24 weeks...

I've been awful at updating you all lately, and I apologize. But much like the last post, we don't have tons of news to really update you on. We're still in the "active waiting family"  status, which basically just means that we are sitting, waiting, daydreaming of getting one of the most important phone calls of our lives. 

Although it sounds uneventful, that doesn't mean we're bored by any means. The nursery has been getting filled up a little more each week. We've finally got some outfits and sleepers for Baby Powell. That was really the last "necessity" we needed. We still are on the hunt for some other items we need to get like the baby monitor, a bath tub (and all the trimmings... baby wash/washcloths/baby towels), and that sort of stuff. But I know that during my maternity leave, I'll have plenty of time to get those things.. or do 3AM shopping sprees on Amazon while I'm up with baby. 

Also, We're in the middle of lots of house projects. We are still finishing up touches on our basement, but decided to re-do our kitchen as well. We went from a deep red that we painted when we moved in 7 years ago, to a very neutral gray. We're going for a more modern/clean/simple look... Joanna Gaines inspired. We've started painting our builder grade oak cabinets to a creamy, southern white. And we have ordered a gorgeous granite counter-top called "Azul Platino" that will be installed in the coming weeks. We've redecorated both upstairs bathrooms, changed out bedding.. and bought an adorable coffee table for the living room. I realized I have way many ideas and plans for this house then we do time and money. And then it hit me... Are we nesting?

This adoption journey is similar to a pregnancy. It's obviously VERY different, but also so similar. If this were a typical pregnancy .. We'd be 24 weeks pregnant. We signed our papers on January 22nd.  Many in the adoption community call you  "Paperwork Pregnant" once you sign the official papers at the agency. I saw a funny little meme one time that perfectly reflected that term...

So..What makes me thing our adoption journey is similar to a pregnancy? I looked up "The Ultimate Pregnancy Check List" on BabyCenter.com. Below are just some of the items I found on it..

1st Trimester:


Investigate health insurance - DONE (and we even had to have proof of this!)


Drink water- DONE ... Anyone that knows me, knows I drink a ton of water! This one is easy ;-)

Get relief from morning sickness..reference to the meme above.. glad the paper cuts are over!

Stock your kitchen with healthy stuff - DONE - strawberries and carrots have been stocked all summer!

Buy some new bras and undies- DONE! I'll take any excuse I can to go shopping .. haha.

Get ready to see or hear your baby- DONE! We've been ready for as long as we can remember..

Start a baby name list - DONE! This was done before we were even engaged..many moons ago.

Talk to your partner about parenting - DONE! This was a common discussion before our adoption journey started, but after 27 hours of training.. I think we each know where we stand on this.

Second Trimester:
Decide whether you’ll find out the sex of your baby- DONE! We always said if we conceived naturally, we wouldn't find out the gender of our baby. Much like adoption.. We're leaving this in Gods hands, and are not "picky" as to if we want a boy or a girl. A healthy, happy baby is our only request. 

Prepare pets- DONE! Our cats spend lots of time daily in the nursery. See picture below!

Do some financial planning- DONE! We've started playing with numbers to account for baby expenses (Daycare, diapers, formula, doctors appointments..)

Start your childcare search - IN PROGRESS.. We've got a list of places we're going to call the moment we get our call and know the baby will be coming home with us! 

Think about your maternity leave - IN PROGRESS.. Talked with work already, and although it'll be confusing since we don't have a time frame, they are aware of as much as we're aware of.

Tackle your home improvement projects - DONE ... See post earlier! HELLO, nesting!

Create a baby registry - DONE - hello, Amazon! Mainly did this just for that lovely completion discount! haha

Third Trimester:
Choose a doctor for your baby - IN PROGRESS - We have a list of two we're considering.. 

Set up a safe place for your baby to sleep - DONE. Special thanks to bestie Christine for our crib :)

Talk to your baby - IN PROGRESS - We pray and talk to you every day, Baby Powell!

Consider top baby costs and how to save - DONE! Coupons have been our friend for diapers already!

Again.. These are just a few from the long, long list. But you get the idea! About half of the items on the check list, we could actually relate to. Of course some "pregnancy" things we can't relate to, like ...

