The Adoption Adventure Part II

God did speak to Kyle about adopting. At first, I really thought he was agreeing in more of a "I'm doing this to support you" kind of way. But, after several discussions, I'm convinced that He feels the call as well. Not as strongly or as passionate as I do, but it's there. And, he is getting more excited about it the deeper into the process we become.



we have sent in a preliminary application to Bethany Christian Services and were approved to begin the process to adopt a little girl from Guatemala. Our next step is a group meeting on January 25, and after that the real process will begin.



We are praying for several things right now:

1. That God would go ahead of us and guide the process

2. That there would be a covering over the birth mother and the baby

3. That the financial obstacle would be removed

4. That God would receive all the glory from the entire process

The Adoption Adventure

When we've told people we're adopting, we've gotten many reactions. Most of them being positive, but nonetheless they all have the "have you gone insane?" undertone to them. Just to answer the question: No, we haven't gone insane. (Or if we have, we don't know it yet and probably don't want to find out!) Seriously, though, we have begun the process of adding one more to our family. How did we get to this point? That's a long story...........



I am adopted. Not that all adopted people do or must adopt their own children, but I've always had a feeling that at some point in my life God wanted me to adopt. I can't explain it, but I've just known. After getting married, the adoption factor was still there, although having biological children took top priority.



Looking back now, I can see God's hand even in the circumstances and timing of having my three children. My first delivery was rather difficult and scary and resulted in an emergency c-section. Son #1 came into this world and had to have help breathing for a while. Because of this experience, I chose for son #2 to be delivered by c-section as well. And because of the two previous sections, son #3 was also a c-section.



Now, I know at this point many people would say "But my aunt's, cousin's, best friend's, sister had EIGHT c-sections with no problems."



However, after conferring with my doctor at the time, we both thought that 3 c-sections was enough major surgery and that with each pregnancy after this one, there would be increased risk. A risk we chose not to take.



Here's where adoption stepped in. Along with the adoption desire, from the time I had my 1st child, God placed in me a deep desire for a daughter. Not just the kind of "all women want a daughter" desire, but a deep longing that could only come from my Creator. Knowing that this would not happen biologically, I began to put all the pieces together- having only sons, three c-sections- and asked God if a daughter was to come through adoption. I was convinced that God was leading us in this direction.



The problem was going to be convincing my husband of that. But that was God's job wasn't it?

The Potty Blues

Potty training. You would think that as complex as God, our awesome creator, has made the human body, that potty training would be a breeze. It seems simple enough. You feel the urge, you go to the potty. And, with my oldest son, Sam, it was almost that simple. 2 years and 2 months into his life, he learned this basic principle in about 2 1/2 days.



Ben, our 3 year old, is a COMPLETELY different story. He was born premature, so we have been acustomed to him being a little late reaching various milestones. For that reason, I didn't even begin trying the whole potty training process until just recently. He turned 3 last week, and I made a commitment to have potty training boot camp this week. Saturday went wonderfully. Sunday was a mess. With church and naptime, the day was almost over before we made any effort and no progress was made. Today, let's not even go there. I know it's a learning process, but if I clean up any more accidents, I may as well invest in some carpet cleaner stock.



We've put him in "big boy pants" full-time now, except for naptime and nightime. I've always heard that's best because kids don't like being uncomfortable in wet pants.



They didn't know my child.



He could have the entire contents of Niagra Falls poured onto his clothing and he would sit quietly and watch TV until he was discovered.



You gotta love him,though. The look on his face when he is successful in "going potty" is priceless. And for that reason, I'll press on.

Protected Identity

My husband has informed me that I need to use pseudo-names for our family.......so I submit to my hubby and will change the names of our children to protect their identity. For those of you who really know them, here are the changes:



Our oldest, 4 years old, will now be known as Sam.

Our middle, 3 years old, will be Ben.

And the baby, 19 months, will be Aaron.



There you have it. I didn't ask him if I'm to change his name to. HMmmmmm.......that could be interesting...........

Up and rolling

whoa. Time flies when you're having fun. It's been almost a year since I've written anything. So, instead of picking up where I left off, I decided to make a fresh start. Seems to fit my life better these days.



So, here it is. A new version of my ramblings about my kids, my hubby, and our crazy life.



Sit back and "Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze" (Steven Curtis Chapman)