Birthdays, Move Days, and Christmas Days!

We are officially three days away from the big forever move home day. In some moments it feels as though just yesterday I was emailed our transition schedule and wondered how in the world we would make it two months and then it feels as though the time has flown by. We have perfected working through our four days to get to him coming home in warp speed. Each weekend has been a new learning experiencing and more moments that we fall even more in love with V.

Already our lives have been so different and so amazing because of him. Our "honeymoon" phase is just about over and the word no comes a little more often and grumpy pants are put on, but for anyone who has adopted you know that feeling of just breathing. The grumpy moments are when we really focus on being a family and not being on eggshells. When it is 5:30 am and I beg for him to watch Sprout so that mama can close her eyes for a few more moments, it feels real.

This past Friday I had the pleasure of turning 30. I always said that if I was not a mother by 30 that I was just going to give up the dream and make a very big radical life move and take off to somewhere. Little did I ever know that on my birthday I would walk up to the door and there would be my husband and son. Matt did an amazing job of not only having V armed with flowers and a card, but also my birthday present in his pocket. Let me tell you all that he could have had pocket lint to hand me and in the moment it would have been gold.

As our move in date approaches we get to do so many 1sts as a family. Putting up a Christmas tree, cooking dinners together, Christmas shopping, lots of movie snuggling time and V meeting our families. Being parents around our friends and family has been really beautiful. On Friday morning when we pick up our son for that final transitioning moment he will be meeting my mother for the first time. I can only imagine that she will be just as nervous as we were that first time. Then V will shine those big brown eyes at her and she will melt.

People tell us that we saved his life and the truth of the matter is that he saved ours. There is no present and no moment that will be an more important then those times that he yells for Mama!!!! down the hall or when Daddy comes to the door and his laughter turns to babble from excitement. Our child is our blessing and this holiday we hope that everyone else finds just as much joy as we have.

Adventures in learning a new kind of fun.

The time is moving along with the holidays, visits and getting settled into life as a new family. V is doing so fantastic that at times we wonder if we have to pitch ourselves to wake up. There are the normal moments that he doesn't want to listen or we are tried, but we certainly cannot complain. V is a very curious little guy. There has not been a single interaction that he has not totally embraced. He got to meet my high school friend/brother and managed to easily melt his heart right away. Uncle Jed (inside family joke) brought him  a couple of new cars and that night we got to put him to bed while he clutched the cars in his hands. Our little boy is busy, happy,always hungry and above all the biggest part of our life.

Last night we had a winter parade in town and decided that we would bundle up and head down to the Main St of town and watch the parade. It was another one of those moments that made me realize that we had to learn how to have fun in the way that V could be comfortable with. When the people and noise became too much he would go back on the sidewalk with daddy and play cars. It was a big difference from Q, who loves to be right in the middle of the action. When I used to picture what our child would be like, I had this rosy view of a child who was super outgoing and wanted to try everything. It is amazing to me how wrong and right I was all at the same time. V is outgoing but he needs his time to decide for how long and he wants to try new things but he needs to know it will be structured.

We are now 20 days away from this official move home and we could not be happier. It was really exciting for V to meet Matt's mom, sister and her children. He was so comfortable right away with everyone. It took him no time at all to run around and want everyone to hold him. Now we will be moving along to Christmas. We were very excited to do shopping for him and are sooo excited to see him come down the stairs on Christmas morning.

All and all there are no complaints here and we are all settling into our new roles well. Soon we are hoping that everyone will get to meet our little guy!

Adventures in hugs.

Today we went to the mall to see Clifford and Santa. This did not go the way I envisioned. So instead of going on and on about how I had hoped for a different event I will say what I'm grateful that it has taught me. I am blessed because even though my son was over-stimulated and tuned into his mama being upset with other people, he needed me to feel safe and happy again. It doesn't matter that he did not have any desire to dance along or even sit in the seat. What matters is that by the end of the day he is happy and giggling.

