WOW is it May already.....

I can not believe I have not posted in 5 months!!! The time has just flown by..... We have had our homestudy complete since February and have been on www.adoptionconnection.org since February as well. We have had 2 possible birthmothers but both didnt work out and while we were sad we knew it just wasnt the right situation for us. Both of the birthmothers we found by handing out cards to everyone and everywhere. So far no leads through the agency but we are new to them and realize that there are others that have been waiting far longer than us so we are trying to be patient and are keeping positive thoughts. We also have a myspace set up for our adoption and it has been so fun making new friends that are also adopting and getting to see there family grow though the miracle of adoption. It so nice to be able to chat with others that are going through the wait like us and it really does help alot. Plus it is so fun to see when they do adopt and get to see that it really will happen in time. I have also been busy listing some of my collectibles on ebay to raise some more money for the adoption and so far have made almost $2000.00, not to bad!!! I will continue to list and raise more money and we are also going to have a garage sale too, we a have accumilated alot of stuff in the 10 years we have been together and needed to make room in the spare bedroom for the baby so all the stuff has to go!! We are taking our annual trip to Nashville in about a month for the CMA (country music) festival and are really excited about that!! We went last year and it was sooo fun, this year Allens parents are joining us for the festival so it will be a blast. I will have to post some photos when we get back. Also looking forward to getting some rest and relaxation. Anyone who has gone through or is going through adoption knows how much energy is used for all the paperwork process and how your emotions go on a very twisty and bumpy rollercoaster and it really does poop you out!!! We really are looking forward to going to Tennessee for a vacation. Im sure we will continue to think of when our dreams will come true but the change of scenery will do us good. Well Im off for now, will post again.....

time flys by....

Sorry its been a while since I have posted to our blog. We have finished our classes and have started the homestudy process, infact our last meeting will be next Wednesday. WHOO HOO!!!That went very fast!!! ALOT of time and hard work sure does pay off. I am meeting with a nice lady tommorrow that is going to help with our adoption website and design of our birthmother letter which I have finished this evening, UGH!. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I learned alot about myself in the process and alot about Allen, and visa vera. This whole process we have been going through has brought us so much closer, its hard to explain unless you have been there. I believe things happen for a reason and there is a reason we have decided to adopt, this is our path we have chosen. Well things will be all done paperwork wise by the first of the year and then we will be paper ready and waiting to match with a birthmother. It could take from a year to two from what the agency has told us. I am going to have to keep myself busy and take some more classes in the meantime. It will also give me a chance to get the house in order and get the babies room cleared and decorated. I will post on our progress but for now I am soooo tired emotionally and physically and need to go to bed early for a change. Bye for now...

And the beat goes on..

So we have been rolling right along with our adoption process, we have been assigned to a case worker and will be meeting with her soon, our last adoption class is next Tuesday, and we are meeting with an attorney on Monday to talk about her services. Things are progressing smoothly. We are also taking an infant class in February to brush up on the basics. We have also gotten our infant car seat, and a stroller, and a swing and a playpen. That would be the future Daddy getting all this stuff, we went in for just a car seat and well walked out with most of the store. We are both getting very excited even though we do have a long way to go but its all very exciting for us. We have to get the word out to everyone about our needing to network to find a birthmother and then we also need to still write our Dear Birthmother letter, we are having a hard time with this letter, this is a letter that is for the birthmother to read to see if she likes us. How do you put into words how greatful you are to her for this wonderful baby she is going to have and obviously loves so much and how do you explain in a letter how great we would be as parents for this baby. She is giving this baby up for a better life and is thinking of this baby and not herself, there are no words to descibe how kind and loving she is. I just cant put words to paper to explain how we feel and am really having a tough time with this, I go to the computer and start typing and then draw a blank, and just sit there and cry because I feel how sad this mother is going to be and how hard this is going to be for her and well I cant explain this feeling I get. I keep thinking that the day we take home this little gift from god will be the saddest and happiest day of my life. Okay well I am going to now go and fill out some more paperwork, it never seems to end.

paperwork and more paperwork

So I havent blogged in a while since I have been up to my ears in paperwork. We have gotten our fingerprints done and sent off to the department of justice for FBI clearance (sounds so official), signed numerous contracts and fee agreements, and have answered this lengthy questionaire about ourselves, our childhood, how we were raised, our parents, our marriage, how we will be as parents, how we will raise a child, etc. Really makes you look at yourself and you partner and dig down deep. We have attended our first adoption class, it is a four class series explaining the process of adoption from our side and the birth mothers, we will get to meet and talk with other families that have already gone through the process and have there child, and also with a birth mother who has gone though the process as well. I think it will be nice to meet others who have done this and know how we feel, and get to know a birthmother and how she went through the process and how she feels, I think this is such an amazing thing she has done and how much of a gift she has given someone, I am really excited to be able to meet her, I will need to bring tissues for the next class for sure!!!! There are alot of couples in our class and a nice single woman as well that are going through the same steps as we are. Last night we all got to introduce ourselves and explain how we got to this step in our adoption process and any thing we are scared about or dont undertand. We all have the same fears, that the birthmother will change her mind, we all said this as everyone went around the room. I went first so I was a little nervous but glad I did since everyone said that they had the same fears as Allen and I about the birthmother changing her mind and the baby taken away after we got home. It was great to be in a room where everyone knows just how you feel we all bonded instantly. I am looking forward to next Tuesday. There was a couple who already has a birthmother and she is going to have twins so they are very excited and will find out what the sex of the babies are next week, she is about 19 weeks along and due in April. A Lot of the other couples have already had there homestudy done and are working on there Dear Birthmother letter so it will be nice to be able to ask them questions since we arent quite that far along yet. We did submit our paperwork last night and were told that we would be contacted in about 2 weeks to set up our first homestudy appointment, there are four of these as well and should be able to get them done in a month or two. So we have the ball rolling and will keep the blog updated as we go along.

Allen and Stacy and soon to be baby Davis(keep your fingers crossed)

the paperwork starts....

Okay so we got the package from Adoption Connections to start the homestudy, we have to get our fingerprints done, we are going on monday, and then have had to answer about 30 pretty indetail questions on our childhood, our parents, our relationship and how we are going to be as parents. Pretty interesting to look back to our childhood and to write about things that we remember, and how we feel about eachother, our parents, ect. All this will be sent to AC and we will wait for an appointment with our social worker. We will have 4 meetings with the social worker, one together, one at our house, and then we will each have a one on one, and then the social worker will do a large write up on us and submit this back to AC. Once we are approved, keep your fingers crossed, we will then be that much closer to bringing our baby home. We still have to write a parent profile and gather alot of photos of our life, of course the dogs will be included, and then design a folder that the birth mother will get to see with all of this in it. So we have gotten the ball rolling as they say and we will keep you posted.....

Hope we are parents in 2008!!!!

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

We have made our decision....

Okay drum roll please.........we are going with domestic adoption. We feel this is the right avenue for us, with the business it would be very hard for us to be gone 6-8 weeks away from home if we went with international adoption. We weighed the pros and cons on each and have concluded that domestic adoption is the right choice for us. I am going to call the agency we have chosen in the morning and tell them the good news, we went tonight to a seminar with one of the agencies we have been looking into and it was really interesting and informative and answered alot of the questions that have been eating away at me and makes me feel more comfortable with domestic adoption. So tommorrow our future family begins...I will keep you posted.