Thursday

Our News- Adoption

So I made a small announcement in our last post.. Nate and I are planning on adopting. I say planning because it is a LONG LONG Road ahead and we have been taught by our past experiences not to say something is happening because God might have another plan for you along the way.. we hope God sees adoption as his plan (but we are speaking from past experiences here..).

This announcement is not a small one or shall I say one we take lightly.. It is one we have discussed, slept on, discussed some more, argued about, and listened to everyone else's opinion on..etc.. We have been discussing adoption since we meet actually. We both felt eventually in our life we would adopt a child. But it wasn't till last year that I really started to think about it. At first I thought it was just the loss of the miscarriage that put adoption in my heart..I think it is apparent I want to be a mother.. but I prayed about it. Put it in the back of my mind and left it there. Nate said last year he wanted to try again and see if we could have our own. So we tried.. and you know how that story ends. After that it was like a seed was planted inside me.. I meet total strangers talking to me about it. I prayed about.. there was a sermon at church about it.. just weird things happened which is no coincidence.. it was god planting that seed in me.  Yet, Nate was fearful.. I think initially due to people's responses about our choice. But I kept praying and God planted the seed in Nate. He started talking about it..he started looking into and than we found Depelchin Children's Center.

The first step towards adoption (domestic) is to attend a CPS approved intial orientation meeting which is two hours long and they shove a ton of information down your throat. I left there in tears.. tears of joy..tears of overwhelmed..tears that this is happening!! OMG this is happening..

Than you go onto step two.. filling out 30 pages about your parenting style, how you feel abot discpline, where the child will sleep, where they will attend school..etc. Than there is getting all the documents ready for the agency/social worker which includes: birth records, social, drivers license, proof of all insurance, marriage certificate, plans of your home, pictures of every room, pictures of all pets and people who live in the home, paycheck stubs, diplomas, health status, background check and driving record.

Step Three is to turn in more documents start the homestudy process which includes visits from a social worker and fire marshall.

Step Four is to complete all classes which happens between step 2-5. There are over 60 hours of very informative classes that are required.. and than after all is completed and they deem us acceptable parents we will have a child.


I'll keep you updated as we go.. this week we are childproofing and organizing the house to get ready for the fire marshals visit. They recommend you have the marshal visit before the social worker so that if there is anything to fix you have a timely manner to fix it. We are still at step two and it is a process so as we are updated we'll let you know...


I'm sure if you are reading this you are wondering alot of questions. So let me answer them all..or try to at least... we are not certain that we can't have kids. I've been asked now multiple times if we are infertile. I assume not since we have been pregnant twice now. It is just we are not willing to undergo thousands of dollars worth of testing to maybe find a solution.. much less did we feel it was necessary. We aren't going to play God.. this isn't to say that those who do chose this option are wrong.. we just didn't feel at this time it was the road for us to go.

We just feel that after two miscarriages that we still wanted kids and that trying naturally wasn't where we were anymore. It wasn't a choice that happened overnight and both of us came to this.. we feel that we are called to adoption and that if God later blesses us with a child thru natural birth than we will be twice blessed.  Right now just Houston has 1500 kids waiting for a home.. 1500. We are good people who want kids and feel we can give one of these children a great home.  Here's the catch we aren't doing straight adoption. We are doing foster to adopt which means that the child's parental rights haven't be relinquished but most likely will. So we will have the child in our home for 12-18 mths before the adoption can be finalized. I know it sounds like a long time and there is risk.. but this is the route we chose to go.. and it is more likely we will receive a child from 0-6. We did talk about straight adoption to adopt an older child but right now we are leaning towards 0-6 foster to adopt. This might change as it is a long process but this is where we are right now.The process to get a child in our home varies from 3 months to 2 years. Typically it is 9 months. So we have time to evaluate all our options and see where we are.. Any other questions feel free to leave me a comment or email me.

I know adoption isn't for everyone. I have heard people's ideas of adoption and I know that some feel it isn't the ideal way to start a family. But there are really great stories out there.. so please keep your negative comments to yourself. We have researched this, we have went to the classes and we have started the process.. this is the choice we have made.. Perhaps research it yourself. See if you can open your heart to a child who needs a home. Someone to make them feel safe, secure and loved. Isn't that what God wanted us all to do??






Wednesday

Catchup

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in so long.. things have been a bit crazy around here. I am two classes away from graduation with my Masters. So I have been super busy with that, still teaching full time and trying to keep my house up as well as a social life outside of work. I don't know how some people do it. It never seems to fail that this time of year Nate and I both have something planned every weekend. It never ends and some weekends we are so over booked..not complaining. But we are on Thanksgiving break currently which I am also on break for my masters program! Horrray!!!
But we also have had some big changes in our household.. changes involving rearranging the house of course- we all know I get bored and change things all the time. But Nate and I have also decided to adopt. More on that in another post..
Let's get to the good stuff fall decor because it is coming down as soon as thanksgiving is over and Christmas is up!! Warning there will be lots of pics since I am playing catch up.. First off is the Living room..

Notice the entertainment cabinet.. That is from Simple Matters and is a Welsch Hutch she transformed for me. I adore it.. You also might remember that the couch and arm chair were in a V shape towards the windows. It was just throwing off the room so back in July I moved the arm chair to the corner of the room by the fireplace. It makes the entry so much larger and we put a little mini dresser behind it with closed storage when we finally have a child in the house we can throw all their junk in there.

 By the fireplace I have my vintage wine vessels stuffed with fall leaves. Don't you just love the new ottoman too.. it's a HomeGoods Purchase along with the New Jute pillow (PB knockoff for 1/2 the price). I also added some pine cones to my candle holder.
Now onto the kitchen.. On the island I have this pumpkin candleholder..
 I added fall foliage to my Miranda Lambert Wedding Cloche..


 And on the other side of the sink is the chalkboard and fall mums..Mums Live forever if you change their water frequently and they are so inexpensive to have. I love having fresh flowers around the house.

 I also recently purchased this large canvas of  Life Sayings.. I have been meaning to DIY one that I have been seeing allover blog land but lets be real.. I don't have the time or patience to get around to it. I wanted to put it inbetween the two large windows in the kitchen but it barely fit so we moved it over here.. which works perfect because walking down the hall to the bath/garage you see the family calendar..etc that is all black too.


Here is the hallway shoot.. sorry very bright in the kitchen in the mornings.


Now the dining room-- I sold our old mission table on Craiglist..exactly where I got it. And found this beauty thru Jannet from Simple Matters. Ill take pics of it closely later. But it is black which is perfect because you see it when you walk in the house and so is the entry table. It is distressed and has a leaf which is ideal for Thanksgiving..

 In the corner I left my wine wreath, have my new scentsy warmer and my wood carved cross.. it has a nativity scene at the bottom but I think the colors are fall/winter so I leave it out regardless of the season. Oh don't forget the ugly mail dumping basket..lol
 Lastly, the entry way..I added some little wood figures that say Give Thanks and a pumpkin and the chalkboard says "Give Thanks to the Lord"..

 Hope you enjoyed the fall decor.. I promise Ill post pics of the table close up.. I love the claw feet on it. Plus class pics soon. I will also fill you all in on the adoption.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

PS.. I am a much better blogger in summer..lol!