It's almost time

Can you believe just 4 weeks from tomorrow until our little man Jake gets here? Sara is scheduled for a c-section on October 22. It seems like just yesterday that we were waiting to be matched and meeting Sara. We first met Sara in May but it seems like we have know her forever in some ways and like we just met in others.

We have the nursery ready, the bottles are washed, the diapers are purchased! We are getting ready! I have my first shower scheduled for this Sunday! I am so excited! Our good friends Jim and Stacey (they belong to our little friend Chloe) are having the shower for me and Jeff. Actually Jeff and Jim are going to watch the race while the women have a baby shower. It will be BIG fun!

We have almost all of the details of the birth plan in place. We are just trying to finish up the final finishing touches.

Please pray for us! It is coming up to a very stressful time for everyone involved! No matter what the situation is going into the actual birth is very hard on everyone involved! Pray for strength for Jeff, me, Sara, and Gloria (our case worker).

An update on our friends at The R House - the judge did not rule on their case Friday. By Utah law he has 60 days (I believe it is 60 it may be 90) to issue a judgment. Then either side has 15 days to appeal if they loose. Please continue to pray for the R House and for G Baby! www.therhouse.blogspot.com

Jake will be here before you can turn around! YEA!

Prayer Request

Not much time to update lately...... We are busy getting ready for our little man Jake. To say we are excited is an understatement. God is a GOOOOD God and things are going great! We have had some awesome prayers answered this week. Can't really go into detail right now but just know that your prayers are being heard and answered. God is watching over everyone involved in this adoption. Jake has been and will be a bless little fella!

I promise I will update more in detail soon!

Today I wanted to ask everyone to pray for my friend's at the R House (www.therhouse.blogspot.com). They go to court today to fight for their little man Gavin in a contested adoption. Go to their website and read their story of great faith and courage. Pray for Mrs. R, Mr. R, Joniece, Gavin, Tyson, and their entire families.

Just a quick note about their struggle (and I am not certain about the particulars) - Gavin was place with the R's at birth by Joneice (his birth mother) and at some point the birth father (and his mother) mother decided to contest the adoption. Joneice is certain that God meant for her to place Gavin with the R's and has no doubt. She will be testifying for the R's today - is that not AWESOME! She has Gavin's best interest at heart and this story is what open adoption is all about - a lot of people loving the same little person and doing what is best and right for their well being! The R's have tried to reach out to the birth father but so far have been unsuccessful.

I love you Mrs. R - you are in inspiration and have taught me so much even from far, far away! Keep you chin up, pray hard, and believe! We are praying for you extra hard today!

Update

I know it has been awhile but there is really nothing new happening on the adoption front. We are still in touch with Sara and talk to her often. We are planning a trip to meet her in person at the end of this month. Just a chance to get together before Jake is born and get to know each other in person before we are in a hospital having a baby together. Sara is wonderful and we are enjoying getting to know her. We are looking forward to our trip to meet her very much!

We have had a lot going on though! Our last couple of weekends have been crazy to say the least! We had a family reunion out of town, our car got broken into the Saturday night before Fathers Day (that was a huge mess that took days to get every thing taken care of), of course my cousin Robbie died, and several other things have been going on. It has been several weeks since we have had a "normal" weekend. We actually did NOTHING this weekend and it was nice! We stayed at home last night and watch TV, got up this morning and went to church, ate lunch after church, came home and took naps, and then went swimming at our friends Big Eds. It has been a great weekend!

It was very nice to get back in the routine and especially nice to be back in church after several weeks of being out. Although we were late and sat in the balcony I was happy to be back! I am happy to be back in the routine of things. Everyone keeps saying that the baby will change everything and I am sure that is true but it is a change we are so looking forward to! This run of "happenings" lately has become almost to much! I am ready to be boring and predictible again!

This week has been busy....

This week has been a busy week for us. Sara, our birth mother, had a doctors appointment on Monday. Everything was fine and both she and the baby are healthy! They scheduled an ultra sound for Wednesday. When she called to tell me we would probably know the gender of the baby on Wednesday I was so excited! Time has never been so slow! But Wednesday finally got here...........

