Ok so I am really REALLY behind in updating my blog.  First of all, the past 3+ months I've been super sick with severe sinus issues and that has really put a damper on the little extras, like this blog.  I'm finally starting to feel human again, but only after 4 rounds of antibiotics, steroids, seeing an ENT specialist, a CT scan of my sinus cavity, and an allergy doctor for good measure!!  Maybe now I can focus on better things to come....like KIDS!

That's right, we should be hearing the pitter patter of little feet VERY soon!  We had our second home study last week, and other than a few last minute things that needed to be done, we sailed through with flying colors!  We just love our case worker, Sue.  She's awesome, and so laid back and easy to talk to.  She stopped out today for a quick walk-through to verify those few little things were done, which they were, so we should be licensed within a couple days!  We could start getting calls for placements anytime after that!  GULP!  Are we ready for this??  YES we are!!!  We're so ready!!  Even Liam is getting excited now that all the paperwork is done, and we're almost at the finish line!  In fact, we're doing Respit for a friend this Saturday and watching her 5 month old triplets all day!!  That should prove to be GREAT practice for us!!!  A baby for each of us!  lol

The process really hasn't been that bad at all.  It's mostly just being patient and waiting on your case worker to process things from their end.  We've been pretty pro-active about things we needed to do, and getting them done in a timely manner.  Considering we started the process February 1st, and today is just May 6th, that's just over 3 months for 36 hours of pre-service classes, home study one and two, fire inspection, medical releases, etc etc.

We've also been so blessed with things that have been donated or loaned to us by friends.  The support from our close friends has been so awesome.  Our families are ok, coming around I think, slowly.  Nothing negative, but the excitement is definitely felt more from our friends.

So that, my friends, in a nutshell is where we're at today.  I will post immediately upon the receipt of our official license!!

....Feeling happy

Wow! So I'm a little overdue in blogging!  How quickly time gets away.  A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks, so I'll try to recap as much as I can remember.  Mostly this blog is for myself.  I wanted to keep track of each small step we take towards expanding our family.  I have a horrible memory, so I thought blogging would be a great way to remember all the little details of how we get to where we're going.  So let's go back a couple weeks.

The last time I updated was the ending of our 4 weeks (but 10 classes) in Richland County.  What an ending it was.  We made some wonderful friends, and one of the girls even started a Facebook page just for our group so we could all keep in contact and monitor one another's progress through this process.  Kudos to Jaimie Bisher!  Well, the following Saturday, which would have been March 1st, we headed up to Chardon, OH (Geauga County) for our final two classes, which ironically were sessions 1 and 2.  We had another great instructor and before we knew it, class was over and what a feeling of accomplishment that was!  We also made some more friends, Halle & Michael.  Best wishes to Halle if she ends up reading this, as she's about to have some major life-changing surgery!  Hope she has a speedy recovery and gets right back on the FC/A train!  We left the following day for Kalahari for 3 days, which was a late birthday celebration for Liam, but in hindsight seemed more like a celebration for so many reasons!  First, yes, celebrating 13 wonderful years that God has blessed me with being mom to the most awesome boy on the planet...and celebrating all we've accomplished in just 4 short weeks. We managed to get 36 hours of preservice classes under our belt in one month!!  Woo Hoo!!!  Not only that, we have a wonderful caseworker that has been pumping out the paperwork throughout our classes, which gave us a jump start on our certification process.  So not only have we completed the preservice classes, but also turned in our application, finished and submitted our 60 page assessments, and got our reference checks sent out and most have been returned that we know of.  This week our goal is to complete some more paperwork that we received, make an appointment to get our cat's vaccinated and up to date on their shots, and the biggest and best news as of late is that our first homestudy is scheduled for next week!!!!  Things are moving right along.  Not to say the rest of the process will be this quick and easy, but I have to say,  I'm a little surprised at how fast and smooth things are moving along.  It's just starting to feel so real!

Last week Jay & I started moving furniture from her upstairs office down to my office, as we're combining the two into one.  So before she could move IN, I had to reorganize my entire space as well.  Saturday we found a great deal on a roll top desk on Craigslist up near Cleveland, so I am the proud owner of beautiful new work space!!!  We got Jay's desk moved down and now she's all organized as well.  FOUR.DAYS.  Four days of hard work, but we have an office that we're both proud of now, and there's plenty of space for both of us in there PLUS a treadmill!!  All that to say that we have a room upstairs now that's ready for a makeover and soon will be waiting for a little person to occupy....hopefully our future daughter.  We went shopping this weekend and priced some cribs and toddler beds, and beddng.  I had forgotten how fun and exciting it is to shop for that stuff.  I have to remind myself not to go overboard.  lol  Things have changed a lot in 13 years and I could easily get sucked in to all the cool, cute stuff out there!!!