After we left the mall we went to visit daddy. When we got close to his work he started saying Daddy Work! over and over. Seeing his joy when he is with my husband makes all the difference in the world. We are a family and that means we stay beside each other. I have lots to learn and every new experience is a way for us to figure out what we all need to get through the day.

We are so lucky to be with this beautiful boy and that is more important then people not understanding us or him. In fact all we can do is pray for the people who are not as blessed as we are.

Adventures in love

Love is a word that we throw around with not much thought about what it can mean to another person. Loving a a child in the way of being a parent is more overwhelming then any love I have ever felt. Without a shadow of a doubt I love my family and my husband, yet somehow this feels much different. It is truly perfect and terrifying to have this sense of concern, happiness and hope for a little person.

On Friday morning we picked up little guy and drove back home. I think in some ways we were both nervous because we wanted him to be comfortable and enjoy his time home with us. Auntie T called and was ready for us to make it home so that she and Q could come over and meet him for the first time. I hoped the dogs did not drive him insane and that he would like his room. Instantly he burst into the house and was immediately comfortable. He loved his room and the cars stuff that we had picked out from the store with him the Saturday before.

We all settled in and took it pretty easy for the weekend. Playing at the park, going to the store, cooking dinner and all of the normal stuff that a family does. That is when it clicked with me, we were doing the normal stuff. Being a family felt right. Watching my husband respond to someone yelling Daddy to play, melted my heart in a million different ways.

Yesterday we had to take him back in the morning and it about ripped my heart out of my chest. We kept happy faces and did everything possible to make it a happy pass off. Everyone is trying to be encouraging and remind us that he will be home soon. The closest that I can explain is that imagine that you go to the hospital, give birth, spend three day and then are told you need to leave and can come back and do the same in four days. It hurts. We are doing our very to make this transition home to be everything it should and to pace.
Praying for an early move home. Not being a family during the 4 days of the middle of the week is hard, but we are remembering that we are a family.

All of the adventures of catching up!

It seems as though the blog has taken a back seat to all of our new schedules. I will try my best to start from the very beginning. That beginning comes with meeting our son. There are still not appropriate words to explain it all.


Day 1:
We drive and drive and finally arrive to the venue in which we would be meeting V for the first time. As the car pulls up it was hard to even breathe. So many thoughts started racing from what if he doesn't like us to what if I (Brandy) cry like a baby. We met with his FCM and she was just excited as we were to finally have this meeting take place. Then pulls up the car with our son happily in the back seat. It truly was love from sight one. He ran straight to the FCM and had a huge hug. Then they walked over to us and we got to finally see our little guy. Suddenly all of the racing thoughts went away and the world started moving around this amazing human. We all went and chatted for a few moments and then we got to take him off by ourselves. To say that V was loving and responsive feels completely short of how amazingly we all moved with each other. We started reading some books and he kept holding Matt's hand and giggling with me. This day could have gone on forever with no complaints from us. The hour raced by and then it was time to go because V had school. As we were leaving we took our first family photo. There are few things in this world that truly have a ton of importance to me but let me tell you that picture will be treasured.


Day 2: Thankfully we got to go back the second day because day one was a short visit. This was roughly a two hour visit in a play area of a fast food place. V ate like a growing guy and had no problems letting us help him when he needed it. We played and played. As he was crawling around the tunnels with Matt he would just giggle . I went to talk with his foster mom and let Matt have some Dad and V time. She was really great with information that will help us with the transition and just generally stuff about him. I, then learned that during daddy time, Matt thought it was a good idea to teach V to go head first down the slide. I'm going to have to remember to not think about what goes on during dad time. Again, just like the first visit our time ended very quickly and they were off.


There are many ups and downs that come with adopting. While we have been blessed from minute one to work with really great people, it still takes twists and turns. This past Monday we had a visit scheduled but due to some unforeseen conflicts did not get to visit. It is hard to miss the time but we have to be patient that the day is going to come very soon that he will be home forever. This Saturday we will get to spend our first whole day with just the three of us! We are of course a bit nervous because we want it to go well and want to know that we can meet all of us his needs. 