It's a BOY!

According to Sara he is all arms and legs! She is sending us the ultra sound dvd and pictures! I can not wait to see them! We are very excited to be adding a little boy to our family!

His name is Jacob Jeffery and we will call him Jake. Shopping is well underway!

The same day we found out we were getting Jake and not Kate (the girls name we had picked was Katherine Ruth) we also got bad news!

My cousin is missing. He is 38 years old with medical problems. His truck was found on the side of the road but he has not been seen since Tuesday night about 11pm. He had been to work on some rental property he owns and the renters said he seemed disoriented and they tried to get him to stay but he left their house. Foul Play is not suspected at this point. We are searching day and night for him! We are praying that he is safe and we will locate him soon! God can do wonderful things and we are praying for God to lead the search team to him! The county search and rescue is in charge of the search but close to 100 volunteers, friends and family, are searching also. Pray for his return! www.helpfindroberthatley.com

Continue to pray for Sara, Jake, Jeff, me and for Robbie! Also pray for his wife Gwen, kids Garrett and Kayla, and for his momma Ginger!

Happy Fathers Day!

Circa 1969

Today June 21, 2009

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad! He is the most awesome Dad in the whole world. He is funny, quick dry sense of humor, loyal to a fault, supportive, encouraging, loving, my biggest supporter, my biggest fan. When no one else is in my corner he always is! He thinks I am perfect and we both know that is not true but you would never get him to admit it! He has always been my biggest and loudest cheerleader! He sacrificed and worked hard when I was a kid so that my Mom could be a stay at home Mother (she worked from home keeping children in our home) and she was wonderful at it. I was able to have a hands on mother because he sacrificed for us. Life was not always easy and the road was not always smooth but he never complained and always did everything he could for me and my Mom.

He is an awesome man! I am so lucky to have him as my Dad. I can not imagine my life with out him! I wish everyone had a Dad as wonderful as mine! Happy Fathers Day Daddy! I love you!


Olivia, Jeff, and Me today at lunch.

And, Happy Fathers Day to Jeff! Jeff is the second best Dad I know! He is a wonderful Father to Olivia. he is very hands on and always involved in her life. He makes sure to know what is going on in her life. He is active in her school. He is supportive of her! One of the reasons I love him the most is because he loves Olivia as much as my Dad loves me! She is a lucky girl! Jeff is a wonderful Dad and an awesome husband. I can not wait for our baby to join our family and experience life with Jeff as his or her Dad and my Dad as his or her Pop. What a lucky child! Happy Fathers Day Jeff! I love you!

Moving Right Along

Things are moving right along for us since we were match with Sara. We are building a relationship with her. We send text messages back and forth daily and talk on the phone once a week. She is a very sweet girl and we are enjoying our time that we get to spend with her.

Jeff and I are working on taking a quick trip to meet her. We would all feel a little more comfortable if we knew each other a little better before the baby is born. It will be a quick weekend trip but we are looking forward to it none the less.

We still don't know if the baby is a boy or girl. We are hoping to find out in the next week or so. Sara's next appointment with her doctor is June 22nd so hopefully she can have an ultra sound then. I am praying that the doctor decides to check everything out so we can start buying pink or blue. I am just about tired of green!

We have started looking at things like diapers and bottles. My things have changed on that front! Now you have so many choices and if you don't pick the perfect one then you are not a good parent - at least the marketing departments would have you believe that! Glass bottles are the new "old" thing now because they don't have BPA. I don't know what BPA is but evidently someone somewhere thinks it can be dangerous so now you have to use glass bottles again but now they have silicone sleeves to keep them from breaking when they get slung across the room! I am sure that was the reason everyone had to start using plastic in the first place.

This weekend we have a Littleton Family reunion. My grandmother on my Daddy's side - my PoohPooh, was a Littleton. EVERY second Sunday in June we all meet and have lunch together and spend the day together in Sardis. Same place, same time for as long as I can remember! It is not nearly as much fun as it was when I was a kid but it is something PoohPooh loved and wanted us to keep doing so I go every year for her. She would want her family represented and so far we have done a good job.

