It has arrived.....now we wait

Well the trumpets have sounded and angels have sung....our homestudy is FINISHED and has reached it's destination!

I have learned a lot about setting my own personal expectations through this journey so far. We wait, we pray and pray some more!

My heart aches for the birth mothers that have to make one of the hardest decisions of their lives and my heart aches for those precious little ones waiting on their families to come and get them but are delayed due to legalities.

There are currently 12 kiddos at TXE right now and although I am not sure one if those will be ours, I continue to pray for each of those little guys and gals. They have a big life ahead of them!

 

 





It's Been Two Years

It's been 2 years since we rescued this big fur ball!

The first night we got Porter

 

Little did we know what we were in for ;) He has brought so much joy and personality into our house....I have NEVER met a dog with more personality! He lets you know it, too.

 

He thinks he is the King of the house

Does not like to be bothered during his nightly viewing of the cooking channel
 

Will creep up on you while you are trying to take a nap
 

 

Sometimes gets stuck in difficult situations
 (yes that is our bathroom counter)

 

Always loves a good bone



And loves attention any way he can get it!

We don't know what we would do without this silly pup and I am sure he wouldn't know what to do with out us either!

I can only hope one day that the new bambino and Porter become the best of friends!

 

Maybe this close??? :)

 

Signed, Sealed and [almost] Delivered!

We had our LAST homestudy meeting! By the beginning of the week we should have something to proof and by the end of the week it should be completed!

WHOO HOO

I feel like this has taken AGES to finish. I know there will only be more waiting in the days ahead but when the waiting is tied to something I can semi control, I want things to move at a rapid pace.

In my profession I am constantly under deadlines and I get anxious.....did i say anxious....when things arise I cannot control and feel they should be moving at a far more rapid pace than they currently are.

I know the wating period will be the biggest area of personal growth for me and I have been tellling myself to start looking forward to it, to relish in this season with my husband as just the two of us before we bring an addition into our home.

I know the family dynamic is going to change but I also know that there will be a lot of joy in our new season as well. We are looking forward to it!



And for all of you Instagrammers' out there, you should definitely check out fashionkids, are these guys cute or what!!

 

 

I'm melting in cuteness overload :)



Home Study #3

We had our third homestudy appointment today. I thought this would be the last one but we have one final one next week to make sure we have all of our paperwork in order.

Our social worker is writing as she goes, so hopefully by the end of next week we will have a draft to approve!

It is so exciting to almost be done with this process and be ONE step closer to the waiting list.

Speaking of waiting.....it is really hard. With a 13 hour time difference, communication with our orphanage isn't the easiest and they are busy with the babies during the day. I have been praying for patience and I know everything is in God's timing, not mine.

I think the hubs and I are really learning a lot about our selves through this process. They definitely dive deep into questions that stop and make you think!

Our homestudy agency puts a lot of weight on education and preparedness, which I am grateful for. One book we had to read through this process is called The Connected Child. It's awesome!

http://empoweredtoconnect.org/resources/

 

 

I'm sure a lot of adoptive mommas and mommas-to-be have read this book. It is packed with so many resources, I would recommend  it to everyone going through the adoption process.

 

 

Counting down the days until the final homestudy meeting! Updates to come!

Second Home Study..........Check!

It feels SO good to make some progress! I know that once our homestudy is fully finished the waiting will begin again....but it's nice to do something productive in the meantime.

I am fully understanding why they call it a paper chase! Mountains of copies and paperwork and notaries and forms and fingerprints and physicals. Enough to make your head spin. This is how I currently feel:

 

 

I am so worried about forgetting something that I have to have everything stowed away in a binder, labeled...type A personality is sneaking out :)

I've heard that putting the Dossier together is just a exhilarating....


But hubs and I had our individual interviews this past week and we both think they went well! It's always intimidating to reveal your whole life story in front of someone but our social worker is truly great.

Next week we will have our final meeting and then off to editing our home study goes and then off to Taiwan!

We are finishing up loose ends and our 10 hour education/book readings in the meantime.

A celebration is sure to ensue after the home study completion!


Until next time....

Home Study Vist #1

Well friends.....

I am happy to announce we have finished our first home study visit!

WHEW!

 

 

It really wasn't half as bad as I was making it up in my mind. Our social worker was about our age and made us feel really comfortable! Our first visit was actually our home tour, so needless to say I have been a cleaning fool these last couple of days.

 

 

Our crazy weim Porter did offer her his slobbery bone....if that doesn't win her over and automatically give us the gold star of approval, I don't know what will!

 

 

No one can pass up his adorable face :)

 

 

 

 

So onto visit #2 in the next couple of weeks! This is bringing us one step closer to being accepted onto the "official" waiting list for our orphanage!



Announcing

The Hubs and I are very excited to announce we are

 

ADOPTING!!

I initially was not going to blog about this adventure but the more I think about it, I want a place that I can refer back to throughout this journey. I have found that reading about other adoption journeys have been SOO helpful.

We have been praying about this process for about a year. We feel called to international adoption and more importantly the country of Taiwan.

 

 

This country has one of the lowest birth rates and that is because of their astonishing abortion numbers. That is due in large part to the number of un-wed and teenage pregnancies.

 

 

We have been in contact with this particular orphanage and mother's home in Taiwan and until March their waiting list has been closed. We found out in mid-March that we were #18 on their waiting list for an application and since they only work with 20 families at a time, we got one that same day!!

 

They will review our application and home study and then will decide if we are approved to go on their waiting list for a referral.

 

We are currently beginning our home study and will reveal all the wonderful info about the orphanage/mother's home when we are "officially" approved!

 

We are so excited to begin this journey and appreciate your prayers along the way!

 

 

Nicole