More answered prayers

Tonight we met with our adoption worker, Whitney. I think things went well. The one question I really wanted answered was answered the way I wanted :) They will not be re asking any relatives if they are interested in adopting the twins. This means we have no competition!!! 

Every three months the caseworker needs to go in front of a judge and give a report on how their cases are doing. So given this timeline the first part of February they can be "moved" into adoptive care. Then depending on which judge we get we can ask in May to have an adoption date in June. Some judges want the children in adoptive care for six months. Judges do this to make sure the children and parents are a good fit. We are 100% sure they are a good fit for us but we will wait patiently, if needed, for others to realize it too!

Things are going good. They are almost sleeping through the night. Usually one of them will sleep 10 hours and the other will wake up 3 or 4 times. The next night they will flip flop. Naps are better, they will sleep together for 2-3 hours usually two times. I have learned to do lots during these two hours! Baby boy has eight teeth and no signs of more coming. He loves being rough housed with.  Baby girl loves to climb and has discovered screaming is fun. I went back to watching kids last week. So far things are going good with that. Kenny has improved a little with his behavior, he still loves being a big brother. He gave Whitney 2 thumbs up when she asked how he like having them in the house, getting into his stuff. Brandon is being an awesome supportive husband.  He is always in the house to help with bedtime. He even did bath time by himself so I could have a girls night out! 

While we are looking forward to next summer to finalize the adoption we are enjoying every moment with them now.

Day 19

I can't believe we have had these babies for 19 days! They are starting to sleep through the night (YAY). Not every night, but we are getting there. Baby boy (who came w/no teeth) now has 8 teeth! Last night baby girl held her arms out to Brandon while she was in my arms! This made one happy dad! They are adapting so well! Their case worker came last week Monday and said she hadn't seen baby girl smile so much or move so much (she is a wiggler!).  Thanksgiving went really well. They both handled all their new family members as well as can be! Thank you to all of our family for understanding why we rushed to their side at the slightest cry. They are still learning to trust us and that was a big test. Baby girl is more willing to go to other people now even if it is for a few minutes. She seems like a totally different baby.

We still do not have a worker assigned to our case. I am starting to push a little more this week thinking we need to get this ball rolling. New information has come into play assuring us that the 7month foster family will never ever get them back. They can/are still contesting the adoption but the babies are safe from them. There are some others that might suddenly want to contest too. Pray that these people will do what is best for the babies over their own needs. We are not overly concerned but a little prayer goes a long way!

All in all we are doing great. Kenny still loves his new little siblings. He does really well and loves to help out. He is starting to get a little jealous when people come over to the house but that is to be expected. He has had all the attention on him for 8 1/2 years and needs time to adjust as the newness (of the babies)wears off :) I am sure I was a peach when I was 5 and a new sister came along! 

Thank you for your continued prayers as we move along in our journey. I can't wait until next June/July when they are officially ours. Plan on a big party that you are all invited too!

One week!

It has been a week since God handed two babies to us. It has been a long, hard, rewarding week! They don't sleep through the night. Not sure why, I mean if I was ripped from my parents tossed around for 24hrs then landing in a place for a week I am sure I could sleep...NOT! We love these little ones and missing a little sleep to rock and soothe them is the least I can do. It will get better. Each day they smile a little more. Monday Baby girls stated giving me kisses. Today Baby boy started. They are some of the best kissers around :)  We have a great support system, we couldn't do it with out you guys. The meals that where brought have been great. I am going to need to get some recipes. The clothing they have is adorable. They came with nothing and now have everything. Every one has been so supportive. When Brandon and I first talked about adoption we weren't sure how others were going to handle it. We knew we would be ok but how would our family and friends? Let me tell you any concerns we have have gone out the window. These babies are loved by so many. We are so excited to show them off to each everyone. 

This isn't easy, we knew that going into it. Right now both kids have colds and are teething. Add to that not enough sleep (for them and me) and it equals a bucket of fun! But when we get a couple of hours of smiles and laughs suddenly lost sleep is forgotten and being covered in mucus goes unnoticed. Funny how the little things go away.