We have been so busy getting to know Sara and getting everything lined up but it has been a wonderful experience thus far. God has been so good to us. There were times when I wondered if He had forgotten me but I can see now He was planning a wonderful journey for me. It would just be a lot longer than I had hoped for! We are so thankful for Sara, Gloria, and Stephanie! Gloria and Stephanie are the wonderful ladies at Valley of Hope that are helping Jeff, me, and Sara through this process. We could not have asked for anyone any better! They are all a blessing to us!

Pray for us as we continue our journey to our baby! Thank the Lord it is finally in sight!

Finally...........

We are having a baby! The baby is due October 29th! YEAH! God is so good!

I have not posted anything here because everything has happened so fast so let me give you some background! About two weeks ago I started praying and asking God to show me the way to go in the adoption. I just felt like we were doing things the wrong way all of the sudden. In the past I have felt good about the choices we made and there was really no reason for us to be unhappy at Embraced By Grace! They are an awesome agency! But I just felt like there was something missing. I asked God that if we were supposed to get our Baby from Embraced By Grace to give me a peace like never before and if not to lead me in the right direction. Mothers Day I got up and looked online and found a post about an agency needing a family for a baby. I contacted that person in an email but that situation was from Jan. I did not look at the date!

When Gloria called me back we hit if off right away. She told me about the agency and how they worked and I told her our horror story. She said she thought she could help us! We prayed about it and felt like it was meant to be! We took a huge leap of faith not knowing where the money would come from! Needless to say, my parents and Jeff's Mother came through for us and we were able to sign with the agency. We filled out our paperwork and mailed it last Thursday. It got to the office this TUESDAY!

Gloria called me the same day - Tuesday morning and said she needed to talk to me! I thought something was wrong with our paperwork. She told me that there was a girl that was having trouble finding a family and that without our knowledge she had already sent our profile and statement of faith to her. She wanted to talk to us THAT DAY! It worked out that we did not get to talk that day but yesterday. The call was wonderful! She is sweet with a beautiful soul! She wants a family to love her child! We can do that! We already love her and the baby!

Gloria called this morning to let us know that she had picked us and the baby is due Oct 29th! We don't know if is it a girl or boy! We just know that finally our prayers have been answered!

To Sara - Thank you for making our dreams come true! You are truly an answer to our prayers! We hope and pray that you will become part of our family! We have been praying for you for a long time and will continue to do so! You are a sweet spirit and you have awesome strength and courage! Again, thank you for being my hero!

It has been a hard week...

It has been a hard couple of weeks in the adoption world for me! This week in particular has been very hard. I spent the first part of the week lower than I have ever been. I spent time in bed crying and just feeling really, really down! Adoption is such and emotional experience! You will never understand unless you have been there! It is that simple! There are always well meaning friends that offer words to encourage you but there are times that it simply doesn't help! I know that God has a plan, I know it will happen when God is ready, I know that it will be perfect when it does...... I really get that...honestly I do! But you still have the hurt in your heart and the longing to be a mother!

My blogger friend Mrs. R (http://www.therhouse.blogspot.com/) was wonderful as always! She offered the most helpful words and the lowest time! She sent me an email reminding me that it is ok to have these feelings and that everyone that has gone through or is going through adoption has been there. Then she did the most amazing thing....She gave me several links to blogs that she has written when she was feeling the same way. In one of those blog post she was talking about a blessing that her father in law gave her and how he was reminding her about women in the Bible that suffered infertility and the desire to become a mother. She listed Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel. God answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children.

Read that again.....

Then God remembered Rachel. God answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children. Genesis 30:22

I know that I will give birth to a child but I will have children! God will remember Kim too! He will provide for me. I know that in my heart and I always have but seeing it in writing from someone that has been there made all the difference in the world for me!

Jeff has been wonderful, bless his heart! Most of the time he just doesn't know what to say and I am sure he is afraid to say anything but he has been wonderful! My family has been supportive as always! Amy listened to me cry and told me she understood - I know she does because she is right there with me. I appreciate you all!