-the special feelings of getting to feel your baby wiggle and dance in your belly
-feeling the baby hiccup  
-having the baby give you heartburn 
-making sure to watch for labor symptoms
-having an actual "due date" to count down to 
-being able to actually secure daycare and pediatricians because you actually have a baby in your own belly and "proof" to them that you deserve to be on the list and have a timeframe for them
-being able to surprise your husband with the news that you've got a positive pregnancy test
-hearing the beautiful sound of a heartbeat at your doctors appointment
- having ultrasound pictures to look at every day, helping get you through your pregnancy wait
-taking maternity pictures
- preparing for pregnancy test, such as glucose testing.

But, at the end of the day.. We're still 24 weeks along in our journey. Becoming a parent, no matter if it's one from our flesh or from adoption, is a miracle. It's our greatest adventure yet. 

We cannot wait to welcome our sweet baby into our lives. We may not know when it will happen, what they will look like, or if they will be "Ben" or "Abigail". But.. We do know that no matter what, they will be ours. They will be loved, by not only us, but our entire circle of amazing friends and family. And not a day will go by that we won't be saying a special prayer at night, a prayer of thanks for the miracle we were given. 

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue waiting.. 
We wouldn't be where we are now without each one of you supporting us!

Love,

B & D

Talk

4 Months In...

Hey, Y'all! Hope you all are having a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend, and are able to take some time to stop and remember all those heroic military members who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live the life we do.

Like I've said in earlier post, it's getting harder to write updates since, well.. we really don't have much to update you on as often as we did during all our training and paperwork stage. We're officially 4 months into our adoption journey now, but do have some exciting news to share today:

The most important one of this post... Our financial goal to be able to complete our adoption and bring Baby Powell home is officially COMPLETE! As you'll recall, our fees will total about $28,000.00 in total. We're ecstatic to be able to announce that in just 4 short months, ALL THANKS TO YOU AMAZING FOLKS, we've raised ALL our fundraising goals. When our agency suggested  to start a Pure Charity site for crowd-fundraising, and to do yard sales, bake sales (you know I've got that one covered!), group events and whatever other creative fundraising methods.. we kind of brushed it off. Neither of us wanted to "ask" for others help, especially financially. However, after talking with many close friends and family, they all told us that if we didn't start a page, they would. They were all pretty stern with saying that they KNEW so many would want to help us reach our dreams of having a family, and that we needed to just suck up the pride and/or guilt for asking for help, and do it. That being said, we thought "Ok, we'll do it. And we'll be SO blessed if we're able to reach maybe $3,000". We NEVER in a million years thought we'd reach all $28,000. Much less, in such a short span of time. We need to say a VERY special Thank You to a dear couple who we've gotten to know over the past several years. We'll forever be thankful for them, because thanks to a large donation from them, this is what closed up the remaining amount we needed for our goal. They have no idea what a blessing that was to us, and we'll always be so very thankful. We cannot wait for Baby Powell to be able to go meet them, and give them lots of snuggles.

It's such a relief knowing that we've been able to pay all our fees the moment they were due, and that we have the remaining amout for our final payment just sitting, waiting to be sent to the agency, the moment we get to bring our baby home! Talk about MAJOR weight off our shoulders. We're thankful to all of you for being able to give us that.
 
Also, We got to travel up to our agency this week to turn in our portfolio books. I created one back in early March to give our social worker during our home study, but when it came in it had some pages that were not printed correctly. After battling with that company the past two months, I finally threw in the towel and switched over to Shutterfly and re-created our book. I had to change the layout some, but overall it has the same pictures. Below are some sneak peeks from our book:

 This page is at the end of our book... We were told to put some of our favorite hobbies, and things that are important to us. As many of you know, travel is a passion of ours. We're always up for a long weekend adventure, a trip to visit family, or a beautiful beach getaway! It was hard to narrow down to just a couple pictures, so we picked our favorite trips and added them to our portfolio.

 It was recommended to have a picture of your home in the book. So we picked a snowy picture.. especially since we love snow! Also, We had to have a special page just for our furbabies, Mario and Princess.

