One day while we were in the car Jacob suddenly said the entire pledge of allegiance - we were stunned. This isn't something we have worked on, we just say it once a week in AWANAS. We think it is so cute so we thought we would share:
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
a long overdue update
I have to admit that I have been avoiding posting this update. It isn't that we aren't excited with the new direction God is taking our adoption journey but I think that I am still trying to wrap my head around a lot of the changes and some new decisions we need to make. I was also surprised by how "upset" I was when Liberia closed - it's not that we always had our hearts set on that particular country but I hadn't realized that I had really created a picture (fuzzy at it may have been since we didn't know ages or genders) in my head of what our family was going to look like and needed to let go of that and even "morn" that loss.
Anyway, after a lot of prayer we have decided not to wait for Liberia to re-open but instead we will be pursuing a domestic adoption. We are open to any racial/ethnic background so we will most likely be adopting an African American child since this is where the greatest need is. Our agency actually works with an agency out of North Carolina to place African American children so it is also very likely we will adopt from there. Most likely we will be adopting a newborn but occasionally they do have twins, older infants or siblings available. We have been told that this process could move very quickly since the agency in North Carolina currently does not have any families available to take African American children. We have also been told to anticipate one match falling through which means that the birthmother changes her mind and decides to parent. Some families have no referral fall through and occasionally there will be a family that has 2 referrals fall through so they feel it is best to prepare everyone for that possibility.
There are a lot of things we need to figure out now that we didn't have to with an international adoption - what type of relationship we are open to with the birth mother and family, what medical and psychological conditions of the birthparents we are willing to consider and putting together a picture book of our family for the birthparents to look through to pick us. If you know me well you know that I am far more comfortable gathering mounds of official paperwork together to send to another country for an adoption verses putting together a cute picture book about us.
We are really excited about the new path we are on with the domestic adoption and the need that is out there. We are very excited that most likely this means that Jacob will be able to come with us to get his new sibling(s). We are also excited that hopefully the wait will be short.
Well this post seems like it is getting pretty long so I will stop now but we appreciate all the support and prayers being sent our way!
Anyway, after a lot of prayer we have decided not to wait for Liberia to re-open but instead we will be pursuing a domestic adoption. We are open to any racial/ethnic background so we will most likely be adopting an African American child since this is where the greatest need is. Our agency actually works with an agency out of North Carolina to place African American children so it is also very likely we will adopt from there. Most likely we will be adopting a newborn but occasionally they do have twins, older infants or siblings available. We have been told that this process could move very quickly since the agency in North Carolina currently does not have any families available to take African American children. We have also been told to anticipate one match falling through which means that the birthmother changes her mind and decides to parent. Some families have no referral fall through and occasionally there will be a family that has 2 referrals fall through so they feel it is best to prepare everyone for that possibility.
There are a lot of things we need to figure out now that we didn't have to with an international adoption - what type of relationship we are open to with the birth mother and family, what medical and psychological conditions of the birthparents we are willing to consider and putting together a picture book of our family for the birthparents to look through to pick us. If you know me well you know that I am far more comfortable gathering mounds of official paperwork together to send to another country for an adoption verses putting together a cute picture book about us.
We are really excited about the new path we are on with the domestic adoption and the need that is out there. We are very excited that most likely this means that Jacob will be able to come with us to get his new sibling(s). We are also excited that hopefully the wait will be short.
Well this post seems like it is getting pretty long so I will stop now but we appreciate all the support and prayers being sent our way!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Waffle Art
Jacob was eating his waffle this morning and suddenly yelled "Mom, mom, look at my waffle, it looks just like Noah's ark." Sure enough it did look like Noah's ark - too funny. He is now asking for a 2nd waffle and I am wondering if he is going to try to chew/shape it into an animal for the the ark :-) I love his creativity!
Monday, February 16, 2009
The five senses
Here is a story that has nothing to do with adoption but gives you a peek into the type of conversations that go on at our house...
Jacob and I were reading a book about the body (he has been very interested in bones, skin, muscles, etc... lately) and there was a page on the five senses. Here is how the conversation went:
Me "What is that?" (pointing to an eye)
Jacob "an eye"
Me "What do you do with your eyes?"
Jacob "see"
Me "what is that?" (pointing to an ear)
Jacob "an ear"
Me "What do you do with your ears?"
Jacob "listen" (can you tell what we have been working on a lot lately??)
Me "What is that?" (pointing to a nose)
Jacob "a nose"
Me "What do you do with your nose?"
Jacob "pick it" (can you tell what we have been unsuccessfully working on lately??)
I do have to admit, it was hard not to laugh!