I am feeling much better now! I have been renewed! Today I know I have the strength to continue and wait for my miracle from God.

Thank you Mrs. R, Jeff, Momma, Daddy, and Amy! You made a tough week much easier!

This weekend is a big one for us! Olivia will celebrate her 14th birthday on Sunday. Jeff and I will celebrate with her tomorrow. Chloe will be Christened in the Catholic Church Sunday and then we will have dinner with the entire Sisco and O'Brien families. That is always BIG fun! They are awesome people! And the thing that I am most looking forward to....tomorrow I am going to watch Chloe or should I say Chloe is going to watch me while Stacey helps out with a birthday party. I can not wait to have uninterrupted face time with her! I will have a ball! LOL

Keep us in your prayers!

Jeff is an Uncle......

Jeff is an Uncle! And I guess that makes me an Aunt.......

Hannah was born at 4:30pm today! Her Mommy is Jeff's sister Sonya! Since she was born so late this afternoon, Jeff and I did not go to see her tonight but we can not wait to go meet her tomorrow!

Thank you Jeff for making me part of your family and finally an Aunt! There were times when I thought I would never get to be "Aunt Kim"! I love you!

And I can't wait to meet Hannah.............

Home Study Update

Our home study update is finally finished! I hope that is the last time we have to do that! If we get a placement in the next year we will not have to update again. Your home study is good for one calendar year - let's pray we don't have to get updated! Don't get me wrong, we love Carla, our social worker, and she is so much help but it would just be nice to be playing with a baby this time next year!

So we are "active" with EBG now. They will show our portfolio to everyone that we meet criteria with so we are praying for a match!

We are also praying about the birth mother possibility here in Southaven. We have been told she is still considering placing her child for parenting through adoption and we would love to talk to her and see if we are right for each other. The possibility of having a close birth mother excites me! I would like to maintain contact with our birth mother if possible but of course that will be her choice and we will honor her wishes. We are praying for her and her family as they make the choice of a lifetime of the next few months.

So we start the spring/summer season hoping for our baby to come soon! Join us in praying for our agency, our birth mother - where ever she is, and for me and Jeff to remain hopeful and patient. Thanks for your support!

A Chapter Closes....

As most of you know, we have been involved in adoption drama with our original agency. I have not given a lot of details here for several reasons but now that I feel like we have some answers maybe I can share more with you.

After many months of knowing something wasn't right with our agency, we found out on Jan 11 that our agency was under investigation by the Arkansas Department of Human Services for improper business practices, fraud, and several other charges. Later we were notified by DHS that the agency had failed to respond to the departments attempts at inspection, failed to file a corrective plan of action, and had failed to comply with any of the agency request. At that point, DHS moved forward and scheduled a hearing to revoke the agency license.

We have spent the last couple of months wondering what will happen and trying to regroup and come up with a new plan for adoption.

Yesterday we traveled to Little Rock for the hearing. It was a very emotional day! The agency owner was there along with several other couples as well as birth mothers that have lost contact with their children. Not to mention every news media outlet in Little Rock.

After several hours of testimony the board suggested that the owner of the agency voluntarily relinquish the agency license. If he did that he could still complete adoption because he is an attorney and he could reapply for an agency license in a year. He finally agreed! He did offer an explanation for everything that has happened. He and his wife divorced, he had a $500,000 theft in the agency from an employee (he never filed a police report), he hired his soon to be ex-in laws to work for him and they stole data, clients, and birth mothers from him. During this time rumors on the Internet did even more damage to his business. All of these factors ran his business in the ground.

If all of those things did happen we can certainly understand how the business fell apart. Jeff and I would have been understanding if we had received a letter in mid 2008 explaining the circumstances and been more than patient. Our concerns started from lack of communication from the agency. After we could not get answers we felt like we had no where to go but to DHS.

I can say that the the director apologized yesterday to the families involved. He vowed to spend the next year finding birth mother for the families he had under contracts and to get the agency back on it's feet. He said he has lost everything - his family, his house, his cars, his business. He vowed that he has done the best he could do to make everything right. He has agreed to work with DHS to get them a copy of our records and DHS has agreed to work with him to find a solution. What that will be and when it will happen is still unknown. It is a huge task to try and take on!

