So much has happened...

So much has happened in the last few months.  2 days after Christmas, we said goodbye to Craig's mom.  She declined pretty rapidly in the last couple of months.  It was getting hard to even get a response out of her.  She could no longer feed herself at all and at the end, she didn't even want to eat.  On Christmas day, Craig received a call that the end was probably nearing.  We spent the next two days by her side as much as we could.  Craig & I were there when she left this earth to go to her heavenly home to be with Jesus.  It was bittersweet.  I deeply loved this woman who was the mother to my husband.  We had a lot of good times together in a short almost 9 years.  We were birthday buddies and to be accepted by her (even though I voted Republican more than Democrat) spoke a lot to our relationship.

The funeral was on New Year's Eve.  It was a beautiful day.  We want to thank those of you who wrote an encouraging word, sent a card, came to the visitation or the funeral.  We are thankful for each and every one of you.  We miss Mom H. a lot.  It's weird going to the city and not stopping to see her.  We know she's in a much better place and she's been reunited with loved ones who have gone on before. 

So now, we need some good news.  And here it is:

We are officially a waiting Forever Family!  This means that we have been approved to be an adoptive family after completing the home study process!  We are pretty excited to be on this path that God has chosen for us!

Don't get me wrong, we have went through a lot.  After denying anything was wrong, we went through a year and a half of medical assistance in trying to get pregnant only to have it fail month after month after month.  It was heart wrenching, faith stretching and eye opening to say the least.  So many of you have offered words of encouragement and many prayers to help us get through the dark times.  For that, we are eternally grateful.

Here is a little FAQ section on our adoption journey thus far:

1.  Why did you choose to adopt?
          Adoption is a choice we did not come to lightly.  We had discussed it previously as a way we could grow our family should we not be able to get pregnant.  Adoption is something we are well acquainted with because of several family & friends who have adopted or they are adoptees themselves.  It took a lot of prayer and a lot of decision making.  We feel that this is the right decision for us and where God is leading us.  He has allowed a lot of things to come together quickly for this process.  Adoption doesn't cure the infertility issue.  Our desire in life is to become parents, not to be "just" pregnant.  So, if we have to bypass the pregnancy to be a mom and a dad...that is what we will do.

2.  Why didn't you do IVF or something like that?
          We did have assistance from an Infertilty Doctor/Reproductive Endocrinologist.  We were told that we had unexplained infertility.  We had 10 cycles of ARTS (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) and they all failed.  We knew that IVF wasn't an option for us because our insurance doesn't pay anything on it and it is very expensive otherwise.  We felt the money would be put to better use paying adoption fees. 

3.  Are you wanting to adopt domestically or internationally? Infant or older child?
          We decided that infant domestic adoption was the right route for us.  Because of operating and running a farm, you can't get away for much more than a week and when you adopt internationally you sometimes have to be gone 2 weeks up to 6 weeks depending on how everything goes.  Our first choice is to be matched with an infant. 

4.  What type of adoption are you doing?
          We are pursuing two types.  The first is private adoption.  This means that we find a prospective expectant mother who wants to give her child up for adoption.  We then use lawyers and our agency to help us with the paperwork at the time the child is born.  The second type of adoption we are pursuing is an open adoption that would be facilitated by our agency (or another agency that an expectant mother is already using).  Our profile will be made available online and in printed form to be shown to expectant mothers who will then request to meet with us.  Then, if we are matched with her, we will wait until the child is born and then become his/her forever family!

5.  What is open adoption?
          Years ago, the common adoption process involved a young mother going to a hospital or home and delivering her child; the nurses then taking this child and handing him/her off to an adoptive family and neither knew anything about the other.  What is most common today is to have an open adoption.  Prospective adoptive parents are usually in contact with the expectant mother before birth to get to know one another.  Sometimes, the expectant mother will even allow the adoptive parents to be in the delivery room.  After the adoption is completed the 2 parties may stay in contact with one another via e-mail with pictures & updates or even meet up occasionally.  Sometimes, it doesn't work so smoothly and sometimes the process goes unbelievably well.  How open the relationship will be depends on everyone involved.

6.  How long will you have to wait?
          We don't know.  Sometimes you wish you had a crystal ball, eh?  We have been told anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years.  Hopefully we won't have to wait that long.  I think it's been firmly established that I am not a patient person.  tee hee

We also want to let everyone know that we are willing to cross state lines for that perfect match.  We also would like to encourage everyone to mention us to anyone you know or who knows of someone who is creating an adoption plan for their child.  Wouldn't it be awesome if you were part of God's plan in helping create our forever family?


We hope this gives you a little insight into our new journey!  I might blog occasionally on what's going on or I might mention it on FB.  Please be praying for us as we continue to build and make our printed profile and mostly as we wait.  We are praying daily for this expectant mother who is out there deciding on making an adoption plan for this child she is carrying.  We will be thankful for what God sees us through as He has already seen us through a lot and we have come through it. 

Thanks for letting us share in our news.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.   If you want, consider subscribing to our blog or becoming a follower.  I promise I won't bombard you every day. 

Oh, and something cool to leave you with.  While in Branson on vacation, we got to meet Muse Franks who played Mike Franks on the CBS hit drama, NCIS.  I got a hug from him.  I so wanted him to call Craig: Probie. 




Catherine Mary Stewart (the original Carly on Days of Our Lives), Cameron Ten Napal, Leesha, Craig & Muse Watson