April 21st

I tried blogging about this twice and it keeps deleting soooo you get the short version :) Which is all that matters anyway!

Two weeks ago (the 19th?) I spoke with J's worker and she told me the other family was ruled out. That would make the third family interested in him who was ruled out. She said she would talk with the other workers and our worker and schedule a time where they could have a phone conference and do an informal matching of us to him. SWEET! She said no promises but everything looks good and I will call you next week once I talk to everyone! I was pumped. Everything seemed to be falling into place.

Turns out the day after she and I talked it was decided that the most recent family wouldn't be ruled out and that they would try to make it work - allowing them to be part of the matching process. That means we now have to go to commitee. . . they have it twice a month.... the next possible time we can get in is April 21st.

I am fairly certain that the other family will be picked. I know if I was making the decision - I would pick them. (1.) The are a local family. (2.) They are adopting J's foster brother who is very bonded to J (3.) Because they are adopting J's little foster brother they have spent extensive time with J and have sorta bonded with him too (4.) They live in a diverse area - the fact that we don't was something they had talked with us about alot. Wouldn't you pick them??

The reason they were originally ruled out was because the agency only allows one adoption a year so they would have to wait a year to adopt J. Also they have never parented before and they thought two kids would be alot to adjust to and they didn't want to disrupt the younger foster brother's placement. Well they decided to allow it and to give them a chance at J.

Honestly - when they first told me that J had a foster brother who was being adopted who he bonded to I felt really sad for him. I thought how sad that he would have another loss in him life. I don't care that they have no blood connection - they are BROTHERS.

J will finally have his forever home - no matter who his parents end up being. :) I am happy for that.

I cried a little bit - the selfish cry that says I could love him and I thought he was my son. But I am feeling more at peace this time around with adoption. I KNOW God has a plan for us. I KNOW he has chosen adoption for our family and he KNOWS what family he will bring us too.

Maybe its adopting from the foster care system - maybe its another domestic adoption. I really don't know yet. I am definitely anxious to see though! :)

Bummer

Just found out that they have another family who came forward who they think will be a good match. That means we have to go to commitee... next month... if they can. I'm disappointed. Very. very. disappointed. So much for all those positive feelings about everything.

keep ya posted.

Happy for Javarius ...at least he will have his forever family :)

This week we find out

This week we will (hopefully) find out if we will be chosen to be J's parents. She returned my call on Thursday and I felt really good after getting off the phone with her. I explained the different thoughts we were having - being unsure of what was going to happen and not wanting this to drag out when ultimately we may not be his family. She has been great at keeping us informed and making things happen in a timely manner. She said she thinks its likely possible we will know by the end of this week. I am really excited. I mean REALLY excited. :) I will keep ya posted :)

We said yes :)

We said yes... but it doesn't mean a whole lot at this point. We met with our worker on March 4th to go over J's paperwork, his evaluations - a whole bunch of stuff about the little man :) Our worker talked to his worker on the 5th and got a little more info on what is next if we decide to pursue it. Turns out there are two other families interested in him. According to his worker, both families have expressed interest but thats about it. They haven't followed up or have taken the next step to find out more extensive info on him. ALSO, according to our worker we are the preference of his worker. So now I have to find out whats next. On Monday the 8th we gave our "official" yes that we want to commit to him. But his worker is now on vacation and won't be back til Monday. I have tried being patient this week.

All this stuff has brought back all the frustration I felt about pursuing David. Here is why: See last week we also got a call about an infant to be born IN OUR STATE with ridiculously low fees. The situation is PERFECT. We wouldn't have to travel out of state or worry about what to do with the girls. Now if we had to flat out choose between J and this baby - we would choose J. No question. But if you remember we got the call about Kinsey and David the same week. David was suposedly the "sure thing" and Kinsey was a chance. We decided to say yes to both and after seven months they were no longer allowing david to leave the state to be adopted. Yes - after SEVEN MONTHS. So now I am at this place again. Worried that one is doomed to fall through and I need to figure out which one. We are saying yes to J. I am praying it doesn't fall through. There are moments I think about it and say "Of course it will work out with J!" and other times I think "Yeah right - been here, done that - it ain't happening!". I think we should pursue both children. The birth mom may not select us anyway. Kyle is undecided. I think he is leaning towards... NO. :) I just need peace. Peace that its outta my control.

I am excited about J becoming part of our family though :) I have made him a photo book about our family (Kyle, Kinsey, Cali and I) and will soon be making him one of all his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Then he can have those while we get through all the paperwork. If it becomes offcial that we are matched I want to get visits started right away. Out of state can be tricky - but I am hopeful. J's birthday is in May so I am hoping we can get a visit or two in to him so he can come here for his birthday. Our families are big on birthday parties... I think he would love it :)

We looked into a private school nearby. I am VERY excited about that. Its where I want my boy to go :)

I had his video going the other day... Kinsey watched it like 10 times :) My girls will be sooo excited to have a big brother :)

Okay I have to go! I will update more when I find out next week!

Oh, does anyone know anything about non-recurring adoption expenses?? And how that works?
email me :) kcg8483@hotmail.com

New Siblings?

I got a call from a social worker in Florida yesterday asking if we would be interested in little boy who is 10 years old. We may be interested but right now we are waiting to find out if we can move forward with our boy J first and see if we can be a successful match with him. Any way this boy she called me about is Cody and he is ten. She thinks he would be a good fit for our family. He has two siblings but they may have to split them up... unless our hearts were big enough for all three (her words, not mine lol) ...called my mom and I told her that I just found my three siblings :) My parents have decided to start the process to do foster care - possibly adoption. I know its not likely they could adopt them, as the process takes a while... but maybe if not these siblings.. maybe some others.

Maybe these kids would fit into your family?

A little about Nathan (13) , Jenna (12), Cody (10)

Favorite foods: Like most other young boys, Cody likes chicken fingers and fries and Nathan likes pizza! Jenna, however, sticks to healthier options and says that her favorite food is salad.

Favorite animals: Cody’s favorite animal is a giraffe, Jenna loves bunnies and Nathan thinks white tigers are really cool.

At school: These siblings are across the board: Cody likes reading class, Jenna likes writing and Nathan’s favorite is math.

A few things about Cody: Loveable Cody likes watching Nickelodeon, playing “Duck,Duck,Goose” and hopes to be a science teacher someday.

A few things about Jenna: Going to the park is one of her favorite ways of passing the time and she’d like to be a cashier someday. Jenna also likes dancing and playing the recorder.

A few things about Nathan: He likes fishing and watching the Cartoon Network and wants to be a rapper when he grows up. He would love to learn how to snowboard.

Why people love this trio: They’re caring and helpful, and love to have a good time.