It has begun!

About 5 months ago, Tim and I went out for a date night. Bug was staying with my parents so we actually had some time to relax and talk! Out of the blue, Tim tells me he is ready to start looking into adoption. This was HUGE! I decided half way through my pregnancy with Bug that I never wanted to be pregnant again. Tim didn't want me to go through the sickness again, but at the same time he still wanted another biological child. I told myself that I was not going to bring up adoption to him because I wanted it to be when he was ready. Choosing to not have more children biologically was tough! We were mourning the loss of the children we weren't going to have. A couple days after talking about starting the adoption process I was talking with a dear friend on the phone after a doctor appt. As soon as I told her we were looking to adopt she gasped! She had just received a call from a family friend asking if she knew of any Christian families looking to adopt. Their daughter was 2 months pregnant and was considering adoption. We told her we would pray about it and get back to her. We were amazed at the timing of everything, and felt like God really had a hand in this. After talking and praying, we told our friend we would love to adopt the baby. A month or so later we got a call that the mom was going to work things out with the biological father, and they would keep the baby. After that we slowed down with the adoption process. We had found the agency we wanted to use in the future and had filled out some preliminary paperwork. Fast-forward to 2 weeks ago... my friend calls me up to get the contact info for our agency. Apparently things weren't going well between the birthmother/father and adoption was back in the picture. Talk about a feeling of excitement and panic at the same time!! She is due the 1st week of November which is less than 8 weeks away! We sent along the information and got a call a few days later that she had contacted our agency.  Although she is still not sure if adoption is what she really wants, she is in contact with our agency and know that there is a Christian family who would love to adopt her precious baby. We have sent pictures and other information to her through our friend.

8 weeks does not give us much time to complete all the necessary requirements, so we have moved into overdrive! As of right now we are moving forward as though we are part of a designated adoption. A designated adoption is one where the biological parents have already selected a family they would like to have adopt their child prior to joining up with an agency (typically the birthmother chooses an agency and then is shown a number of potential families she can choose from). The agency is really more of a facilitator and counselor in these situations. If this adoption were to fall through, our profile would be placed in with those of other waiting families. We are trying to not get our hopes up... As a mommy myself, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to consider putting your baby up for adoption!! There is such a bond that forms between a mom and her baby during those 9 months leading up to birth. Even though I was so sick, I couldn't help but smile when Bug would dance in my belly to the music on Dancing with the Stars... I felt like I knew her well before she was born. I would have nothing but complete understanding if this mommy decides she wants to keep her baby, so I have to prepare myself for that possibility while frantically preparing for the possibility that she chooses us to raise and love her baby.   

Where are we today?? This past weekend Tim and I turned in our first round of adoption paperwork to the agency we chose. Since we are adopting through a Christian agency, we had to complete a "Christian Questionnaire", write our testimony, and fill out a couple basic info forms. This was just the initial screening packet the agency uses to determine if we meet their criteria for adoption. If we meet the criteria we will move on to the Pre-Adoption Conference, which is a mutual information sharing and interview between us and the agency. We are hoping to hear back from them by the end of this week, since we are on a tight schedule.  Please pray that God will open and close doors, that we would be able to bring Him glory no matter the outcome, and that we would continually place our hope in Him... because He is the only constant in this situation!!! We will update you as soon as we hear back from the agency and set up our Pre-Adoption Conference!