful time at our local park's firework show. Enjoy the pictures!

Baby Surprise!

Introducing the newest member of our growing family.....

Baby Thompson!

Due January 1st, 2013.

I am just about 10 1/2 weeks pregnant :)

God is good!

We are still waiting for our Ethiopian adoption! This just adds a blessing to the family :)

Announcing...

In November 2010 I got the baby bug. I wanted a baby, but I wanted to do foster care. Ryan wasn't super excited about it and honestly did not really care to do it. He knew it was something I truly wanted to do and he was supportive. So we started contacting agencies and found our match. We were eligible to foster through Theraputic Family Life. We started the paperwork process. Things were not going smooth. Everything we attempted to do just didnt work out. Looking back it was obvious that God was moving in us to get us to our Ethiopian adoption. I don't remember how it happend, but for some reason the foster care plan came to an end. We just didn't do it. We did start our adoption and you guys all know that story!
We found out a day before we were DTE that our agency had increased the wait time for referral to 18-24 months. This was a blow to us. However, it was also an unexpected reopened door. Ryan actually said we could start the foster care process again. He was 100% on board with it this time!

Everything about this go round has been different. Our paperwork is about finished, we have done our fingerprints (again!), we have completed our CPR/1st Aid training, and we have gotten our reference letters (again!). We are just waiting on our training (again!), and our home study (yep-again!).
We have been working on this stuff for about a month. It is flying by and our prayer is that we are licensed for emergency foster care by the end of May.

Our PLAN is (we know how well those work...) to be a family for a baby that needs a place to stay for a short time. Maybe until they get a permanent foster family, or maybe a just break from mom and dad. Really I don't know what this will actually look like. All I know is I am super excited and getting ready for a baby!!

This weekend my mom and I went out to our church's garage sale and to a few children's consignment shops. We had a great time and it was sooo unreal to be really preparing for a baby!! We didn't buy much because we have set pretty big age parameters. We are getting licensed for 0-4 years old, boy or girl! I did buy a bunch of cute girl clothes that I am currently washing right now!!

I have been hesitant to mention our new plan because I have been nervous it will fall through again. We are getting so close now that I don't mind sharing. If God has other plans for us this summer, we are open to it. But as of right now, we are planning to be welcoming children into our home!!  Please join me in praying it all works out!!

The Eye...

We had a fantastic Easter weekend. It was seriously one of the best! We had Secret Church (obviously lol) on Friday. Ryan and I got to spend alllll day together Saturday, and then we ended the night with dinner with my family. It had been awhile since we were all together! Then Sunday we went to church and then had lunch with Ryan's family. The beautiful weather all weekend was the cherry on top!

Yesterday was apparently National Siblings Day...

My Oldest Little Brother, Patrick. My hubz <3. Yours Truly. My baby brother, Jack. 

B.I.L's GF, Mandy. Brother-In-Law, Michael. Me. Hubz!

It's been awhile since I had an adoption update. Or at least I feel like it has. Today we got to move up one spot on the wait list! WooHoo!! #82!! I was a little more excited than I expected to be!

That is all that is new on the adoption front. Not much just waiting!

I was telling my bestie last night on our way home from our monthly bunco party, that I feel like we are in the eye of a tornado. Everything is very calm and quiet, but I feel the wind stirring around me. I feel like we are about to be sucked out of the calm and thrown into the storm. However, I think this is going to be a GOOD storm. Stay tuned for future developments!!!

Big Week!