Now we start the adoption process. They think they have an adoption worker scheduled for us but they aren't sure. That is ok. We have the babies and the rest will fall in place. I do have a prayer request. The previous foster family is going to contest the adoption.When I found out my heart sank. One of our case workers said not to worry. No judge in their right mind will give them back. I have faith in God that he has placed them in our arms forever. I have too. Look at what has happened a week ago. It is almost unheard of to get 2 healthy babies with parental rights already terminated. Our God does those unheard of things! So please pray that we keep our faith as this too will be a trying time.

3:30 emotions

It is 3:30am. I have feed and rocked baby boy back to sleep about a half an hour ago. I have been up since 2 just waiting for someone to cry :) Then  the last half an hour I am laying in bed sobbing.Tears just keep flowing as I count our blessings. These first 24hrs have been amazing. From every poopy diaper to baby girls first smile.  I am just so blessed to have all of you. From my best friend calling  just to check in, to the cousin who calls sobbing with joy for us ( I am still crying from you!) and the cousin who happens to be going to college near Ikea willing to pick up a crib for us. The sisters, who uncluttered the house and held babies so I could vacuum, the cousin willing to give formula and coupons even though she herself is due in a few weeks, the moms who have been shopping, and many others. Thank you, every single one of you we can't do this without you.

Baby Girl has now gotten up and as I am feeding her it hits me (start the tears again). We were so angry we had to get a new well. It was such a roadblock for us. Every stinking step was another hassle with this well. Why did we need a well? High nitrate levels were only a concern to nursing mothers and babies. We weren't getting a baby, no baby + no bottles= no need for a new well. Baby girl is drinking bottle number 11. It has taken me eleven bottles to connect our angry, frustrating road block to God's awesome timing. I am sure this is the first of many "God moments" we will recognize. I know he is always with us just sometimes we aren't looking hard enough to see him.

From 3 to 5!

God is great! At 4:15pm today Brandon, Kenny, and I started a new chapter in life. This is the time that we met our new children. That's right, children! We have, right now, in our house twin 8 month olds!!! We are still in shock that God has given us these amazing children. Honestly it couldn't have come at a worst time but you know the saying...Everything in Gods time not ours. Because we knew about them for 4 hours before we got them we didn't have time to prepare. Once again God has blessed us with an awesome family. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Moms and Dads went shopping for us and our home is now if full baby swing. Bottles, clothes, diapers blankets and much more. THANK YOU to all of you! Thank you to the rest of you for your prayers and support. We are still going to need those prayers. This is a huge, HUGE adjustment. Here are a few pictures of them. Right now we can't give out too much info over the internet.

Amanda

Today we received a child's profile. This means they think we would be a good fit. We have some reading and a lot of praying to do. Pray that we make the correct decision.

Yesterday we inquired about a child. All this means is that we let that child's caseworker know we are interested. If we hear more we will share more :)

Now what...

"It's critically important to consider the adoption journey much like the many miles of a circuitous mountainous marathon. The journey is long. It'll take your breath away. It can be unpredictable or maybe even frustration and fascination all at the same time. Eager as you are to finish, you can run only one mile at a time You've already covered a lot of ground and exerted a significant amount of energy. Don't lose sight of your commendable progress thus far, but don't rest comfortable on your laurels either."

                                                                                                                            David & Renee Sanford

.                                                                                                               Thriving as an Adoptive Family

"You're licensed so now what?" 

Now we wait. Wait and pray. Sounds like fun huh? 

We have met with our recruiter, discussed what we think we are able to handle, and now she looks for us. Once she finds a child that she thinks fits she will send our home study to that child's caseworker. It is that caseworker who has to choose us. Once we are chosen we are given more information on the child. After reading and praying over the given information we have a meeting with our recruiter, the child's caseworker and any other important person to that child (therapist, foster parents, teachers). After that meeting we finally get to meet the child. A number of visits take place then the child moves in with us. They gave us a time frame of 3 months from first meeting [of the child] to when they move in. Once the child has moved in we will start the adoption process (step 3!) We have been told that the adoption will take about nine months. A journey was the correct title for this!

