Changing...

I have so many sweet people constantly asking me, mom, Adam, pretty much anyone who knows us about our adoption process, how we're doing, what all is going on, etc. It is great to finally have people talking to me about this and showing they care so much about Adam and I and how hard this has been on us. So, I have decided to make this blog just about our adoption. I will put updates, how on the edge I am about waiting, any news from Anne, etc. on here and then I am going to start a new blog in the next few days all about the other stuff going on in our lives.

You know, since we've kind of "announced" we're adopting it's amazing how many people are going through the same things we are and I think/hope this blog might be able to help those people with feelings that Adam & I can truly understand.

Mom and I actually came up with this because so many people are wanting to read about the adoption and I hate for them to have to filter through this one to find only adoption stuff.

When I get the new blog ready I will put the name of it on this one, so you guys can add it on your list (if you want) :) I will probably title this one Awaiting Baby Cassady and have the other one What? Life isn't Perfect? as the blog title as life with Adam and I is definitely far from perfect, but I wouldn't have it any other way, as perfect seems so boring! :)

Hopefully that wasn't confusing and hopefully you aren't wondering why in the world I am telling you this! I hate to put things on here and think I am boring people to death! :) We'll get the new one set up soon! (Yes, Alicia I mean we as in me and you. I need help putting one together again! :)

Hello Elephant, It's Me Emily

So, do you see any resemblance between me and this elephant? Physically, I hope not, but....

today I got an email from Anne, and I quote "YOUR HOME STUDY HAS BEEN APPROVED AND WAS SIGNED OFF ON TODAY. YOU ARE OFFICIALLY WAITING!" So we are waiting for a call. Maybe months, maybe years, but I know God has the perfect child picked out for us and we'll be so excited when that day comes when we can hold our precious baby! Just had to share! This is actually OFFICIAL! WAHOO!!!!

Things That Make You Go HMMM...

After reading my post about the names we would use for a boy or girl, a friend of mine from school posed a great question... "What if you got twins and it's two girls or two boys... what other names would you use?" OH GOODNESS! We have been planning a family for so many years and had just settled on 2 names, but that thought never occurred to me! So, after much thought and consideration, if we are blessed enough to have twins (I know you moms out there are thinking I am nuts to say blessed to have twins, but in our case that would be AMAZING!) we would name the boys "Carter Daniel" and "Cooper Thomas." Cooper because we like that name and Thomas for my Grandfather's middle name. If we had twin girls we would do "Ava Kinser" and "Kate Holland." Kate because we like that and Holland for my mom's maiden name. I told mom this and she is now hoping for twin girls! :) Each name we have chosen have first names we like but middle names with a family tie to them. I've always wanted to connect our supportive families to our children.

So, not that this matters to any of you who are reading this, but these are the little things that keep me going as we are trying to patiently await a call about receiving our precious gift from God.

All that Wasted $ on Birth Control & Pregnancy Tests!!!

I have been dying to use that title and thought this would be a good time to use it.

I added up all those years of birth control and approximate amount I spent on wasted pregnancy tests and it was.... over $2,000.00!!!! Such a waste of money!!! If I had only known then what I know now, I'd be rich! :)All this and I am reading a binder that is telling me how adoption is double the cost of natural child birth. So... let me tell you why I am thinking about all of this.

I emailed Anne and asked since I hadn't heard from her if that meant we were all squared away... well I got a response from her today and it made me say "UGH!!!!" She named 4 more things we were in need of doing! I mean come on... I need to learn not to ask and maybe they'll forget to tell me things and then we'll just slide on through! The first 3 things on the list are easy things to get done and send in. Most of which I got done today. But then there is this binder (the one from my first post) that is one of those 5-6 inches thick ones that we are supposed to read! Yes, we have to have read all of the articles and things in there before our names are officially on the "waiting list."

Well, I had already read a little, but they are calling this "11 hour credit" which means they think it will take us 11 hours to read it all!!! OH LORD!!! I am just having to read the articles and sum it up for Adam as he is WAAAAY more ADD/ADHD than I am and he can't do this!

