Thanksgiving

We traveled to Kentucky this year for Thanksgiving with Kevin's family.  We ate too much food, went Black Friday shopping, visited with the adults in Kevin's family, and entertained our three nephews!  We had such a great time with everyone together from Kevin's side.

The whole time we were visiting with Kevin's family, we were both reminded that this is our last Thanksgiving with just the two of us!  Our baby is due in the middle of January, but could really come at any time!  We could have our precious little one before Christmas even.  How quickly this adoption has progressed!  While we still don't know the gender of our baby, we are praying for this little one every day!

Just over six weeks ago, we were making plans for vacation and proceeding with life...now we are preparing a nursery and praying for a baby that will be entering our hearts and lives before we know it!  We have found some amazing garage sale deals, and we are so excited to be arranging the baby items all over the house!  Stitch (blue stuffed animal) is keeping the high chair company until our baby is big enough to use it!  We're getting the nursery set up with the jumper, swing, and pack and play.  Before we know it, we'll have a little one to nurture and love.

Fundraising and Finances

      When we started looking into adoption almost a year ago, we were initially looking towards international adoption.  This is still something we'd like to consider in the future, but at this point in life it is a very long process (i.e. 1-3 years) and very costly ($18-$30,000).  That is part of why this domestic adoption has us so excited.  It will be much faster and much more reasonable. 
      As a couple we went through Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University" and have made great strides in re-organizing our finances.  In doing this we've set aside a nice nest egg for the adoption and are trusting God's provision for the "gap" that may occur. 
      Right now we are looking into fundraising options, but we are coming up a little short.  Several of the good ideas we have thought of are being used by groups in our church to raise money for their projects.  If you have any ideas, skills, or items you would care to donate, or if you would simply like to make a financial gift it would be a huge blessing to us.
       We have the support of our church; they have agreed to send any money they receive for adoptions to bless our efforts.  So if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, checks can be sent to:
Harpeth Community Church 1101 Gardener Dr. Franklin, TN 37064.  Don't mention our names specifically on the check, just put "adoption" in the memo line.
      More than anything through this process we would love your prayers and support.  It's been a fast and crazy road so far and won't slow down anytime soon.  We're realizing that our baby is due in 7 weeks!  We are preparing the baby's room and anxiously awaiting the doctor's appointment where we will find out the baby's gender!  We feel such a huge covering of prayers and love from all of our friends and family.  Thanks for being a part of our lives during this amazing time!

We're Adopting!!

October 17 - the day that our lives changed forever...

Sunday morning - started like any other day.  I was playing keyboards at church.  Kevin came to 2nd service.  At the end of the service, we heard about a baby that needed a home.  Immediately, we made eye contact and knew that baby would find a home with us. 

Long story short, a woman about an hour from Nashville went to a friend to get some help for her baby.  She decided that she wanted to give the baby up for adoption. 

We are going through a private adoption - the birthmother chose adoption, and through a mutual friend, we were put into contact with our birthmother. 

In the last month, we have gone through the Home Study process to make sure our home would be fit for this baby.  We just finished the last part in the Home Study yesterday with the home visit.  Julie, our case worker, has been wonderful to work with - she has guided us through all the paperwork and encouraged us along the way.

We spent three weeks knowing that we were adopting, but we did not have any information about the birthmother.  While we felt an amazing peace about the situation, we were so anxious to find out more - when is she due, what is our birthmother like, is the baby a boy or girl.  While we still don't have all the information, we were blessed this week with information!

Our baby is due January 11 - so soon!  We still don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl, but we at least have a due date now.  We know the birthmother's name, and a little more information about her situation.  We haven't met this woman yet, but I have such a love for her for the decision she is making.

We're in the process of setting up a meeting with the lawyer and our birthmother to create a formal birth plan for the adoption.  With this in place, the adoption will seem a little more settled.  We understand that so much of the adoption process is "in the air" until the baby comes home with us, but God has given us peace throughout this entire process so far.  We know that He has our best interests in mind, and that He is taking care of a precious little one that will soon become a part of our family.

We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.  Pray for us as we prepare to become parents.  Pray for the baby to continue to develop and grow in the womb.  Pray for our birthmother that she stays healthy.  Pray for our finances - that God will continue to provide the money that is needed to complete this adoption process.  Most of all, pray for God's Will in this situation, and that we can accept His will - no matter what He has planned.

We are so excited to be able to share this process.  We will be faithfully updating the blog with our thoughts, updates, and more news as we get it!  As soon as the baby is in our home, we'll be update with pictures and stories, so that you can all share in our adoption journey!

Some day soon, we'll have to re-title our blog... no longer "You, Me, and the Pups" ...