 

The book has to start with a letter to the expectant parents. This is hard to write, especially since you don't know them or their sitation, and you're requesting them to trust you with their sweet child. But we are hopeful that our letter will touch the hearts of an expectant family.

This is the cover. We loved this picture from our Adoption shoot with Jaden Reese Photography, and felt it was the perfect one to put on the cover. 

Last, but not least, my favorite page. This is at the very end of our book. From the very beginning, we've refereed to this process as "You're Our Greatest Adventure". Shutterfly had these super cute embellishments and it fit with this "Pick Us" picture perfectly. I felt like it was the perfect ending to our portfolio. 

I think that's about it for this post. I'll officially be doing my last post over at our Pure Charity site, and directing all our followers to the blog from here on out. I hope it doesn't cause confusion.. but It's easier to do this transition now, than later.

Sending lots of thanks & love,

B & D

Finally got all the updates moved over .. now we're in bloggin' business !

Hey, y'all! I was able to move over all the updates and info from our Pure Charity site , and now have this updated with all that content. From here on out , we'll start making our updated and random ramblings over on this blog. To get you settled in... how about some pictures ?? This is probably what I'm MOST excited for on this blog .. being able to share pictures!!

Here is a sneak peek of the nursery .. 

 We have been SO blessed with family and friends (and friends of friends) offering us so many items. Shortly after we started this journey we had a brand new crib show up on our front porch, courtesy of my best friend Christine. Fast forward a couple weeks, and add some gently used items such as a swing, a exersaucer, and a play gym.. just to name a few, and our nursery is filling up. We purchased an old dresser for the room, but after getting it home, I felt it was too big (and a little girly) for our nursery. So that's been relocated to one of our guest bedrooms. We purchased the one you see in the pictures from IKEA. The rocker for our room is currently at the Amish getting re-furbished. I was lucky enough to get my Granny Bean's green rocker she had at her home. I have found memories of her sitting in that beautiful chair. But after many years, it needed some TLC, so I've left it in the trusted hands of the Weavers, and cannot wait to go back and get it. We also recently received another very generous gift.. a pack n' play, from our close friends : the Dent family. 

On top of all these baby necessities, We've received the sweetest items from Daniel's mom. She has made several homemade baby blankets for us, and also managed to dig out and clean up several of Daniel's toys and outfits, as well as some of his brothers clothing and blankets. On top of having both of their Christening outfits (if you look closely in the picture above, you'll see Daniel's hanging on a hanger with the cap that came with it), she also passed down her christening gown and another gown from her family. We cannot wait to be able to dress our child in these precious items, and wrap them in the blankets she's made. 

I've got to admit, it's not easy avoiding the baby section when we go into stores. We've slowly started adding staples that we know you cannot have too much of.. crib sheets, wipes, diapers, bibs (Marshalls' stocked me up on those for cheap!), and even some books. But thankfully, since we don't know what gender child God will send to our family, our bank account isn't get hammered like it would if we knew that info ;-) 

When we sit down and reflect, we're still blown away and left speechless with how incredibly lucky and blessed we've been on the start of our adventure. The love and support we've been shown, between well wishes, prayers, donations, and everything in between has been out of this universe. We wouldn't be where we are without all of y'all.

Love,

B & D

Quick facts about our Adoption journey!

Hey, Y'all! Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend, and a very Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, grandmas, step-moms, birth moms and moms-to-be out there. This day always hurts a little for me (Brandy), and this year was no different. It's hard being in church and watching all the moms stand up and be presented with flowers, it's hard seeing families out at restaurants dressed up with little ones giving ginormous hugs, and seeing facebook news feeds filled with pictures of families, presents, and just happiness. It's a little easier this year, being able to go sit in the nursery and watch as Daniel puts the finishing touches on hanging curtains and re-arranges the furniture. It provides a little hope that now that we've moved several steps forward to getting to enjoy the happiness and love. We've done everything with can with our adoption agency, and now just wait for our baby to find us.. so that we too can celebrate and feel all the love we urn for on Mothers Day and Fathers Day, but especially just everyday. Having our family of three will make our life a lot more complete. 

