Game night with Grandma and Grandpa

We had such a wonderful visit!

Waiting... and preparing

We are now waiting for our homestudy to be updated before our agency begins sending our information to other agencies so we can find a baby.  This process could be super fast, we could be bringing a baby home within months since we are requesting a baby that would more likely be placed in foster care.  There is also a possibility that this could take much longer, adoption carries so many unknowns.  Right now I am trying to get us as ready as I can in case we are placed with a baby soon.  I will start school with the kids on August 1st so we can take a few weeks off in the fall if we need it.  We will see what God has for us in the next few months.  My arms are aching to hold our sweet baby boy and my heart is thrilled that this waiting may be nearing an end.

Domestic Adoption

Well, it has been a while since I have given an adoption update because so much has been changing.  There have been some big decisions to make in the past few weeks.  The precious little baby boy from Ukraine that we had been praying about and our agency has searched for has been taken off of international waiting lists because of the change in laws prohibiting the adoption of children under 5, with only a few severe special needs as exceptions.  Because we were planning on adopting a child under 3, the Ukraine is no longer an option for us.  This has been a sad realization, as there are many needy babies.

We have prayed and researched international adoption from over 20 different countries and we either did not meet the country requirements or they did not meet our requirements. We still want to rescue an orphan, but we have changed our focus closer to home.  We are now redoing our homestudy for a domestic adoption.  One day we would love to bring a child out of an orphanage again, but for this season we believe God has closed those doors for a good reason and opened our hearts to a baby here in the US.  We are requesting a child of any race except Caucasian.  Kayla has recently learned her colors and tells me that she is black and I am white.  I had hoped for many years before she was even aware of the difference in color.  This adds to the joy we are feeling at the opportunity to adopt a child with darker skin.  Having a multi cultural/racial family has been a desire of ours since bringing Kayla home.  We are also requesting a baby if possible; a personal desire of mine has been to have one more baby.  A drug exposed baby or baby with a special need are also on our list of desires.  We want to bring home a child that is not easy to place in a family.  These changes are huge and God has been giving us wisdom, grace, and joy even as we let go of some of our own plans and embrace the direction that God is giving us.

Tea party