Back from Blogging Hiatus...

Hello my fellow handful of blog followers...

I've not had the desire to blog for a while on our adoption process because there has either been no news or not great news and I just got tired of repeating it.  Like if I put it in writing, it somehow solidifies the truth of it more than if we kept it silent.

There has been so much fun/busy stuff happening in our everyday life and I will get around to catching up on all of that soon.  I have so many pictures to post that it might take a while before I get up to speed on all of it.

However, this post is specifically an update on where our new journey lies in adding to our family.

If any of you remember from 2 years ago, we said we would NEVER, EVER, NOT-IN-A-MILLION-YEARS, EVER, EVER, EVER do foster care again.  So..... yeah..... ummmm...... I guess the best I can do is relate this to giving birth (from what I've heard).  The journey is full of unpleasantness, you are at times miserable and the pain is excruciating.  And then you hold your baby and you forget about all of that.  And then you decide to do it again.  And then you remember again how unpleasant it was the first time.

So, you guessed it, we are currently back in the "system".  For about a year, Missouri Baptist Children's Home has been pursuing us to get us to come back and work with them.  MBCH is the foster care organization that we received Eli through.  They are not directly the State, so things are done a little differently.  Theoretically, working with them instead of DFS will be better for us.  The caseworker that helped us finalize Eli's adoption is now the director of the Joplin branch, so that is a huge plus for us. 

Due to the fact that our foster/adoption license has expired, we are having to redo all of it.  We have already started our training classes again, every Thursday night for 3 hours each for 5 weeks.  Paperwork by the stacks, fingerprints, doctors visits, well water tests and home studies. 

We are already running into a few "obstacles".  Financially, while foster care is "free", there are expenses that they will not cover, some of those things listed above.  Also, our home study specialist is being a "stickler" (I'm really trying to be nice here) and he is forcing us to do some updates on our house that seem unrealistic and ridiculous.

It's going to take us a few months to finish all of the items we have to do to finish our licensing, but optimistically, we are hoping to be ready to accept children by late January or February 2015.  We are requesting one child at a time, age 2 years or younger, boy or girl.

Eli is very excited to be a big brother and we are working to help him understand what this is going to be like, especially for him, if we have kids coming and going from our home.

From our California adoption process: things haven't changed in a long time.  We are still only getting updates once per month.  Supposedly birth moms are looking at us and our online profile is going well, but we continue to be "not the right fit".  Our contract has 2 years and 7 months left.  We've been waiting so long with their agency that we are needing to update all of our paperwork/home study for them also, and we are in the process of simultaneously updating it while finishing paperwork for MBCH.  Updating our home study/paperwork for California will be around $300 or so.  They know that we are now working with another adoption avenue and they are fine with that and it shouldn't affect our chances any with them.

Well, now it's out there and you know where we are.  Please pray for us and our journey often.  Specifically for "extra grace" for our MBCH trainer/home study specialist.  He is one of those people that you need extra doses of patience to deal with. 

This is only the beginning of the paperwork. (Week one)

Such an Important Day...

September 4th....

Today my husband turned 35 years old.  He is my best friend, a terrific father and I couldn't be more proud to be his wife.  Happy Birthday, My Love!

Today my husband passed his CDL test.  Yeah!  This is a huge accomplishment for him and will open up some much needed opportunities for him in his current job and future.

Today also marks the 2-year anniversary of the day we started our adoption process again.  Two whole years.  So much has happened and so much has changed.  We are not where we thought we would be at this time, but I can't say that it's been all bad either.  Our life experiences make us who we are.

Today holds so much importance... happy memories were made, a wonderful man was celebrated and a "what should have been" is slightly grieved (as in, what should have been an "easy" road to adoption... what should have been completed sooner than this... what should our family have looked like by now).

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18



**Obviously you should not expect regular blog posts from me anymore! However, I will TRY to update the last couple of months soon. :>)

Adoption Update

This is a short update.  We seem to be at a basic HALT in being looked at by birthmothers.  Some of this is due to the conditions of the birth mothers not meeting our criteria.  We believe in God's perfect timing but that whole thing about a million years is a day to God.... well, it's getting old now.  We were looked at once for the entire month of May and that woman has yet to make her decision. 

Bad news out... now the GOOD news!

Sam and I have been re-instated as the Featured Family on the website for a few weeks now.  About a month ago, I was interviewed (recorded) by a radio station and my agency regarding our story of how our journey to adoption happened, our life as foster parents, and how receiving Eli changed everything.  The show is going to air THIS SUNDAY (tomorrow)!!!!  I didn't get to hear the playback so I am extremely excited and nervous to hear how it sounds.  Please pray that I don't sound goofy and that our story touches the heart of our perfect birthmom and we will be matched soon! 

To listen: go to www.kkla.com and click on the "listen live" button.  It will air at 2 pm CST. 

Another issue we are still having is getting our home study update completed.  Please pray that our timing works out and that we get it completed before it's too late. 

