Thursday, August 18, 2011
meeting today
Our covenant meeting was today with our birth family. I must say that we have an amazing birth family that is a perfect fit for our family. We feel so happy. We feel so blessed. We feel so peaceful about this baby coming into the world and then into our happy home. I have lots of fun little things from our meeting today... but I can't share tonight. Soon... I'll share soon. My cup runneth over.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
postino, birthday, and baby
We have had some very busy and stressful weeks lately. There is quite a bit of stress getting ready for me to be off work, but I have found the source of my stress is really coming from whether or not our sweet baby girl will actually come home with us forever. This fear has been running rampant in my thoughts. I am trying to hold fast to Christ and His undeniable good plans for our lives. It's hard though. I just want it to be over. I know, I know... I'll just be patient.
We have had lots of fun times in the midst of all the stress. I've gone to Postino several times lately. It's one of my favorites to frequent. There is something in the bruschetta that keeps me coming back. We went recently with Bex and Andrew. We love them and it had been far too long since we hung out.
Tomorrow we have a meeting at our agency with our birth mom and birth dad. I think birth grandma is coming too. We are really excited because we'll finally get to meet birth dad. At our meeting, we will be setting some guidelines and plans for the future of our relationship. Adoption is really wonderfully strange. We look forward to a future of knowing these people as an extension of our family. We are praying our meeting goes well and that our relationship with them grows and becomes more and more comfortable. We also hope to find out if there has been any progress with her labor. She went to the doctor today, so I can't wait to find out the update. We'll keep you posted!
We have had lots of fun times in the midst of all the stress. I've gone to Postino several times lately. It's one of my favorites to frequent. There is something in the bruschetta that keeps me coming back. We went recently with Bex and Andrew. We love them and it had been far too long since we hung out.
We even sat with boys on one side of the big booth and girls on the other so girls could talk and the boys wouldn't get in our way.
Yesterday was my birthday. We had pizza and ice cream at home with a few friends. It was perfect. My birthday is my most special day and I look forward to it every year. Now that it has passed I look forward to my half-birthday in February. To know me, is to know that I love my birthday. Don't worry, I'll love yours too. Birthdays are wonderful. I share my bday with my little sis (crazy, huh!). We thought that we might have Baby Girl joining us this year, but sadly, the hours came and went. I guess she'll have her own birthday. To be honest, I think I told someone I didn't want to share my birthday with her. :) That's how much I like my own. I wasn't thrilled when I had to start sharing with my sister years ago. A daughter would have just thrown my birthday out of whack. kidding... kind of.
Tomorrow we have a meeting at our agency with our birth mom and birth dad. I think birth grandma is coming too. We are really excited because we'll finally get to meet birth dad. At our meeting, we will be setting some guidelines and plans for the future of our relationship. Adoption is really wonderfully strange. We look forward to a future of knowing these people as an extension of our family. We are praying our meeting goes well and that our relationship with them grows and becomes more and more comfortable. We also hope to find out if there has been any progress with her labor. She went to the doctor today, so I can't wait to find out the update. We'll keep you posted!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
thankful for being so blessed
We are truly blessed. I am constantly reminded of God's goodness in our everyday lives. This awareness is only heightened when we are going through something like our adoption. It brings the little things out and makes them pop. Our eyes are wide open to God's work.
This week our old Civic needed a lot of work. This is the car I got when I turned 16 and Cam still drives it. I'm getting ready to have a birthday, which means that I've owned this car for 11 years. It was 4 years old at the time, bringing it's age to 15. That's a pretty old car. She has been faithful and we've been thankful that we haven't "needed" to get rid of her. I love that old thing. She has had some troubles though, which any old car would, requiring us to have to pay lots of money to get her fixed. This expense was unforeseen and came right before we have to pay our adoption agency our large sum of money. You could see how this might seem stressful. Well, Cam had to go to court for work this week and has to go back next week. He is getting enough overtime pay to make a good dent in the car bill. Praise God! The rest of it will turn up. It always seems to turn up somewhere.
We have been given numerous gifts from people for our adoption. Baby girl has received new clothes, "loved" clothes from friends, lullaby CDs, Arbonne baby products, blankets, and more. We are so thankful for the gifts we have been given. Each one lightens our load and fills our cup. We are reminded of God's love and provision with each gift.