Part of journey in parenting V will be helping him achieve everything that he can go grow and become. Due to the fact that he is moderately verbal it is going to present us with finding many different ways for him and us to communicate. It is scary and exciting. No matter what happens we know that we are going to go through it all together and that this little person is the perfect fit to our family. 


While trying to decide what we need in order to have our lives ready became the decision of what our work schedules are going to mean for V. After many discussions we have decided that I will be staying home. It will mean that we have to be a little bit tighter with finances but honestly it is the best for all of us. I will continue to finish my degree and be able to enjoy the day to day moments with our son. We are really lucky that Matt works with a great company that will be flexible in allowing him to be an active dad. Truly at this moment it feels as though our dreams are really coming true.

Schedules, names and driving.

You may be wondering what our latest news is with the insanity that is our lives. We are happy to announce that the news is really fantastic. Yesterday we were lucky enough to receive our visitation schedule and it is way better then we could have ever expected. As long as everything goes smoothly and our weekend visits go without a major hitch little V is set to move home on Dec. 23. Talk about an amazing Christmas present for both of us. The schedule includes lots of hanging out for short times and then a mix of really long weekends until the move in date. For the first time in many years I cannot wait for Christmas to get here because we will have our child to share it with. We are all crossing our fingers that there is some cousin love ahead and not a disaster zone:)


I was thinking a lot about V's name and how we stressed and stressed about how we wanted to be able to name our child. Let me tell you folks that when you are adopting and you see the picture or get the call that you are chosen to be parents, the last thing that matters is the name. In some ways we are lucky because we actual like his name though it could not be farther from something we would have actually chosen. Our plan is to give him a new middle name and big shocker it will be after Matt. All and in all the sadness about naming V suddenly went away. We may never find a cup with his name on it or souvenirs from family trips but it fits him.


One last big thing that I have been thinking about is the amount of driving that we will be doing during our visits. We really need to come up with some way to not let these hours go by without still being some sort of bonding time. The problem being that I get crazy car sick after awhile and will not be much of fun mom in the car. So if anyone has fun car games that do not involve reading in the car, we are all up for suggestions:) Keep in mind he is five. We may resort to the DVD player if he totally hates it. So please send along your wonderful ideas.

Wordless Wednesday

A wonderful lady named Katie who also blogs does an occasional Wordless Wednesday and because I think  it is a wonderful idea,I will start doing the same. So here goes!

Our Son.

This is not something that we are used to saying AT ALL. I am waiting for the moment that we say our son and V is right beside us. Everything is new, exciting and scary. If all works out as planned we should be meeting V later this week. We cannot even explain how much we want to just sit in the same room with him and hear him play and watch him move around. Every time that I walk down the hallway upstairs I think about how the room at the end of the hall is now the room for our son.


I truly understand how when people become parents all of the things that seemed so big and worrisome no longer matter. When Ms. M told us that we had been chosen for V, my whole life just shifted. When we are making decisions it is  with the goal of how it will affect life with the little guy. Our biggest joy will be introducing him to his family and friends.


Telesa and I went to Babies R Us to start a registry because we have been asked by folks if we will register somewhere for gifts. I started crying as we were filling out the papers because this was something that I had in some ways convinced myself would never happen. It was such a blessing to be able to just scan for an ear thermometer. As you can imagine Telesa was horrified that my tears would not stop flowing. I just kindly reminded her that she had a few pyscho moments in Babies R Us when she was pregnant with Q.


I cannot wait to tell everyone about how our visit goes and what it is going to be like to go through these holidays as parents. When I think about how adoption is different it makes me think of a few things that are just amazing and they go like this:


1. I do not have to wait 9mths to meet my son.
2. I do not have to go through labor and Matt gets to avoid the hospital.
3. Our child will always be able to know that we chose him and the world chose us to find him.
4. That he will come with an amazing foster family that will be extended family to us.


