Love Grows In The Heart...Our Adoption Story

Moving is by far one of our least favorite things to do haha....I'd like to meet the person who just LOVES moving! It has been such a busy time, but the stress is pretty much gone now and nesting and relaxation have set in. We had such an amazing group of friends and family that helped us make the big move last Thursday and we are just so grateful!

We spent Thursday unloading the uhaul and Patrick and Jamie set up the bed. Friday we spent time unpacking boxes, moving our giant couch that the delivery guys put in the small playroom back into the living room, putting together two end chairs which probably took over 2 hours just to put on 4 legs....seriously!, reorganizing what was unpacked, hanging up clothes, and setting up the first baby room. Saturday Hanna helped put together our crib (GEEZ what a task! We had two cribs that are the same, but were both taken apart differently, so we had to be investigators to figure out which piece went with which crib....lots of trial and error!!!! OY!). We pretty much got all boxes out of the house by Saturday evening....which meant a GIANT mound of boxes were covering our entire garage, UGH, but at least they weren't inside! Sunday...I wish I could remember Sunday haha...oh wait....that was Easter.....It was such a blur of exhaustion but I managed to organize a bunch of paperwork and bills, locate manuals for things, break down a MILLION boxes, (all while having stomach bug AGAIN) and try to JUST BREATHE. Patrick worked a double and I enjoyed Easter dinner with the fam.

Monday I was super busy as we had our fire inspection (it got delayed due to Junior Fire Marshall week....I guess that is what kids do on spring break haha!), had to run to the attorney to get our closing check, go to the bank, close out on our apartment, get groceries, and get our cars cleaned before our much anticipated home visit on Tuesday. I managed to do a Lowes run and grab up some pretty purple and fuschia flowers for our yard. Monday evening, our home visit got delayed again until Friday....so at least we had a little more time.

Tuesday we finished unpacking some more deliveries: our bedroom furniture and our dining console and some rugs.....and managed to plant some flowers to spiffy up our curb appeal ;-)

Wednesday I got to visit a church pre-school right next to our neighborhood that accepts 2's, 3's and 4's. I really liked all that they had to offer and that it was half-day from 9-12 at a reasonable price. They also do little field trips that the parents take the children to like the farm and strawberry patch, etc. Sooooo cute!

Speaking of pre-schools....I was able to visit several right before we moved. We found two, one privately owned, and one chain, that would work for us price wise, location wise, and management/education wise. They both accept infant to 5 years of age. The downside to all the places was that infants stage is only FULL TIME, no part time. Then ages 2 and up can do part time (meaning 2-3 days a week ALL DAY).....not really what I was envisioning or hoping for but we would just have to pay for the full time and Patrick could pick up early in the day.

Another option we are thinking of is just a morning sitter/nanny from like 6:45 until 10 or 11 for 3-5 days a week. So if you know of anyone, just let us know :-) We will need in August especially if we are placed with an infant vs. a toddler.

Well, Thursday and Friday we spent time cleaning cleaning cleaning and taking boxes to the recycle center. I didn't really get much sleep as I was anxiously awaiting our home visit at 10am on Friday. Even though I knew it was going to be with our foster agent and not some random person, I was still a bundle of nerves! I mean ----they are basically saying if you will be a fit parent or not----that is a lot of pressure!

Needless to say, it went very well and was quite easy peasy lemon squeezy. We all sat on the couch and just went over our previous paperwork and re-hashed some of the questions about our family life and growing up. Patrick's was of course clear and concise as he had a perfect childhood and family life, mine on the other hand took more time and was well....messy....who is who and who belongs to who and where do they live and where do they work and do you speak with so and so....SO GLAD that part is over with :-) We also talked about our parenting styles and bills and what we do to relieve stress. After all the chit-chatting we were able to give her a tour of our home. I was really envisioning them looking through EVERY drawer and cabinet and EVERY space like the CIA, but of course, it was a calm pleasant stroll around the house haha. The dogs did well but stayed crated. Not sure if she will want to see them out and about next time or not. We got some bonus points for a play area, fenced in yard, screened in porch, a security system, and having a cleaned out garage. PHEW!!!!!

So, we just have one more little step, getting a background check in our new county and our old county (because our old one expires next week! They only last for 6 months). Once our foster license is approved by the court then we have 2 years before reapplying. As soon as we get those done early this week, we can schedule our next and final home visit before we are placed. She said we could even probably have it next Friday, as in 5 days from now! Then the paperwork gets processed which could take up to a month, but could be sooner, and we wait for our call. JUST WAIT.

It seems so crazy to work so hard and so long to get to this point and then JUST WAIT. Hopefully our foster-to-adopt shower will keep us occupied and safety proofing the house too. How will we feel when we see the phone ring and its them....what will we do? FREEZE, jump up and down, scream, cry, laugh, smile to where our cheeks hurt, or panic....haha....I wish I could tell the future and what it will be like for us, but I can't. Our lives are getting ready to change. Our hearts, our souls, our entire being is getting ready to change. We hope that we will be better people because of this precious life that we will be stewards of. We hope to grow along with them and experience some of the best days of our lives. <3

Our house is all ready except the floors that are going in today, adding shelving and mirrors, and staining the stairs! We have a driveway and sidewalks now! Soon, they will finish up the yard, porches, stone work, and fence. It's crazy looking back at these blog posts and seeing that in January it was just a slab waiting to be poured. Now, a home ready for little kids to be crawling and running about. We can't wait to share our home with you and with our family and start building our precious memories! Only 34 more days until we move in! (See photos below)

We have had a wonderful friend who just gave us some things for our kids. We now are proud owners of a bed/loft for kids ages 3-7 or 10 haha with a bed guard rail. We might stretch it out to 10 years! Ikea kura bed:

And we need to get some bikes for Patrick and I because we also are new owners to a bike trailer like this for 2 kids:

Can't wait to go on bike rides and stroll around parks and events!

She also set us up for the summer with a small pool for our backyard and swim vests!

And last but not least she gave us an extra carseat for sitters and some left over safety odds and ends.

We also have purchased our fire extinguishers and 2nd story ladder for our fire inspection which will be the day we move in :-).

I've been busy planning and prepping, getting our life binders ready for the kids, our house and home binders ready and organized for all the important info like medical, auto, pets, etc. and finalizing our menu choices to help with meal planning.

Our last batch of getting addresses for the shower invites and sending them out should be going out this week. Quite a process! Patrick has been a big help!

We are excited and ready to soak in the moments as we grow our family! Thank you all for supporting us in our long-awaited, wild, crazy, and emotional journey! (Please note: most tears you see in the next few months will be overwhelming tears of joy (and maybe some hormones ;-) ) but mostly tears of joy!