I am amazed at how blessed we've been through our fundraising. It's amazing how many of Cam's work buddies have bought chap stick from us. We have been blessed by those purchases made by anyone who has bought one or five. Thank you for doing that. We have more too!! Let me know if you want another. :)
We are hoping to wrap up this part of our adoption and move into the next phase. I am very aware that we are nearing the end of this waiting period, but I am also very aware at how quickly decisions can change. We are thankful to be right where we are. We are also very afraid to lose what we almost have. Please continue to pray with us for these next few weeks. Some people, ourselves included, are getting ready to make some of the biggest decisions of our lives. It's an exciting time but also very sobering.
This week our old Civic needed a lot of work. This is the car I got when I turned 16 and Cam still drives it. I'm getting ready to have a birthday, which means that I've owned this car for 11 years. It was 4 years old at the time, bringing it's age to 15. That's a pretty old car. She has been faithful and we've been thankful that we haven't "needed" to get rid of her. I love that old thing. She has had some troubles though, which any old car would, requiring us to have to pay lots of money to get her fixed. This expense was unforeseen and came right before we have to pay our adoption agency our large sum of money. You could see how this might seem stressful. Well, Cam had to go to court for work this week and has to go back next week. He is getting enough overtime pay to make a good dent in the car bill. Praise God! The rest of it will turn up. It always seems to turn up somewhere.
We have been given numerous gifts from people for our adoption. Baby girl has received new clothes, "loved" clothes from friends, lullaby CDs, Arbonne baby products, blankets, and more. We are so thankful for the gifts we have been given. Each one lightens our load and fills our cup. We are reminded of God's love and provision with each gift.
I am amazed at how blessed we've been through our fundraising. It's amazing how many of Cam's work buddies have bought chap stick from us. We have been blessed by those purchases made by anyone who has bought one or five. Thank you for doing that. We have more too!! Let me know if you want another. :)
We are hoping to wrap up this part of our adoption and move into the next phase. I am very aware that we are nearing the end of this waiting period, but I am also very aware at how quickly decisions can change. We are thankful to be right where we are. We are also very afraid to lose what we almost have. Please continue to pray with us for these next few weeks. Some people, ourselves included, are getting ready to make some of the biggest decisions of our lives. It's an exciting time but also very sobering.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
busy, stressed, crazy, exciting, exhausting, hopeful...
...these are the things that describe my days lately.
I just started a brand new school year. My kids are, undoubtedly, adorable and I'm so thankful they are happy to be at school. It makes my job so much easier and fun. They definitely require a whole lot of patience. They are kinder kids still and won't be first graders for a little while. They are still maturing and learning how we do things in our new class together. It's a learning process that takes a while, but is well-worth the effort when January rolls around and they basically run themselves. I look forward to that. Work has had me feeling tired, stressed, and hard to prioritize to get all my things done. Do I always feel like this the first week of school? probably...
Due to the amount of patience that is required of me at work (let me remind you: it's a lot!) my poor husband has been getting the me that has run out of patience. I think I've been hard to live with this week. It's a good thing he loves me and knows that it's my first week of school. He's been great this week and I don't know what I would do without him. :)
We got a call from our agency yesterday letting us know that our birth mom had a doctor visit and she is dilated to 2cm. The doctor said that baby girl could come at any time. Birth mom will be 36 weeks soon and she only carried her last kiddo to 37 weeks. The reality of how soon this is happening has begun to hit me. My house is a disaster and it's just grungy. I want to rip everything open and clean everything out. I want every closet organized and cleaned out. It has been hard coming home to my house that feels like a project I don't have time for. Another thing we wanted to do before baby girl comes is paint our house. It's not looking promising, unless some wonderful friends want to come help us paint... any takers?
I know that being dilated 2 cm could still mean a couple weeks, but it might not. Baby girl could come at any time now. I danced around the house like a fool when I got that phone call yesterday. I just can't wait to meet this little peanut. I now need to focus on getting from here to baby with my house & car cleaned out. I also need to prepare my sub plans for our awesome, long-term sub, Jenne. All I have to say is this: teaching has to be in the top 3 jobs that it is hardest to be gone from for maternity leave & praise God that I am only working half time. Full time maternity leave would be terrible.
One more baby note: we got our hospital plan and found out some details about the birth. Our gracious birth mom wants to give us the opportunity to be present for the birth, so Cameron and I get to be in the delivery room. There are even plans that Cameron will get to cut the cord and I get to be the second person to hold her, right after her birth dad. These plans could change in an instant if she decides, but we are thankful that we are included at this point. Not only does it make us feel included, give us the benefit and privilege of being at her birth, and make us happy... it also helps us feel secure in what is going on. It helps us know that right now, she still knows that it's better for sweet baby to be raised by us. That little reassurance goes a long way in this crazy life we are leading right now. Please keep praying for us and for our daughter's health. Pray for birth mom and dad as they decide to let go of their darling little girl.