Jacob and I were reading a book about the body (he has been very interested in bones, skin, muscles, etc... lately) and there was a page on the five senses. Here is how the conversation went:
Me "What is that?" (pointing to an eye)
Jacob "an eye"
Me "What do you do with your eyes?"
Jacob "see"
Me "what is that?" (pointing to an ear)
Jacob "an ear"
Me "What do you do with your ears?"
Jacob "listen" (can you tell what we have been working on a lot lately??)
Me "What is that?" (pointing to a nose)
Jacob "a nose"
Me "What do you do with your nose?"
Jacob "pick it" (can you tell what we have been unsuccessfully working on lately??)
I do have to admit, it was hard not to laugh!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
No sisters!
We have been having another ongoing discussion around here that always starts with Jacob informing me that he doesn't like girls. He is very adamant about this and absolutely sure he wants a brother and definitely not a sister. When I tell him that God made everyone, even girls, and we like everyone he is not at all convinced and tells me they are yucky. I point out that I am a girl and he says he likes me, then I point out the other girls he likes (grandmas, aunts, cousins) he always proceeds to change the topic at that point.
Last night we were rocking for a few minutes before bed and out of the blue he folded his hands (we had already prayed for the night) and closed his eyes and said "Jesus, please give me a brother and not a girl, please a brother and I will take really good care of him, Amen."
It should be interesting to see how this ends up turning out...
Last night we were rocking for a few minutes before bed and out of the blue he folded his hands (we had already prayed for the night) and closed his eyes and said "Jesus, please give me a brother and not a girl, please a brother and I will take really good care of him, Amen."
It should be interesting to see how this ends up turning out...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Siblings vs. Pets
I have decided to take a little break from focusing on our current situation and thought I would share a funny discussion that has been going on with Jacob regarding the adoption.
A month or so ago we were on our way to the post office to mail some paperwork for the adoption. We started to talk about "brothers and sisters" and I asked him if he thought we were going to get 2 brothers or 2 sisters or 1 brother and 1 sister. He thought for a few seconds and said "how about 2 pandas?". I told him "no, we are not getting 2 pandas". He replied "well how about 2 monkeys?". I informed him that we were not getting two monkeys and that he was enough monkey for us :-)
Just last week we were returning from a play-date at a friend's house and when I asked him how it went he told me about how he and his friend were building something and his friend's little brother kept taking the pieces. I told him that the little brother was just starting to learn how to play with other kids and he needed to help him learn and that when he was a big brother he was going to have to help his "brothers and sisters" learn how to play. In all his three year old seriousness he said "Mom, I'm not going to get brothers and sisters, I am going to get a dog." I told him we were not getting a dog and we were getting brothers and sisters. In all the drama he could muster up he says "I don't want brothers and sisters - I reeeeeeeaaaaaallllly want a dog - Mom can I Pleeeeeaaaaasssssseeeee have a dog?" We then had a discussion about how siblings and pets are not an either or option. He thought about it and said "I know, let's get both!"
A month or so ago we were on our way to the post office to mail some paperwork for the adoption. We started to talk about "brothers and sisters" and I asked him if he thought we were going to get 2 brothers or 2 sisters or 1 brother and 1 sister. He thought for a few seconds and said "how about 2 pandas?". I told him "no, we are not getting 2 pandas". He replied "well how about 2 monkeys?". I informed him that we were not getting two monkeys and that he was enough monkey for us :-)
Just last week we were returning from a play-date at a friend's house and when I asked him how it went he told me about how he and his friend were building something and his friend's little brother kept taking the pieces. I told him that the little brother was just starting to learn how to play with other kids and he needed to help him learn and that when he was a big brother he was going to have to help his "brothers and sisters" learn how to play. In all his three year old seriousness he said "Mom, I'm not going to get brothers and sisters, I am going to get a dog." I told him we were not getting a dog and we were getting brothers and sisters. In all the drama he could muster up he says "I don't want brothers and sisters - I reeeeeeeaaaaaallllly want a dog - Mom can I Pleeeeeaaaaasssssseeeee have a dog?" We then had a discussion about how siblings and pets are not an either or option. He thought about it and said "I know, let's get both!"
Thursday, February 5, 2009
to adopt from Liberia or not to adopt from Liberia - that is the question
We received a call from our social worker late this afternoon to let us know that Liberia has closed international adoptions. They are hoping to reopen the adoption process in 2-3 months but who knows - I wonder if that is what Guatemala said back when they closed. Anyway, we need to make a choice whether we are going to wait for Liberia to open, choose another country or pursue a domestic adoption. The good and bad thing at this point is that we have a lot of options.
Please pray that we would continue to seek God's plan for this journey he has our family on and that he would clearly reveal the path he would like us to take.
Please pray that we would continue to seek God's plan for this journey he has our family on and that he would clearly reveal the path he would like us to take.
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