Big adoption update :)

So... a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks. We have been slow to report on anything because things were still fluid. But we have great news to share with you all! Our daughter was born 10 days ago! Her name is Olivia Kate. She was 6lbs, 12oz and 19.5 inches long. It has been an amazing 3 weeks. We met the birth parents on March 7th, were anticipating a March 9th due date, had the due date moved back a few weeks because of some measurements on the last ultrasound, then experienced a great joy when we got a call on Monday March 14th. Our daughter had been born at 11:23am. We scooted up to Charlotte as soon as we could and got to hold our daughter when she was 5 hours old. Corrie and Olivia Kate have been up in North Carolina since the day of her birth.

They will remain in NC until governmental paperwork clears them to cross state lines and come home! We have been told it could take 2-3 weeks, but we are praying for it to be done quicker than that. Please join us in rejoicing and praising God for this gift. We can't wait to let many of you meet her in person! We are thankful for all the ways so many of you contributed with your giving, prayers, and encouragement during our journey of adoption! We love you... and so does Olivia Kate!

 

  

Season of Waiting

Wow! A lot has happened since our last blog post! Here is a glimpse of what has happened since the beginning of November.

1. Profile Books
    - In a domestic adoption, most birthmothers will choose which family they want to parent their child. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult this would be. To aid in this process, families make what is called a profile book. The profile book should reflect in pictures and descriptions of who we are, what our family is like, what a typical week may look like, how we came to the decision to adopt...etc. It was definitely difficult to sum up our  life in 20-25 pages! I am so thankful for Facebook and Instagram to find most of our pictures! We designed our book on Snapfish and took advantage of the holiday deals (66% off!) since we had to print 5 books!

2. Trot to Adopt
     - On January 23, we participated in the 6th Annual Trot to Adopt. This 5K race and 1 mile family fun run benefited us along with 4 other local adoptive families. There was a lot of prep work leading up to the race and on the day of the race it snowed! What a memorable 5k! Despite the snow, the race still had a fabulous turnout! If you remember our last big fundraiser in October, we had a yard sale, and it rained poured monsooned! I think God is definitely showing us that He is the One providing for this adoption! Despite the inclement weather the funds have come in! We felt so loved and supported by all of our friends and family that came out to support us! Also a big thanks to all of the corporate sponsors who made the Trot to Adopt possible! Check out the sponsors on the Trot to Adopt Website!
Here is a link to a racap video from the race!

Michael, Corrie, and Lucas

The Adoptive Families

Just a few of our friends who came out to support us! (Some had already left)

3. Domestic Adoption Conference 

    - January 29-30th we attended the Domestic Adoption Conference in Birmingham, AL. This conference was so helpful because we were surrounded by several other couples who are all in the adoption process. It was also very special to have two other couples from our church attend the conference that are walking this journey with us! We heard about 8 talks in about 24 hours! Definitely a fire hydrant of information, but thankful to have resources to take home with us! Some of the sessions included: "Adoption and Loss", "Attachment Parenting", Birthparent Ministry", and "Transracial Adoption". We also got to hear real stories from a birthmother, from an adopted child, and from adoptive parents. Hearing these people's stories was encouraging because they were so raw and authentic about their personal journey. 

Us with some sweet friends at the adoption conference

4. Season of Waiting

    - We started this Adoption process on August 31, 2015. Today is February 8, 2016. A lot has happened in these past 5 months and it seems to have happened all so fast! We filled out and turned in our application. We had about 10 hours of home study interviews. We collected items for our yard sale from over 70 families. We had our yard sale in October. Spent several hours and days creating our profile book. Enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends. Asked several business owners to sponsor the race. Recruited many people to support us and run/walk at the 5k. Had the Trot to Adopt in the snow on January 23. Raised ALL the money we needed for our adoption!!! Went to the Adoption Conference. Submitted our profile books to our agency! Whew! No wonder why it seems it went by so quickly. That was a whirlwind! We have been keeping busy, as you can see, these past few months preparing to adopt a sweet baby into our home. Now we wait. We wait for the right birthmother to look at our profile book and entrust her sweet baby to us to parent him or her. We pray that we will wait patiently, yet expectantly, not anxiously. We know that we could get a call anytime now. But we also know that we could be waiting for 3 more years! We are praying that we will wait well!