Look Where We Went...

Yesterday...

It's hard to see us but we are there on the ledge. So beautiful!

Still no baby! She is set to be induced on Wednesday morning. We are trying to stay occupied until then. We've done quite a bit of touring the area and this morning I had biscuits and gravy! We're getting so excited! Thanks for praying and waiting!

We made it!!!

And we drove through Cherokee Nation!

We drove in yesterday to northern Arkansas and it is gorgeous. Being an Arkansas native myself, I've been here before, but it's been a long time. And I had forgotten how beautiful it really is. We're going hiking today to see what's really out there. We have been so excited about getting here that we really didn't think through what we would do once we got here. So, it's been a bit anti-climatic! We're just waiting around. We've been to the Western Sizzlin' and Shoneys! Ahhh... I feel at home! It's a holiday weekend and there are tons of bikers everywhere! There are several tourist towns around so we're going to do some sight seeing and eat all the country goodness we can stand! I'll update more soon.

We leave tomorrow!!!

Hi friends! I just wanted to write a little update and let you know we are leaving town tomorrow to go and be there for the baby's birth! Felipe, his mom and I are leaving around 2pm and we'll arrive at our destination on Saturday. We decided to split up the drive so that we wouldn't be so tired (thanks mom and dad for the advice!:) My mom will come and join us on Sunday. I can't believe it's finally time to go.

Our birthmom is set to be induced on Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on the dr.'s schedule). As far as we've heard, she is doing well and all is going according to plan. We look forward with great anticipation to meeting this woman who has so much of our love and admiration.

So, in just a few more days time, I'll have lots more info to share and hopefully a few pictures! We cannot thank you all enough for helping us get to this day. Many of you have walked with us for years in prayer and friendship. I have tears of gratitude.

I ask you once again to join us in prayer:

1) for God to prepare our hearts for whatever is next. This adoption is not a done deal and we ask for God's grace to be with us as we walk forward.

2) for health and safety for our birthmom and the baby!

3) for protection and divine guidance as we travel. You never know what you might come across on the road! I love road trips.

4). for my milk to come in!! That's right, my doctor and a lactation consultant have been working with me to induce lactation. And it's working! The doctor has said that it's the #1 thing we could do right now to treat my endometriosis. So, I've been taking medication and herbs and started pumping a few days ago. Please pray for a full milk supply (which is rare but possible for adoptive moms). This is a dream come true for me!

Thank you all so much. We'll be in touch.

100% ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

100% of our goal has been reached!!!!!

We received a gift today that put us over the top in what we needed!!! Thank you Lord, for you are our provider! And thank you friends for sharing in this amazing journey with us! I'll share more soon :)

I just had to put that last thermometer up!!

NESTING!!!

Well, hello friends!

Our birth mom is being induced 3 weeks from today!!! All this is happening so fast and then again, the baby just can't come fast enough. I don't know how everyone waits 9 months! Then again, I know a little of what waiting feels like. So, today, I celebrate. If all goes as planned, we'll have our little one in 21 days.

And... I'm in full-on NESTING mode...

Flower beds newly mulched and without weeds... Check!

Crib put together... Check!

I put that teddy bear in there to see if I could reach the baby :) It's a stretch, but I think I can. We might have to take the legs off the bed! The crib was a gift from Felipe's parents and the glider was a gift from our neighbors. Thanks!!

Cleaned the fabric on my most recent (most awesome) Craigslist purchase... Check!

Love the new Bugaboo stroller... it comes with the toddler seat too and the car seat attachment!! One stroller that does it all!! We'll have it forever and we got it for a less than 1/3 of the price!! But I might just have to put some pink on it if it's a girl!

Washed the newborn clothes I got from my sister-in-law... Check!

Thanks Debs!

Is it a boy?

Or a girl?

Organized baby's first book... Check!

Isn't that fun!? We also just got our home study completed and I'm mailing it to the lawyer today... along with copies of everything you ever wanted to know about Leigh and Felipe! From our diplomas, to our birth certificates to our dog's vaccinations... you name it, it's in that package!

Today, we remain at 89% of our financial goal! Only $1300 to go!! It's truly amazing to watch how the Lord is providing through you our community. If you're planning on giving, now's the time. Just yesterday, Felipe took some checks to the bank to deposit. Apparently, the same girl has been there for each time he's made deposits of adoption money (with "adoption" written in the memo). So, yesterday she mentioned it and said how she loved what we were doing and thanked us for adopting :) She said she wanted to see pictures of the baby! I love that this story is touching so many people. Thank you all for being involved the way you have been. And thank you for your prayers for us, for our birth mom and for the baby! I wrote her another letter last week. I love the growing relationship that we have.

Several people have asked what we need. Thank you for asking. For now, I think we have everything needed to get us started minus the car seat, which I'm getting next week. A shower is being planned for after we get home with the baby and I've registered at Buy Buy Baby and ThethingsIwant.com. (I'm using cloth diapers. Those and accessories listed there). So stay tuned! By the way, if you look at the BBB registry right now, it's a bit overwhelming b/c I registered for boy stuff and girl stuff. I knew I wouldn't have time to go back after the baby comes, so I'll delete one half of it over the internet after baby comes :)

Thanks everyone!

I just learned of a new day...

There's a day on our calendar that I've never heard of before. My guess is that most of us never have. It's Birthmother's Day, which falls on the Saturday before Mother's Day. I just heard about it from my friend who is adopting as well. (Tiff, your pic was so cute, I had to steal it!) Then I learned on the internet that Birthmother's Day is a day that was created by a group of birthmothers in Seattle in 1990.

As Felipe and I walk forward, we are learning that we (and many other people) have had many misconceptions about birthmothers. And I have to say that as we first stepped into domestic adoption, "open adoption" was the thing that scared us the most. However, as we learn more and now as we are in relationship with an actual woman who is carrying a baby that we may parent... things have changed.

Here are the misconceptions we've come across and had to deal with in our own hearts: #1-She doesn't love her baby. She must not care b/c she's giving it away. #2: I think for most of us it's easy to vilify her and put her in the "bad person" category in our minds. She wouldn't be a good parent anyway.

How wrong we've all been. In actuality, I've now come to see our birth mom as one of the bravest women on the planet. We've now written a couple of letters and the thing that shines through the most in her writing is how much she loves this baby... And what a beautiful person she is. I won't list specifics in how I see this, so you'll just have to take my word for it. She's beautiful... and I've never seen what she looks like :) I see how she is trying to do the best thing she can for her child... to give them a hope and a future. I see the heart of God in her. She is sacrificing herself for her child.

So, this coming Saturday, my glass will be raised to birthmothers across the globe and to a particular one that I've come to love deeply. It's amazing how I see my heart being knitted together with this special woman. I think it's the beginning of something so amazing, so mysterious. I think I'm learning Love on a new level. Isn't that what parenthood does?

Bless you friends who have given to our fund and who have prayed us into this place! Please forgive us for not responding immediately and individually to each one of you. We will. We are "nesting" and "adopting" both of which require lots of work. Our home is currently in disarray as every room has been rearranged in order to make a guest room a baby's room. The baby is due 4 weeks from tomorrow! We are currently at 82% of our goal! Only $2,186 to go!!! I'll write more soon about all the miracles we've seen along the way! We feel so much love in our hearts!