Home Study Visit

Today was our Home Study Visit. In addition to all the paper work, someone has to come out and inspect the home - make sure it's safe and that there is space for a child. With our paperwork, they gave us a Safety Handbook with suggestions on child-proofing and making a safe environment for a child. Most of it I don't think that most parents follow - but, I suppose, if we have to have a child-proof house to be approved for adoption, that's what we will do! So, we went around and put outlet covers in all the outlets. We put our medicine in a locked box. I put all my little scrapbook embellishments up on a high shelf. Put a few locks on cabinet doors and drawers. Installed smoke detectors in every bedroom as well as one carbon monoxide detector. We now have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen! We have a fire-escape route mapped out on a piece of paper and it is hanging on the refrigerator next to the list of emergency numbers and doctor information! All our garden tools are in the shed - although we don't have a door on it yet... that will come! We have hand rails for the front and back porch - they just aren't installed quite yet! And the list goes on!!

Our case worker was a very sweet lady and we felt at ease with her! She said she was very impressed with our paperwork that she had looked over. Often, the agency will highlight areas where they need more information and she said we had very few highlighted areas! She didn't go inspect everything - just asked if we had it done. She chuckled that we had actually mapped out a fire escape route because she says people rarely have that done! She looked around and said things looked good and we had plenty of space.

Also, she had a typed copy of our home study paperwork - which is a good thing, because that is part of the process that takes some time. So we could be very close to approval! We are so very excited to have this part of the process over with! Now, on to waiting for the baby!

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Ok, so their is no Jones family living on our street - but we did need to do some updating on the house! With our pending Home Study, we wanted things to look really nice - AND we had to turn in a picture of our house. So, we decided to paint the house! What were we thinking?! And of course, it has not rained ALL summer long - but the moment we decided to paint, the chance of rain went WAY up! We were able to get some dry days and paint a coat on the 2 sides of the house and get the front all done! Yay! The back is still waiting on a dry day... and more energy to do it! But at least the front was ready for the picture!

Here is the before:

And After:

I LOVE my pretty new house!

My Verse

"He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord." - Psalm 113:9

When I first came across this verse, I felt as tho God penned it just for me. That He was promising me that someday I would have children. Each time I read it, tho, in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think, 'you know, that doesn't mean biological children, it could mean adopted children.' I would always find some excuse to not believe that. I wanted biological children. But each time I read that verse, that was always my thought process. Until finally one day I realized, it did not matter to me HOW I became a mother, just that I had the opportunity to become a mother. Unbeknowst to me, as I was struggling with whether to keep trying to get pregnant, or to adopt, Joe was also thinking heavily about adopting. When I finally talked to him about it, we both knew it was time to start pursuing adoption, we both knew without a doubt that this was how God intended to start our family.

So, it may not be the way I had originally planned it, but I - a barren woman - will have children! Praise ye the Lord!

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to get married and have several children. All my dreams as a child were to grow up and be a mom and have a family. That dream has been so incredibly distant these 7 years of marriage. I thought by now I would have a few little ones running around keeping me busy. Yet there is no pitter patter of feet running thru the hallways, or the laughter of children heard within these walls. It is a quiet place. A place where I often despair if I will ever see my dreams of motherhood come true. I sometimes shut myself off from the world - it is too painful to see other women playing with their children, holding their precious baby, giving tons of hugs and kisses. Will I ever have my turn?

I will have my turn! There is light at the end of the tunnel. My arms will not be empty for long! No, I am not pregnant. We are ADOPTING! Joe and I had always said we would adopt instead of doing fertility treatments if we were not able to get pregnant. Once it was time to make that decision, tho, it was really hard. A part of me felt that I was giving up on me, that I should try just a little bit longer to get pregnant. A part of me was scared, there is so much to consider in adoption! And a part of me finally had hope... hope that I would actually get to be a mom. That I could actually hold my own sweet baby in my arms. That I could soon hear that pitter patter of little feet and the walls would ring with laughter! Hope! Such a wonderful thing.

So here we are, we have applied to the Adoption and Beyond Agency and have filled out all the Home Study paperwork and turned it in! Now we await approval and then we will enter the agency's program and be waiting for a baby! Such an exciting time in our life! God has a baby out there for us. It may not be the way we planned, but it is HIS plan and it will be perfect!