I have thought a lot about how I feel and I have come to this conclusion.... If his heart is right and he is telling the truth we will know that in this year he has to pull it together. I will continue to pray for him and everyone involved. If he is being honest about the situation that will be proven by him when he holds true to his promises he made yesterday. Honestly, I feel for the man. He seems to me to be a broken man. I can only pray for him and pray that if his intentions are true he will be successful and we will get a placement through his efforts. That remains to be seen.

So I feel like a chapter has closed and now we can move ahead and spend our time and efforts on finding our baby! Pray with us for a birth mother match!

Thanks so much for all your support!

We have had a good week.....

Tuesday was our 2nd Anniversary! We went to dinner at The Butcher Shop and it was wonderful! I had the most awesome dinner and the most amazing dinner date known to man! I love you Jeff and thank you for putting up with me for 2 years! Here to 200 more years...

At The Butcher Shop


Monday night we went to play with Chloe! She is getting so big and busy! She is 6 weeks old now and growing like a weed as my Grandmother would say! She has found her mouth and tongue and as you can see that keeps her busy! Jeff and I love her very much! Thank you Jim and Stacey for sharing her with us and letting us be part of her life! We love you all!

Chloe

Nothing new on the adoption front.... Still getting paper work for our home study update. Hopefully that will be finished next week!

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

New Emotions

We got an update letter from our old agency Wednesday and I have to tell you I got a little bit excited! When I opened it it was the same word for word as the email I got two weeks ago so that was a little disappointing but never the less I thought (yet again) that maybe the whole thing had been a big misunderstanding! Thursday the Arkansas Department of Family Services called and said they had scheduled the hearing to revoke the agency license. That made me think they knew we were going to be told about the hearing and they would send the letters to make it look like they were making an effort. In other words, they got me again! Or at least that is how I feel now! We have to be in Little Rock on March 24th to testify at the hearing. I am not looking forward to it at all. I do want answers and I want to be able to close the chapter on this agency and finally fully move on but I know when we leave that hearing we are going to be just a confused as we are now. In my heart I know it is a scam and we have been taken but I just don't want to believe it. Or should I say, in my head I know we have been taken but in my heart I just don't want to believe it! I just can't believe someone would take advantage of people like that! I guess I am just naive because if you tell me something then I believe you! How can people be so cruel! And then stand behind God and the Bible to do it! It is really scary! I mean the whole time you are talking to the man he is talking about God and quoting scripture and the ten commandments are on his desk, and Jesus is on the wall! How can he be a fake and put his head on the pillow at night! I would be afraid to draw my next breath - I would be afraid God would strike me down. That is why I am having such a hard time with all of this being a lie! So I am just dumb? Help me think this through! Are there really people that do things like that in this world?

We have to have our finger prints done again tomorrow. Seems you can not get your prints done in Mississippi if you don't have a Mississippi ORI number and our ORI number in a Tennessee number. ORI is the agency identifier that the FBI sends the results back to. Anyway, once we get that done we are set and ready to be active at EBG. We are ready!

Pray for us as we face the hearing on March 24th. I will be uneasy about it until we are done! Pray for EBG as they look for birth mothers and adoptive families everyday. Also, pray for Jay and Amy. And don't forget the R house. Their Adoption drama is still going on!

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Nothing new

There is really nothing new to report on the adoption front! We are still waiting on our home study update to be completed. Hopefully that will be done this week. I did finish the updates to our portfolio and got it submitted to Emily at EBG so we are good with that! As soon as our home study is complete they will begin showing our portfolio to every birth mother that we are compatible with. I am so ready! YEA!

The FBI called me last week to guestion me about our other agency. Talk about strange....I picked up the phone and heard "this is the FBI" all I could say was "excuse, me what did you say". The agent was very nice and seemed very determined to do all he can to put a stop to the madness! We talked for a long time and he said he really does feel for everyone involved. I am in the process of getting some information together for him and I should be ready to send that off Tuesday!

