Another year is almost over! Hard to believe - all the planning and preparing for Christmas and then in a whirlwind it is over. The last 6 weeks have really been a blur! Vesta and I successfully made and delivered 65 cheesecakes and over 150 doz peanut butter balls!! When I casually mentioned to her a couple of months ago that maybe we could try a bake sale for raise money for our adoption, she said "Sure". I don't think either of us anticipated how it would grow!!!! We had a great time and were able to spend some quality time together in the process. We will be forever indebted to her. Also, I appreciate the help from Mom and Laura who gave up their time to roll peanut butter balls by the dozen! We delivered the last cake on Christmas Eve.
In the midst of all the baking Jeff and I completed 3 homestudy meetings!! They went really well, were actually a lot of fun, and I was sad when the time was up. The first 3 meetings occur in a neutral place, not in our home. We met in the nursery of our church, how fitting! :) We absolutely adore our social worker. We laugh allot, we (her and I) get a little teary eyed at times, and Jeff and I both feel very comfortable talking with her. She is a God fearing woman of strong Christian faith and has closed all of our meetings in prayer. What a blessing she is. The first meeting was both Jeff and I and we were asked about our reasons for adopting and just basic questions to get to know us. (She has our 3in file also) The 2nd meeting was just with Jeff and the 3rd was just with me. We were asked the same questions: How did you meet, what attracted you to each other, our strength's and weaknesses, childhood memories, about our parents and siblings, significant life experiences, our first marriages and why they ended in divorce, and a few others that have already slipped my mind. It's the "Jeff and Karen Show" as she calls it. Ha Ha. We have one more meeting to be held probably during the first week of January which will be at our house and include Jeff, Amber, and myself. She will take a tour of the house, ask us a few more questions, and then we will be complete!!! She will have about a 15 page summary of us and once everything is approved we will be "Paper Pregnant" and legally be able to adopt independently or with the agency in NC for 18 months!! Also, once our homestudy is approved we will be able to apply for grants to assist in our adoption expenses!
A dear friend let us borrow a bassinet and infant car seat so we do not have to buy one until after the baby is here. And another friend Lora, will be starting the sketches on the baby room mural soon. Can't hardly wait!! Mom found my old baby blanket that my Grandma Mae Kellum made for me when I was born. It definitely has some wear and tear but with a little TLC I think it will be beautiful again. It is 32 years old after all!!
We couldn't help but think that maybe Christmas 2010 would be our last without Baby Clayton. We anticipate great things for 2011! We hope and pray that each of our family and friends will have a safe and prosperous year!
Love & God Bless - Jeff & Karen
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
How great is our God...
How great is our God... I love that song. Brings a smile to my face. You know what else brings a smile to my face? The fact that my family and friends purchased 30 cheesecakes from our bake sale!! Each and every one of you are so fantastic!
We completed our home study paperwork (which was several inches thick!) and mailed to the agency. They confirmed receipt on November 19th!!! YIPPEE What a huge relief to have that finished and physically out of our hands. The agency then mailed/emailed requests to our references. We had to mail a check for $1800 so that our home study interviews can be completed. Well, I am so humbled to say that we sold enough T-shirts and enough cheesecakes that we were able to mail that check and have $12 leftover in the baby fund. How great is our God? When we started selling T-shirts in October, I had no idea that we would be so blessed. I guess I should have known. Yesterday we were matched with a caseworker from the agency, and we will be having our home interviews very soon. We can't wait! We are very excited about this part! Once our HS is complete, we are considered "Paper Pregnant"! Isn't that the funniest saying? I was thinking about this term and I started to make a humorous list of the pros and cons of adoption...
Pros:
No morning sickness
No labor pains
No swollen everything
No possible surgery
No possible Episiotomy (This always terrified me!)
Will feel great when baby comes home!
I still get maternity leave from work!
Cons:
I don't have a valid excuse for mood swings
No valid excuse for weird eating habits
No valid excuse for midnight ice cream runs
I can not eat for 2 and it be justified
No valid excuse to get out of moving heavy items
Hope this made you ladies smile! We are continuing our fund raising with another round of goodies! Only potentially $18k more to go (depends on if we are matched through the agency or have an independent situation). Once our home study is compete we will legally be able to adopt for 18 months in NC. Please continue to pray for the Mom out there that is facing a decision that will change all of our lives. Please continue to pray for the workers at the agency, they work tirelessly for their passion of placing children in Christian homes. Please continue to pray that God's will be done throughout this process.
We love you all!!
Jeff & Karen
We completed our home study paperwork (which was several inches thick!) and mailed to the agency. They confirmed receipt on November 19th!!! YIPPEE What a huge relief to have that finished and physically out of our hands. The agency then mailed/emailed requests to our references. We had to mail a check for $1800 so that our home study interviews can be completed. Well, I am so humbled to say that we sold enough T-shirts and enough cheesecakes that we were able to mail that check and have $12 leftover in the baby fund. How great is our God? When we started selling T-shirts in October, I had no idea that we would be so blessed. I guess I should have known. Yesterday we were matched with a caseworker from the agency, and we will be having our home interviews very soon. We can't wait! We are very excited about this part! Once our HS is complete, we are considered "Paper Pregnant"! Isn't that the funniest saying? I was thinking about this term and I started to make a humorous list of the pros and cons of adoption...
Pros:
No morning sickness
No labor pains
No swollen everything
No possible surgery
No possible Episiotomy (This always terrified me!)
Will feel great when baby comes home!
I still get maternity leave from work!
Cons:
I don't have a valid excuse for mood swings
No valid excuse for weird eating habits
No valid excuse for midnight ice cream runs
I can not eat for 2 and it be justified
No valid excuse to get out of moving heavy items
Hope this made you ladies smile! We are continuing our fund raising with another round of goodies! Only potentially $18k more to go (depends on if we are matched through the agency or have an independent situation). Once our home study is compete we will legally be able to adopt for 18 months in NC. Please continue to pray for the Mom out there that is facing a decision that will change all of our lives. Please continue to pray for the workers at the agency, they work tirelessly for their passion of placing children in Christian homes. Please continue to pray that God's will be done throughout this process.
We love you all!!
Jeff & Karen
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