Tick Tock Goes the Clock....

Everyday seems one day closer to our adoption, and while the excitement is plentiful the impatience is unbearable some days. Yesterday Chris and I got all our fingerprinting done and today we dropped off all the paper work all filled out. Now we wait....they tell us it should only take 2 weeks, but we all know how the government can work sometimes. We hope it all comes back on time so that we can start our PS-MAPP   class and home study in July. 

We hope this journey not only enjoyable for others to read but we hope it brings inspiration to others to take a look at adoption/ Foster Care. Not only infant adoption but older child(ren) adoption/ Foster Care. There are a lot of questions to ask yourself before you take on the process of adopt or Foster care.

  

Are you ready to take on the different special needs?- Some of these children have special needs such as mental or emotional distress. Or they have been abandoned, abused or have medical needs such as down syndrome or something more serious.

 

Are you able to get over the fact they aren't 'Your Blood'?- If you sit and think to yourself that you prefer your own children, but if you were 'unable' to have kids, I guess I would adopt, well maybe its not for you. If you can say you prefer your own child(ren) could you really love that adoptive child to the fullest?  Going through this process you need to be able to love that child as your own, not as anything less. 

Are you doing this for the money?- Well if you think your going to make a ton of money being a foster or adoptive parent, think again. While you do get a check to help with somethings its not going to make you rich by any means. 

While these are just some of the things to think about there are always a lot more. We enjoy sharing all of this with everyone. Feel free to ask us any questions along the process we would be more than happy to share. The last bit I'd like to leave you with is to remember that while bearing your own child is special, giving a child a family and a home who doesn't have one is just as special and very selfless. Oh and you don't have to not be able to have children to adopt/foster. Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day Weekend. 

Lots of Love C&C

Family Hierarchy

As many people know PCOS is not a pregnancy death sentence, its more like that experiment where you suck a egg into a bottle, it seems impossible, but with certain situations it will happen. While over the last 4 years there have been many depressing times and plenty that brought my marriage to alot of impasses. My husband is very supportive but there are only so many things a man can say to make a woman feel better in those types of situations. The things that go through a women's head at those times are almost certifiably insane. While I couldn't love my husband more for going through those tough times with me, I think more about the emotions and feelings we are experiencing now. As many would think joy and excitement, which many couples go through when they are planning a family. I don't want any one to think that I think our feelings trump or are more than those expecting a child, but never being in that situation I wouldn't know how the bonds of marriage change, all I can give you is our experiences.

Many people who know my husband know that he isn't really a baby person, and while many have said that would change if it was our child (which I'm sure is true), my worries were, could he love a child that isn't biologically his? If/when we would have a child of our own would that change his feelings for our adoptive child? So many questions and feelings arose when deciding to star the process of adoption. I know in my heart no matter the child, biological or blood, I will love the child(ren), but how do I really know what my husband is thinking???? I was worried I would never know and one day it presented itself and all my worries went away.

As we talked about the process my husband had alot of question and concerns, as anyone would. I took those as a good sign that he was really processing this in his head. Then one day he came home and said he had saw a picture on a person desk, he knew through work, of his daughter who was of Asian decent. This work friend was not Asian and my husband was going to ask him if he had adopted his daughter. At first I told him not to, thinking well maybe his wife was Asian and you don't want to offend anyone. To my surprise they had done an international adoption and Chris came home that night and told me all about their families journey.  Chris also contacted a friend who has a child of special needs to ask her about their journey. You might think, why is that a issue? Well alot of children in the foster system are their because of a strong medical need or have a special need. Some as sever as 24 hour care to as little as a mild learning disability. I was kind of shocked to know that he had contacted and talked to these people about our journey, for this isn't really like my quiet, shy husband. The more I looked at these situations I saw he was going to be OK with any child(ren) we adopt. Just for a reference my husband and I are planning a Trip to Europe next May and he has yet to sit down and really research places with me, I tell him cool things to see and what we need to start doing and he looks and me and says OK....so this sudden impulse/ need to contact and get more information and other peoples experiences had me very excited.

I have had many people who have had children tell me that while they love their husbands to death, they would go to the ends of the earth for their children, over their husband.That their children are on the high pedestal  and their husbands, while not far behind the children, just don't make the cut for #1 in their hearts anymore. Now this might not be the feeling for everyone, this is just what I have heard from some people. How does the family hierarchy change and can their be a tie for #1 in our hearts? I don't know how I could ever drop my husband down a peg after seeing all that he has done to educate himself about this adoption. I again can't say what the feelings and emotions are like with having a baby, but this adoption has brought my marriage to a level of happiness, openness, honesty, and love that I didn't know was possible. He will always be #1 to me and will be an amazing father.

I know that was pretty mushy/gushy, but thought it was appropriate with our 4 year wedding anniversary next week. Please feel free to post your feelings while either pregnant or adopting if you wish. Everyone have a amazing day.

 ~Lots of Love C&C

Ups and Down

I deleted this blog about a month ago because of pure frustration and disappointment. I should have thought about that more before I cancelled everything I had, but the emotions were running high. As most know my husband and I have decide to adopt a child. We had looked at infant adoptions and realized that $45,000 was not in our budget and as adults we couldn't in the right mind bring a child in to a home with absolutely 0 money after adopting them. With that decision made there were many ups and down. We attended a meeting with Iowa Kids Net, which is the state foster organization for our state, there we learned the many options we had to complete our family.

In our informational meeting we learned that if every church in Iowa would foster just 1 child there would be no children in the foster system in Iowa, Wow! There is a great need for people to foster children, while this is not the route that My husband and I would like to take we know the importance for people to take children in and help them till their birth parents are able to care for them in a safe environment. My husband and I have decided to become a Respite care family. This means we will provide short term care for foster children so their foster parents can go away for a weekend or go out on a date. We have also decide to pursue the process of adoption through our state, becoming licensed will allow us to adopt within our state as well as in other state in the US. There are over 19,000 children awaiting a family in the United States and we are looking forward to help at least 1 of those children....maybe 2. I'm sure there will be many more ups and downs through this process, but I'll make sure not to delete the blog next time. :-) If you wish to look at the links below and explore the thousands of children up for adoption here they are....

Adopt US kids link

Link to Iowa Kids Net