Since there are no updates to share with you on the status of our adoption, we figured it'd be the perfect time to share some facts and answer some questions we have often gotten since starting this journey in January. 

Will we be adopting a child from the USA? Will they be a baby or an older child? - As you'll remember from previous updates, We're using Bethany Christian Services. They have several programs, but the one we felt was best for our family was the domestic infant program. That means that we're adopting from within the United States, and our child will be a newborn/infant. Very rarely have they had older children in the infant program, such as a 1 year old. But that's very rare. We agreed to have our portfolio shown for all of the United States, but many just choose the state their agency is in (less fees, less legal hoops to jump through). We didn't want to take the risk to be passed up, just because our future child/their birth mother wasn't in Maryland. 

Why did we choose Bethany Christian Services? - We picked BCS because after attending a 2 hour information session in December, we knew 100% that adoption was in our hearts and that the connection we already had with the social worker we met was exactly what we were looking for. We felt so comfortable. Yes, it was a ton of paperwork, travel time for 27 hours of training in Crofton, tons of appointments at our home, and expensive. But the expenses are one of the reasons we picked BCS. We met many birthmoms who've benefited from the therapy and counseling that BCS provides FOR LIFE for the birth and adoptive families. They security and protection they provide the children and families, as well as the resources and training made us know that we wanted an agency such as them. 

Isn't adopting through foster care of DSS free? Why not go that route? - We researched local Department of Social Services and contacted folks we knew who've fostered. We also knew of people who've been able to adopt via foster care for free. But we didn't feel this route was right for us. The child has to be in DSS/FC for 18 months without any period of going back to their birth family before they are eligible for adoption. The odds of there being no interruption during that period is rare. Our hearts aren't ready for the risk of finally having a child to love, and having to share them back with their family. We've discussed that possibly one day down the road, after we adopt one or two children, we may pursue fostering ... but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But for now, we didn't feel it was the right route for us. 

How will we get picked? When will we know? - We get picked from that 20 page photo book we created. It is a mini-summary of who we are. BCS is a pregnancy crisis center on one side of the building. The social worker for the birth family works with them to help them decide if they can parent, what resources they have, and if they decide they still don't think they can parent, they work up an adoption plan after much counseling and time. Once an adoption plan is started, the birth families fill out a questioner of what they wish a family to be for their sweet child. The social worker then sends that over to our social worker, who is the adoptive families advocate. Whatever families meet that criteria, their photo books are pulled. The birth family then picks what family they wish to adopt their child. At that point, we'd get a phone call we were picked. We are given any info the agency has (due date, gender, prenatal care history, open/semi open adoption, etc..). We then can make the decision if we think this child is the right fit. If so, it's possible we may meet up with the birth family, if they request. At that point, if we say "yes", we wait until the due date. After the baby is born, we'll be called again with more details.. if the child is healthy, birth weight/time/, and anything else the agency feels we should know. We then can make the decision to continue on, especially if medical conditions are present. At that point, different states have different laws of when consent period is over for the birth parents to change their mind. Maryland is 30 days. The baby will go into interim care until the consent period is up, and there isn't as much legal risk for the birth family to change their mind. At the end of that period, we'll get to take the baby home. BCS does a "going home" ceremony at the agency, we can invite our family, and can finally have a little peace of mind. The adoption won't be final until we go to court around 8 months, and take legal custody after all paperwork has been processed. But BCS are the experts at this, and we 100% trust that we will be in good hands with them. 

Another unique fact that we liked about BCS is that it's very different then DSS/Foster care in a very important way to us. These children who have an adoption plan started for them at BCS are SO loved. These children are in BCS because their birth family loved them so much to seek voluntary help and seek a better life for their child. These children aren't getting taken away because of neglect, drugs, jail or any other bad circumstance. That being said, yes - they could have drugs or alcohol in their system/no prenatal care. But they have recognized that they are not fit for parenting, and are choosing life for their child. They are making a decision that will always impact their lives, but will hopefully bring them peace. 