Oh, there are a tons of reasons why I cannot be happier about adoption but those are the big ones. Who knows the way our family will grow but one thing we know for sure is that our hearts are bursting with love and excitement for V.

Blogging through tears.

Okay, so first I have to say that the comments,phone calls and texts mean the world. Thank you for all of the love that is being sent our way. At this moment there are so many emotions that take place and are impossible to really explain in a way that makes any of you feel the extent of our happiness. I can only imagine that this is how most of the parents reading this felt at the first ultrasound that was during the safe time. 


All I have ever wanted in life is to be a mom. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be the person that was able to be there and help a little person grow and learn. The older I got and the struggles that I went through with fertility made that dream feel so far out of reach. Part of my "growing up goals" included being a mom before 30. As the months of been clicking along, I did not think it was going to happen. Turns out I was very wrong. 


So now there is the whats next question...and that is a little tricky because there are all kinds of laws for the protection of the child's privacy, our privacy and that of the foster family. So to start we will go and meet V next week and then we start regular visits. When those are going well then we will get an overnight. Our hope is that he transitions well enough to move home at winter break.


After he is with us for five months then we can petition the court to adopt him. To clear up any worries now he is being placed as an adoption placement. Mostly that part is just all of the legal changes of an adopted child. 


The important part is that we get to meet him  and play with him and establish a relationship that brews in your heart the second you learn about them. We are going to be parents!! I am pretty sure that the hearing the word mom and dad is going to make me cry for a few days at very least.




Here are the things we have learned so far:
1. He is five.
2. He loves all things with wheels.
3. He is great eater and not picky (thank goodness)
4. The school bus is the highlight of the day.
5. That he will be the most important part of our universe.


Life is full of blessings.

THE CALL!

We got the call!!! At this point I am so not able to put in to words the joy that we are experiencing when I say that we got the call to find out that we are going to to be parents to V! We will meet our son next week and start the process of transitioning to come home. When my brain can understand what just happened I will post something with more words.

At this point Matt and I are happy to announce that we have been given the blessing of being parents to V.

Adventures of trying to breathe...

Another day has passed with no word. Though the one word that we keep hearing from everyone is to just breathe. If only it was truly that simple. I am breathing is what I want to say...it is just some times really fast and then other times it may take a moment due to lack of focus. The anticipation of joy is mixed with the fear that maybe they will not realize how much we could love little V. 


I am grateful that we have Ms. M to help navigate the time delays and is willing to say things like "yank the chain" of people who should be responding. None of this can fast enough. Even when the  call comes that we are matched it will all still will be waiting. Waiting to meet him..waiting to visit...waiting for the first overnight...waiting for him to come home. Those are the good waits. Waiting for a yes or no about a child we are dreaming about is the terrible wait. 


I really want this blog to not just be us complaining about the wait or reminding everyone that we are waiting, so with that being said we will share some of hopes for the upcoming future and things we are looking forward to when our child/children come home.


1. I am really excited to have a car seat in my car. (Yes, I know this is a weird thing to state, but looking in our backseat now that has perfect upholstery is another sign that it is just the two of us)


2. We are excited about having a little person that wants to go to the park and snuggle on the couch at the end of the night. (Again, we realize these moments will be few and far in between)


3. One thing we always worry about is how our furkids are going to do with the new kids. So far the cats are going for the win. Ziggy has allowed Q to lay on him and not even scratch. The dogs are not doing so hot. Bogart barks non stop and Keiichi just bites (thank goodness he has no teeth). Our dogs have been our children so we really hope that they adjust to having children all of the time and love them, well eventually.


These are just a few things that come to mind. As for now I will jump every time the phone rings and wonder if it is THE CALL or get excited when my phone tells me that a new email is coming.


Thank you to everyone that is being so supportive and loving through all of this. I know that we have been terrible about returning phone calls, mailing packages or generally keeping up. The time has a way of getting away from us even if it isn't as fast we want. So thanks for the love and patience.

