The In-Between

Hello friends and family!

Here is a post just to say we are still here, and we are still kicking away at this adoption thing, along with a lot of other things:

 A quick note on adoption: we are in the end stages of our home study and then will be applying to agencies (fingers crossed) sometime in December! We still have fundraising to do, but have raised a little over $10,000 so far!! How absolutely incredible!!  We are still trying to come up with creative ideas for this process. So far, our friends Aaron and Minette put on an amazing poker tournament for us, I am still taking orders for Colorado flags, and of course we are playing our map guessing game! We SO APPRECIATE our friends and family and how they continue to step up.  They have given oh so generously to our adoption!

That being said, I'm going to take a page out of  Jesus Calling by Sarah Young - I was given this devotional by a friend, I had heard of it, but had never read it before.  I am so glad that she placed it in my hands. This is actually the passage from October 27, but it stuck with me:

"As you become increasingly aware of My presence, you find it easier to discern the way you should go. This is one of the practical benefits of living close to Me. Instead of wondering about what is on the road ahead or worrying what you should do if… Or when…., you can concentrate on staying in communication with Me. When you actually arrive at a choice-point, I will show you which direction to go, many people are so preoccupied with future plans and decisions that they fail to see choices they  need to make today. Without any conscious awareness , they make their habitual responses. People who live this way find a dullness creeping into their lives.They  sleepwalk through their days, following well-worn paths of routine. I, the Creator of the universe, am the most creative being imaginable. I will not leave you circling in deeply rutted paths.Instead, I will lead you along fresh trails of adventure, revealing to you things you did not know. Stay in communication with Me. Follow My guiding presence.

Psalm 32:8; Genesis 1:1"  - Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

With all of the excitement happening around us, I find myself being thankful for future blessings and sometimes forgetting the moment I'm standing in. This feeling has let a level of dullness and frustration with the current day creep right in. I needed this reminder we are led on fresh trails of adventure each and everyday when we stay in focus of God's purpose and promises. I hope it can be an encouragement to you, too! 

Now, can you believe it's November? Wowzers! I swear my friends just had babies last week not this spring and summer, Andy just started school, he couldn't possibly have already taken midterms, and I just started working at SF again a couple months ago so I shouldn't be coming up on a one year anniversary here!

Cheers to the last two months of one amazing year- here's to making it count! 

Andy and Mimi 

Here are a few of our favorite photos over the last month :) 

Murder Mystery Party at our house

Andy performs his first wedding ceremony and marries our neighbors!

Poker Fun with Minette & Aaron

Practice makes perfect? I think these babies are just forgetting to smile :)

My Lovely sister visiting 

A little Zombie fun...

Everything You Wanted to Know: The Adoption FAQ

Welcome Back!

We have had lots of support and prayer since making our adoption announcement so thank you!  There have also been a lot of questions about the process.  What better way to answer those questions than a handy dandy FAQ for you. Enjoy!  

Where are you adopting from, and how old will the child be?
Andy and I are doing a domestic infant adoption. About 135,000 children are adopted in the United States each year. Of non-stepparent adoptions, about 59 percent are from the child welfare (or foster) system, 26 percent are from other countries, and 15 percent (or roughly 19,000 cases) are voluntarily relinquished American babies.

So will your baby be born in Colorado?
We are open to adopting from anywhere in the United States, although each state has different adoption laws. There could be all sorts of situations we encounter, but we do know that unless our baby is born right here in Colorado, we will go to where they are born.  We will stay with our baby in that state until the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is cleared from both states and then come home!

How long will it be till you have a baby?
The average waiting period for this exciting journey is anywhere from nine months to one year, it could be shorter, or longer though.

Where are you at in the process?
We are currently in the process of completing our home study.  An agency licensed by the Colorado Department of Human Services conducts and facilitates this process to ensure we can be suitable parents and meet certain state and agency requirements.  This process should be complete in two to three months, and then we can begin being matched with our baby and birth parents. This is such a unique process for each baby and family that we really can't speak to how it will play out.  We don't know how our story will be written. We could be matched with a birth mom who has weeks to go, or we may not know we are parents until after our baby is born; we aren't closing any doors right now.