So that's it. That's where we are now.  Paperwork this week, homestudy next week.  I'll be sure to keep the blog going as new things happen.  For anyone reading this, please continue to keep us in your prayers, and the child that's out there waiting for a forever home.  I hope she or he knows how hard we're working and praying and anticipating their arrival.  God's got this!!!  :)

Keep in touch!

Wow!  How do I even sum up the ending of our classes today?  Technically we have 2 more classes to make up next Saturday up in Geauga County, but today was our last 2 classes in Richland Co, where we've been attending the past 4 weeks, with a couple Thursdays thrown in for good measure!  Today was a great day of training, as it's all been so informative and we've learned so much.  Our trainer Judy is beyond words.  Her and her husband Jim drive up from Columbus and their story is one of hope, compassion, committment and most of all love.  They love each other and they love what they do.  In the past 20+ years they've fostered 72 children, adopted 4 and have 4 biological kids.  They're a true inspiration, married over 50 years and still going strong.  

Jay & I both were kind of sad to see it end today.  Of course, it's really only just the beginning, but the end of our first step...our first step into this journey.  Something so amazing happened at the end of class today.  As we were closing our books and gathering our pens to pack it up, this one guy Lonnie raised his hand and said for anyone that would like to participate, they would like to gather in the front corner of the room afterwards for prayer.  Oh, but before that, this girl Alicia had suggested we all have a picture taken together with Judy & Jim to place in our life books, "this is where it all began".  So after our group photo, with probably 10 other couples, at least half of us gathered up front and Lonnie prayed for all of us taking the next step, that God continue to lead our paths, protect the lives of those children we're about to touch and also thanking God for good people like Judy & Jim. It was so AMAZING.  You couldn't help but feel the Holy Spirit in that room!  Many of us left with tears in our eyes, but not before we made sure to get everyone's phone number, email and of course FB information.  I get home tonight and I have like 5 new friend requests waiting already!  lol  I think it's so important to have a network of friends that are going through this process with you, down the same path you're going, that can totally understand the joys, and sometimes heartache, of fostering and/or adoption.  

Jay & I left there today feeling even more certain that God is directing our path.


Heavenly Father,
I just want to thank you for connecting us with this wonderful group of people, that we believe you have brought us all together for one purpose.  You teach us to love, Lord, and we feel so certain that you have called us to help save these children...even if it's just once child at a time.  Be with us, Lord, as we continue on this journey, guiding us and giving us the knowledge, the patience and the heart to make a diffence.  Thank you also, Lord, for the work you've done and continue to do in the lives of Judy & Jim Qualls.  Bless each and every one of us and all the children who may cross our paths, along with their birth families.  In your name we pray,
Amen

Moving right along

So I haven't posted in a week or so...this severe sinus infection has really gotten me down and out lately!  A trip to the doctor, 2 antibiotics and any home remedy I can think of...I hope I'm finally on the road to recovery after 3 weeks of this stuff!

Despite the ill feelings about my sinus', I've still been pushing forward with our foster/adoption classes.  We've got 5 more sessions to finish and we'll have all our pre-service classes done!  Things are getting real, folks!  We filled out our application and mailed it this past Monday.  It wasn't too deep, roughly 4 pages of information, plus references and the form for background checks.  The lady we're working with said once she gets the application, then our references get sent out.  She also emailed us two copies of the very.lengthy.questionaire.  WHOA!  It's like 40 pages of pretty in-depth questions!  I think we're going to start on that tomorrow.  It's hard not to get excited during this process because it's like each step we take, we're one step closer to expanding our family.  I can't believe we're actually finally doing this!  And so far the support we've gotten is pretty cool too.  Judy, our trainer, says that's one of the most important things:  to have strong support...even if it's just one person.

Judy, she's amazing!  These classes are amazing!  Jay and I have learned more about parenting in the last few weeks than I have in the past 13 years!

