2012 In one Post

In 2012 we have had many ups and downs, happy and sad times and the passing of a loved one. We are so excited of what 2013 is going to bring. Hope everyone a very happy new year.
A review of the last year......

To start the year off in January
-My Husband found out that they were closing the place were he worked and would need to find a new job in less than 11 weeks
-We took our first train trip. I was a big adventure
-We returned from a trip from South Dakota with our 2 wonderful foster kids
-I got the flue on the way back
-I hurt my back at work and found out if was going to be a long journey
-I received injections number 3 of Lupron
-Our Foster kids moved to a new foster home
-We decided to put our home up for sale
-Started Financial classes

February
-I made a huge leap in faith with God and decided to really give all my burdens to him.
-I received my 4 injection of Lupron
-I reflected back to last year and where we had come on our journey
-I participated in 29 Ways in 29 Days-It hosted by a local radio station doing a good task every day during the month of February
-Hit my 100 post
-We took in a homeless family
-Spent most of my days in physical therapy for my back
-Finished our Financial classes

March
-I received my 5th injection of Lupron
-I reflected back a year at our first placement we got through foster care and our first good-bye
- We celebrated his 1st Birthday
- Still doing physical therapy for my back

April

- We added a new member to our family

-We started co-foster parenting with another foster mom

-Received my last Lupron injection

- Had an MIR on my back

- Had my last session of physical therapy for my back

- Learned that due to my back injury it would not be good to end up pregnant

- We had 5 showing and no offers on our house

- Had payed off $30,000 in debit since our financial class

- I started coupon shopping to help save money

May
- Talked about taking our house off the market since we haven't had any bites
- Got an offer on our house
- Figured out where we were going to move too
- We had our first garage sale to raise money for our adoption
- We got picture of Sam with his Christmas presents
- Went through the emotions of another childless mother's day
- Spent 2 weeks in South Dakota helping my friend with her wedding and hosted her bridal shower

June
- Purchased Plane tickets for family coming to help us with our move
- 40 Days until we moved
- Started packing and prepared for moving
- Mailed off our adoption paperwork for an agency in Oklahoma
- Received a letter from the adoption agency that our paperwork is being processed
- We were officially accepted with the adoption agency
- My friend got married
- Had our second yard sale to raise money for our yard sale

July
- Started researching grants
- We had to leave our last 2 wonderful foster kids in Idaho
- We had to say Goodbye to our precious Jack
- We made a long 3 day trip from Idaho to Oklahoma
- We moved into my grandma's house
- We put in a request to put in an application for Foster Care
- Made progress with our adoption agency
- Had a yard sale for Grandma
- Started on updating Grandma's house

August
- Were looking forward to our adoption class
- Continued to work on Grandma's House
- Our home study paperwork turned in
- Got our finger prints done

September
- Celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary
- We finished the baby room
- We shopped for our baby's first outfit
- Remembered Sept 11th
- Went to a new OB had an ultrasound done and scheduled surgery once again
- Surgery was cancelled to to lab results
- Went to see an Endocrinologist for the first time
- Had Surgery - Found another cyst, my right ovary was stuck to the bask of my uterus caused from the endometriosis. Found out the after spending thousands of dollars on Lupron that it didn't work. Test came back neg. for cancer

October

- Started our home study

- Got excited for our class

- Found out that are adoption agency was not very christian like. We decided to walk away

- Celebrated national infant and pregnancy loss day (spent the day remembering our 3 wonderful babies that in heaven)

- We started Project Noah and started looking for a new adoption agency
- Finished with the majors projects on Grandma's house
- My husbands parents came and spent a week with us

November
- My grandparent's came for a few days
- We got signed up for an adoption class with a new agency
- I started a project called 25 Days of Thanks and Giving (for 25 days I did something to give to people around me)
- Researched adoption breastfeeding
- Got frustrated with the foster care system and it's slowness
-  Spent the First Thanksgiving with my dad since I don't know when

December
- Got excited for Christmas- The first Christmas I have got to spend with my dad in 10 years
- Attended Adoption Class 1 of 2 down in Huston, TX
- Filled out and mailed in paperwork for the adoption agency
- Got accepted for the 2nd class only if my back doctor sent them a note saying my back injury will not affect my ability to parent
- We attend class 1 of 3 for Foster Care
- Our application for a home study for foster care finally got submitted
- Our foster care home study was started, finished and signed all within 2 days
- My back doctor changed my status from a temporary disability to a permanent disability. This is going to change a lot of things for next year. This means I can't go back to my job
- My husbands Grandpa passed away :(
- We went back to South Dakota for his grandpa's funeral (we got to spend Christmas with our family there however it is not the reason we wanted to go back home)

We have so many things to be thankful for over the last year. Although there were parts of this year I wish didn't happen I won't ever change them because with out them I would not be where I'm in my walk with God without them. We have so much to look forward to next year. In a matter of weeks we will hopefully have a home filled with foster kids along with a huge step forward in our process of adoption :)
Thank you to God for everything you have done in our lives.
Hope everyone have a wonderful and blessed year :)

Foster Care Home Study

I'm jumping for JOY :)
Our foster care home study is completed and signed. YAYAYAYA
Now it just has to be reviewed by our State.
Foster Babies were waiting for you ;)
God is so Amazing :)

God is so Amazing

Today we had our 1st home study visit. I was assuming it would be the say old 3 visits about 2 hours each. Well I was very wrong. The visit lasted about 20 minutes and we only have to meet one more time to sign paperwork. Wow, Wow, Wow. We should have a copy of our home study to review by this weekend. I am really hoping that by the end of January that our home will be filled with wonderful foster babies. Sitting in the house all day by myself is getting really old. However, this means I gotta get my butt in gear and get working on the rest of my cloth diapers this weekend. The hold up has been getting my machine to start working again. It likes to quite every once in awhile. God is so Good and Amazing :)
Hope for the future :)

