APPROVED!

We are officially approved and our profile is up on our agency's website. 

Check out our PROFILE

I am so happy that today was the day we were approved. This date every year we are reminded of a great tragedy in our lives, but now we can remember something happy about it too.

When I got the email saying we were approved and live on the website I was much more excited and giddy than I had anticipated. So anxious to see how our story unfolds this time...

Another quick update...

Bryce was able to finish his part of the on-line paperwork this last weekend. And after he got done we realized that we don't really have that much paperwork left. That thought got me really excited!!

As for the on-line paperwork that needs to be finished we have to write our Expectant Parent letter, and our financial statement. We will do the financial statement as soon as Bryce finished our taxes.

As for off-line paperwork. I just need to get into the doctor to fill out my medical report and our infertility report. Another financial statement, a few papers that just need to be signed, and we need to fill out our adoption education information.

And then we need to do our Home Study visit and interviews.

That is seriously all we have left!!

It got me all excited that I republished our "Hoping to adopt" Facebook page, and will be sharing this blog soon.

Paperwork update...

We found out this week that our background checks have come back clear and all our personal references have turned in their reference letters.

We still have a long ways to go as we are not very far on our online paperwork. We also have a few more off line papers to be taken care of. Being approved is all about us finishing our part now. I am hoping to have all paperwork finished by the middle of April and then be able to schedule our homestudy visit for the end of April and then we should be able to be approved shortly after that.

We now have a new caseworker. A few months ago they hired a caseworker for LDSFS to work in the Eugene area. And after a few months of training she is now officially our caseworker. We have met before and she seems really great.

McCoy and the process...

McCoy has been at a very fun age to talk to him about the adoption process a bit. He is obviously way more aware of what is going on as we anticipate adding to our family through adoption. I have been trying to let him help where he can, for instance today we are going to make some copies of documents for our agency and then mail them off. As I told him what we were going to do and how he could help, he got very excited.

He has asked questions such as "Where will our baby come from?" and "Where will the baby be born?" and "Who is the baby's birth mom?" Which I think are just wonderful questions for him to ask and easily answered age appropriately.

I think this will also help him to grasp a little bit more of his own adoption story as I tell him "We did this also when we were waiting to find you." It has also made him more interested in his own adoptions story and has asked a few times at bed time to tell him about when he was adopted. He also has really like watching the videos we took him as a newborn in the hospital with his birth mother.

We have a very precious video of C getting McCoy dressed to leave the hospital and she is pretty emotional as she is preparing to say good bye to him. While watching it once, McCoy asked me why she was crying and I told him that she was really sad to have to leave him and that she was going to miss him. McCoy is also crying in the video (he was being changed and he hated being changed as a baby) and asks, "Am I crying because I am going to miss C?" At that moment I had some very bitter sweet thoughts. I was proud of him for recognizing the sadness, and was proud of what he was coming to understand and I was taken back a bit with the realization that no matter how well we prepare him, talk to him about and teach him to love his story, he will no matter what have to go through his own grieving process at some point. And I hope we will have prepared ourselves well enough to handle it with care while allowing him to grieve when the time comes.

Paperwork update...

We are going ever so slowly. At the moment we don't feel a need to hurry the process. We however have finished our intake paperwork and paid our home study fee. Which has led us to be able to start on non online based requirements like background checks and finger printing and copies of important documents. We have worked on some of the online paperwork and I would say that we are about 40% or so done with that. I also think/hope that with us paying our home study fee that they sent out the requests for our personal references. I will have to check on that.
I have been trying to do a little each week just to keep us moving on it. My goal for the week has been to work on back ground check paperwork and get our fingerprinting done and maybe get some copies made of documents needed. Bryce was able to get is employment verification paperwork signed and we filled out the paperwork for Oregon's background check. Now to figure out what we need to do for Montana's background check.

little miracles...

One of the things I love most about getting to be a part of adoption is seeing the Lord's hand and the tiny miracles he places in our path to find our babies. I get so overwhelmed with the thought that, YES, Heavenly Father truly knows us and our greatest desires. And a reassurance that we are on the right path.

I have already seen a few little miracles as we have started the process for the third time. One of the biggest ones is the money to pay for it all.

What I learned with our two previous experiences is that as long as we are doing our part in being prepared the money will be there when we need it. And as we came to realize that we  needed to start the process this time, we worried a little bit about how we would pay for another adoption and a third child. But we also remembered that He will provide and we tried to leave the worry behind and have faith in His plan for us.

And a little miracle happened that provided that security in being able to pay for this adoption. And we feel very blessed and know that we are on the right path.

Bryce has been at this firm for three and a half years. They have really awesome vacation benefits. They get an hour of paid vacation for every hour of overtime. They also are automatically give like two weeks paid vacation I think. Since it is a CPA firm, they have tax season and that requires alot of over time. So Bryce usually ends up with more paid vacation time than is possible for him to use up. They haven't given the option of paying out vacation time in previous years, but this year they have!! In doing this we were able to receive about a whole months worth of salary that will help substantially for paying for this adoption.

The Lord hand is in ALL!!!

Orientaion, Education and Conference

We had a busy, fun weekend! My parents were awesome and watched our kids while Bryce and I drove to Portland. My  most favorite part of the whole weekend was talking to Bryce non-stop the entire two hour trip. That happens almost every time we are alone on that drive. I love it!

We first had our orientation meeting with our caseworker. It was short and sweet since he already knows us and our story from being our caseworker with Oaklee's adoption. Right after we were able to attend an adoption training. We got five of the ten hours required and it covered all the topics required. It was long, but very worth it.

That evening we were able to attend the Temple along with a few other adoptive couples involved in FSA. This is the 4 time in the last two and half months that Bryce and I have been able to go. I love that we have been able to go so often, especially since we live two hours away from our Temple.

The next day we attended an all day FSA conference. It was really great! The key note speaker was our attorney for Oaklee's adoption. I had never met him, so it was nice to put a face with a name. He also is an adoptee and just has alot of passion for what he does. His family has been through alot in the last few years and he is very inspiring. The other classes were wonderful, and we were able to get the remaining five hours we needed to complete the adoption education requirements for the state. YAHOO!!!

Afterwards we headed to the mall that was close by to look for some slacks for Bryce. He has lost more than 50 pounds this last year and all of his clothes were huge on him. Thankfully we found what we needed and got out of there, it was a mad house. Too many people!

We weren't even gone two full days, but we were both so ready to be home and see our babies. And walking through the door to our two babies screaming and jumping with excitement for us to be home was just so perfect. They both were attached to our hips the rest of the weekend, so sweet!