Waiting for V

For this post I feel like the title says it all. We are waiting for V. On Friday was our formal meeting that turned out to be somewhat informal. It only ended up being six of us and it was really great to learn more about this amazing little guy. We were able to see an updated picture and get to hear all about his day to day life. There is a really great chance that this could be our child. When we walked out of the interview I knew in my heart that we would be great parents for him.

It is a blessing that he was placed in such an amazing family that has done incredibly work for him. He has come so far from where he started. We are on the phone call stand by for the next four days. His caseworker is due to call by the end of the week to let us know if we are going to be parents. There are not words to really explain how we are feeling right now.

As soon as the word comes we will pass it along! All thoughts and prayers fully appreciated.

On the eve of our second formal interview...

Tomorrow morning we will wake up at 5 am and get dressed to drive a bit away from home to interview for V. Right now though our house is incredibly loud with the American League Playoffs and a husband who does not want a word said in fear of missing something in the game.

When I arrived home from a day at work, it was amazing to see that Matt had taken the time to do all of the yard work and decorate for Halloween. The funny thing is that this morning before I left for work, I was thinking about how we had not put anything up for a favorite holiday. Then I walk into the house and smell something wonderful..that turned out to be roasted duck and veggies in the oven. Seriously I could not have been more shocked or happy. It is the little moments like this that I am really overwhelmed with the things I have to be grateful for.

So the interview will start at 9 tomorrow and there is a possibility that we could have the answer on if we are chosen for V by the end of the evening. We are probably every emotion that you can imagine. There was positive feedback from our interview with M and M. We learned that it will be a few weeks before the give the final decision but that they were impressed with us. Funny how something that small was enough to bring extreme joy and faith that we are making the right steps for our family.

Tonight I finished the photobook that many of you have heard about me talking about on my facebook. When we were not set to interview and we had no idea what children could possibly come to our home, I struggled with finishing the project. It became so much easier when I thought about wanting to show M and M or even V what their life would be like. I cannot even imagine how overwhelmed we will be when the final call comes in and we become parents.

Until that call it is more uncomfortable clothes, interviews that feel all kinds of strange and lots of waiting.

Oh and a small taste of our night time Halloween house. Wouldn't it be lovely to bring home the newest little family member to this:

Adventures in figuring it all out.

Explaining how these processes take place and how they change us each time is becoming harder and harder. For every moment that something positive happens, we then take a step back and have to analyze every moment. When I was sitting down with my sister it was hard to find the words that can explain how the start from inquiring to interviewing really feels. So here is what I can came up with:

When you are looking to buy a new house it starts with a website of pictures (ours is very similar because the children are listed on a site). You then read the description of the house and you keep in mind that it is telling you all of the wonderful things for you (our is similar because we got a small blurb on the children of positives). Then you view the home and get a bit more info (this comes in a form of a social summary for us that has a bit more information about the child and their history). At this point you either go ahead and start the purchasing process (Adoption) and all of the steps that follow. So when you put in the offer the agent suggests a home inspection (This would be a our formal interview). The home inspection reveals that your homes foundation is cracked (This is where we learn all of the severe issues that may present with the children that they do not tell in the initial levels). After the inspection you negotiate what you need to help fix the foundation (This is where it may be hard to follow, but we will negotiate for what levels of support and state care that will stay with our children). When you are done with inspections, it comes to the final decision of purchasing the home (Will we finally adopt these children).

So after all of that which was much quicker in person I promise, it leaves us where we are now. If we are chosen for M and M we have to make the final decision on if we are the right parents to give these amazing children everything they need to grow. It is not an easy decision and one that we have to make with and without our hearts. In the end we want everything to be perfect for them. What is truly hard about this process is that we have to decided we want to be their parents before we even know if the people in charge of their future agree. 