Praise

Over this past week we have a lot to praise God for. God does have timing for everything. Sometime I get very frustrated with things taking so long but God always seems to put me back on the track. Through all of the stories of the foster care system in Oklahoma taking 4-6 months to complete the home-study part. God has a different plan for our family. We received a letter from the lady who will be completing our home-study the day before Christmas. In her letter she stated that she had instructions from DHS that she had to have our home-study completed by Jan. 15th. I'm not sure why it has to be that day but I do know that God has a plan. So after Jan 16th we will hopefully be an official foster family in Oklahoma.
Another huge praise to God is that my finger print report finally came back. It has been a long 4 months and several sets of prints for this success. God made sure they were here just in time. Although our arms were empty once again. God provided a lot of peace and hope for this next year. We were also blessed with a trip home for Christmas. Although it was not the reason we wanted to return home we were able to support my husbands mom through the loss of her father. It was a sad but blessed time.
Hope everyone had a very Marry Christmas.
Have a Blessed New Year.
Holly

Adoption Progress

Yesterday the adoption agency called and we are approved for the second training as long as I could get a letter from my back doctor. The letter needed to say that the injury to my back will not affect my ability to parent. That letter was faxed to them this morning :) Second class here we come. Last weekend of January's you can't come fast enough.

This week has been a rough week for our family so the positive couldn't of come at a better time. I know that this time of year is very busy but if you have a few extra seconds we could use some prayers. My Husbands grandpa past away on Dec 17th. My husbands dad was diagnosed with cancer last week and on Tuesday found out that they are doing surgery on Jan. 14th to remove the cancer.

Wish All of you a very Merry and Happy Christmas :)

Adoption Progress :)

On December 7th, we made a trip from Oklahoma to Houston, TX for the first of two classes with our new adoption agency. The class was amazing and we meet some wonderful couples in the class. The class went over the agency's policies and process, about open adoption and the agency's numbers. One thing I really like about this agency that if you have been waiting for over a year you get put on the last minute list. Which means you are the first families shown to families how make the decision at last minute. The number of families that have to get put on the list is very few. There is usually one 2 or 3 on the list at a time. The agency places an avg of 150-200 infants a year with an avg. wait period of  4-5 months to complete application, online portfolio, 1-800 number and home-study. Then an avg wait of 14 months until you have a baby in your hands. They birth mother is usually around 6 months when you get matched. 

You are required to take this course before you can apply with them. We headed back on the 9th. The very next day I started working on the paperwork that has to be sent in to sign up for the second class. I got the paperwork mailed off on 12-12-12. Hope it will be lucky instead of unlucky.  The second class is 2 days longs. The second class goes into more detail about open adoption. They also go more in details about the process and all them paperwork and things that have to be done from that point to be able to be put onto the list of families for birth mother to pick from. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be signed up for the class at the end of January.  If we don't make the list for January we're hoping for February. I'm hoping we will know in a week or two weather or not we get to go in January. It would be such a wonderful birthday gift.

Pictures form our trip.....

 Our First Stop on the way into Houston was for Food.

 Then we checked into our hotel room after driving through the 

traffic to get there. It was this busy all day and night besides Sunday Morning.

The view from our hotel room. We were on the 10th floor in room

1010. I was hoping it was lucky which is why I decided to wait to mail our 

application packet until 12-12-12. I'm thinking it might be a theme of our adoption.

This is our hotel. I though when I booked it I was getting a good deal. However, 

after we arrived I realized we got a better deal then planed. When I booked it I got a promo for 

the room for a little over a 100 for 2 nights including parking and breakfast. When checking in the lady at the 

front desk couldn't believe what we paid. I was kinda shocked until later I realized why she said that. 

The avg room there books for $400 a night during this time of the room. The breakfast vouchers we 

got were worth $25 dollars each (x 2 people x 2 days) and free parking (normally $20 a night).

The only down side is having to tip everyone.

The first night we walked to the Galleria Mall (4th biggest in the world) 

This was the first store we walked into. There was no way we could 

afford anything in this store. The shoe's on the clearance rack were $500.

They have people right there to alter you clothes and served you food and beverages

while you shopped. It even had a restaurant inside of the store.

The ice skating rink inside of the mall. There was a huge line to get into the rink.

The walk back from the mall

After getting back to the hotel we went swimming. The

pool was on the 5th floor. So beautiful at night.

The next morning we went to our class. After class we went to the

botanical gardens.

After we rested for awhile we went to eat supper at the 

Rain Forest Cafe

The next morning we headed back home.

Christmas This Year

I've been working on a post since the beginning of November about how I expecting this Christmas to be different. However, I just can't get it out into words. My feelings about this Christmas keep changing so I'm not really getting anywhere. So I'm going to go a more positive outlook instead of why is has gone from happy to sad.  Normally I don't bullet but I think it will be easier.
-First things our first sweet baby got to celebrate its 4th birthday in heaven with God.
-This Christmas I get to be with my Dad and my Oklahoma Family. It has been 10 years since I have got to spend Christmas with my Dad.
-This Christmas although we are empty handed once again we have finally made headway on becoming licensed foster parents in Oklahoma.
-We have new hope with our adoption agency that we will hopefully have a little one in our hands or on the way by next Christmas.

Being positive is very hard some years however, I know that God has a plan for us. Although the timing has changed I still have hope for the future and Gods plan for us. I wish you'll a very Happy and Merry Christmas.

Rennie

Rennie's Favorite thing to do is to play Frisbee.  He will play all day long. So I thought I would catch some action shots.