Saying that today is "cold" is an understatement, and doesn't do Mother Nature justice. It's DARN cold! That's not even strong enough, but I'm trying to scale down my use of vulgar language with a new set of innocent ears joining our family soon. ha. The wind-chill warnings today are estimated to be around -50 degrees.... and to think it was reaching close to 40 degrees ABOVE zero just a day or two ago... that's almost a 90 degree drop in temperature... only in North Dakota!
Our adoption adventure continues to progress, and with every passing day in this process, we are less and less concerned about any obstacles or trouble spots in this journey. We look forward to Noah's arrival with endless anticipation and joy of for the upcoming birth! We continue to complete the necessary paperwork and forms that both states have required of us (Both ND and MN). I almost feel compelled to plant a tree this spring, to replenish the mass amount of paper we've used up in this ongoing process. haha. I know it's all for an amazing outcome in the end, and therefore it's all worthwhile. I have learned a lot, however, during this process... a lot about our social services system, a lot about being patient, and a lot about the human spirit & endurance.
The overwhelming theme of my experience thus far, is that life is a grand adventure, and we should soak it all in as much as possible! We might miss something amazing, if we train our eyes too strictly on the goals we've set before us, and don't allow for peripheral vision to expand our opportunities and enhance our lives.
May you always be aware of your peripheral vision, and if you catch a glimpse of something breathtaking, pause your life, to gaze upon its beauty, and drink in all that is offered... you might find yourself amazed and freshly blessed.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Heightened Anticipation
We are beside ourselves with our excitement and anticipation! We can't wait for our little new angel to arrive, and to gaze down upon him (or her, if ultra-sounds are inaccurate) with love and adoration! Noah will join our family in just three short weeks, if timing and predictions are correct. However, if modern technology isn't quite right, we'll just as happily welcome Emily into our family. So, there you have it, if it's a boy, Noah will join our crew. If it's a girl, it'll be Emily that we'll bring home from the hospital.
As for our preparation and our preparedness, we're almost there. We have some of the main items already... some borrowed, some bought, some waiting in Minneapolis for us. We did the baby registry at Target, so that's been fun to buy things and check them off the list.
As for our mountain(s) of paperwork and the bureaucratic red tape that is involved in this process, we're mostly done with what we need to submit. We are merely waiting on the background checks to come back clear and approved, as well as waiting for the birth parents to sign off on their portion of paperwork. As for our financial input in this process, it's been interesting. Seems every time we journey to the mailbox, or have a phone call with the agencies involved, there are additional fees and costs that attach themselves to the whole adventure. We are keeping our sights on the final countdown, though. We can practically feel the baby in our arms now.... innocent, beautiful, precious, and loved! We can't wait!!!!!!!! We will be traveling to the cities this next weekend to continue with some of the paperwork processes, and work some of the details out with the birth parents. Ahhhh, another step closer in this GRAND ADVENTURE!
I look forward to updating you on the progress and the amazing birth of our newly expected child we're adopting.
Blessings to you and your families, and I hope you are touched with the magical and awesome joy that this wonderful life offers!!!
As for our preparation and our preparedness, we're almost there. We have some of the main items already... some borrowed, some bought, some waiting in Minneapolis for us. We did the baby registry at Target, so that's been fun to buy things and check them off the list.
As for our mountain(s) of paperwork and the bureaucratic red tape that is involved in this process, we're mostly done with what we need to submit. We are merely waiting on the background checks to come back clear and approved, as well as waiting for the birth parents to sign off on their portion of paperwork. As for our financial input in this process, it's been interesting. Seems every time we journey to the mailbox, or have a phone call with the agencies involved, there are additional fees and costs that attach themselves to the whole adventure. We are keeping our sights on the final countdown, though. We can practically feel the baby in our arms now.... innocent, beautiful, precious, and loved! We can't wait!!!!!!!! We will be traveling to the cities this next weekend to continue with some of the paperwork processes, and work some of the details out with the birth parents. Ahhhh, another step closer in this GRAND ADVENTURE!
I look forward to updating you on the progress and the amazing birth of our newly expected child we're adopting.
Blessings to you and your families, and I hope you are touched with the magical and awesome joy that this wonderful life offers!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Endurance and Persistance
This has been an exceedingly interesting and trying week! So much so, that I had to browse back through my own blog entries, and remind myself of something I wrote many months ago...
[ Strength... we either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. Wow, that's deep! How true though... I mean, when life throws a wrench into your perfect life, you can either chuck it at someone and moan about it's existence, or you can pick it up, use it to tighten whatever loose screws exist, and add it to your toolbox of life lessons.]
This time, the wrench isn't rusty or undesirable, it's actually quite useful and essential, but still requires work to be done with it. In our quest to adopt our niece's baby, we've found ourselves knee-deep in paperwork, background checks, and fees! Of course we knew these things were coming, and we know this process wouldn't be smooth or painless... but we are also reminding ourselves that the outcome will erase any stress or worry we might endure throughout the journey.