~love~

In the blink of an eye… (May)

Finally!  At least I’m writing this in the same month now (albeit the last day)!! 

May has felt like garden, garden, garden… that seems to be all we’ve done all month!  However, I have to brag that it is most definitely the best garden we’ve ever had!  (It helps that we’ve actually had time to devote to it… go figure!)  I am loving this “county-woman/home-maker/self-sustaining living” vibe I feel right now! (LOL)  I have learned to preserve berries, blanch and freeze broccoli, and soon I’ll try my hand at canning the rest of our produce!  The strawberry garden has really been my “baby” this year… I tend to it every night and the amount of fruit we are getting from it is UNBELIEVABLE!  

herbs - basil, cilantro and dill

bucket of lettuce

strawberry bed - May 7th

Just planted the rest of the garden - May 7th; 20ft by 70ft!!

pumpkins from last October that voluntarily sprouted

Eli helping Daddy fertilize (pants-less) on May 7th

First strawberry picking - May 12th

May 15th

May 19th - they're getting BIGGER!!

Pickings from May 19th only!

another giant from May 19 - not the same one!

garden continues to amaze us this year - May 21st

This is from ONE PICKING on May 27th!!! 

We were getting about this many berries every single night for almost 2 weeks!

Besides all this gardening, May has been another milestone month for us.  Biggest news of all is that the week of May 5^th, ELI GOT POTTY-TRAINED!!!  It actually took about a week but it was so worth it and I am SO. VERY. HAPPY to have that behind us now!!  I cleared off my schedule for that entire week and told everyone what I was doing and why I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.  One of my friends gave me some great advice (having just gone through it with her son) and we accomplished a major milestone relatively easily!!

May 5^th (a.m.) – we had Eli’s 3 year checkup at the doctor’s office.  He is doing extremely well.  He is 31 lbs and 38 inches tall (46^th and 52^nd percentile).  He exceeded all of his 3 year old milestones (no surprise) and the doctor tested him on some of the 4 year old milestones and he passed some of them also!  We are so proud and so impressed with his intelligence.  He speaks clearly and in complete sentences, he knows his numbers up to 15, he knows the entire alphabet, he can say his full name and the names of all of his family members, he can tell you who his friends are and the names of his friend’s parents (family assimilation), he (kind of) tells you his address (he thinks it’s Robin Road in Sarcoxie… we drive on Robin to get to Amos, but hey, he’s close!  By the way, that is a 4 yr old milestone!), he knows an impressive array of colors… and so much more!!!  I don’t want to be a total braggart, but seriously, I don’t know if I deserve to be this lucky!!  God had blessed us beyond measure! 

May 7^th – just because we are stuck at home potty-training doesn’t mean we still can’t have some fun!  Eli quickly learned to pee outside.  :0)

May 9^th – Eli was quietly playing by himself… which of course, worried me!  Found him working at his tool bench and he informed me that Ernie was supervising.  See Ernie in the chair?  His imagination is incredible and oh so cute!

thumbs up for safety! ;)

May 10^th – It’s really too bad that flowers don’t stick around longer.  The poor peonies didn’t have much of a chance to show off this year.  We got to enjoy these beauties for only about a week. 

Sam let Eli “shave” with him (of course, I wasn’t home when this happened!)  A razor with no blades and shaving cream proved to be a lot of fun.  (And Eli smelled delicious afterwards too!)    

May 21^st – It’s a Jeep Thing!  Eli needed something to keep him busy and cool and his Jeep needed washed… win/win! 

he took his job very seriously...

May 22^nd – Happy 10^th Anniversary to the Love of my Life!  It’s been a long road but I wouldn’t want to travel it with anyone else.  Love you, Babe! 

(p.s. Credit goes to Keri Dougless for this picture and for more amazing pictures which I’ll share soon!)

For our anniversary, Eli spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Gramma and Papa (May 23^rd-25^th) and Sam and I enjoyed a very rare weekend doing whatever we wanted!  Unfortunately, most of Friday ended up being spent at the hospital with a very dear Uncle D, who passed on Saturday, but we were still able to fit in a nice lunch at Kinerree and a movie.  Then we went home and had an awesome dinner of grilled steak and sparkling juice.  Saturday we spent a leisurely morning at home, then traveled to Rogers to go to Cabela’s and bought my anniversary gift (a new fishing pole and reel) and then went antiquing at two different locations.  On our way home, we stopped for a “dinner” of fried mushrooms and ice cream.  Yeah… so nice not having to eat a wholesome meal for the little one!!  Sunday we woke up before the crack of dawn (5 am) and grabbed our gear and went to Roaring River for the day.  We had our poles in the water by 7:30 am.  Awesome!  It was an amazing day fishing; lots of fun and really good weather.  Sam and I were both having great luck catching too!  We ended the day with a score of Sam – 12 and Jenny – 8.  Not bad!  We had a lovely lunch in the Roaring River Inn Restaurant overlooking the park.  Another leisurely drive back home, stopping at another antique mall and again for ice cream.

largest fish caught all day!!  (but I had the best story, by far!!)

