I can't write much...
But we finally have a court date....
Nov 3, 2009 at 2pm!
Exactly a week from RIGHT NOW...
Wow, I feel a lot better!!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
adoption is...waiting...
Here we are...Another day come and gone...Another day closer to bringing our son home.
Our visits with him are so bittersweet. I look forward to them but I also get very sad when I think of them. I know they are just visits...and after an hour (or two if we are lucky...well...we usually are there for 2 hours...who am I kidding?) We have to put him down and walk out the door. We take the band-aid approach...We usually do it very quickly...a quick snuggle and kiss on the forehead and out the door we go. I also like to leave when he is asleep. I like to think that he always fights sleep because he has noticed this pattern of us showing up...him falling asleep...us leaving and him waking up with out us. But I'm pretty sure he just likes to fight sleep because he can. As I was saying...leaving him is getting harder and harder to do.
But soon...very soon...we will leave the house as a family. We will no longer be empty handed...we will be...full handed? Oh what a day...I can hardly wait.
We did hear from the lawyer today...but still nothing concrete. Ugh. Don't the court people know that our baby boy needs to come home soon so I can slather him with mommy kisses?! We found out that the lawyer requested tomorrow, Wed, or Thus as the best days...So really...we should know something tomorrow...right? Right.
Here is a strange thing...The two year anniversary of our house fire is on Thursday...October 29th...As much as I would love to pick Hadrian up Wed or even tomorrow...a part of me wants our court day to be on Thu. I feel like the Lord is wiping that date clean and giving us a huge blessing. We will no longer look at the 29th as a day of mourning but as a day of celebration!
Our visits with him are so bittersweet. I look forward to them but I also get very sad when I think of them. I know they are just visits...and after an hour (or two if we are lucky...well...we usually are there for 2 hours...who am I kidding?) We have to put him down and walk out the door. We take the band-aid approach...We usually do it very quickly...a quick snuggle and kiss on the forehead and out the door we go. I also like to leave when he is asleep. I like to think that he always fights sleep because he has noticed this pattern of us showing up...him falling asleep...us leaving and him waking up with out us. But I'm pretty sure he just likes to fight sleep because he can. As I was saying...leaving him is getting harder and harder to do.
But soon...very soon...we will leave the house as a family. We will no longer be empty handed...we will be...full handed? Oh what a day...I can hardly wait.
We did hear from the lawyer today...but still nothing concrete. Ugh. Don't the court people know that our baby boy needs to come home soon so I can slather him with mommy kisses?! We found out that the lawyer requested tomorrow, Wed, or Thus as the best days...So really...we should know something tomorrow...right? Right.
Here is a strange thing...The two year anniversary of our house fire is on Thursday...October 29th...As much as I would love to pick Hadrian up Wed or even tomorrow...a part of me wants our court day to be on Thu. I feel like the Lord is wiping that date clean and giving us a huge blessing. We will no longer look at the 29th as a day of mourning but as a day of celebration!
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
I am finding my peace in this verse...I know that this is all in God's time...I know that...Sometimes I forget...but I know waiting is renewing my strength. It is not draining me...no...it is giving me strength to continue on this bumpy road to our son...
Pretty soon we'll be able to post pictures of Hadrian...here is a teaser...I took this picture today with my phone, so it is the most recent pic of him that I have....
:) beautiful :)
I apologize if this post feels disjointed...my mind is moving quicker than my fingers....
Isaiah 40:31
I am finding my peace in this verse...I know that this is all in God's time...I know that...Sometimes I forget...but I know waiting is renewing my strength. It is not draining me...no...it is giving me strength to continue on this bumpy road to our son...
Pretty soon we'll be able to post pictures of Hadrian...here is a teaser...I took this picture today with my phone, so it is the most recent pic of him that I have....
:) beautiful :)
I apologize if this post feels disjointed...my mind is moving quicker than my fingers....
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Bumps in theRoad
Ah. This journey has been anything but smooth. It seems at every turn we've faced one hurdle or another. I was looking forward to being done...but it looks like we have another bump...we are dealing with it like anything else. Basically it comes down to a misunderstanding. We definitely thought that our home study cost was coming out of the trust fund that we had through the lawyer. We were unfortunately wrong.
So here we are...$1200.00 short. I had one really bad day full of tears but I have since moved past that. Thankfully I have a great support system in my loving Hubby. We sat and prayed and we know that this is what the Lord has called us to do. To be the lucky parents of this adorable little boy.
We were really at a loss of what to do so we called the lawyer and the home study agency. The lawyer was basically no help. But the home study agency said that we could set up payments. So we are taking that route at this point.
Justin talked to our Pastor about the money and we were hoping to put a t shirt flier in the update at church. Our Pastor said instead of a flier he wanted to do a love offering for us. Yay. So we are waiting until after receiving that to proceed with setting up payments. We are so thankful for our church family. We'd be lost with out them. Seriously.