So, I just needed to vent for a while to my blogger friends. I am usually a pretty

calm person who can handle things, but I am just about to explode! Thanks for listening!!!

New Tradition and an Update

Thursday night, Alicia and I started a new tradition.

We loved making the adoption profile scrapbook so much, we decided

to take up scrap booking for fun too. We came up with a time

once a month when we can get together, just us without the men

and boys, and scrapbook, talk, vent, and just enjoy each other's company. My mom actually says I won't follow through with this, as I am kind of ADD/ADHD and can't concentrate or finish much that I started, so I told her, I was glad she said that, as that gives me a reason to try to really stick with this. :) Mom is my biggest fan and I know she'll be proud when I am done! :)

This is our "supply table." Never have a fun night with

girls without Sparkling Grape Juice and chocolates (which I am

proud to say, we didn't eat any!) We have bought

so many scrap booking items that we spent a lot of time going

through everything we bought and oohing and awing!

This is Alicia's page. She's doing a few Christmas

pages. We're doing 1-2 pages a night when we are

together and then doing at least one on our own before

our next "meeting." :)

Here is my page. I am working on a vacation

scrapbook. This is one of the New York pages I am

working on from my trip with Allie and Neesa over

fall break. Such GREAT memories!!

The Update: The adoption agency received our

forms, profile and BIG OL' CHECK! So far, so good... no

emails or calls saying we left something out yet! So, when the

background checks come in next week, we're officially really

ELEPHANT PREGNANT! :) I told Allie today there's a song that

says "Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulders, don't you know,

the hardest part is over..." and that describes me for sure. I know

the waiting will be hard, but I feel that the past two years have been

harder than anyone can imagine and this part is going to be great.

I feel that a weight is lifted and my life is actually working the way

God has intended. What a great feeling! It's been so long since I have

felt that way. Thanks to all for listening!

Short Post... Big Day

So, this will be a short blog without pics, but every little step we take toward our dream makes me want to share with my friends!

Tomorrow will be a BIG DAY for us. We are going to the post office in the morning to mail our big check, profile, and all the last of the paperwork to the adoption agency! We are still waiting for the fingerprints/background checks to be sent to the agency, but that is out of our hands. Therefore... as of tomorrow we will be 1 step closer to getting baby Cassady! I know this could take a while, but the fact that we have gotten this far, considering where we started, this is HUGE for us!

Anyway, just wanted to update everyone on what's going on. I am sure just like in the past we'll have a couple more forms to fill out, but the big stuff is in and we'll be able to be considered by a birth family soon!

Profiling Our Lives (and a Neosporin comment too)

Alicia came over last night to help me put together our profile for the adoption agency, since Adam isn't a help in this situation :) We have to show our home, us, and our family. No pressure to look pretty in a picture since the birth families will be looking at this to see if they choose us or not!
OK... the Neosporin comment. When Anne was here, she had to check the expiration date (yes there is one) on our Neosporin. So, if I am at anyone's house soon, I will be checking the expiration dates and reporting you if they are expired! :) LOL

This is the pile of pics and paper we stared with. We had such a good time doing this that when Baby Cassady comes, I think we will start scrapbooking as we need a hobby since we are both on a budget with building our homes!

This is the beginning of the Adam & Emily page. We have lots of pages with our families, all our sweet nieces, in-laws, siblings, etc. I can say we are so blessed with such a great family. Also, thanks to Stephanie who bought a lot of these pics for me (she said it's her first present for our baby) :) as I am not a photographer and needed family pics from her!

This is the "Drew" page. Drew lives in our basement and he is such a great blessing to our home. We love having someone else here as Adam and I get kind of tired of looking at only each other! :) He's good practice for us as we worry about him when he's gone and so I am going through the teenage years with a kid before the infant stages. :)

I'll have to share the whole book when we are finished. We are so excited to be at this point. Anne emailed me today with 4-5 more things we need to finish that she forgot to tell us... so needless to say we have more to do, luckily they aren't extensive, but just another thing to stress me out! We will just patiently wait, as we have for so long now, for Carter Daniel or Ava Kinser (or both) to arrive!