I have to admit that we are really trying our best to figure it out and we are still waiting to hear what the council will have to say. We are grateful for the chance to interview and even be considered for this little guys. Hopefully soon we should have some answers from all of us. October 7th is our formal interview for V. So lots for me to come in our ever growing lives.

Interview Number Two!

This is not going to be a full post. We drove and drove and drove today to make it to our first official interview. It was all the things we thought it would be and none at the same time. It was a panel and everyone was watching our every move and answer. It seems as though they liked us and that overall we made a good impression. There is no official answers yet. They have a few more interviews and then will let everyone know.
Matt and I have a lot to think about and decide on what is best for us.

All and all it was a great experience and has shown me that we are blessed in many ways. I promise to explain more later but my brain is full and I have lots to figure out.

Interview Number One!

Today we survived our very first adoption interview. To say that nerves were all kinds of tight before it happened would be a HUGE understatement. I tend to panic before a major event and even more so if the event is really important. All I can say is thank goodness for my husband and sister. Our house was tip top clean and all of the candles were burning. The animals had been given the speech of be on your best behavior. Let me tell you that the cats hammed it up. Then came the time for our amazing licensing worker to come and then the caseworker for V. The purpose of today was to have an informal visit. 


M (the caseworker) was really nice and easy to talk to right away. Matt started the interview answering questions. I was thrown for a loop and loved it right away! We all sat in the living room and chatted about all sorts of things. It was a great time to learn more about V and what he is like.Because we are not his adopted parents I will keep the details very short, but we learned that he is a happy growing child. All we can hope for is the chance to become his forever parents.


So as most of you may be wondering...WHAT NOW? That is still undecided. We will go on October 7th for the formal interview with everyone important to his life and then after that date we will know if they decided that we are the right parents for him.


We are in weird limbo for another week of knowing what our lives will become. Tomorrow is our very first formal interview for sibling group M and M. No matter what outcomes may take place we know that without a doubt we will be parents and that was our goal from the very start. Without a single second thought we would have not made it here without everyone's support and love.


With that little peek into our day all we can really say is that we are closer and closer, just not there yet. Everything is looking really positive!

Our baking night.

Most of the times you can find me being a pretty grateful wife to my husband. Other times you can find me being somewhat mushy. Tonight is a somewhat mushy. I will admit ahead of time that my husband is not a lots of words, touchy feely type person...but...right now as I type this, he is baking cookies for a Children's Miracle Network bake sale for his work tomorrow. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with gratitude that my partner is willing to do anything to provide for his family and to care about others.


We are really excited for the upcoming week because it is a step for the changes that will be coming. On the 29th we have an informal visit with V's caseworker. Basically she will come to the house and chat with us. That will follow by October 7th of a formal interview. This means that we will sit with a panel of all of the people important to V and they will decide if we are the right pick. That means by October 9th-ish, we will know if we have been chose to parent V. 


While all that is going on we will interview for M and M on the 30th! It all feels like a ton but we are constantly reminding ourselves to breathe. As the interview days approach I will be cleaning every surface over and over. I may go crazy once or twice about our interview clothes. My wonderful friend Erin can attest to the fact that I have already started being crazy worried about the clothes. She gave me some great advice of avoiding the twin set and pearls:)


As the insanity of interviewing and transitioning begins, I will remind myself that my life can be as calm and happy as it is right now. Okay, maybe not always this calm, but at very least just as blessed. 


My last add on for this post is a couple of photos that I found on a great website called www.pinterest.com.

Adventures in sore throats and cartoons.

I have to admit that last night was not the shining example of how I plan on parenting. There in lies the problem that I should probably toss any "plan" of parenting and just go with it. My nephew Q has a wonderful way of being the center of  lives when he is around. He managed to get a cold and then as most children are amazing at doing send along his cold to his dad, mom and aunt. Of course for me any cold turns into strep. My tonsils have been on fire but knock on wood no where near as bad as they normally get.