So if you would have asked me last Thursday...this would have been a road block. Basically halting our entire progress. Making it unable to continue...but today...I know it is not a road block...but simply a bump. A bump in this long adventure to bring our son home. It sucks...but it is what we have to do. So we will do it.
Justin just got off the phone with the home study agency! So here is the most up-to-date information available! Ok. The lawyer sent the agency $600 from our trust. So the agency is able to release our *ALMOST* finished home study. Justin's employer reference finally came through so they are finishing our home study right now as I type this. They are sending it to the lawyer today! Once the lawyer has it he can file with the courts! Praise the Lord! We are still $1200 short but at least we can move forward.
I called on your name, O Lord,from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” -Lamentations 3:55-57
So here we are...$1200.00 short. I had one really bad day full of tears but I have since moved past that. Thankfully I have a great support system in my loving Hubby. We sat and prayed and we know that this is what the Lord has called us to do. To be the lucky parents of this adorable little boy.
We were really at a loss of what to do so we called the lawyer and the home study agency. The lawyer was basically no help. But the home study agency said that we could set up payments. So we are taking that route at this point.
Justin talked to our Pastor about the money and we were hoping to put a t shirt flier in the update at church. Our Pastor said instead of a flier he wanted to do a love offering for us. Yay. So we are waiting until after receiving that to proceed with setting up payments. We are so thankful for our church family. We'd be lost with out them. Seriously.
So if you would have asked me last Thursday...this would have been a road block. Basically halting our entire progress. Making it unable to continue...but today...I know it is not a road block...but simply a bump. A bump in this long adventure to bring our son home. It sucks...but it is what we have to do. So we will do it.
Justin just got off the phone with the home study agency! So here is the most up-to-date information available! Ok. The lawyer sent the agency $600 from our trust. So the agency is able to release our *ALMOST* finished home study. Justin's employer reference finally came through so they are finishing our home study right now as I type this. They are sending it to the lawyer today! Once the lawyer has it he can file with the courts! Praise the Lord! We are still $1200 short but at least we can move forward.
I called on your name, O Lord,from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” -Lamentations 3:55-57
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Home Stretch!!
We are almost done with this crazy roller coaster ride! I'm so pumped. The Lord has seriously provided us with so many blessings along this journey. We have two major updates to announce...
The first is that my birth certificate finally came and Justin's employer reference has been finished. So we now have everything collected so that our home study can be finalized. It is seriously thisclose to being finished. Hopefully Justin will be hand delivering it to Caring for Kids on Monday or Tuesday! What a relief. This morning I was double checking everything in our folder and couldn't find Alex's physical so I of course was freaking out thinking that we would have to re-do his physical because Justin was sure he had put it on the entertainment center. We searched high and low...and finally gave up. I resigned to the thought of waiting for another dr appointment and just dealing with it...but good news...Justin found it. It was never on the entertainment center. It never made it to the living room. He left it on the dishwasher in the kitchen. Ha. I'm so thankful that he was able to find it...
And our second announcement is....We have raised $4715!! This is an amazing number to me. I'm shocked and overwhelmed and humbled and ecstatic! I actually have 10 people that "ordered" a shirt that haven't paid. If we get those 10 shirts paid for...we would be within $100 of our goal...But Justin and I will pay the difference whether those 10 shirts get paid for or not...So...yeah!! We are done actively seeking donations and selling shirts...although you can still order a shirt if ya want...or donate for that matter...haha. ALSO...our lawyer said it was ok that we did not have the full $5,000.00 and that as long as we get it in as soon as we can. So that is it!
We are able to go to court as soon as our home study is finalized! Hadrian's birthmom is still all for going through with the adoption and Hadrian's birth grandparents are still being amazing. We are actually going to go to court in the county that Justin and I reside in and not the county that birthmom resides in because it will go much quicker. We aren't sure what our relationship with them will be after we get Hadrian, we are open to many things so we might let them tell us what they want and go from there. They are amazing people and I can't imagine them not being a part of his life in some way. We are very grateful to them. Without them we wouldn't have Hadrian :)
In other baby news...I was able to give Hadrian a bath yesterday. He seemed to like it. I was very nervous but I think I did ok for a first timer. Right now I'm doing Hadrian's first load of laundry...I've just been piling all the stuff we've collected but really want to get organized. Soon all the clothes will be laundered and put away nicely in their drawers. It will be nice to know what we have in what sizes...
The first is that my birth certificate finally came and Justin's employer reference has been finished. So we now have everything collected so that our home study can be finalized. It is seriously thisclose to being finished. Hopefully Justin will be hand delivering it to Caring for Kids on Monday or Tuesday! What a relief. This morning I was double checking everything in our folder and couldn't find Alex's physical so I of course was freaking out thinking that we would have to re-do his physical because Justin was sure he had put it on the entertainment center. We searched high and low...and finally gave up. I resigned to the thought of waiting for another dr appointment and just dealing with it...but good news...Justin found it. It was never on the entertainment center. It never made it to the living room. He left it on the dishwasher in the kitchen. Ha. I'm so thankful that he was able to find it...