Last week was a HUGE week for my little family. We had lots of exciting things happen. Most of which I can't share yet! Here's how it all went down. I decided to do my first ever fast. I know lots of important people in the bible (Jesus-helllo?!) practiced fasting, but it always seemed too hard for me to accomplish. I mean its  incredibly ridiculous how much I love to eat.  Anyway, I had made the decision for no specific reason. Well let me tell you God works through fasting! It was seriously amazing the weird "coincidences" that occurred last week. One of the random things that happened was Ryan had also secretly decided to do a form of fasting. I  decided to tell him I was fasting because I started praying about whether or not we should sell our house. I have been struggling with our house situation for as long as I can remember living here. I'm not going to go into details, but I had basically detached myself from this house. Well as it turns out yesterday Ryan and I started talking randomly about the house. We both decided that it was best if we stay put. We have room to grow and room to host. I can't begin to tell you how great it felt to have a final decision. I didn't even realize until way later in the day that -duh!- God had answered my prayer! I was in shock because I couldn't believe I didn't realize when we were having the conversation about the house that it was the answer to my prayers!! That is just one of the many, many cool things that happened this week. I would like to leave you with this... If you have a big decision and can't seem to find peace about it, give fasting a try. I didn't get every single answer I was looking for, but I got a lot things I did not expect.The way I felt during the week was weird, it was like I was full in the Lord. I mean I was really hungry, but not empty. I don't know how to explain it. It was a neat time and I don't think I have ever felt closer to God.

The bible is pretty clear we are to fast. In Matthew it says when you fast, not if you decide to fast.

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. -Matthew 6:16-18

1.19

As I briefly mentioned in the last post my birthday was on the 19th. I love my birthday. Mainly because I love the attention if I am just being honest. I thought I would share some pictures from my birthday week (or two)...

Deliciousness from Kristen

My actual birthday.

We had dinner with my parents at TX roadhouse. Weird not having my brothers here!

Birthday weekend at Hot Hearts.

Came home to find our Home Study Report in the mail!!

Celebrating Ryan's mom's and my birthday with Ryan's side at Olive Garden.

Yummmm!!!

My 25th birthday celebrations have finally come to a close
with a lunch date at Casa Ole with my parents and aunt.

All in all- low key, but a great birthday.

It's not all sunshine and butterflies....

I have been wanting to blog this for awhile now, but for some reason I just never have actually sat down and wrote it. It could be because it is still very fresh and the perfect ending hasn't quite appeared yet. Nevertheless, here goes...

Ryan and I had started this adoption journey almost a year ago. Around February we both felt totally called to adoption and from Ethiopia. I had told  a few people and they seemed pretty excited, or at least okay with the idea. We quickly realized that we would not be able to adopt until we are closer to 25, so we said well lets just try and have a baby the old fashion way. So I went back to those few people and told them our new plan.  Their reactions were typical. Excited, but not overly in your face excited. Well fast forward to July and we find out we are able to start the adoption process now. I have never been more excited or sure of something in my life. I was jumping up and down dancing around my room like a crazy person. So we started the applications. After we got approved we were so excited we wanted to tell our families and friends.

Dunnn dunnn dunnn....

Rose colored glasses turned completely clear, the sunshine had turned to night, and the the butterflies had died. People were NOT very excited about this little announcement.  Suddenly all the excitement of our adoption had been crushed and it hadn't even been a month yet. Now to be fair, we had a FEW people who were on board and excited with us. (They reactions are more precious to us than anything else- Thank you if you're reading this...) This was a really hard pill to swallow. I suddenly realized that I was no longer making people proud. Instead we were doing something that was going to hurt them and apparently us.  This was going to be hard.

Most people acted like it wasn't happening and avoided the subject. This hurt. Imagine telling someone you got into college and they all said well okay, and then never brought it up again? Or imagine telling them you are getting married and they don't want to know any of the details...no date, no color scheme, no flowers, no bridesmaids, nothing. Then imagine telling them you are pregnant with the first baby. This one is the worst for me. I suddenly realized I could NOT compare this adoption announcement to a pregnancy announcement. Even.though.it.felt.like.the.same.thing.to.me. It was hard. 

Now there were a few people that eventually told us how they felt. This was welcomed after the harsh opposite of ignoring the situation. As happy as we were that they were at least talking about the adoption (even negatively) the comments still hurt. They still sting. Some are still fresh and haven't been healed.  Some of the worst thing I have ever been told happened during this time. It was hard.

