I am Amanda, my husband is Clay, we have 2 kids right now, Aidan & Faith. We have been in the process of adopting a child from South Korea since October 2008. Our home study was approved and we were placed on the waiting list (to receive a referral of a child) October 23, 2009. We have now been on the waiting list for
7 months! And this is my first blog post! And I have no idea what I am doing! I put off blogging about our adoption because
1) I tried to not think about it in hopes it would make the wait go by faster and
2) I was afraid I would be terrible at it. But I love to read other's adoption/family blogs, so I have decided to
Just Do It (thanks Nike) because I want my child to be able to read it someday.
So having skipped over the first 20 months, here is a rundown:-I have always wanted to adopt a child - ever since I was a little girl.
-I have 2 biological children, I was ready to grow a baby in my heart.
-I married an awesome husband/father who also loves kids and wanted to adopt!
-He and I kept meeting people who had adopted from Korea, so I thought - out of pure curiosity-
"There must be a local agency, I wonder who it is." -I searched online and found Dillon (
www.dillonadopt.org). Read a lot about requirements. (Lots of talking...) ME:
"Hey, lets adopt! Awesome Hubby:
"Okay!"-ME:
"Hey, they have FREE informational meetings!" Hubby:
"Yeah, lets check it out!"-October 2008 - (Aidan in school, mom watching Faith) One on one info. meeting with sweet Kim Alls at Ella's restaurant at U of A.
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Lots of crying)
"We're really doing this!! Yay!!" We tell my mom we plan to adopt!
-Applications, Dr.s appts., biographies written, little dieting (lol, sorry honey), home study in August 2009 (SO NERVE WRACKING!! But all good!), HUGE yard sale, fingerprints taken, on the waiting list!, crying!!, AND 7 MONTHS LATER...
You should be all caught up now!!
Right now we are waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. I was okay with the wait until we hit the 6 month mark. I seem to always have an upset stomach. I cannot rely on my own strength through this.
1 Chronicles 16:11 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. Luckily our adoption agency has an online forum where all the other parents (mostly moms) get on and we encourage one another through our adoptions. We get to go through it all together and I just love them all so much for their encouragement. This is a hard time, it really is. I have a child. And I don't know him. Or her. It has been a 20 month (and counting) long pregnancy. Only someone else is carrying my child. The wait after referral will be hard too, but right now I just want to know who he is!! (Or her!) Unfortunately the wait AFTER referral (the time before we can go and bring him/her home from Korea) has been extended from 3-6 months to 8-12 months. That is not good news. But God knows what He's doing. Speaking of God - He has been pretty amazing throughout our process. Dillon actually got our Application #2 on December 31st - and January 1st they decided to not accept anymore applications for Korea (unless you had previously adopted from there). AND every time we have needed to send in money, God has provided it for us in one way or another!
John 5:30 "By myself I can do nothing..."
gymnastics for 2 years now and it is so neat to see her progression. Aidan has been mowing the grass for us this spring/summer for the first time! He acts like he hates it, but I think he enjoys it some because of the satisfaction he gets from it. Our yard has never looked better! He also won 3rd place in his science project! I can't believe the 2009-10 school year is almost over and I will have a 6th grader! It just does not seem possible. I was just telling Clay the other day about the funny things he used to say when he was little, like "cha-cha mlowk" = chocolate milk, and "apuppa dOWg" = puppy dog (this he would said over and over and over). He also said "Lee me lome!" = Leave me alone, that one was funny. He still says really funny things all the time. I will have to start writing them down. The other day I was reprimanding him for something and he argued and I said, "don't argue!" and he put up his hand and said "okay, you're just missing out on the truth." HAHA! Both of my kids are HILARIOUS! I can't wait to see what kind of personality our next child will have!
(Here is Aidan riding a bouncy horse rodeo style at the park, LOL!)