And our second announcement is....We have raised $4715!! This is an amazing number to me. I'm shocked and overwhelmed and humbled and ecstatic! I actually have 10 people that "ordered" a shirt that haven't paid. If we get those 10 shirts paid for...we would be within $100 of our goal...But Justin and I will pay the difference whether those 10 shirts get paid for or not...So...yeah!! We are done actively seeking donations and selling shirts...although you can still order a shirt if ya want...or donate for that matter...haha. ALSO...our lawyer said it was ok that we did not have the full $5,000.00 and that as long as we get it in as soon as we can. So that is it!
We are able to go to court as soon as our home study is finalized! Hadrian's birthmom is still all for going through with the adoption and Hadrian's birth grandparents are still being amazing. We are actually going to go to court in the county that Justin and I reside in and not the county that birthmom resides in because it will go much quicker. We aren't sure what our relationship with them will be after we get Hadrian, we are open to many things so we might let them tell us what they want and go from there. They are amazing people and I can't imagine them not being a part of his life in some way. We are very grateful to them. Without them we wouldn't have Hadrian :)
In other baby news...I was able to give Hadrian a bath yesterday. He seemed to like it. I was very nervous but I think I did ok for a first timer. Right now I'm doing Hadrian's first load of laundry...I've just been piling all the stuff we've collected but really want to get organized. Soon all the clothes will be laundered and put away nicely in their drawers. It will be nice to know what we have in what sizes...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
One Step at a Time...
Well. Its been over a week since I updated. Please excuse my absence. It may be a cop-out to say this, but really...we've been busy.
We had the Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction on Saturday. It went okay. We went in to that needing $1700 and walked away needing about $800. So that was a great feeling. Being under $1,000...It also felt great to be done with the whole pancake thing. That was the biggest headache with this adoption. I don't think I'll ever, for the rest of my life, even consider doing anything that even resembles it. It was hard. Totally worth it, but so hard.
Well since then we've gotten a few donations and are currently a little over $500 away from our goal! Yay!! We have been so humbled by everyone's generosity and out pouring of love. It has been amazing. So we have a few more things to do to finish up the home study. I need my birth certificate, so we are going to the post office shortly to overnight our request for that. We also need to get Justin's employer reference. We are just waiting on that to come back from them. My dad is getting finger-printed tomorrow....and from there...we. are. done! So even though we didn't meet the goal of bringing Hadrian home before the end of September, I am proud to say we have moved through this very quickly and he will be home soon! Very soon.
We were able to see him on Monday. Justin was able to feed him. *swoon* Is there anything more wonderful than seeing the man you love take care of a baby...We are continuously amazed by Hadrian's brith family. They are such sweet people. We will hopefully get to see him again sometime this weekend. Maybe Sunday, not sure.
Last night we were able to spend a few hours with our good friends Kari, Matt, and their son Zach. They are a great family and have been so supportive of us through everything. They had a house fire a year before we did...and they adopted Zach three years ago...Coincidence? I think not. I fully believe that the Lord blessed us with these friends to help guide us through and to give us someone who we can share things with. Even though I wouldn't want anyone to go through a house fire, I'm not gonna lie...It has been a relief to have others who know what it feels like. Anyway, Kari and Matt have been great and it was wonderful to get to see them for a few hours.
We had the Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction on Saturday. It went okay. We went in to that needing $1700 and walked away needing about $800. So that was a great feeling. Being under $1,000...It also felt great to be done with the whole pancake thing. That was the biggest headache with this adoption. I don't think I'll ever, for the rest of my life, even consider doing anything that even resembles it. It was hard. Totally worth it, but so hard.
Well since then we've gotten a few donations and are currently a little over $500 away from our goal! Yay!! We have been so humbled by everyone's generosity and out pouring of love. It has been amazing. So we have a few more things to do to finish up the home study. I need my birth certificate, so we are going to the post office shortly to overnight our request for that. We also need to get Justin's employer reference. We are just waiting on that to come back from them. My dad is getting finger-printed tomorrow....and from there...we. are. done! So even though we didn't meet the goal of bringing Hadrian home before the end of September, I am proud to say we have moved through this very quickly and he will be home soon! Very soon.
We were able to see him on Monday. Justin was able to feed him. *swoon* Is there anything more wonderful than seeing the man you love take care of a baby...We are continuously amazed by Hadrian's brith family. They are such sweet people. We will hopefully get to see him again sometime this weekend. Maybe Sunday, not sure.
Last night we were able to spend a few hours with our good friends Kari, Matt, and their son Zach. They are a great family and have been so supportive of us through everything. They had a house fire a year before we did...and they adopted Zach three years ago...Coincidence? I think not. I fully believe that the Lord blessed us with these friends to help guide us through and to give us someone who we can share things with. Even though I wouldn't want anyone to go through a house fire, I'm not gonna lie...It has been a relief to have others who know what it feels like. Anyway, Kari and Matt have been great and it was wonderful to get to see them for a few hours.
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