You may be asking yourselves what any of this has to do with my parenting plans. Telesa wanted to attend a bachelorette party of a childhood friend last night and we got to spend the night with Q. I am a fan of co-sleeping and it had always been part of the "plan"...though I am jumping ahead of myself. Last night I was the furthest I could possible be from fun and playing Aunt Brandy, so we went to bed and watched lots and lots of tv. I even broke down and let us fall asleep to spongebob. See where I am going with this yet? Moving along to the finally falling asleep part and then into co-sleeping. WOW! does this kid move. It brought back all of the memories that I have stored away of sleeping with Telesa and being kicked and punched ALL night long. Finally at 5:45 this morning when Matt got up for work, we pushed the bed against the wall and passed out. By 6 am I had decided that maybe I hated co-sleeping with a passion. Thankfully by 10:00 when we woke up comfortably I loved it again.

Here is a picture of Quentin helping his Uncle Matt cook! The mixer happens to the funniest thing in the universe.

I am a big planner. I like to map out everything. I think this may be convenient seeing as that my husband is much the same way. Though if Q shows us anything it is that we have to get over that and FAST. So what that we let him watch a ton of TV and that he kept us up all night sleeping sideways. He is a really happy kid with parents who love him and family that could not imagine time without him. That is really the only plan that is important with whatever children become our "forever children". We want them to feel loved and secure, even if it goes against my plan.


Update Adoption News!
We have great news coming up on the horizon for adoption. After receiving and email from a caseworker we learned that people were trying to contact us via the house phone. We had totally forgotten that we had a house phone and rushed downstairs to plug it in. There were multiple calls for interviews!!! On the 29th of this month we will have an in home interview for a 5 year old named V and then on the 30th an interview for two boys M and M. It looks as though when it rains it pours and we are going to be blessed with our plan free family hopefully by the end of the year.

Until next time!

Adventures in moving no.1

What is new in the Owen world...well lots really. On Monday we received another email asking if we would like to interview for a little a boy V who is 5. It is really exciting to think that we are moving forward slowly but surely towards being parents. After reading the limited information about V we have decided that we wanted to be in the interview group for him.


I never in my life thought we could get so excited over something like an email that asks if we even want to interview for a child. There are no dates set as of yet, but we are anxiously anticipating the call/email for the next steps.




The other big news/ change is that we have decided to move. This is not one of my classic moves that involve going somewhere far. We will still in the same city and just downsizing a little. Like most families when you find out that you are expecting, it becomes a time to prepare your home, finances and life in general. Because the majority of the children that we are considering have special needs, we want to be able to make their lives incredible. I have always wanted to stay home and raise children. The way we currently live is without a doubt like two people with no children and time on our hands. We have not decided on a new place but will be looking starting tomorrow. 


Lots of changes going on and most of them are positive. It is very easy to get tied down into the technical parts of life that we forget to enjoy the moments in between. Our hope is that the plan of downsizing gives us a chance to reconnect more to each other and less to the outside interference's. We have incredible family and friends, with that being said, we would like more time with all of you. So wish us luck as we scale it back and grow all at the same time.

Adventures in more and more waiting.....

We return to the land of waiting. This is a land that we have much experience in as of lately. I was reading a forum the other day of other foster/adopt parents and one lady talked about how she felt as though she was the person who cried baby instead of wolf. Trust me when I say that we are always on that verge and it seems like something is going to finally follow through and then something changes. When we found out about the boys it seemed like maybe it was finally happening and now we are just doing more waiting.

While we are trying our best to be patient it gets harder with each passing day. You begin to wonder if another home has been found and no one is telling you or if you have sent enough emails or made enough requests without being pushy. In the end all you can do is follow your heart and do everything that you can to make sure your voice is heard.

This may lead some of you to wonder what the point of the post is today and well I am feeling a bit rambling so there is not much of one. Other then to say that we are still waiting. The day is going to come that we will get the phone call that "our children" are ready to come home and be a family. Until that day we dream about what it will be like and how we are so ready to hear the words Mom and Dad yelled through the hallway. I know the right children are out there and all we can do is pray for the patience to wait and breathe somewhere along the way.

