57 Hours to go!

Baby Gracie will be here very soon. Jenna has to be at the hospital on Monday at 7 am. This is all so exciting. I've been having a hard time falling asleep. And when I do fall asleep I have the wackiest dreams!! I've even been talking in my sleep. So strange.

Blake and I are so incredibly JaZzEd! We hope Jenna is doing well and feeling well. We appreciate her so much. She is so selfless and faithful and so full of love. I wish we could express exactly how grateful we are. I hope she knows.

And so, my obsession continues...

I am seriously obsessed with getting a baby. It's all I think about. Today I am sad- blah! AGAIN! No one is seriously looking at our profile. Not one! I really want to switch agencies. It costs sooo much money to do any other agency. But insurance and taxes pays for some. Well I found a website that gives grants to those whom they pick. So I applied. They pick people before every quarter. So the end of this quarter is the end of March. SOOO if I don't hear anything from them by then end of this month then I will simply apply again and hope for them to pick me for the next quarter. We'll see...

Well my friend Shannon said that she is part of an adoption group and she got an email from someone in the group saying a class will be held on Sunday at 5 called
"How to Afford To Adopt Outside of LDS Family Services"
We are going to be discussing low cost adoption options. You will learn about adoption options for under $1K, $6K, $10K and $15K. We will talk about successful fundraising techniques, tax credits and other financing options.

.. so Blake and I are going to attend it. I sure hope we can afford to switch to A Guardian Angel. They have more babies than adoptive families - unlike LDS Family Services who has more adoptive couples than babies. So if we go with them we'll have a HUGE chance of getting a baby with in the first week. Anyway. If we can get all the money we can to do it then we will in a heartbeat. Otherwise- we'll stick with LDS Family Services and continue to not get looked at and not get a baby for a looooong time. Or we'll wait until we can pay $15k and do Invitro.. which doesn't have any benefits to get the money back- like through insurance or taxes

We are going to submit my nasty endometriosis pics to a specialist in Oregon and see if he thinks he can fix me. And if so then we'll go there and I'll go under the knife again to get the endo fixed. But that might be mighty expensive but I'd be able to maybe get pregnant on my own once it's fixed. OYE I hate things that cost an arm and a leg! Well... I know God wants us to have children so there will be a way-- someday-- why can't that day be today? I wish I could do some sort of fundraiser for myself LOL so we can get a baby sooner. Hmmm does anyone want to run a 5k in OUR behalf? ;o)-- I'm half joking.

Saturday November 15th

National Adoption Day http://www.nationaladoptionday.org/2008/index.asp

National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the 129,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. For the last eight years, National Adoption Day has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with courts, judges, attorneys, adoption professionals, child welfare agencies and advocates to finalize adoptions and find permanent, loving homes for children in foster care.
Celebrated in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, more than 300 events are held each year throughout the country to finalize the adoptions of children in foster care, and to celebrate all families who adopt. In total, more than 20,000 children have been adopted from foster care on National Adoption Day. This year, National Adoption Day will be Saturday, November 15, 2008*.
*Traditionally, National Adoption Day is celebrated the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Out of respect for the nation's remembrance of the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, the National Adoption Day Coalition elected to move the celebration of National Adoption Day this year only to the Saturday prior.

Blake and I are done with our part of the process. We just need our caseworker to finish the paper about us then we'll be approved. I'm so excited and thrilled!!

This is what Julia said in an email to me:

"Thanks so much for your patience with me this last couple of weeks. 3 of my birthmothers had their babies and placed so it was a busy month. So...this could be you next...it's exciting."

HALLELUJAH!!!

The last interview is FINALLY over. Julia cancelled on Monday. Then she cancelled on Wednesday then she called today and said she couldn't come but then another caseworker came and did it for her. THANK YOU other caseworker!!! But Julia had two placements this week so her week was abnormally busy and I'm sure Blake and me bugging her didn't help anything. Well, it went well. This caseworker had lots of good feedback. I felt good when she left unlike last time. When Julia left last time I felt dreadful!! I layed in my bed and cried. And it was for good reason too, we failed it the first time. I have a much better feeling about this one. Yippee! She came and made sure we had a baby room.. which we do. And I had her look around and see that the house did improve alot since there is a whole heck of a lot less stuff in my house. Well that is that. I guess we are just waiting on the background checks and then we can be aproved. I pray those come back soon. They already have mine. They are just waiting on Blake's and Audrey's. Anywho... I pray we'll be aproved very soon. My patience has been tested for sure... I just hope I endure my trials well enough!