The average age of the birth mom at BCS is mid-20s. Single women, married women, college graduates, you name it... that situation has happened at BCS. The number one reason people choose BCS and to make an adoption plan is because they financially cannot parent. They are just starting their career, they have many other children already, they don't have a home to provide for their child, and many other situations. But it's not the "TV" adoption stories you always think categorize ALL adoptions,, young teen moms, or drug/alcohol situations.

 If you're ever bored, search hashtags on instagram, find waiting families, search "domestic infant adoption" and read blogs.. pray for these families, for the children, for the birth families and the adoptive families. It's an entire world that often doesn't get talked about, or "set straight" with real facts, rather than what people see and hear on TV which often isn't correct. 

**Please keep in mind, all adoptions are unique in their own way. These are just the facts we've seen/learned/heard first hand from birth families, adoptive families, and social workers. **

 Also, try and remember that every year the Saturday before Mother's Day is "National Birth Mothers Day". Say a special prayer for all the birth moms who are so incredibly brave, and have chosen the amazing journey of adoption for their children.

 Thanks for all the continued love, support, stories of adoptions we've heard recently, prayers, and donations. We are SO thankful for every single one of you, and wouldn't be where we are without you. Baby Powell is so blessed to have you all cheering for them! 

I wish we could attach pictures to this update/blog, but it unfortunately won't allow us to. We've got the nursery almost complete. It's coming together so nicely, and we're so thankful for all the gifts and gently used items our friends and family have flooded us with. Baby Powell is already set (except clothes, which many have offered up as soon as we know the gender).. and we cannot say thanks enough! You all are incredible. 

Love, B & D

We're offically approved !!

Hey, Y'all! Sorry it's been so long since our last update. But I promise this update is worth it : We're OFFICIALLY APPROVED! At the end of March we received a drafted email copy of our 15 page (Yes, 15 page) Home Study .... proofed it, sent back a signed copy, and waited to get that "Approved" Letter in our mailbox. It came April 8th. 

I don't think either of us have smiled so big. It was such a relief to hold that letter of approval, feel the seal on it, and know that now we're just waiting until God decides to send our baby to us. I am thinking about framing that letter, and putting it in the nursery.. It's something I want to save and keep safe forever. 

This week marks 3 months since we signed our paperwork with Bethany Christian Agency, and starting our Adoption Journey. It's safe to say it's been some of the busiest 3 months we've had, but it's flown by so quick. We only pray that the rest of our journey goes just as quickly. When we first signed our papers, our social worker told us that she was aiming to have us approved in 90 days.. and we could 100% make that goal if we were committed and followed all the checklist she gave us, and she was completely right. So glad we stuck to our timeline, didn't let any roadblocks stop us... and can officially say the easiest part is now behind us.

 Now comes the hardest part.. the wait. We could get a call next week that a birth family has picked us, or we could be waiting 3 years to get that call. We'll continue to pray everyday that the perfect child for our family will come our way at just the right time. As many of you know, We're an incredibly busy, "on the go" couple. If we're not working, making cake balls, taking nieces and nephews to sports, going on mini weekend trips, or spending time with family and friends.. we're probably sleeping! We stay busy. We're confident that having this busy lifestyle will help keep us sane during this journey, and not dwell on the time that goes by as we wait for that special phone call. 

As always, we're SO thankful for all of you. The thoughts, emails, baby gifts, prayers and financial support have been incredible. We are so, so lucky to have you all in our lives.We have been able to pay for our Home Study Fee ($4600), and just sent in our check for the next fee that was due ($8600) for the Placement I Fee. Without all of the kind donations, support during our community fundraisers and cake ball purchases, we wouldn't have been able to make those payments in full as soon as we did, and get that Approval letter in the mail!

 We'll be doing more updates soon.. and taking you on our roller-coaster as we wait, "nest ", get more updates from our agency, and everything in between! 

Please continue to pray for not only us, but especially the birth families making the decision to create an adoption plan and pick through all of our portfolio books, the agency, the sweet babies being born, and all those thinking of going on this journey.

 Love y'all! - B & D

....and now we wait.