Stay tuned- we think baby girl will be here soon and you wouldn't want to miss it!
I just started a brand new school year. My kids are, undoubtedly, adorable and I'm so thankful they are happy to be at school. It makes my job so much easier and fun. They definitely require a whole lot of patience. They are kinder kids still and won't be first graders for a little while. They are still maturing and learning how we do things in our new class together. It's a learning process that takes a while, but is well-worth the effort when January rolls around and they basically run themselves. I look forward to that. Work has had me feeling tired, stressed, and hard to prioritize to get all my things done. Do I always feel like this the first week of school? probably...
Due to the amount of patience that is required of me at work (let me remind you: it's a lot!) my poor husband has been getting the me that has run out of patience. I think I've been hard to live with this week. It's a good thing he loves me and knows that it's my first week of school. He's been great this week and I don't know what I would do without him. :)
We got a call from our agency yesterday letting us know that our birth mom had a doctor visit and she is dilated to 2cm. The doctor said that baby girl could come at any time. Birth mom will be 36 weeks soon and she only carried her last kiddo to 37 weeks. The reality of how soon this is happening has begun to hit me. My house is a disaster and it's just grungy. I want to rip everything open and clean everything out. I want every closet organized and cleaned out. It has been hard coming home to my house that feels like a project I don't have time for. Another thing we wanted to do before baby girl comes is paint our house. It's not looking promising, unless some wonderful friends want to come help us paint... any takers?
I know that being dilated 2 cm could still mean a couple weeks, but it might not. Baby girl could come at any time now. I danced around the house like a fool when I got that phone call yesterday. I just can't wait to meet this little peanut. I now need to focus on getting from here to baby with my house & car cleaned out. I also need to prepare my sub plans for our awesome, long-term sub, Jenne. All I have to say is this: teaching has to be in the top 3 jobs that it is hardest to be gone from for maternity leave & praise God that I am only working half time. Full time maternity leave would be terrible.
One more baby note: we got our hospital plan and found out some details about the birth. Our gracious birth mom wants to give us the opportunity to be present for the birth, so Cameron and I get to be in the delivery room. There are even plans that Cameron will get to cut the cord and I get to be the second person to hold her, right after her birth dad. These plans could change in an instant if she decides, but we are thankful that we are included at this point. Not only does it make us feel included, give us the benefit and privilege of being at her birth, and make us happy... it also helps us feel secure in what is going on. It helps us know that right now, she still knows that it's better for sweet baby to be raised by us. That little reassurance goes a long way in this crazy life we are leading right now. Please keep praying for us and for our daughter's health. Pray for birth mom and dad as they decide to let go of their darling little girl.
Stay tuned- we think baby girl will be here soon and you wouldn't want to miss it!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
new beginnings
This is the time of year that things begin anew at work. We have new kids coming tomorrow for their first day of school. We have new crayons, new folders, new classrooms all ready to go for making new friends. For me there is also a new beginning coming. I am going to work to prepare to be gone. It's a really special time for me as I get ready to welcome a new beginning of being a mom. I am as ready for work tomorrow as I will be, because I never feel completely at peace with my preparation ahead of time.
My friend, Ally, just got to take home her sweet baby girl yesterday. We just had Whit & Ally over a few weeks ago for our celebration dinner of one year of friendship on this crazy ride. Cam and I will go meet their daughter tomorrow night. This is a new beginning. Ally is a mom now and that begins the changes in our friendship. We will soon be talking about little girls. We'll talk about the crying and this time we'll be referring to our daughters and not ourselves.
Things are changing and that's a good thing. We are busy, healthy, stressed, happy, and scared. We are ready for our next new beginning.
This week I talked with birth grandma on the phone for about an hour. She is very sweet and is a great supporter of this adoption and our relationships growing as two families. She is also a wealth of knowledge, so it's amazing to have her as a resource. I also got a phone call from our agency with the hospital plan & details. The birth parents have talked with the agency about when and how we'll be involved at the hospital. At this point we will both be in the delivery room when baby girl comes into this world! We are really excited about the family's willingness to have us there. Anything can change, but we are thankful for their openness to us.
Here's to a new school year and other beginnings!!
My friend, Ally, just got to take home her sweet baby girl yesterday. We just had Whit & Ally over a few weeks ago for our celebration dinner of one year of friendship on this crazy ride. Cam and I will go meet their daughter tomorrow night. This is a new beginning. Ally is a mom now and that begins the changes in our friendship. We will soon be talking about little girls. We'll talk about the crying and this time we'll be referring to our daughters and not ourselves.
