Process Update

Tuesday evening was our informational meeting, where you sit in a room with about 15 other couples who looked scared out of their gourds, lol. The agency tells you basic information about their organization, the process for domestic and international adoption, and gives you the chance to ask questions. It was a great time for Derek and I to chat on the 2 hour trip up to Indy and we were blessed by the meeting.

On the trip home we decided to continue forward with our domestic adoption through Bethany-Indianapolis. We were impressed with their organization through the process and their honesty and values. Their first priority is showing Christ's love to the women who come to them during a possible crisis pregnancy. And then if women make the selfless decision to relinquish their child, Bethany will walk them through the adoption process providing love and counseling all along the way (and after). We only want whats best for these little ones, so if that means the mommy chooses to parent, we want to work with an organization that will help them do just that! Bethany will take care of these special women whatever they choose.

Wednesday morning I called Bethany and told them we would like to move forward with the process and they sent me the formal application. It asks for family information, work info, debt/income, insurance information, references, and some other documentation. All in all it was a brain workout, but I was able to send it off that afternoon, only because I had most of that information already prepared. When I dropped it off at the post office, I tried to hold back the tears and refrained from telling the post office worker not to throw the envelope around. Man, you can get attached to those papers!

We sent them overnight with a confirmation code and they should have received them by Thursday at noon. I checked on them several times (yes, I'm a package stalker) and it looks like they were well on their way. I'll be calling today (Friday) just to make sure they received it.

Tomorrow is our first information meeting. Two of these are required before your home study can be completed and are free for Bethany families (which we will be as soon as they approve our formal app). These meetings are held once a month, usually in Indy, and cover all kinds of topics- transracial adoption (adopting a child that is not the same race as you), special needs adoptions, and other neat things. Ours is about the role of birth families in our adoption and I'm excited to see what we can do to incorporate our little one's birth family into our family. You see, when you adopt a child, you get the blessing of their family as well! Your new family is growing by leaps and bounds and God loves that!

Sometime soon we will find out who our adoption specialist/social worker will be. They will be the one who helps us prepare for and conducts our home study and we are so excited to meet them! Once our formal app gets approved, we'll be ready to move into the home study process. This is the part where we get physicals/drug tests/tb tests, background checks, some legal paperwork, references from friends and our employers, and interviews about our marriage and past. I guess you could say this is the part of the "pregnancy" where the doctor pokes and prods around, but instead of it being my body, they're poking around our house and personal lives. Is it uncomfortable? Sure, but if every set of parents had to do this, wouldn't the world be a different place :o)

While we're waiting, we're spending our time researching and would love for you to join us! Check out these websites while we wait:

www.Bethany.org (our agency)
www.showhope.org (Steven Curtis Chapman's orphan care website- he also used Bethany for his adoption!)
www.adoption.com (covers all kinds of adoptions/foster care/crisis pregnancy issues)

These are just a few sites that I feel like I've memorized :o) But please know, if you have any questions, we'd love to try and answer them for you!

My Morning

This is what I've been doing all morning.....

And this is what the kitties have been doing all morning.....

And I wouldn't have it any other way :o)

Wish Us Luck!

Shoulda' Known

These past few days have been pretty rough for me (not to mention Derek who had to put up with me!).  It came out of no where last week when I started having serious doubts about if I was ready to adopt. It was weird, the feelings just grew and grew until they stole away my excitement. It didn't get any better when I researched how long our wait time could be. These "bad days" culminated on Mother's Day. It was a rough one. I missed my kiddos and felt like I'd never be blessed as a mom. I spent the day sobbing on the couch and texting my closest friend for support. Did I mention I was pretty hormonal?!? Sheesh...

Monday morning, I get a call from a friend who tells me she doesn't need me anymore for a side job that was going to be a big chunk of our adoption fund. When I ask why, she can't give a reason. And then as I get in my car to head to my favorite babysitting job, the car won't start....at all...nothing...

So as I'm waiting for Super Derek to come pick me up (I'm stranded in front of the recycling bins at the recycling center) I call my friend a.g.a.i.n. and she gave me the best wisdom, probably without even knowing it. Our conversation went like this:

Crissy: Hey friend! (I don't really call her friend, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent) Guess what. My car is dead.

Friend: Do you need a ride? (She's that sweet!)

Crissy: No, Derek is coming to pick me up. Thanks though!

Friend: Man, he is really attacking you.

Crissy: Huh? Who is attacking me?

Friend: Satan is.



DING! DING! DING!

Holy nibblets! I had been so naive. You see, adoption is incredible, it's marvelous, it's stupendous, and it glorifies God. And as supportive as everyone has been, there is one hiding in the background who is ticked. He's furious with Derek and I that we've chosen to follow God's calling on our life and his favorite weapon is to play with your head.

He has been putting doubt in my heart and fear in my head that grew and grew. He's been putting things in my path that destroy my attitude. And as soon as my friend said he was involved, it all made sense. Man, he had a field day with me the past week. I bet he thought he won, but he was so wrong. You see, I know his game.

When you're being attacked by Satan, pat yourself on the back. You're moving in the right direction :o)

Nursery Sneak Peak

Already Loved

It's still mind-blowing to me that we're on this journey, that God would call us on this special path. And at this point, it's still a secret to the outside world (I giggle every time I think about when some of our other friends and family will finally get to read this. Surprise!). But what I think is even sweeter is knowing how much this little one is already loved.

We actually received our first ever baby card and it's the most precious thing ever! I'm hoping to laminate them and put them on a metal ring so Baby can see how loved they were before they were even conceived. But what is even sweeter are the words on the inside- "they are going to be blessed and welcomed by all in this loving family". Knowing that our little one is being prayed for and anticipated by our family is overwhelming!

Please know that we are on a roller coaster of emotions. Some days are blissful with the anticipation of what's to come and other days are sad with memories of lost little ones. Some days have moments of confusion and anger as we lose sight of God's plan for us and others are overwhelming with the fear of this process. But please know that every time you pray for us, you strengthen us and ease our fears! Every time you ask how we're doing, you're helping us work through the emotional side of this process. And please know that we understand that we're not the only ones in this great adventure and are here to answer your questions and concerns!

It takes a village to raise a child and you are in our "village" for a reason. There is something special about you that God chose you to be in our corner.  Derek and I already know how incredible you are and we can't wait for our little one to see why.

5 Days To Go

Derek isn't saying anything so I have to keep writing in this blog..............(we're siting together at the dinner table trying to figure out what to blog about. He's distracted with Iron Man 2)

Derek's feelings on the upcoming meeting- "Excited to hear about new information that maybe we haven't heard. It's going to be great to actually do something about the adoption instead of sitting around and thinking about it. "

Crissy's feelings- " Excited to meet other families who are just as unprepared for this journey as we are and hopefully be encouraged that this is the right direction for us. I feel like this is our real start for this adventure and we're going to hit the ground running."

Well, off to finish the movie :o)