November

I've spent a few days thinking about what I wanted to blog about for my monthly adoption update post. The update is there is no update. Technically there is one more day left, but we are pretty sure we broke our streak of one situation each month.

In other news, all things not related to adoption have been pretty eventful this November.

• Jake went from working in Seattle to working in Bend. We think it'll only be a few more weeks before he is back to working in the Willamette Valley and home every night. This will be wonderful...even if I do have to start cooking again during the week.

• I'm changing jobs and will be working in Salem full time. 

• I've been kind of sick for the past 3 or 4 months and was relieved to have negative results eliminating a serious condition as being the culprit. I'm so thankful for diagnostic testing and procedures. I was very relieved when my doctor said "good news, it's not cancer and its not ______" (a scary disease process).

• We hosted Thanksgiving this year and LOVED having everyone over. One of my sisters and I both can't have milk products so I made a completely lactose free meal. It really wasn't hard and nobody probably would have known if it wasn't mentioned. Best part about having a loud and busy house full of family was having a "kid space" in the house. With the nursery having a few things in it, including some stuffed animals now, my nieces had their very own place to play. This was the first time they got to have designated-kid space. It was awesome...and they made us laugh. A lot. At one point we were so busy laughing when they came running out of the bedroom "riding" stuffed animals none of us thought to pull out a phone or camera to take a picture.

• We got to go to the Civil War game and cheer on the Beavers. Although they didn't win, it was a ton of fun to go. I forget how close and easy it is to pop over to Corvallis and catch a game. I love going to sporting events.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton of other things, but those are the highlights!

A Glimpse

I work with a wonderful girl on a committee at work that brings us into the same conference room about once a month. I see her at events in between meetings typically, but our paths hadn't crossed for about 6 weeks. The moment I walked into the conference room and we locked eyes I knew. She had become an aunt. Her sister and brother-in-law are in Texas with their new baby boy waiting for their paperwork to go through so they can come home. It took everything in me to not have a complete breakdown over her wonderful news. There was so much running through my head as I looked at pictures of the newly formed family and as I listened to their amazing story. I did feel a twinge of jealously, (that I'm not proud of) but more than anything I felt such joy and excitement. Adoption is just so amazing. I was vividly reminded of what a magical and exciting time we are at in our lives awaiting our first child while getting this glimpse into another family's story. So, so, so exciting.

National Adoption Month

This is the third year that this month being dedicated to adoption awareness has been on my radar. Each year I learn so much more about adoption. I love how so many of the blogs I like to read post more often throughout the month. Reading other's stories and experiences is heartwarming and reassuring.

Although we've been on our adoption journey for 18 months we still know nothing about adoption, or so it seems. Because it is such a personal thing to talk about I get how I had exposure to adoption, but had little idea of the intricacies of the process. Also, there are so many different ways to go about adoption that I only know about the process we are going through.

For us, we are adopting domestically. We work with an agency in Idaho that also does work in Oregon. Our agency networks us (shares our profile) with other agencies that they regularly work with. Adoption agencies all work a little bit differently and its important that the agency itself and their caseworkers are a good fit for you. Adoption is extremely personal and emotional yet requires competent professionals to navigate the ethical and legal territory. Our agency networks us primarily with one agency that we've chosen in Louisiana. However, only 2 of the 4 situations that we've been considered for have been from the agency in Louisiana. The other two came from agencies in Oregon and Idaho that reached out to our agency looking for more couples to find a better match for their situation.

All of the situations that have been brought to our attention have changed me. They've changed my understanding of the process, how I look at these various situations and feel about the details i.e. the birthmother's life information, the health of the baby, etc., and they've changed my heart. At the end of the day I'll never know who these women and babies are, but they've had a great impact on my life and I've learned from them.

The entire month of November has also become the month of thankfulness. My facebook feed is full of 'today I am thankful for' posts. I'm thankful that more and more people are learning about adoption this month. Adoption in the United States has greatly evolved in the past 60 years and so many of the things that weren't great about it have been remedied. There are many myths and questions surrounding adoption, but it is no longer taboo...or at least that is the direction it is headed. For this I am thankful.

For anyone wondering about adoption in general or about our experience please don't hesitate to ask. Adoption is one of my favorite things to talk about. Even on the days that I'm a bit frustrated with the duration of our wait, talking about it lightens my frustration. I'm thankful for this as well.

Like Clock Work

I seem to only provide monthly updates anymore. Won't it be fun when I have more to say? :o)

Like clock work another month has gone by and with that another situation...that we were not chosen for. That makes four. This one was completely different than the others and we could feel the difference. Not sure if what we were/are feeling is because the baby was already born or something else. Jake and I both have a growing longing to bring baby home. I think a big part of that is simply because it feels like we've been waiting f-o-r-e-v-e-r (picture that being a Sandlot forever).