Things are changing and that's a good thing. We are busy, healthy, stressed, happy, and scared. We are ready for our next new beginning.
This week I talked with birth grandma on the phone for about an hour. She is very sweet and is a great supporter of this adoption and our relationships growing as two families. She is also a wealth of knowledge, so it's amazing to have her as a resource. I also got a phone call from our agency with the hospital plan & details. The birth parents have talked with the agency about when and how we'll be involved at the hospital. At this point we will both be in the delivery room when baby girl comes into this world! We are really excited about the family's willingness to have us there. Anything can change, but we are thankful for their openness to us.
Here's to a new school year and other beginnings!!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
i love being "on hold"
It feels great to be seen as this on our agency's website:
"On Hold" in this way is something that makes my heart sing. Sometimes that phrase can mean something not as wonderful. It feels awesome to be matched with a birth family and feel like our daughter is truly coming soon. I long to hold our sweet baby girl soon. Then we will disappear from the website until baby girl turns 1.
Family 512 - Cameron and Kim
Thank you for taking some time to read about us and get to know us a little bit. We have been praying for you and your baby for months now. We hope the Lord is guiding you during this time and we look forward to hopefully spending time with you in the future... (read more)
"On Hold" in this way is something that makes my heart sing. Sometimes that phrase can mean something not as wonderful. It feels awesome to be matched with a birth family and feel like our daughter is truly coming soon. I long to hold our sweet baby girl soon. Then we will disappear from the website until baby girl turns 1.
back to school
Well, the summer is officially over. I am going back to work. I must admit there is a little bit of sadness that comes with saying goodbye to complete freedom and no schedule. It's been nice to read several books this summer, take naps occasionally (i usually hate naps), see Cam anytime he's home from work, play with nieces and nephews, and get some things done in our nursery. I will miss the endless hours of goofing around my house for sure.
Going back to work is always exciting too. I like my job so it's not devastating to go back to it. I get new pumpkins in just a few days. The kids are so worth it. I get to be back with friends and back into a routine. Did you know I LOVE myself a routine? It's true. I adore sameness and predictability. Going back to work is a little different this year. I am going back to work so that I can get ready to be gone from work on maternity leave. This is an amazing feeling. I will be there long enough to get everything organized and up & running. Then I will leave it in the hands of Christina and a fabulous long-term sub that will do both of our maternity leaves this year. Work is exciting for me right now. :)
We haven't talked with our birth mom since I spent the day with her on Friday. We are trying to give her a little space so she doesn't feel smothered or pressured. We do have plans to call them soon and try to go grab a bite to eat so we can meet the birth dad. Birth grandma called last night to chat a while and an hour later we said goodbye. It was realllllly nice to chat with her. It reassured me of what we are doing and how they are feeling about it. It's awesome to be building community within our families before baby girl gets here. We are feeling pretty blessed right now.
PS. Cam has tried to hold off from getting too excited about the whole thing, because we've been hurt by situations in the past. A few days ago he's started to get really excited about becoming a dad to this baby girl. It has become more real and more comfortable that it will be happening with this situation. It's been so fun to dream about what she will look like and what things we want to teach her.
Going back to work is always exciting too. I like my job so it's not devastating to go back to it. I get new pumpkins in just a few days. The kids are so worth it. I get to be back with friends and back into a routine. Did you know I LOVE myself a routine? It's true. I adore sameness and predictability. Going back to work is a little different this year. I am going back to work so that I can get ready to be gone from work on maternity leave. This is an amazing feeling. I will be there long enough to get everything organized and up & running. Then I will leave it in the hands of Christina and a fabulous long-term sub that will do both of our maternity leaves this year. Work is exciting for me right now. :)
We haven't talked with our birth mom since I spent the day with her on Friday. We are trying to give her a little space so she doesn't feel smothered or pressured. We do have plans to call them soon and try to go grab a bite to eat so we can meet the birth dad. Birth grandma called last night to chat a while and an hour later we said goodbye. It was realllllly nice to chat with her. It reassured me of what we are doing and how they are feeling about it. It's awesome to be building community within our families before baby girl gets here. We are feeling pretty blessed right now.
PS. Cam has tried to hold off from getting too excited about the whole thing, because we've been hurt by situations in the past. A few days ago he's started to get really excited about becoming a dad to this baby girl. It has become more real and more comfortable that it will be happening with this situation. It's been so fun to dream about what she will look like and what things we want to teach her.
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