Done with paperwork and leaving for Boston!!

Sooooo, we have officially turned in our application to Lifeline! Now we wait to see if we've been approved then begin the home studies! I'm hoping by October that our profile will be on file! It's a very exciting process! This week we told our families and the friends we used as contacts :) Everyone was very excited and supportive. I think my family is so happy for us that we are turning in a new direction. My dad said he has been praying every day in 2011 specifically for us to have a healthy baby born this year! Who knows? He maybe praying for that birth mother who is going to choose us to parent her child!

I am glad we finished all of this before we leave on our mission trip! We will be gone until next Saturday. We are going to New York and then to Boston. I am so excited to see what God has in store for this trip. We are going to have so much fun and get to see a lot of neat things, but most importantly we are getting to share the gospel of Jesus with people who need it :) I am so blessed to belong to a wonderful church that supports missions and has a heart to tell others about the Lord. Please pray for our group of 75 leaving today! I will update on that trip when we get back! Also pray for Allen and me as we start this adoption journey! I know God is gonna do great things!

Changing Directions

Good morning everyone! Just wanted to blog a little today about a new direction we are pursuing. It has been exactly 3 years since we started trying to have a family. I will always remember the date because we were on our way home from a friend's wedding and stopped in Gatlinburg to eat dinner. Allen leaned across the table and told me he was ready. I responded with, "Ready for what?" He said I could throw away my birth control pills! That began a journey that has led us to this day 3 years later. Did I ever think on June 22, 2008 that I would be sitting here 3years later childless? Absolutely not! After hearing those words from Allen I think I immediately went out and bought the book What to Expect when You're Expecting! Jumped the gun a little huh? Although I worried we'd maybe experience a little trouble, I never thought it would be years of painful infertility.

So now as I look back on what we've been through medically; several rounds of clomid, 3 rounds of HMG shots, almost 10 IUI's and 2 laparoscopic surgeries, we are excited to say that we have started the process of domestic adoption through Lifeline Children's Services! Let me preface with this: Allen and I still feel very strongly that one day I will be pregnant. I know that may seem weird to say that and start adoption but we are ready for a family and feel this is the direction God is leading us. We have been married almost 5 years and will be 30 and 33 this year. To me, waiting much longer to start a family is silly. I have wanted to be a mother since I could talk and if that means having the chance to bring a sweet child into our family through adoption then that is what we'll do! I know that the journey we've taken so far has been a rollercoaster and we couldn't have made it without the love of our Savior Jesus and constant prayer warriors. Infertility is a battle that is so unexplainable and painful but I believe God has big plans in store for those of us He brings through a trial of this kind.

We have only told a few people at the moment. We are almost done with the initial paperwork and hope to submit that this week. Then we will have two home studies, fill out a profile, and wait patiently until a birth mother chooses us! This whole process will take around 2-3 months so hopefully our profile will be ready to view by birth mothers in October at the latest! We are prepared that it could be immediate or a long wait. Either way we know God has a plan for our family.

Financially we are praying that He will provide. We have heard of some grants and no interest loans we can apply for as well as donations from family and friends. Even though we have spent so much money so far on our infertility journey, I am really not worried about the money. People adopt every day domestic and international and I believe God provides the money and a means to pay for everything.

Please pray for us as we start this new journey! I hope to soon be blogging about a new addition to our family! We have already started praying for that sweet little one God is knitting in the womb just for us!

Oh and on a side note, Hank now knows how to sit, shake, speak, lay down and roll over!! He has been like a sponge lately!! I just love him so much and I know he can't wait to be a big brother!! HA!!

Summer Fun

It has been a few weeks since I've posted and a lot has happened!! First of all I got out of school..yippee!! On the last day, Tuesday, May 24th we went to a Steve Martin concert where we got to meet him!! And my sweet niece Grace was born! Shew, what a day :) Here are a few pics!

Me and Steve Martin!!!

Sweet Grace! I'm a proud Auntie again :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I checked out on Wednesday we decided we would go to Indy and spend the weekend with my family and meet Grace. We had a blast! My sister came and so did my dad, stepmom and brother. Of course we stayed with my mom and Dan and spent time with Shane, Anne and baby Grace. Doesn't my brother look like a natural? Mine and Allen's siblings sure do make good looking babies!!

We stayed up there through Sunday then hurried home so we could be with Vanessa, Adam and Hannah! Hannah has had low platelets for about a month and they had to do a bone marrow biopsy on her the other day :( They think she is fine but may have to start her on steroids! Poor thing. It was so great to spend time with them. Hannah is growing up so fast and she is such a cutie pie and so much fun!

The next week was spent getting ready for the beach :) We were going to be gone Friday thru Wednesday, but Allen was able to get the whole week off and we got to stay! It was probably the longest vacation Allen and I have ever had together! We spent it with some awesome friends! We stayed in a house at Ocean Lakes Campground and some of our friends camped too. We had beautiful weather, ate wonderful food and had a blast riding around on golf carts at night during the "cruise line." I missed Hank terribly but it was so nice to get away. I got a great tan and read some good books!!

Some of the people we stayed with!

Allen being a sweetie!

Our fun group of 20!

Getting ready to go on the cruise line!

My buddies Candi and Pam!

Out to eat one night!

Anyway now we're back and gearing up for VBS this week and Mission Trip in 2 weeks! Needless to say it will be a very busy summer. Last month we decided to not do any kind of medication but I started my period when we were at the beach :( Very frustrating for both of us. We don't know what God wants us to do during this time so I guess we will continue to wait. I am hopeful that maybe our prayers will be answered this summer in some way. I still cannot believe it has been 3 years since we started trying. :( Ok, so I don't wanna end on a sad note so in honor of Father's Day coming up here is a picture of my dad with sweet little Grace! He is gonna be such a great Pop!!! I cannot wait till the day that he is holding my sweet child!