Most of you know us, I'm assuming! That's why you've ended up here. But just in case - James and I have been married for almost 6 years. We have 2 precious little girls - Anne and Molly. Anne will be 4 in May and Molly will be 2 in May. I stay home with the girls and James sells firetrucks and is a volunteer firefighter. As we were praying about how the Lord might expand our family about a year ago, we felt Him leading us to adopt. I have had a big heart for adoption for many years. I even was able to do a short internship in nursing school at the local hospital's International Adoption Clinic - so exciting. And James (as those who know him will know) has a heart of GOLD and God really put it on his heart to adopt as well. We went back and forth for awhile of course - it's a tough decision. But ultimately we both knew the Lord was calling us on this journey. We chased a few leads through some foster situations but didn't get anywhere (except to learn that children in foster care - who REALLY need homes - are VERY hard to adopt where we live). James then called a local Christian agency for pregnant teens - and they recommended a fabulous agency that we have LOVED (contact me if you want more details. We can't say here for privacy reasons). They do both domestic and international adoptions, so that was perfect for us since we didn't know which one yet. We started the process still not knowing domestic/international and soon after both felt called to international. They gave us a chart of all the countries from which they are able to help us adopt, and China really drew our attention. The child would be younger when we received her (average 20 months old when we pick her up). We only have to go to China once (a two week trip). Plus, the process (at least the special needs process that we are in) is relatively short compared to the other countries (12-18 months). I may try to scan that chart in - just since I bet some of you would like to see it. I think it says 8-14 months for the baby's age - but that is at the time you match with her. We won't pick her up until a few months (6?) after that...
ok, what else. Well, we have really enjoyed the two little girls we have. As a mom, I am currently super happy with having little girls! I deferred to James on the decision of girl/boy in this adoption - since he's the dad, if he wants a "son," you know how guys do sometimes "want a son" ... then we could do a boy!!! The China special needs program, this may be news to you - it was to us, is now 50% girls, 50% boys. WOW! Used to be mostly girls I think. Anyway... so James said "GIRL!!!" because he is of course loving these little girls too ; ) We'll see what God does in the future, but that's how we came to the "girl" decision. What else... oh, special needs. Well, first off, special needs can be anything from jaundice after birth to extreme cerebral palsy. So there is a wide range on that. We are in the "mild to moderate" category - which means we feel equipped to handle surgically correctible issues and other physical issues... cleft lip/palate, heart issues, etc. Ok, so I'm thinking this explains some background. Not sure how to do this blogging stuff, so we'll see where this "page" ends up. Thanks for reading and praying!!!
