Application Complete!

I'm a few days behind on posting this, but there has been a lot going on lately.  In my last post, I said we had to complete a 55 page application. If only it ended up being that easy.  After we really started reading the application we realized it involved much more. We had to read 400 pages of curriculum and turn in 130 pages of paperwork including things like autobiographies, questionnaires, and letters from our doctors.  The whole process took us 12 days. Then finally it was finished and Mike submitted what felt like our entire life stories to the agency on March 15th.  We were both so excited that we forgot the part of having to pay them to begin our home study and had to go back the next day to deliver the check.  When Mike turned it in they said they would look over it and once they had everything they would call us about scheduling our interviews and that this could take 4-6 weeks or be sooner, depending on the social worker's schedule.  Did these people not understand that I am almost to my breaking point when it comes to waiting?  I knew they would be working on our home study and that our interviews were only a portion of what all happened during the process, but it killed me to think I wouldn't be doing anything.  I realized I had to let go and couldn't be in control of every step of this process.  I had to trust God, his plan, and the wonderful people working on our home study.  I was pleasantly surprised Sunday when I started receiving texts from our references saying that their instruction letter came on Saturday and they were beginning to write their letters, only 2 days after turning in the application!!  So now we wait until we get the call from the agency scheduling our interviews and home visit.

We Have an Agency!

Since my first post, Mike and I have spent a lot of time searching and praying for the right adoption agency to use.  I'm very happy to say that we've made the decision!  We met with harmony adoptions yesterday and everything just seemed right from the beginning, kind of like God was saying this is it.  We haven't had such a good feeling with any of the other agencies we have contacted.  In the middle of our meeting I looked up at a bulletin board covered with photos and cards of children they had placed with families and the first picture I saw was the sweet little girl of a friend.  It was very comforting to see this and hear how much the person we were meeting with remembered the family.  Now the next step is to complete the application packet.  I haven't looked at all of it, but I've never been this excited to complete about 55 pages of paper work! So excited I actually took a picture of it, I know that is pretty cheesy, but what can I say.  

So it begins...

As you may, or may not know Mike and I have been dealing with infertility for the past couple of years and have decided to begin a journey toward adoption.  We thought it would be a good idea to create a blog not only so that our family and friends can keep up with what is going on, but also as a great way to look back over this entire journey.  We made the decision over the summer that adoption was something God was leading us to do, regardless of whether or not we had a child on our own.  Around the same time we made this decision I was referred to a new RE (reproductive endocrinologist) who had a new plan for treatments.  We weren’t quite ready to give up on trying to conceive, but unfortunately could not afford to do the treatments and begin the adoption process at the same time.  We decided to temporarily put off beginning the adoption process.  The last several months have been the most difficult (and expensive) time in our lives.  We decided after our last treatment that we would not continue.  As difficult as it has been, I do want to say that I wouldn’t change it.  I feel as though we as individuals and our relationship have grown so much from this situation. 

We are more than excited for the next journey in our lives and beginning the adoption process.  We have decided to adopt domestically.  We plan on doing a lot of research to find different agencies that we might be interested in.  We have already met with one agency, and plan on meeting with others soon.  Please keep praying for us as we begin this amazing journey!