That is about everything that is new news! Thanks for all your continued support and prayers! We appreciate each and every one of you!

Happy Valentine's Day

Yes I am late writing my Valentine's Day post but we had a very busy weekend! Jeff and I went to dinner with our friends Al and Jennifer Saturday night for our "Valentine's Date" We had a great time eating sushi! It was wonderful and of course I had the most wonderful escort any girl could ask for! Jeff and Al work together and we all play together so I tease them and tell them they are "work wives". They talk on the phone and text each other all the time and see each other more during the week than they see me and Jennifer. I told Jeff he had a pretty good date for Valentine's - he got to go to dinner with his real wife AND his work wife! Seriously, we love Al and Jennifer and their 3 wonderful boys! They are great friends and we always have a good time hanging out with them! It was a fun night. Notice Al standing on a chair to be taller than Jeff. Most of us just give up and let Jeff be the tallest all the time but not Al!

To my Valentine Jeff - You are a wonderful man and I am so proud to be your wife. I thank God for leading us together. You are an answer to my prayers. I want to be your valentine everyday for the rest of my life! Thank you for being a good man and thank you for loving me! I love you always!

Home Study Update

We are still in the process of getting our home study updated. Once we have that complete Embraced By Grace will start showing our portfolio to available matches! YEAH! We just have a few more steps to go. We got our fingerprints done again today and they will be sent to the FBI for clearance. We are waiting on letters from our employers to say that we are employed and that we do indeed work. After we get those two pieces of information we are finished! Your home study is only good for one year and I pray this is the last time we have to be updated!

Our weekend was pretty uneventful until yesterday morning. Olivia woke me up to say she did not know what was wrong with her legs. When I looked at them I knew we had a problem! She had a horrible case of the hives all over her arms and legs. Her feet were swelling and she was itching from head to toe! We started calling around and found out her doctors office has a clinic open on Sunday afternoon. We medicated her and waited until time for the doctor! It turned out to just be a viral infection and the hives were associated with that! So it looked a lot worse than it was thank the Lord! She did get to lay around and miss school today so that was right up her alley!

Continue to pray for us! There is a lot going on with our "old agency" as far as investigations go. We are getting information slowly and mostly through the grapevine. Pray that we can continue to stay strong knowing that God has a plan for us. So far we are doing really well!

I feel famous.....

I have a confession! I am a blog stalker! There I said it... I love to read The R house blog! I have even been know to get up and night and check to see if there is a new post! Mrs R. is a wonderful adoption advocate and she is "Mommy" to two beautiful little boys. She is also "wife" to Mr. R! It is such a great read every day! Some days it is more informational than others but always worth the time! Reading the r house made me change my mind about having an open adoption. Mrs. R has a wonderful relationship with her two birth mothers and it makes we hope for that when Jeff and I get our placement!

Anyway, so why do I feel famous? Friday she posted about blog stalkers and said it was OK for us to stalk her! I left her a comment about how much I enjoy her blog and SHE READ MY BLOG! She even LINKED MY PAGE TO HERS! Yeah! We are blog friends! I linked her to mine right away! Aren't I just so special! So I am sure it is not a big deal at the r house at all. She has thousand of blog friends but now I am one of them! I feel honored! I mean it is like Elvis saying he enjoys your music! WOW!!!! I am stoked!

Anyway, thanks Mrs. R! For reading my blog and for having such a wonderful perception about adoption. You have many a hard day for me easier by reading back through you entries! Thanks for sharing your story with us!

In our adoption news, we are reworking our portfolio and will send it off the EBG this week and then we pray and wait! Pray with us! Also don't forget to pray for Jay and Amy!

Also, pray for the r house. They are having an adoption drama of their own right now! Check out her button on the right hand side and go read her blog! You will be mesmerised!

Latest update.......

Emily from Embraced by Grace called this morning. It scared me when I saw that number on my phone because I automatically thought they found something they did not like. Thank God I was wrong! WE ARE APPROVED! Yeah! Praise the Lord! Jeff and I both feel so blessed to be with this agency! They are just wonderful! A true blessing!