I am so grateful for my husband during this time. I truly had to rely on him in a way I never had before. It was literally me and him against the world for the first time our life. My faith was tested and my feelings toward our adoption was tested. Thank God, Ryan was on board with this. I was the one who was backing away, I was the one second guessing everything, I was the one who couldn't handle the criticism, I was the one who wanted out. I couldn't handle being the black sheep.  I couldn't do this. However, I wasn't alone. I had God and I had Ryan on my side. When we would leave after having rough conversations I would just cling to my faith. If God didn't want us to do this, He would close the doors. Literally I lived and breathed that. He would close the doors. If this wasn't in His plan it wouldn't happen. I still cling to that when I start to get overwhelmed with all the uncertainty. Without God and without Ryan I could not be adopting. It is hard.

I write all of this for anyone considering adoption. When I was reading blogs I never saw anything like this. I only saw excited grandparents and happy friends and families. While things are getting sooooo much better, it is still hard and there are still wounds. However, I know it is worth it. Even if the adoption were to stop now, it would have been worth it. We have shared Christ and seen Christ so much that it is worth every wound. Following Christ is hard.

Confessions of a paper pregnant momma:

Confessions of a paper pregnant momma:

I stare at every single black boy I see. I can’t help it, all I think is that is what my son will look like. 

I also can not pull my eyes away from a family of mixed races. Are they adopted? Where are they from? Where do they live? Where do they go to church? Do they have a blog?

I have no idea how to properly start a conversation with mixed families.

I am offended by people using ignorant comments about other races, but I haven’t hit the intolerable stage. 
I feel it won’t be long…

I am surprised at how relatively fast the paper chase has gone.  It isn’t actually being completed in the time frame I thought, BUT I have just been so busy with life that it hasn’t been killing me waiting for our DTE.

I try not to tell people HOW long the wait is going to be for our referral. It just seems so long. I feel like people will write the process off if they know that it might not be for another year before I even see my baby’s face.

The journey so far has not been all butterflies and rainbows. I guess that is what makes the rainbows extra special when we have them. 

I LOVE when someone asks about our adoption. Seriously, love it. :)

God has been brought to attention so many times because of our adoption.  I have read on lots of blogs that you really get to experience God in a new way through adoption, and I know that is so true.

Dream On...

Last night I had a dream about my baby. And orphans.

 It was a really special dream because I actually saw his face. I have had a dream before of me holding a baby, but this was a different baby. This baby's name was Everett (Real Ethiopian right? lol), and he was very young and very sick. I don't actually remember if I was looking at his picture or if he was actually with me, but nonetheless I saw his face.
I am very grateful for that part of the dream.

The rest of the dream was really sad. I was at an orphanage with lots of older boys and I was like "studying" their personalities. I guess I was trying to see which one I was going to adopt. Strange. At one point we went into a room and all the beds were built in cages. It was really sad. I woke up with just a heavy heart because all the boys wanted a family so badly.

I really felt like I had been at an orphanage first hand. All day I have had a longing to be back there. I want to love on those boys and they weren't even real!! I don't know how I will handle actually seeing children in an orphanage.

So that was my dream. Funny how hard dreams can pull on your heart.

Baby Names

*pic from here

Yahh! It is a post like this that makes me sooo excited!  I have been thinking and talking baby names since I was a little girl! I have gone through TONS of baby names that I just knew my baby would have. Let's take a trip down memory lane....

Girls
Summer
Sailor
Savannah
Samantha and Emily (only use either of those names IF they were twins)
Stacey
Valerie
Austin

Boys
Matthew
Tyson
Cannon
Van (I was obsessed with Reba!, Ryan prayed this one wouldn't stick!)

Now for some reason or another, none of those names are currently made the cut for our sweet baby boy.  We have decided on our baby's name, but I feel like if I announce it via blog it will become monogram official. I am not quite ready for that permanent commitment just yet. I honestly don't forsee us changing his name though so...here is a hint....it is a biblical name....and it starts with an I.