Hey, Y'all! We hope you had a wonderful Easter! Sorry it's been so long since our last update. We've been VERY busy! But we've got some pretty exciting things to report now :)

We've spent the past 2 weeks since our last update finalizing all the items on our checklist to be able to make our folder complete at our agency. Since we last updated you, we've gotten both cats into the vet for updated vaccinations and got them licensed. We've gotten FBI and MD State fingerprints done , along with federal background checks. We've filled out more financial paperwork for the agency. We've provided proof that we can currently hold insurance, and can provide insurance to our baby. We've drawn floor plans of our home with evacuation plans incase of an emergency. And I'm sure much more that I've forgotten. But that's all the boring, "must do to get a check in the box" sort of stuff... now on to the fun updates..

 The nursery is coming along! We've got the crib up and it looks wonderful. Of course, if you know us, you'd find it no surprise that it's got the cutest orange sheets on the crib mattress :) I've got my granny's rocker, and that's found it's perfect home in the nursery. It does need some slight work, so we're taking that to the Amish this weekend. We also were given the cutest two blankets that Daniel's Mom made for Baby Powell. They match our colors perfectly, and are so snuggly and soft! I believe we may paint the room in the coming weeks, and also plan on replacing the carpet to something new and fresh. We still need details like the perfect orange curtains, a rug.. and a couple more things we have in mind for the walls. But once we have it straight.. we'll be sure to take pictures and share!

And.. the biggest news of all this week : Our home study is COMPLETE! If you recall, it was scheduled for last Tuesday, March 22nd. However, it had to get postponed. That ended up working out best for us and our social worker. It was postponed to yesterday, March 29th. She met us at our home around 3pm, and visited for almost 2 hours. We had additional interviews, similar to our ones a couple weeks ago, but these we were able to do jointly. After finishing her questions, we gave her the grand tour of our little home. She checked off her "safety" items she needed to see, like child proofing materials readily available, the gun safe, the medicine/cleaning products/alcohol all stored properly. She was very happy with how well we've prepared, and like I stated before .. we ADORE her. She is someone I could completely see being a friend of mine, as our personalities just click. The time she spends with us never feels like it's part of this large process, but more like friends just talking. And for that, we're very thankful. It's made this entire journey a tad easier.

After she left our home, she had to still meet with one of our three references. From what we've heard, that visit went well, too! She let us know that she was very anxious to get back to her office today and finish typing up the remaining details from yesterday!

At that point, we proof read it and make sure it captures us correctly, and once we agree - we send back a signed copy electronically.. and then we're DONE. All of our scrambling, paperwork, sleepless nights of making sure things were perfect, all of our training, all of our questions.. and we've hit the point were we officially have to trust the process. We no longer have anything left to do except wait.We no longer have control. She told us back in January when we first signed our contract, that we had as much control as we'd every have, up until the home study was complete. She stated we could make this process move as quickly as we wanted, as far as getting our ducks in a row and paper work complete, to get to the home study part. Then once that is complete, our end of the deal and requirements are done. We now "take the backseat", and try and enjoy the ride. That's going to probably be much easier said than done. Now is when our faith will be tested, along with our patience.

We need to get our new portfolio books (we ordered ones, but they came in slightly incorrect - so replacements are on their way). Once we deliver those to the agency, they will be available for birth parents to look at, if their criteria for a family meets ours. The goal is to get the home study submitted and signed by tomorrow, Thursday March 31st.. which will make us an "Approved March 2016 Family". Which means, as of Friday, April 1st.. we can start being listed as "approved available adoptive family" to the birth families coming into the agency. With that being said - yes, we COULD be picked quickly. But the reality of it is, that we could also not be picked quickly. This could take 2 + years.. And only God knows when we will be blessed. But we're hopefully that with our wonderful support, community, prayers, and love that we have surrounding us.. that our baby will be in our arms at just the perfect timing. But until that moment happens, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as often as you can. As well as all the birth families out there making this commitment and decision for their family.