We are looking forward to embracing baby Noah in roughly 4 weeks, and gazing upon our new little blessing. I will make a prediction, though... I probably won't choose to hand-write as much paperwork in the next year, as I have found myself filling out in the past 7 days. My hands are aching, my head is pounding, and my eyes are burning, just thinking of the pen-to-paper moments I've logged recently. But, as I said, we are trying to remind ourselves that IT'S ALL GOING TO BE WORTH IT!!!!! Little Noah, I assure you you're VERY MUCH loved, wanted, and looked forward to! Bless you little prince, and may your next few weeks be restful, blessed, and may you come into our arms easily and without further complications!!!
[ Strength... we either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. Wow, that's deep! How true though... I mean, when life throws a wrench into your perfect life, you can either chuck it at someone and moan about it's existence, or you can pick it up, use it to tighten whatever loose screws exist, and add it to your toolbox of life lessons.]
This time, the wrench isn't rusty or undesirable, it's actually quite useful and essential, but still requires work to be done with it. In our quest to adopt our niece's baby, we've found ourselves knee-deep in paperwork, background checks, and fees! Of course we knew these things were coming, and we know this process wouldn't be smooth or painless... but we are also reminding ourselves that the outcome will erase any stress or worry we might endure throughout the journey.
We are looking forward to embracing baby Noah in roughly 4 weeks, and gazing upon our new little blessing. I will make a prediction, though... I probably won't choose to hand-write as much paperwork in the next year, as I have found myself filling out in the past 7 days. My hands are aching, my head is pounding, and my eyes are burning, just thinking of the pen-to-paper moments I've logged recently. But, as I said, we are trying to remind ourselves that IT'S ALL GOING TO BE WORTH IT!!!!! Little Noah, I assure you you're VERY MUCH loved, wanted, and looked forward to! Bless you little prince, and may your next few weeks be restful, blessed, and may you come into our arms easily and without further complications!!!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Paperwork, Procedures and Policies...
The "3 P's" to me could mean so many thing....
"popcorn, pizza, pop", "Pride, Personality, Power", but "Paperwork, Procedures, and Policies" isn't my idea of joy and bliss. ha. But, I suppose it's all part of the necessary steps in completing this amazing journey of adoption and welcoming our new little family member into our family, into our hearts, and into our home.
We have been meeting with Lutheran Social Services and have started delving into the endless paper trail that will become our "file", which will eventually solidify our adoption of baby Noah. I don't know where my naive vision of the adoption process came from, but I certainly didn't realize there would be so much paperwork so many forms, and so much waiting involved. We will be completing background check authorizations, fingerprinting, personality test (to see if Ed and I are compatible... go figure), as well as opening up our lives to the scrutiny of the agency's watchful eye ~ I wonder if my childhood training in the finer qualities of being "Lysol Lucy" will be called into action to the standard found acceptable by the state?
We are moving forward through the paperwork maze, and inching ever closer to the completion of the steps required to call Noah our son. There will be paper cuts and bent corners I'm sure, but hopefully we'll all come out of this a lot stronger, more prepared, and undoubtedly more aware of the intricacies of the adoption process and our find court systems. (ok, don't choke on your coffee... I'm trying to stay positive here). 5 weeks from now Noah will be our son (at least in our arms... the paperwork will most likely take time to finalize). I'll be sharing our joy with you when we meet our miracle.
"popcorn, pizza, pop", "Pride, Personality, Power", but "Paperwork, Procedures, and Policies" isn't my idea of joy and bliss. ha. But, I suppose it's all part of the necessary steps in completing this amazing journey of adoption and welcoming our new little family member into our family, into our hearts, and into our home.
We have been meeting with Lutheran Social Services and have started delving into the endless paper trail that will become our "file", which will eventually solidify our adoption of baby Noah. I don't know where my naive vision of the adoption process came from, but I certainly didn't realize there would be so much paperwork so many forms, and so much waiting involved. We will be completing background check authorizations, fingerprinting, personality test (to see if Ed and I are compatible... go figure), as well as opening up our lives to the scrutiny of the agency's watchful eye ~ I wonder if my childhood training in the finer qualities of being "Lysol Lucy" will be called into action to the standard found acceptable by the state?
We are moving forward through the paperwork maze, and inching ever closer to the completion of the steps required to call Noah our son. There will be paper cuts and bent corners I'm sure, but hopefully we'll all come out of this a lot stronger, more prepared, and undoubtedly more aware of the intricacies of the adoption process and our find court systems. (ok, don't choke on your coffee... I'm trying to stay positive here). 5 weeks from now Noah will be our son (at least in our arms... the paperwork will most likely take time to finalize). I'll be sharing our joy with you when we meet our miracle.
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