~PaRk CiTy HeRe We CoMe!~

So Blake and I are going to Park City this weekend with his family to stay in his paretns' condo. IT'S GOING TO BE A BLAST! I am so excited. And we get to go shopping of course!! Labor Day=Great Sales!! Ilove going to Park City because although its only 1 hour away from where I live I still feel like I am so far away. Its a whole nother state there~Yipee for me! I needed a getaway. I have been looking forward to this weekend fo so long. Then in a month Blake & I and our friends Brandon & Jen are going to Las Vegas!! I've never been there before but I am sure looking forward to it. We will be there over my birthday so hopefully we can get a cheesecake from the Factory on that day. YUM So.. I might have to buy a couple disposible cameras so I can take pics. We have a digital camera but its not working right now. Anyway, I'll let you know what goes down!

I also wanted to mention a few things. I have the greatest friends!! My friend Krista posted a blurb on her blog about Blake and Me and us adopting. Pretty cool of her to do that for us. Thank you Krista, you're so sweet. The other thing is, a couple of days ago my friend Kristi called me and told me she wanted to give me ALL her baby stuff! How sweet of her to think of me. She says they are done having kids and so she wanted me to have the stuff. She has 2 girls so she has a ton of girl clothes too. Oh my goodness, I am so excited to be a mom! Thank you everyone for all you do and for your support. It means so much to me that so many people are so helpful. I also want to thank all those who say such kind things to us- you know who you are. I didn't know how loved I was until now!

Open Adoption:

A form of adoption in which the adoptive parents, and often the adopted child, interact directly with birth parents. Family members interact in ways that feel most comfortable to them. Communication may include letters, emails, telephone calls, or visits. The frequency of contact is negotiated and can range from every few years to several times a month or more. Contact often changes as a child grows and has more questions about his or her adoption or as families’ needs change. (Thanks Wikipedia)


My friend asked me if we would be having an open or close adoption, what a great thing for me to talk about:

We feel an open adoption is the best thing for both the birth mother and the child. We plan on doing at least emails and pictures but we don’t know how often or for how long. We also plan on visiting the birth mom and her visiting us before the child is born. We plan on letting her call or text us whenever she wants before the child is born also. We plan on giving her gifts (which is a very normal thing in the adoption world, but it does sound strange) I will let you know what gifts we give once we get them.



I do know I want to give her a teddy bear and keep one that’s exactly like it so as the months go on I can take a picture of our little one with the teddy bear and when she sees the pictures she’ll know how big our baby is getting by comparing the bears.

I would also really like to get her a Willow Tree figurine. I want to get the one with the mom holding her baby.

Maybe I’ll also give her 2 scrapbooks so she has a place to put the pictures and letters as we send them.

I also want to get her some stuff so she can get pampered. Maybe some lotions and bubble bath, I will also want to get her a gift card to a spa or a massage place.

Anyway, those are my ideas. Do you guys have any cute ideas?

Also note, if the birth mom chooses she doesn’t want an open adoption and wants a closed one, we will do that for her.

***LiFe***

It's been a while since I have posted something. I just plain don't know what to post. We have another adoption class today. We have been having a hard time coordinating schedules between Blake, my brother, sister, the case worker and me. So we haven't gotten to do our final interview yet. It's driving me nuts! Nick and Audrey live with Blake and me so we have to have them there for the in house interview. I have been feeling the stress of my trials lately but I am trying to be strong so when the blessings come I will feel like I deserve them more. But don't get me wrong, I certainly know Blake and I are blessed even now but I just know Heavenly Father has more in store for us this year after some certain trials pass. If anyone has any questions about adoption that you'd like me to answer then feel free to ask. It would help me get more things to blog about! THANKS