 If you're still reading, you deserve a round of applause. I just realized how long this update had become.. Ooops! One last thing - Our fundraising goal is going SO great. We're SO, SO thankful for ALL of you who are making this amazing journey possible. We're now at 76% of our final amount needed on this Pure Charity webpage! That puts our FINAL total percentage at 90%. That's incredible. We NEVER in our wildest dreams imagined the support, financially and emotionally, we'd be receiving once we announced our adoption journey. Every day we sit and look at all the sweet words you've all said to us, look at all the baby gifts we've already received, and of course the 90% of funding we've received from all of you.. and cannot believe how blessed and lucky we are to have each and every one of you in our lives. Baby Powell is so loved already, and will always know how this amazing circle of people we have pulled together to make our dreams come true.

 We love you all! - B & D

A VERY successful weekend !

Hey, Y'all! Happy Wednesday. We're already in the middle of March? This year is already flying by... 

As you may recall, this past weekend was going to be a busy one. We had our individual interviews on Friday, each lasting 2 hours in our home. Then that evening we had our Wine & Design fundraiser. All of that fun was then followed by a 2 day vendor event at Don't Buy New, a Vintage Flea Market, who was kinda enough to ask us to put up a table to sell our cake balls. We weren't sure how to even prepare for al those cake balls, much less mentally prep for the interviews. But all went well. And actually, we sold out of our cake balls at DBN by the end of the day on Saturday, so we did not return on Sunday!

 Our interview got VERY personal. Thankfully, we both adore our social worker, and are 100% comfy with her. She asked us each questions for 2 hours that basically gave a summary of our entire life. How relationships were with family as a child? What was your average day as a elementary school child, middle school child, and high schooler? What type of discipline do you plan to use for your child? What kind do you not like? What's your ideal parenting style? What kind do you not approve of? What age did you first try alcohol? How often did you drink it underage? And basically any question in between.. but I will say, the 2 hours flew by for each of us, and it was another BIG check off our list. Next time we see our social worker is less than a week away.. at our Home Study! That's taking place next Tuesday, March 22nd. She'll do another interview with us both, about 45 minutes long. And then walk through our home. She's mainly checking to make sure any medicines are up and out of reach of little hands, making sure the same for cleaning products and alcohol, and making sure guns are properly stored and secure. She also will take a peak into our nursery.. It doesn't have to be a "nursery" yet, but she needs to see an empty space where the baby will call home. So we're planning on setting that up this weekend! We've got a crib (thanks to my amazing best friend, Christine), a rocker, a dresser, a changing table, so we're set on the basics! We also have the travel system/car seat, diapers, wipes, bottles , a handful of clothing and a high chair. All we'll soon be waiting for is our baby :) 

Now, onto our fundraising... This weekend was BY FAR the most successful weekend we've had yet! We had the 2 events + cake ball orders + personal checks as donations written to us from amazing family and friends. All in all, we brought in an additional $ 2,279 in ONE weekend! How incredible is that? We are so blessed with such an amazing circle of friends and family, and a great community! Because of this successful weekend, we're now at 88% of our goal! We've only got about $3300 left to go until we've met our fundraising goal. I have no doubt that with cake ball orders and some more vendor events, we'll be there JUST in time to bring home our baby. 

Another fun check got checked off our list on Sunday. We completed our adoption book portfolio. This is the 20 page book that is a summary of us. Full of pictures, who we are, and what our life is like. This book is shown to the birth parents who are making adoption plans for their children. If their checklist of what they want in a adoptive family meets our checklist of what we want in a birth family, our book will be shown to them. They look at all the books that meet their criteria, and then pick the family they want to raise their child based on the book. So it was a tad stressful creating this book, knowing this is THE ticket to getting picked. But we're happy with how it turned out, and cannot wait for them to come in! 

I believe that's about it for this week... Next weeks update will be posted after we do our home study, so that we can be sure to fill you all in on the details of how that went! Thank you all SO much for all your kind words, well wishes, donations, prayers and support. We couldn't be where we are without you all! 

PS.. One last thing.... We're 99% sure we've settled on names! We've always had a boy name picked out, but we're 99% sure we've decided on a girls name now. Of course, once we see our baby, we'll then know if the name fits or not, but it's exciting to be able to use their names when talking and brainstorming about what we're planning.

 Love,  B & D