Speaking of which, my "baby" was taken over by a TEENAGER yesterday!!!  A teenager!  I can't believe it!  I think everyone should have to take these parenting classes before even considering having, adopting or fostering children.  I wish I could just go spend an entire week at Judy's house and watch her in action!   Her and her husband Jim have so much knowledge and parenting advice.  They've had 4 biological, adopted 5 and fostered 72 kids over the years!  If there is such a thing as experts on parenting, I'd say this couple fits the mold!

Well, time to get off here and guzzle down some more water!  YUCK!  I wish I were one of those people that just loved water.  I'm not.  Won't ever be.  So until next week, have a great one Peeps!

Well we had our first 2 classes yesterday.  They were AWESOME!  We learned so much already.  We can hardly wait til our next class, which will be this Thursday.  We have 4 classes to make up because we're kind of coming in nearly half-way through.  No biggie.  We'll do one make-up this Thur, another one on the 20th and then we'll just have the first two classes to make up after that.  Honestly, I think anyone even CONSIDERING becoming a parent, whether it be biological or adoption should take these classes.  We learned things we could come home and apply with Liam.  Really makes you see the error of your ways though.  

Another big milestone we achieved this weekend was the "big announcement" to Jay's parents!  Liam had already told my mom last weekend, and surprisingly she took it pretty well.  To our big surprise, Jay's parents did as well.  Whew!  So then Jay came home and posted it on Facebook....so the whole world knows now!!!  lol  

I really feel like God is leading us through this whole process. I feel so peaceful.  So excited.  So hopeful.  I know God's got our back every step of the way!  

We also got a ton of information in the mail from 2 different agencies we had contacted.  It's a little overwhelming...all the information they'll need, the forms, background checks, fingerprints, interviews, home study, fire inspection....it's a lot to all sink in.  When you look at the "big picture" it seems like sooooooo much, but one.step.at.a.time.  Right??

January 31, 2014

I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons.  1) I thought about starting a journal, but I knew I'd never keep up with it because I just hate writing! Typing is so.much.easier. And 2) We are about to embark on the long, emotional journey of adoption and I thought it would be great to have a place to keep track of the process as we go along.  So let's get started...

Adding a second child to our family is something that Jay and I have talked about for probably 7 or 8 years now.  Back in '06 and '07 we actually tried getting pregnant (most people don't know that, so if you already knew, then consider yourself one of only few that we told!) After 7 failed attempts at Artificial Insemination, and spending way more money than we had, we decided to tuck it under the rug and forget about it for a while.  A long while.  But how do you ever really forget??

During the past 4-5 years, we've had a lot of changes in our family.  Some financial, some career changes, job loss, emotional changes, and at one point we found ourselves in a real dark and ugly place.  Luckily, we overcame all those obstacles and here we are on the other side.  Probably about 2 years ago we started revisiting the idea of having another child.  We "talked" about fostering to adopt, but I think we've both been really scared at the thought of a temporary situation. Loving a child and then having to give him/her back to their biological family.  But last Friday, something happened.  Something changed.  I'm not a big believer in coincidence, because I like to believe those are "God Moments".  Well I had one last Friday.  :)

I had to take Liam to the Pediatrician for a trivial matter.  We had the appointment for weeks in advance.  However, a few days before, I realized he was out of one of his medications and needed a new prescription. So when I called them about it, she said we actually needed an appointment for a med check.  So she had to change our original appointment with a nurse to either a physician or physician's assistant.  The P.A. that we saw that day was one we've seen many times before, but this time she said something that sparked a conversation that I would LIKE to believe is about to change our lives! 

Long story short, we started talking about adoption again and talked about it all weekend.  Bless Liam's heart, he is on a new high just thinking about it!  He's so excited!!  So I called a friend that I know has done the foster-to-adopt and is STILL fostering now as well.  She gave me a lot of great information.  So Monday of this week, I started making calls to get more information and find out what we have to do to get the ball rolling. We are SO READY!  

So....our journey begins tomorrow.  We start our certification classes, 2 a day, for the next 4 Saturdays.  Then after that we'll have 4 more to make up.  We're coming in to the program a little late, but luckily we don't have to take the classes in order.  Also, we can take them in any county, so this next month will be in Richland, and we'll have to schedule the last 4 somewhere else.  

We haven't decided yet which county we'll get certified in, but that's something we'll probably talk about in the next few weeks.  

Elated.  I can't put in any other word that better describes how we're all feeling as a family right now.  

Let the journey begin.