A super talented friend of ours, Hannah, did some pictures for us! Check out her photography Facebook page here! Enjoy!
Friday, March 28, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
We're adopting!!
Yes, yes, it's true!!
We are in the process of a domestic newborn adoption! We are excited to share this news with you all and hope you will check back often for updates of our progress.
We have always been open to adoption, but after receiving confirmation from several specialists regarding our difficulties to conceive, we feel like the path to adoption was made even clearer to us. Although the path of infertility is not one that is wished on anyone, we feel very blessed to have had doctors and their staff who were, well, simply amazing. We've never met such compassionate, supportive, and honest medical staff. That being said, we feel very much at peace with our decision to adopt and especially grateful for the love and support we've felt from friends and family alike thus far. We know our child will be welcomed with more love and support than imaginable.
What the last few months have been like
To say adoption is a journey, is an understatement. For us, however, it's honestly been super fun and pretty smooth-sailing thus far. We were accepted by our agency on November 4th. Since that time, we've been writing personal biographies (a total of 42 pages!) collecting reference letters from friends and family (thanks again, ya'll!), getting fingerprints, background checks, and 911 call screens run by the State and Federal governments, gathering up prior year tax returns and financial information, creating a profile book, writing a birth mother letter (hardest thing yet!), completing interviews with our agency, getting blood work and necessary medical physicals, completing over 6 hours of adoption education credits and exams, researching everything from adoption fundraisers & grants to baby cribs and strollers, cleaning and organizing our house for a home inspection by our agency, and did I mention gathering up PAPERWORK necessary for the agency?! :) The paperwork seemed endless.
Where we stand now
The adoption process is full of checklists and mile-markers. It seems that each item "checked" off the list is a huge accomplishment. So, we have completed our application process, contracts, and our home study. (whew!)
And...what's next!
We wait to be "matched" with a birth mom! Our "profile" book has been completed and can be shown to expectant birth mothers who could potentially choose us to be her child's parents! This is normally the longest part of the adoption process, and we've been told we will learn more patience in this part of the experience than most people learn in lifetime. An average time frame to be "matched" with a birth mom is 6 months--2 years. Obviously, some happen much quicker than that, depending on how the birth mother's and our preferences match up.
In the meantime...
We are baby shopping, completing grant applications, and preparing in every way possible to welcome a newborn into our lives!
Again, thank you for your support! Please check back often for updates, as we plan to keep this blog updated with information regarding our adoption journey! For answers to FAQ, see the side bar of our blog.
We are in the process of a domestic newborn adoption! We are excited to share this news with you all and hope you will check back often for updates of our progress.
We have always been open to adoption, but after receiving confirmation from several specialists regarding our difficulties to conceive, we feel like the path to adoption was made even clearer to us. Although the path of infertility is not one that is wished on anyone, we feel very blessed to have had doctors and their staff who were, well, simply amazing. We've never met such compassionate, supportive, and honest medical staff. That being said, we feel very much at peace with our decision to adopt and especially grateful for the love and support we've felt from friends and family alike thus far. We know our child will be welcomed with more love and support than imaginable.
What the last few months have been like
To say adoption is a journey, is an understatement. For us, however, it's honestly been super fun and pretty smooth-sailing thus far. We were accepted by our agency on November 4th. Since that time, we've been writing personal biographies (a total of 42 pages!) collecting reference letters from friends and family (thanks again, ya'll!), getting fingerprints, background checks, and 911 call screens run by the State and Federal governments, gathering up prior year tax returns and financial information, creating a profile book, writing a birth mother letter (hardest thing yet!), completing interviews with our agency, getting blood work and necessary medical physicals, completing over 6 hours of adoption education credits and exams, researching everything from adoption fundraisers & grants to baby cribs and strollers, cleaning and organizing our house for a home inspection by our agency, and did I mention gathering up PAPERWORK necessary for the agency?! :) The paperwork seemed endless.
Where we stand now
The adoption process is full of checklists and mile-markers. It seems that each item "checked" off the list is a huge accomplishment. So, we have completed our application process, contracts, and our home study. (whew!)
And...what's next!
We wait to be "matched" with a birth mom! Our "profile" book has been completed and can be shown to expectant birth mothers who could potentially choose us to be her child's parents! This is normally the longest part of the adoption process, and we've been told we will learn more patience in this part of the experience than most people learn in lifetime. An average time frame to be "matched" with a birth mom is 6 months--2 years. Obviously, some happen much quicker than that, depending on how the birth mother's and our preferences match up.
In the meantime...
We are baby shopping, completing grant applications, and preparing in every way possible to welcome a newborn into our lives!
Again, thank you for your support! Please check back often for updates, as we plan to keep this blog updated with information regarding our adoption journey! For answers to FAQ, see the side bar of our blog.
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