Since Ryan and I are pretty sure this is our baby's name, I have been obsessing with sibling names! We have a whole list of new names for our future babies that I am not quite ready to share. But, since our baby's name is new to the mix, I am having to rethink about what names go good with his name! It is fun and exciting and I found the perfect sister name. However, I am pretty sure Ryan has already crossed off this name a time or two though...Maybe it will grow on him! It goes really good with baby I's name!

Man how about a post full of suspense! Haha. If you really want to know our baby's probably name then just message me! It isn't really a secret to my friends!

 I plan to do a post soon explaining the "paper chase"! Stay tuned....

Our story...

I have been waiting a really long time to write a post like this and now I am soooo excited to be able to!

Part 1:
Ryan and I have decided to adopt a baby from Ethiopia. We have both been on the same page and officially wanting to start our family this way since February. However, about that time was when I was informed that we could not even start the paperwork for our baby until one of us is almost 25. So I was really bummed and upset. I actually prayed for God to take away my desire to adopt a baby. Life continued and (TMI) we decided to give God full control and see if we got pregnant before we were 25. I got a little caught up in that and passed the time with obviously no baby. I remember even telling my friend that I don't even want to adopt right now. That was like the magic phrase because I instantly realized that God had been at work. He literally answered my prayer by letting me be occupied with trying to get pregnant. Well the summer came and I just was floating along. Then one morning about a week before I went to Venezuela I woke up with a mission. I wanted to know why I thought I had to wait until two months before I was 25 to start the adoption process. I looked through all of my adoption emails and they all said to wait until I was six months from 25. Enter me spazzing out realizing that we are in the six months window and we could possibly start the process. It was an exciting day.

Part 2:
I called Ryan and we starting re-evaluating agencies we wanted to use. Originally I wanted to use Gladney, however I realized that they were not a strong faith based agency. This process already has God all over it, so I wanted an agency that would focus on God at the center of our adoption.  We did some more research and talked to some references and decided on America World Adoption Agency. This agency seemed so God focused it was just perfect! An added bonus and big plus is that we actually know a couple using this agency!! We filled out the pre-application and requested an information packet. Then we left for Venezuela. During our trip I know God was affirming this choice in our life. I had four different adoption comments made towards me that really just sealed the deal for me! We came home and found out we were allowed to apply! On Thursday night around 6 we sent in our application and fee. (I point out that we had to pay for the sole reason of showing that this is a committed decision. My engineer-minded husband would not have paid if we weren't serious about this!)  The website said they would contact us within 10 business days. I was excited, but a little nervous and scared. This was real!! Honestly, I was probably more scared than excited. That allllll changed the very next day, Friday. I was about to get ready for school and I got an email. That email said that it was rare they never have follow up questions, but our application looked great and she was sending it to the officially people! She said that we should be getting some exciting news early the next week. I went bananas. I am sure this is possibly what it feels like when a women gets two pink lines.

Part 3:
We decided it was safe to say that we would be officially starting the process and we started telling our family and very closest friends. God definitely answered some of my huge prayer requests. Overall, it was a really exciting weekend. We got some unsure emotions, but that was to be expected. We know that any doubts and fears will be erased the minute we see our sweet baby!

Part 4:
This week started and I was super busy at work. Another blessing from God. We didn't hear anything until Wednesday! I was starting to worry and then I got a phone call right before they were closing their offices for the day. We were sent an email with about ten documents attached that we have to fill out and mail in. Once AWAA receives those documents we will be assigned a Family Coordinator and a Social Worker.

So that is where we are right now.  It is just the beginning of our adoption journey!!!
I will answer some common questions in another blog post soon! I think this one is long enough :)

Baby Thompson!!!

Just your normal game of fishbowl....

Blast from the Past.

Recent blog reading gave me some inspiration for some new projects. One project requires some old family photos. Enjoy...

Classic First Day of School -Kindergarten.

I am still terrible at taking pictures oustide. 

My Pretty Mawmaw.  

I just really like this one.  

I think my mom looks really happy.

Super cute.  

Dramatic runs in the family.

I think I look alot like my mom in this picture.

Loved presents, love presents now :)

Traditonal Cousin Swing Picture. (I look like a boy!)

Perfect.

Love it.