Faithful Journey

We're Back!

2009-07-26T08:05:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the long delay. We are back and more excited than ever. After not being selected in two separate adoption situations via The Cradle we have decided to branch out. We are going to begin working with AIS (Adoption Information Services) out of Georgia. A link to their website is on our blog. Our friends Tony and Tammy adopted two beautiful little girls using AIS and we are excited about adopting a child of our own.

AIS is able to expand our network of agencies that we are a "waiting family" at and can significantly expedite the adoption process. We have just completed the initial questionnaire and will be speaking with them shortly. If all goes well, within 3-12 months we will be a family of 4! Praise God! Thanks for your prayers ... and keep them coming. We will let you know as things progress ...

DCFS clearances!!!

2009-01-07T16:58:00.001-06:00

Great news! We just received our clearances from DCFS today. HomeStudy will be complete one week from tomorrow. Things are really coming together. Thank you Jesus!

Great Idea ... Poor follow thru

2009-01-05T19:29:00.002-06:00

Sorry for not keeping the blog updated. We wanted this to be a place where we could share our progress, experiences, feelings, etc ... but instead it is a great idea that has been left untouched.

The short story to get you up to speed is that we are currently waiting for our DCFS license to come through. This is one of the more time consuming parts of the 'home study' process and it is also the part of the process that you cannot speed up. Just have to wait. We hope to hear this month though on our license approval. Yeah!!!!!

The last couple steps will be to complete our Birth Parent Letter (kind of a story about who we are and what we like to do with lots of pictures), then we meet with our adoption counselor on Jan 15th at our home (this will complete the home study process) and finally we will be attending our final class at the adoption agency called, "Making Connections" on Jan 27th. Sounds like alot but we are excited about the possibility of being on the "Waiting Families" list soon after Jan 27th if all goes well. Very Exciting!!

We have started preparing the baby's room just in case things move quickly. Nothing wrong with being a little optimistic. Right? We have set up the crib in what Alison continues to call Aunt Megan's room. Probably will keep that title until baby Morrell shows up.

We have been talking alot with Alison about adoption and trying to answer her questions. She is excited to have a baby brother or sister. In fact she often wants to know if the baby will be today ... "Today Daddy?" She is going to be a great big sister. She continues to make us smile and laugh each and every day. Every time I look at her I still cannot believe how fast she has grown.

Well, my train is almost at the Bartlett stop so I should sign off. We will try to do a better job of keeping you updated. Please leave a comment if you are reading this. We would love to know your thoughts and who is out there. Hmmm????

God Bless!!

Where have we been???

2008-10-27T16:51:00.002-05:00

I bet you are wondering why we have not updated the blog. Good question. Well, the short answer is ... uh, we forgot. A lot has happened since our last post including being assigned a new counselor, a last minute cancellation to a baby CPR class (Kelly and I were the only ones there ... kinda funny), an Adoption 101 class, paperwork, paperwork, PAPERWORK, fingerprinting, physicals and much, much more. Needless to say we have some catching up to do on the blog site but I just wanted you to know that we are still on our Faithful Journey.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Meeting our Social Worker

2008-08-07T20:08:00.002-05:00

It was an ordinary day for us, Alison and I did our thing in the morning running errands. Around 1 o'clock it became less ordinary. I started watching the clock. Our first non-family babysitter was going to show up. I was really nervous how this would go. Would Alison cry? Would she be safe? Would this girl engage with my daughter the way I do? Or would she just ignore her? I am paying $7 an hour for this babysitter she had better engage with her! I asked my neighbor at least half a dozen times to keep an eye on her while they played outside. Jenny (the babysitter) showed up at 1:30. Alison had a little smirk on her face when she arrived, right then I knew she would be fine. Dan comes home, we bolt out the door late for the appointment already and I fully expect to see Alison at the screen door crying for me. Nope...as I leave the I see her disappear downstairs with the babysitter (she is in the lead by the way). What was I worried about????

We were late but we both had to use the bathroom and I remember being in the bathroom thinking, I can't believe I am here. I can't be live this is me, us. We should not be here...but then a peace. Wait...no, it IS okay. You are supposed to be here. Wait, what?

Reception called Christine and she came at us with a big smile. "Wow you are really tall" it is the first thing she says to us...to my husband. He is tall, he is 6'5" but over the years I have not not really noticed not like when we first started dating. We follow her into a meeting room, immediately I am reminded of my corporate days at Hewitt. Weird.

She is everything you would want in a social worker, this Christine. She is happy, she is a good listener. She is honest. We have a ton of questions and as we ask each one she first pauses then answers. I can't decide if that makes me feel good or unsettled. Is she sugar coating? Or is she just trying not to get our hopes up. I mean lets face it we want another baby and we wanted it yesterday, actually we wanted this 2 years ago. Our 2nd born would have been about 18 months old now with a birthday somewhere around February 11, 2007.

Anyway, our meeting was good we all felt relaxed. She made us feel comfortable. I think it is safe to say it will be a long road and it may be dark and hopeless at times. We have a lot of work ahead of us that is for sure. We have to write about ourselves and we have to ask others to write about us, that is going to be tough. But with the Lord at the wheel we are in safe hands. I have to trust that this is exactly where He wants us to be, exactly.

Hello World

2008-08-07T06:45:00.001-05:00

First I want to thank each of you for your prayers and support. The past couple years (and especially the past few months) have been difficult emotionally for both Kelly and I. But thanks to each of you and a strength that only God can provide we are still standing tall and excited about the journey that God has in store for us.

Let me state first of all for the record that Kelly and I are rookie bloggers. Just like many of you may be rookie blog readers. But our goal is to just have some fun, tell some stories and possibly touch a few hearts along the way. This is a Faithful Journey and we are trusting in God's plan and path for our family. We are excited to have you along for the ride. So let's get started.

Yesterday afternoon we took one of the initial steps in the adoption process. We met with our adoption agency social worker, Christine. She is great. We met with her for two hours in the afternoon while Alison stayed with a babysitter (Jenny) for the first time. I have a feeling there will be a lot of firsts for us along the way so why not start now. Ali had lots of fun with Jenny painting and playing outside. We were so happy. Maybe we should get a sitter more often??