JR Playing Soccer

When we first signed up both boys for soccer, we had thought Little Dude and JR would be on the same team (since they are only 19 months apart) BUT, it worked out that the boys were put on separate teams, because Little Dude had played last year, and there were enough first time players to create two teams of just first time kids.

We considered trying to request changing that, but then didn't.

 And I am so SO glad; because while Little Dude is your super typical first born, JR is much more glad to just sit back and watch Little Dude take charge. Being on HIS OWN team has made JR really come out of the shadows-and we see the pride he feels for HIS team.

It is so awesome to see him bloom more, in a way I know he wouldn't have if he had been sharing this team with Little Dude:

Things always work out as they should.

 

India Adoption

I have wanted to adopt a child for almost as long as I can remember. Something inside me just longs to give a home to a child that was unwanted by others.

From experience, I can tell you that there is nothing worse than feeling of being unwanted. When my parents walked out of my life, and decided they really didn't care to be involved in raising children anymore, it was a huge blow, even though I was certainly not a young child when it happened.
Of all the people in this world, children deserve to feel loved, safe, and wanted.

Bill and I have talked long and hard about adoption. I think I started talking to him about it before we even had Little Dude, but by the time we had JR, Bill was much more open to the idea of adding to our family through adoption.

We started looking into how it worked, and the different kinds of adoptions out there, like domestic vs international, open vs closed.

And while I won't bore you with all the searches, books, info and people I contacted to learn everything I could about everything we could expect, I will share that we really hit a wall, and realized that for many reasons, it looked like adoption wasn't going to be a road we could follow.
And I was completely heartbroken, and so upset. But, we talked, and realized that if it just wasn't going to work, there was nothing we could do, and to just accept that if God wanted it to happen, He could make it happen. Who were we, to get mad and upset, when in a snap He could make it happen, if it was meant to happen? He who created the universe, and me, and knew my heart, because He created it, would let adoption happen for us if it was meant to be.

So we backed off, and left it up to God.

And a few months later, I got a bit of a random email from a friend that mentioned a book on Pinterest.
And that book on Pinterest linked back to one of the adoption agency people I had met in my searches.
And in talking to her again, she sent me info on a special needs orphanage in one of the countries Bill and I both qualified to adopt from, and had been very much in love with the idea of adopting from.
I looked around the orphanage's facebook page and contacted them, just to see, how someone might request a specific older child.

A little boy on there had caught my eye.

The agency director contacted me back, telling me what agency we should team with, and saying that a family had already started paperwork on the little boy, but that she had a joyful toddler girl that needed a family.

And she sent me the info on an adoption agency she recommended and how to try to request matching to this specific special needs child.

And I fell in love. I showed Bill, and he fell in love, too.

So here we are. We have applied and we will be starting our home study.

And then applying for grants and assistance, because while we have saved, we don't have quite enough saved yet to bring her home right now.

But it looks like, so long as things on both sides keep going along, that we will indeed be able to have a good chance of getting matched to this little princess angel. It might not happen, but odds are good, and I am hopeful.

And we are remembering, that God will make what He wants to happen, happen. She may be meant for our family, to be the little princess we need to soften up our rough and tumble wild princes, or she may just be the guide pointing us along this path so we can meet the child that is meant for us.
We are here, we are doing it, and I am so hopeful.

***Note, we are newbies to the adoption world and we had not realized that we could not share any  specific info yet, so I have updated this post to reflect that****

I Came To Win, To Fight, To Conqure, To Thrive

Champ at the Park, loving the Swing. 

So much has been going on these past 6 months since my last post. A lot, and then at the same time, not that much that seemed "worthy" of writing about.

The boys, Little Dude and JR are in soccer now and loving it. I'm loving that our Saturdays are spent cheering them on, there really is no where else or anything else I'd rather be. Their huge smiles as they run for water at half time and look over to see if we are watching-I love those mid game waves, even if it means they completely miss the ball rolling right in front of them.

I just laugh inside, and smile and cheer and wave back.

Yes, we are here, watching, and we are so proud of you, always.


School starts for Little Dude in August, and already my heart hurts thinking about not seeing him ALL DAY. But, like in Nemo, I need to just smile and tell him to have a great adventure.

That is what this parenting is all about, right? Letting them have grand adventures, and knowing we will always stand in the shadows, cheering them on.

Champ is starting to walk and has the cutest way of doing raspberries all through church. We make all the old people on our little side area crack up.

He can also say "uh oh" quite well and in the cutest sing song voice. I love it, even if it does mean that there is actually something to say uh oh about-yes, he uses it correctly. Usually when a mess has been made.

We are pursing adoption, finally, after many years of thinking about it, talking about it, and finding reasons that it wouldn't work financially, Will and I have really felt a tug and desire to at least try and see what happens. I have faith that somehow, financially, it will all work out.

God has the power to create the universe, so I know that if we are truly meant to adopt then somehow, things will continue to fall into place for us.

We are looking at adopting a sweet little special needs child from India. She is the same age as Champ, and has a similar smile-huge and wide, and she also has tons of teeth, just like him.

Things are falling into place in the most amazing and scary of ways-to the point that we have decided that we really are being called to bring this little girl to our home.

I'm actually waiting on a call from our adoption agency today to discuss her more and what our process will be in requesting a specific child, as opposed to just getting in the general line. It helps us tons that she is listed as special needs, though her needs are actually far more minimal, according to her orphanage director whom I've already spoken with, than her file indicates.

And there are so many other signs -like how I even got in contact with the orphanage director out of the blue from a friend's email.

So much falling into place, making this all feel like we have to pursue it, and just see what happens.

So, we are starting the process, with much excitement and apprehension, so see if we turn our family of five into a family of six.

and that, my friends, is all that is going on in our little neck of the world. Pray that we are patiently able to follow God's plan, regardless of that meaning we adopt a little girl, or just have to wait to see what is to be revealed.