31st Birthday Celebration Adventure!

Today around our house is the celebration of the worlds best husband (well, for me at least). The day started with Telesa and Q making breakfast. Then on to an uninterrupted 3 hours of White Sox baseball. The gifts have been opened and let me tell you that gift giving in this house is a combination of all things strange. I can only hope that any children that we become the parents of can appreciate how we do gift giving in this house. Matt was the happy recipient of a collector JFK plate (He is really into JFK stuff. I admit I don't get it), an antique mushroom cookie jar, and old postcards of Colorado. See I told you it was strange.

Matt is pretty much set on ignoring that a birthday is here. It is not because he is in denial about his age, but more that he does not really see the big deal for birthday celebrations. I have to say now that he will be in for a big surprise when we have children and how nuts birthday time can become.

I know that most wives think their husbands are the best. I can easily say that I am really blessed to have Matt for a husband and someday to be lucky enough to be a parent with him. Yes, he can be shy and awkward but he has a heart of gold. I am blessed to celebrate the birth of a man who stands right beside me and loves me unconditionally. It is not every day that you find someone who is willing to be your partner no matter what. As I think about how exciting it will be to get ready for a birthday for either of us with our children, it warms me to my very being to know that Matt will embrace the family we make and never look down on me for not giving birth to our family.

So with all of my long winded typing it comes down to HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!

Adventure in Waiting!

Let me start by telling you that every moment that takes place when you are adopting is not just a bunch of new and exciting moments. When you are waiting to be placed it can seem as though the minutes are dragging into days and the days are dragging into months. That is certainly an overstatement but there are times that it feels that way. We are constantly told by people to "enjoy" this time that we have before we have children. Here's the deal folks, Matt will be 31 tomorrow and I will be 30 in December, we have had a our fill of life without children.


The goal is not to be negative so now I get to find three things to tell everyone that shows how positive waiting for the phone call can be. 1. We get a few more days of sleeping in. Everyone knows that me (Brandy) loves to sleep at all times. 2. Matt gets to finish this baseball season with minimal interruption. 3. The library does not yet know us as the family that is ALWAYS there with their children.


See I did it!


As for an update on the boys I'm sad to say there really is not much of one. We know that we are still being considered and that the interviews should come sometime in the near-ish future. Matt is away for the next day and 1/2 with a business meeting and I will be right here waiting for that moment of phone call happiness. Until then more adventures to come.

Adventure no.1

Here we are in the middle of what seems like the longest and shortest adventure we have taken on so far. In just a few more days Matt will be celebrating is 31st birthday and it is one more birthday closer to us being parents. When we decided to adopt we had no idea what it would look like or how it would grow. There are a thousand and one decisions that have to be made in the start and that is including where your children will come from, what age they will be and sixteen thousand other parts.

Then as in the way of all things with this crazy adoption journey we get thrown a curve ball. On Monday we received an email from our amazing caseworker with a request from the SNAP worker. (At some point I will make a post that explains who all of these people are in the adoption world). There are two little boys 3 and 5 who have been diagnosed with Fragile X. The SNAP person asked for us and Ms. M (our caseworker) told us to educate ourselves on Fragile X before we decide to pursue.

One email turned the whole picture of "our children" into something utterly new and somewhat scary. Now we are asking the questions of what happens when the children get to this point or that point. In all honesty we had never heard of FX before this email and it lead to the worlds longest night of research about something total foreign to us both. Here is a link for anyone who is curious. Even if these little boys do not become our forever children, we are both more educated and realize that this is a disorder that needs much more exposure. The link is www.fragilex.org.

So at this point you may be wondering where in the world we go from here. That is part of the fun of the foster-adopt system. It speeds up and slows down with incredible speed. We will wait to hear back from the caseworker and then ask questions. After the questions comes an interview. (More on that crazy step to come.)

We may never actually get to parent these amazing little guys. But our hearts hope that we get the chance.