Thinking you have any kind of real control over your life is an illusion, I know. But it’s almost comical the degree of uncertainty we are experiencing right now. I know that I have no control over when we will be matched and where Charlie is coming from and when he/she will get here. So I can’t even pretend to know what’s in store for us the next six months. We could have a baby in three weeks. Or we could have one in seven months. We just don’t know. Never before have I been so aware of my utter lack of control. Planning? That’s for somebody else. My life will just happen when it happens. It’s really anybody’s guess at this point.

Most of the time I am completely fine living with this uncertainty. I’m so, so thankful to be in this position, waiting to adopt. But not being able to put things on the calendar does get to me a little. We don’t have a due date yet, so pretty much everything else is up in the air, too. This includes our living situation. And this is one thing causing me to take extra deep breaths and mutter “all things in due time” to myself over and over under my breath. (Kind of like a crazy person.)

Continue reading “Living in limbo” →

Well, it’s official–we are halfway through the average six-month wait time to be matched. We’ve been presented to birthmothers for a full three months now. The time is actually flying by and this month I wasn’t sitting around, tapping my fingers, waiting for our update like I was last month. I was actually surprised to see it in my inbox.

Here are the stats: we were presented to 11 birthmothers in December. (This number keeps going up so I guess our odds are getting better.) One or two of the women fell off the radar and three chose other couples. Six of the birthmothers we were presented to have not yet chosen adoptive families. So, I guess there’s still a possibility that one of those women will pick us. Who knows! Our caseworker says birthmothers typically pick families within 7 – 10 days but some don’t choose until much later.  Some even wait until they are about to deliver, or have delivered. Wouldn’t that be exciting!

If we were tracking our adoption timeline as if it was a pregnancy, we would officially be through the first trimester now. Without a touch of morning sickness, I might add.

We keep hoping for the call, but we have a lot going on right now and are content knowing that Charlie will find us when the time is right. I’ve been flexing my patience muscles a lot lately–good training for motherhood.

Because I feel the need for something adorable today… here’s an unlikely pair sure to melt your heart. When this tiger cub had to be separated from its biological mother due to flooding after a hurricane, this chimp became his adoptive mother and began caring for him as if he was her own. How cute are these two?

Animals adopt babies that need mothers, too, and sometimes even those of another species. This article has a few other adorable adoptive animal mothers and their “kids.” I know, I know – they’re just cute pics of animals, but it reminds me that adoption is a universal theme and not limited to mankind. When it comes to caring for an orphaned baby, love in the Animal Kingdom knows no boundaries. And that makes me smile.

All children deserve loving mothers and fathers that have the time, compassion, desire, maturity, resources, and the will to care for them. Sadly, sometimes that is not the baby or child’s biological family. But that’s where adoptive families step in. I’m excited and proud to be a future one. If only I was as cute as this chimp!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays! Can’t believe it’s almost 2014. What a year this has been. Such a transformational 365 days for me filled with personal growth and healing. I’ve been so very blessed this year with so many things–most importantly, an incredibly supportive and loving husband who has proved time and time again that marrying him was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.

We were fortunate to spend Christmas with family in Chicago, and had such a great time with Jamie’s sister and husband and our niece and nephew. It’s always fun spending time with them. They love to laugh and are such a tight-knit family. They’ll be such wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins for Charlie. He or she is going to be a lucky kid with all of these loving, and fun-loving, relatives ready to welcome him home.

We’re also pretty excited because we’ve started accumulating stuff for Charlie. One set of parents got us a carseat and the other set got us a bassinet (thank you all!). Two major things we need to have on hand, because we could be getting “the call” any day. We also got a surprise gift in the mail from my cousin Jennie–the cutest little kimono-style outfit for Charlie.

Jamie and I have started picking up random things for the baby and the nursery, too. Like an adorable stuffed turtle that absolutely kills me it’s so cute. I can totally picture Charlie carrying it around, long green neck stuffed under his chubby little arm.

Continue reading “Out with the old, in with the new” →