Do you want an open or closed adoption?
We are hoping for an open adoption.  However, that term can mean a lot of things so we really can't answer what that will look like for our family until we are matched.

How much does it cost to adopt?
The average cost for a domestic adoption is between $25,000- $35,000.  This was probably our biggest hesitation when thinking about adoption. However, when we stepped back and thought it through, it seemed ridiculous that God would lead us to this point and then not provide us with resources to go the distance. So we prayed, and we have peace that we will be able to raise the money we need!

Hopefully this was helpful and answered some of the questions out there.  Look for a followup post soon; we will give you some ideas on how you can continue supporting this adventure we are on.  

With love and gratitude,
Andy & Mimi 

For I Know the Plans

Since I haven't posted in awhile, let me start with some big fun news...

We are adopting a baby! 

Bam! We are so excited, and we want you to be excited with us. This is a time for celebration indeed!

Oh where, oh where is our baby to be...

There is a big part of me that wants to start the story there; to not invite people into the first part, mostly in fear that this decision to adopt will be looked on as second best. There is this guilt that by talking about the bad, I'm giving the good the short end of the stick. But that's my mind playing tricks on me because doesn't knowing the full story make the happy ending that much sweeter? It's why people watch the whole movie, or read the whole book.  When you know what someone has gone through, triumph is that much more exceptional.

So, here is a little bit of our story and struggle that led us on the path of adoption. Even before we got married, Andy and I talked about adoption. With my health stuff we didn't know if it would be possible for me to carry a baby. As we started preparing our hearts to be parents, I started investigating what it would take: seeking professional opinions from my Cystic Fibrosis doctors and following other CF mom's stories through blogs and groups. My heart became so full as my doctors were on board, and so many of the stories I read were so positive. People whose lung function was actually much worse than mine had normal pregnancies. All these fears I had were being put to rest one by one. With that being said, Andy and I began praying and trying to make a baby.

After about six months with no baby in my belly, I went in for a couple tests to make sure everything was working properly. The doctor called about a week later and said he had some bad news.  My FSH level (follicle-stimulating hormone) was extremely high, which indicated I had a condition called Premature Ovarian Failure. He explained that for someone my age the level should be at about a five while someone who was going through menopause would be at a 12.  My level was a 96!  He told me how sorry he was and that Andy and I should definitely see a fertility specialist. We immediately scheduled an appointment, though we were prepared to hear from him that our chances of having a baby biologically would be very low. As we sat in the doctor's office, he confirmed what we already knew, there was really no way of us conceiving a baby on our own.  Moreover, they didn't know why this had happened to me. He said he'd be happy to talk to us and walk us through fertility treatment options, but he could tell we didn't seem too interested in that idea. It was instantaneous in that moment that God fully opened our hearts to adoption.

                                                                       

So we jumped right in!  Adoption was not our original idea, but that doesn't make it second best by any means. There is this funny little verse: Jeremiah 29:11.  It says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." That is the verse that we remember when our road changes direction. Our God is for us, not against us. It has been so amazing to see God working in this story so far. As we pray about our baby and adoption, Christ continues to keep Andy and I aligned in so many important ways. Since we started this journey, we have been beyond amazed at how natural everything has progressed.  Truly it seems this was the plan all along. So please join us in praying for our family as we start this adventure of adoption! We are soooo excited!

Thank you to our families for your support!  We are also incredibly grateful for our sweet friends, Chris, Shelley, and baby Liv for encouraging us with their story as well as connecting us to our amazing adoption consultant, Susan.  We also must thank Jordan for making us look as purdy as a landscape.  Oh, and are you wondering where that sweet map came from?  It was one of those old school classroom maps (before we went digital)!  Thanks to Lorynda from LifeBridge for letting us borrow it!  Please continue visiting the blog as we promise to be better bloggers and keep this site updated. :)

With so much love, joy, thanksgiving and hopefully a new baby soon :)

Andy + Mimi + Frank + 1

"That which I refuse to thank Christ for, I refuse to believe Christ can redeem." 

- Ann Voskamp