After our meeting, Sara (recruiter lady) asked how are you feeling? I answered scared, excited, and sad. Scared. What are we getting into? They give you worse case scenario for everything. This isn't going to be easy, we are going to need a lot of support (I know we have it!). Excited. I didn't plan this. God did. It is exciting to see God work. We see him in every big and small step accomplished. An example: even though we didn't have enough saved up according to the estimate for the well we went ahead, trusting God would provide. The final bill was the exact dollar amount we had saved! The well was further out than quoted and 30 feet deeper yet it was almost $400 less!

The last emotion I was ashamed to admit. Even though we are willing ourselves to God. I felt that life as we knew it was ending. This quote changed my outlook.
"Now this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." ~Winston Churchill

Keep praying for us, pray for patience for me :) wisdom for our recruiter, and peace for our waiting child.

Amanda

Yay!!!! Wait, what????

Friday we were told our license is open! Praise GOD! We are very happy to be done with step one. Yes you read right, step one!
Next we met with Sara, our recruiter.  Her job is to match kids with families. She goes through kids profiles and families profiles. If she thinks we are a good fit we then read the childs profile and decide yes or no. That is about as much as I know about this step. I hope to learn more after next week. After Sara we meet Whitney, our adoption worker. That would be step three!

The title is exactly what ran though my mind after hearing the news. The excitement lasted for about 10 seconds before all the fear and worry set in. The past three weeks I have heard nothing but horror stories of foster kids being adopted. While I would love to think this is not going to happen to us I tend to be more of a pessimist...
While we are excited, we have lots of worries. Suddenly this is very real. Who will this child be? How will we "pick" them? When you adopt a baby, the birth mother picks you. Or if it is out of county your name is next on the list. You get a phone call saying hey your baby is born or this mother picked you. Are we able to go though pages of notes and see the child for us?
I compare it to picking a puppy (dont get me wrong this is a lot more serious). They are all cute and need someone to cuddle and love them but you can't take them all home.

I am asking for prayers
~ to calm our worries and fears.
~ God will set the right childs profile in front of Sara
~ we will know who the right child is for us
~ pray for our waiting child

WATER!!!!

Yesterday (finally) the well was dug. Six hours and 150 feet down! Tears weren't far from my eyes as I saw the beautiful sight of water spouting 20ft in the air.
Today they are hooking it up to the house. Pray that this goes smoothly, nothing since my last post has! Getting to yesterday was a struggle, digging didn't go as planned, so lets pray we don't find any forgotten wires or other buried treasures!
After today we can't do anything for a week. The inspector has to come back out, test the water and check the well. From then I am not sure what is going on. Our caseworker is now on maternity leave until November, I am praying we make a little progress before then!
I can't help but think, New water = New life. A new life added to our family, a new lifestyle for us, and hopefully renewed life for some child.

                                 Notice all the orange flags...that will give you a hint what one problem was

The were only 130ft @ this point

Driller pulling bit out

After he was done drilling and things were almost packed away Jeff (driller), informed me that he and his wife have done foster care for many years. They take a lot of the medically challenged and severe special needs (downs, austisic, etc.) kids. He has never adopted any of the kids but stays in touch with a lot of them.I pray that "our child" is in a Christian home like Jeffs.

 It is amazing to see God is work in this process. Not all the time can I see him, trust me the last three weeks have been a struggle, but He has opened so many doors for us to talk about him, most of the time to complete strangers.

 He really does work in strange ways!

New Water?

Yesterday I applied for a permit to dig a well. Today, I have the permit.
 The well man said he will be out here the first part of next week. Not sure if that means he can drill it next week or if he is just going to scope things out. Either way it is progress!

Good news with complications

I think we will always be an exception...
  Our case worker called this morning. She has received notice that the state will approve our license. This is great news, but, we have to have the well in before it is official. That's a problem. We have funding for the well only if we have a license. Gotta love the government.
Our caseworker is sending a request for the grant today. Because we have been approved by the state she said the committee should give the money. We will find out in a week
 So, today, I am buying a well permit!

Keep praying that we will get pass these little glitches!
Amanda

A Prayer Answered!