Sam's proof

And finally… May 28^th – Eli experienced water color painting for the first time… and loved it. 

 

sticking your tongue out helps...

May has been a very full month, besides what I’ve pictured here.  I had a Mary & Martha gathering on May 10^th and then I did my first vendor booth on May 17^th.  Both of which I think turned out pretty well.

Sam got his CDL permit (whoop-whoop!!!) and is on his way to bigger and better things within the company.  He takes his actual driving test on June 16^th. 

Mother’s Day was May 11^th – nothing really big though.  We had a quick lunch at Mom and Dad’s house with the whole family, then home for a nap for Eli and then we delivered chickens to Golden City Meats to be butchered (oh the life of a farm wife!)  We did get to have dinner and pie at Cooky’s and it was worth the trip! 

And this concludes our month of May!

In the blink of an eye… (April)

April 1^st – another breath-taking sunrise.  God is so good!

April 5^th (when pic was taken) – Eli spent the latter part of March and most of April pretty sick.  We were having a hard time figuring out what was causing it and ended up in the doctor’s office 3 times in a matter of weeks.  The first time we were in, the doc thought it was bronchitis/upper respiratory infection and gave him a strong round of azithromycin.  Then a few days after the end of his meds, his face and neck broke out in a bad rash (see pic).  Long story short, after two weeks of being continually sick (puking, mucus, cough, wheezing, etc) and no meds making him better, we ended up with the nurse practitioner diagnosing him with “trigger” asthma.  After a week of steroids and an inhaler, our kiddo was 100% better!  I’m bummed that he’ll have to deal with this, but I am so very glad we figured out what his issue was.

April 11^th – enjoying more gorgeous weather and sandbox playtime.  I am loving my time at home!

 

our porch oasis

outdoor dance party (see radio on the left)

as close to a beach vacation as our feet are going to see this year...

April 12^th – picked a bouquet of my own beautiful daffodils to enjoy inside.  Too bad these don’t last longer!

  

April 17^th – I’m part of a precious group of mommies that meet once a week to refresh our minds, bodies and souls… oh yeah, and let our kids play together too!  I don’t know how I would survive without these amazing women.  They have been my life-support since quitting my “professional” job.  You know, this mothering stuff isn’t for the faint of heart!  So anyway, I convinced this fun bunch of girls and their kids (and a few extras) to go to Springfield and we all had a great time at the Discovery Center.  I think us adults has about as much fun (or more!) than some of the kids did.  What a great place to go!!  Gramma got to go with me and Eli and we really enjoyed our day together.

digging in the dino pit

and the lightbulb came on....

germaphobia, anyone?!

Eli thought this was hilarious!  (toilet humor) :)

huge operation game - Eli hated the buzzing noise when his tools touched the edges

playing newscasters with Gracelynn in the TV station

giant water table - taught currents and flow

love this group!!

April 19^th – as a treat for Eli and a fun family outing, Sam and I took him to one of his favorite spots… the Vietnamese walking trail.  We did this partially because of the story of Jesus and the significance of what April 20^th was (Easter), but it also provided us with some great photo opportunities.  Love this kid!

from the top

April 20^th – Easter!! 

look at that face! :)

After church and home for a nap, we went back to town to enjoy an Easter egg hunt and dinner with the whole family at Gramma and Papa’s house.  Eli found 62 eggs all by himself!    

with a little help from the "big kids"

April 22^nd – Eli was playing with his “Mator Lips”.  It was a comical sucker that he got from us in his Easter basket.  It was supposed to look like Mator’s mouth (from the Cars movie).  Regardless of whether it did or not, it was pretty funny!

April 23^rd - Our “baby” turned 3!!  How did that happen?!  In the blink of an eye, our baby is no longer a baby.  He is an ornery, smart, funny, active (oh my gosh active!!), a sponge of information and learning, extremely challenging and yet incredibly sweet.  I posted on his actual birthday, but here are a few additional photos I didn’t add before. 

birthday morning muffin

I'm THREE!

He was ecstatic for a new power toothbrush. :)

lovin' on Daddy

love you lots, little man!

April 25^th – mowing with Daddy

look, Ma ~ no hands!

April 27^th – Eli’s birthday party!!  We went with a construction themed party due to Eli’s obsession with any big earth-moving equipment.  Plus, he is a typical, dirt-loving boy!  I was super proud of his cakes – which were my first attempt at making any!  Not only did they look good, but they tasted great too! 

We kept the party small, with only about 20 people, and very laid-back.  We pre-grilled hotdogs and brats at home and then reheated them at the Lighthouse.  Our party got a little bit exciting when we were interrupted right after we sang “Happy Birthday” and had to grab the cakes and ice cream and head to the church basement due to tornado sirens going off.  Quite a few other church members arrived in the basement to take shelter and we ended up serving cake and ice cream to people we didn’t even invite!  Oh well!  It made for interesting memories!  And Eli didn’t mind one bit. 

And this concludes our month of April!