They did not wait for the board to meet in 3 weeks they just push our application on through! I am sure excited! I have called Jeff and woke him up - he was very excited which is saying a lot for Jeff (those of you that know Jeff know he is very laid back) he said it was about time we got some positive news! I have called my parents and my Aunt and everyone is very excited again! It is such a wonderful feeling to know we are back on the right track! I am excited about Adoption again!

Thank you for all your support over the last couple of weeks! It has been fast and furious but God does answer prayers! Continue to pray for us! Pray for the Embraced by Grace staff as they work daily to find birth mothers that are in need and work to place the babies in Godly homes.

Also, pray for the director of our old agency. I will not name the agency here but just say a prayer. God knows who you are talking about. I am still not sure what is going on with that agency - I would like to believe that he has just come upon hard times and things are looking up but at any rate he needs God's guidance now more than ever. Pray for the other families involved with this agency. There are many, many heartbroken, financially drained couples that now have no where to turn. Most of them are so hurt and confused they can't move forward. Some have given up on growing their families through adoption! It is a said situation in more way than one!

Tomorrow we travel to Nashville for what could be Brittney's last cheer competition! You know I will be a bawling, squalling, mess! It will be a quick trip up and back tomorrow so pray for our safety! The girls and sponsors will leave today and spend the night. Pray for everyone safe travel and safe return! Go Chargers!

Sunday we have church at our church and then we go to Olivia's church. Conformation begins - I am not sure what all that means but evidently it is a several week process and Sunday is the beginning. We will have a full day!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks again for you support!

Pray for us!

Jeff and I did our final phone interview with Embraced by Grace today. It went really well we think! They are super sweet and helpful! Something we are not used to at all - we are not even used to anyone answering our phone calls much less apologizing for calling 6 minutes late! We have been blessed to be involved with EBG thus far. Whether we are approved by them or not, the process has renewed our faith in adoption! It can be very daunting!

What happens now? EBG will talk to our references and make sure they all check out and then we go before the board for final approval. They meet the 3rd Tuesday of every month so they just met last week. We will wait to hear from them and pray! It will be very hard to wait that long but we don't have any choice! Emily promised to call as soon as they knew something!

Emily did say the only thing that may cause a "red flag" was the amount of time Jeff and I have been married. Almost 2 years is not very long and she said "they may look for more stability". Of course that makes me worried! The difference in our situation was Jeff and I knew coming in that we would not be able to have a biological child so we started the adoption process right away. Most couples do not know coming into the marriage and try for many years to get pregnant before they turn to adoption. We are praying that this doesn't cause a problem for us! If so, it was meant to be! We will "cross that bridge when we get to it" as my Grandmother used to say!

In the mean time, pray for me and Jeff. Pray for the board of directors at Embraced by Grace. Pray that me and Jeff will remain patient and understand. Most of you know patience is not my strongest character trait! Pray that the Embraced by Grace board will view our application with an open heart and mind and have an understanding that Jeff and I are committed to each other and our family for a lifetime! They are choosing families that will provide for infants for a lifetime! We totally understand their approval process and respect them 100%. We just pray that they will feel comfortable with me and Jeff!

Keep Praying!

A new Agency.........

Jeff and I have found our new agency! We have been praying about what to do and how to proceed since our heart break. We submitted out application to Embraced by Grace yesterday. This is the same agency Jay and Amy are using so I like the fact that they are going through the same thing with us. Questions are easier when you have someone that has already thought about it and gotten an answer before you!



We will have our final phone interview this afternoon at 1pm. I am a little nervous but Amy promised me it was nothing to be worried about! We will talk to the directors of the agency. If and when we make it past them we will go before the board to be voted on. If we "win that vote" then we are official.



Carla came yesterday and started our Home Study update. Just like last year, she is a hoot! She did have some good advice for us and I know that she will take care us by making sure we have everything done correctly and the homes study process is pretty painless for us! She is wonderful!



Pray for us today as we have the final phone interview! Pray for David and Pepper also, they will be dong the interview with me and Jeff. Pray that God opens all of our hearts and leads us where he wants us to go!



Thanks for your support!