Roller Coaster

Well, we are in the full swing of the domestic adoption roller coaster. Each time, I think I'll handle it better, and each time I fail to. I find myself calling out to God dozens of times every day. I am constantly asking to to take my anxiety and worries about being "chosen." Here's how domestic adoption works: for lack of a better term, we basically have to "market" ourselves to wonderful women who find themselves in a situation that they do not have the resources or reserves to handle themselves. We have a 19 page profile, and we "submit" ourselves to "situations." Then we wait to hear. - Yes. or No.

When we were waiting for Miss O and Miss I, we were working with one agency who showed our profile to potential birth parents for the most part, without telling us first. This time, we are working with an adoption facilitator, who works with 9 different agencies, and most of those agencies ask us before they present us to potential birth parents. That has been increasing the anxiety for me, as I feel like I'm constantly waiting to hear. So, the Lord is drawing me closer to Him once again. Thank you Lord, for this opportunity to grow in my faith and relationship with you.

Waiting

For me, the hardest part of adoption is waiting. It always feels like we need to hurry up and get everything done. Then we wait. Hurry up and wait. We were not chosen today, for the first time of what I'm sure could be many before our child is in our arms with us. So, I have chosen a theme song for myself during this period. It lifts my spirits and reminds me why we're adoptiong again. Not for our glory, but for God's glory. Not just because we want another child (although we do), but because God is calling us to bring another child into our family. It's comforting to know that the Lord has already chosen that child for us. So we patiently wait, and serve and worship as we wait for God to reveal His perfect plan for our family.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWI-iZsIKik&feature=related

State Fair celebration

We went home and gave the kids a nap after our finalization brunch. When they finally woke up, we packed them up and headed to the State Fair for more celebrating. Ato T had a blast this year! Very different from last year, when he mostly cried or just tolerated it. We took him on the giant slide and the carousel, and he ablolutely LOVED them both! The girls had a grand time, too! We lasted about 4 hours this year.

The girls both love jumping on the giant trampolene! No fear at all this year!

Watching his sisters jump.

Finalization!

We re-finalized Ato T's adoption this past Thursday! Even though this is just a formality, we were still pretty excited! Mike's family all came (except Uncle Jose, who had to work). We followed the hearing with a family brunch at Perkins!

First day of school 2010

Monday was our first official day of school for the 2010-2011 school year. We're off to a great start!