After my last post our caseworker called and told us there was a grant we should apply for called Family Incentives Grant. They give grants to family members that are adopting family out of foster care. It was a long shot but she thought it might be worth a try. We applied for it June 7 and was told we would hear back in a week. Well, it has been a long week but today we were approved! There is a stipulation, we have to be licensed before they give us the money. Our caseworker is finishing our report TODAY! This means that next week (pending her bosses approval) our case will be at the state level!  
This is a huge weight lifted off our shoulders. We are one step closer to adding to our family.
Please keep praying. Pray that things keep progressing and the state moves quickly. Most importantly pray for the child that is waiting for us.
Amanda

A set back

So after completing all the steps that we had to, our water and well needed to be checked out. They both failed. Now I could go on and rant about how stupid I think the government is for even needing to test the well and water (works just fine for us!) or about how rude the inspector was when he came but I have gotten that out of my system, thanks to a few family members.  Right now I am not sure what we are going to do...Our case worker assures us that there is no time frame. Fix it when we can. Our fears are if we wait too long there will be other steps needed to get the license. Right now they (Bethany) are in the process of adding to and changing the rules. Unfortunately they are not making it any easier.
So I am asking for prayers that God will provide to us all that we need.
Amanda

Second home study

Today is the day of our second home study!

Please pray that everything goes well. I am very anxious about tonight. I have no idea what is going to be asked, what Kenny is going to say, or how the dog will behave.
Six o'clock is a long way away right now...it is going to be a long day!

Another step finished

I mailed our paperwork today!
 Twelve pages of writing (6 for each Brandon and I), a fiance page,  two pages of family history (one for each of us) copies of utilities and mortgage info, criminal background checks (we cleared!), doctor statements, vet records and proof of license (for the dog). Phew! 
It only took two weeks. It could have been sooner but there were six questions that I was stumped on. Funny, I thought I would be waiting on Brandon to fill things out but it was me.

Saturday we move to the next step.  PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information,Development,and Education) training. It is an 12 hour class that you have to take. Six hours this week Saturday and six hours next week Saturday.  Giving up two Saturdays is huge commitment to us I will be missing two of Kenny's ball games and a bridal shower, Brandon will be missing out on work and his overtime hours. We are very thankful to our families for  making it possible for us to do.

I am still amazed how fast things have moved. Many times a day I pray that Gods will is being done.  This is not how I planned or pictured our life. I guess my plan was not in the same line as Gods.  Now we are following His plan. Things seem to go smoother when you do that!

Our excitement

Yesterday we talked to Kenny about it so now we can tell the world...we are going to adopt.
I have had this nagging feeling that our family is not complete. For about a year and a half I feel that God has been calling us to do this and try as I might it won't go away.
Some of you know that we tried artificial insemination (AI) a couple of years ago and it did work but I miscarried. That is not something I want to do again. It consumed our life and made us forget about everything else, even the child we had. I really feel God doesn't want us to go down that road again.

Now for the bigger surprise...we are adopting through the foster care system. This means we are not getting a baby. I have a few reasons for this. 1. I really like my sleep! 2. I like to be sure. I know that I am not strong enough to get matched with a birth mom only to have her change her mind at the last minute. I would be devastated. There are children that need a mom and a dad now. They have no one. Can you imagine not having anyone? No aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents is unfathomable to me. It breaks my heart. 3. I don't like to travel more than a 200mile distance. I love my bubble, so traveling across the sea is out of the question.(visiting Mexico was stress enough)  There are orphans everywhere in every country. Staying in my own country suits me just fine.

So we are half way through the first step in adopting through foster care.
The first step is getting a foster care license.
   ~ go to 3hr meeting and learn all about what you are going to do  (Check)
   ~ fill out application and submit it  (Check)
   ~ get and acceptance letter stating you can start the process (Check)
   ~ get fingerprinted  (check)
   ~ have a home study (check)
   ~ fill out a bunch of paper work and turn it in (in the process now)
   ~ 12 hours of PRIDE training (signed up for)
   ~ home study #2
   ~ our caseworker writes a report and submits it to her boss
   ~ boss lady reads and submits it to the state
   ~ state gives license.
Then next step is getting matched with a child (or children)
That is another whole process I will explain that another day.

So far the licensing part is going very fast. We started the whole process April 4 and here we are at the end of April with half of it done. We are trusting God and following where he leads. It still could be years before the actual adoption happens...