~~ClaSs NuMbEr One~~

The first class was great. There was about 10 couples there. But I think we were the youngest ones. Others were about 30s-40s. One couple that was there- they were teaching the class- had a little baby- 6 months old- named Maggie Grace. I was excited to hear her name cause Blake and I love the name Grace. Anyway, this couple adopted Maggie. She is so beautiful. She is dark with dark curly hair. So cute! This couple told the story of how they adopted Maggie. It was a fantastic story. It took them 3 years to actually "find" their child. They had a few birth monthers choose them to adopt their child but they only felt right about Maggie. They brought the 27 yr old birth mother gifts when they met her. They met her after she had the baby- which is rare. Normally the couple knows they are going to adopt a couple of months in advance but this couple found out the day after Maggie was born. The birth mother then had 24 hrs with the baby before she placed Maggie with her new parents. The birth mother had thought about not placing last minute but then decided placing would be the best thing for her little girl whom she loved more than herself. She is selfless and brave. I admire the birth mothers for doing an adoption plan for their child. She did sign the papers however and the couple was able to take their child home. It's really neat to hear that the birth mother literally places the baby into the adoptive mother's arms. I am looking forward to that experience. Maggie was born february 1st but didn't get home until february4th. The adoptive parents get the child in their home for 6 months with 3 in home visits from the case worker before the adoption is finalized, the baby is sealed to the family and then given a name and a blessing. What an amazing story. I am aware that it could take us another 3 years to actually have a baby in our home. But I sure hope it doesn't take that long for our baby to be ready for us. They shortened the amount of classes. Next weekend on the 8th and 9th we will go to a 2 day conference then we will have one or 2 more classes. We will be finished with all of the classes by then end of August for sure. I am so thrilled to hear that. My case worker called me yesterday and asked when we can set up our in home interview- our final interview- I told her I'd call her today to set it up. Yay, once that is done we will have to do our letter to the birth mother then we will be finished with the process and birth mothers will then be able to look at our profile and consider us for adoption. I hope this isn't a lot to ask and I hope I don't sound selfish asking but, would you pray and fast for us? We could use all the help we could get! Thanks again for your support. LOVE YOU!

Yep, life should be a musical

I always wanted life to be a musical. We all could break out in the same song and dance at the same time. How cool would that be? We'd all be in shape cause we'd dance ALWAYS and music would be more than just music, it would be the sound track to our lives. Yeah, this is stuff I actually think about. Today, the song Welcome to the Jungle by Guns and Roses is in my head. (I've been playing a lot of guitar hero at work.) Imagine if we all sang that song, wow, our dancing would be totally wicked. Anyway, tonight is the first class for adoption. I will tell you all about it tomorrow. I am nervous cause I don't know what to expect yet I am happy to get it started so I am that much closer to finishing the classes. Thank you all for your support.

Its all New and its Exciting!

I am new to blogging, as you can see. I am somewhat unsure about this but I'm willing to see how it goes. :) Blake and I are in the process of adoption. We will be finished with the paper work by the end of August... YIPPEE! June 13th I found out I have Endometriosis (A condition, usually resulting in pain and dysmenorrhea, that is characterized by the abnormal occurrence of functional endometrial tissue outside the uterus.- thanks dictionary.com) and I am unable to get pregnant. Its so great to finally know after trying for nearly 3 years. As soon as I found out about it I knew we would adopt. So after I healed from surgery I contacted LDS Family Services of Farmington and got the paper work needed to start the process. Once I received it I completed it right away and handed it in. Less than week later our assigned case worker, Julia, contacted us and made an appointment for our first interview (of three). It was really neat hearing about how it was all going to work out. Adopting is truly something that is part of Blake's and my plan. After the first interview we had all sorts of online papers to fill out and our birth certificates and marriage certificate to order. I finished the online questions in one evening then the next day Blake did his part. We completed it so quickly, just like I wanted! I called Julia and we set up our second interview. After setting up the interview I made the $1,000 down payment. The second interview was the "individual" interview. Blake and I were interviewed separately. She just asked us questions that we had already answered online. I feel it went well. So then within the last couple of weeks I completed the picture collage. Its two pages of pictures of Blake and me livin and lovin life. The next step is the 3rd and final interview. The in home visit. Also, our 6 week course of classes starts on the 31st. They occur once a week for 3 hours. I am not entirely sure what is talked about in those classes but I will let you know. So I will be keeping you updated on EVERYTHING else!