Final trimester

Well...the end of this paper pregnancy is near. There are many signs that make me aware of this. I seem to be gaining weight (from a growing baby...ok maybe it's just stress eating)...my hips hurt- particularly my right one (perhaps something I should have checked out). I feel the need to cry a lot at random times for no particular reason (must be the hormones or maybe it's just my crazy).  And I have never wanted my house to be cleaned up so badly. Nesting. Of course if you've been to my house ever recently then you know that my desires for a clean house aren't always made a reality because...well...children.



The countdown is on! I made a paper chain the other day for our trip to Uganda. Matthew LOVES taking off a link each morning. We leave in 15 days! YIKES!

We are busy these days getting everything ready to travel, trying to do some normal things to keep life less chaotic for the kids, and trying our hardest to spend time with people before we are gone for 2 months (pretty tricky with a constantly busy schedule-ugh), Christmas shopping earlier than normal, etc etc etc...

Please keep praying for all the last minute details to come together, for our trip and all that is involved with flying with children, for us to stay healthy, and that everything we need/want will fit into our suitcases and miraculously only weigh 50 pounds each. My parents are coming to visit before we go and since my dad is used to packing for overseas travel- I'm going to stick him with the job. Haha. Don't tell him please or he won't come visit!  

Here's a few pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch this week. My boys were too busy having fun to pose for pictures. I did the best I could. A family pictures was clearly not a priority for them. :) I do have some handsome men though!

Court Date!!

Monday morning, October 7th I woke up to our court date! November 21. That is Adam's birthday and what a great birthday present!
We are excited. But to be honest I was kind of disappointed at first. I really had my heart set on being there in October. It seems so far away to be able to be with our little boy.
My natural tendency is to analyze a situation and as quickly as possible find all the negative aspects. I found myself doing this Monday morning. Instead of being thankful for knowing exactly when I would meet my little boy, I decided to channel my thoughts to any problems there may be with this plan that was not mine!
I realized that I was sad. I was sad that it would be longer until we got to meet Jonathan. I was sad that we would be gone from home/family during all of the holidays. I LOVE the holidays and all the tradition in them.
I was crying in the kitchen as I made breakfast for Matthew (Andrew was still asleep). He asked me why I was crying- so I told him. He told me, "It's ok Mommy. We just need to be patient until we go get Jonathan. He has a nice place to live there and friends to play with while he waits for us." Honestly what I wanted to scream was "SHUT UP!" because he was saying the exact same things I casually say to him when he asks when we will go to Uganda. Tasting your own medicine is not very delicious. Haha. It was a good gentle reminder for me though. Patience.
I am so grateful to the Lord for what happened next. As I loaded the kids into the car I realized what I was doing! This may not sound like a big deal, but this was a big step in maturity for me. Typically my sadness leads to negativity which usually leads quickly to anger/bitterness. As I put Andrew in the car I heard quietly in my spirit... sadness is fine to feel, but how you deal with it will make all the difference. Don't choose sin.
I was headed to preschool chapel at Matthew's school. I decided that if we would be gone during holiday's then I would have to redirect my thoughts away from self-pity to planning fun ways to celebrate overseas. Immediately I got excited about that idea. I have spent MANY holiday's away from America and family through out my life. I KNOW from experience that it is not miserable or the end of the world.
If you have followed our story at all then you know as well as I do that God has proven Himself as MORE than faithful enough to us and has worked in HIS perfect (and rather speedy) timing. It's rather infuriating how quickly I lost sight of that when I didn't get my way. I'm grateful for how God has been preparing me and growing me for that moment and how the Holy Spirit enabled me to deal with it in a God glorifying way.
At chapel I ran into a good friend with a son (an adorable adopted little brown baby!) in Matthew's class. I shared the news with her and got to talk through what my heart was struggling with. She was so encouraging to me to take my thoughts captive. Then she shared something with me that I hadn't thought of yet...that further reinforced God's perfect timing to me.
She told me that last year at the church's staff retreat I was talking to her about how overwhelmed I was with where to start to move towards adoption. Literally during the middle of our conversation another staff member walked in and told us about how she had just come from the hospital from spending time with the two families that were at our church from Uganda for heart surgeries. The translator was a social worker and that I should talk to her. That was the beginning of our journey in Uganda. My friend started crying...and clearly so did I- even though I didn't know what was coming yet. :) She told me that right around that time would've been when Jonathan was conceived. HIS timing is perfect! Praise God!
I spent all afternoon eating chocolate and surfing Pinterest. I think that is clearly the natural course of events when one is sad. I found all sorts of fun and exciting ways to celebrate holidays in Uganda. I got SO excited that we would be a family of FIVE celebrating Jesus in a different country! What a special opportunity that not many people would get!
I am a part of a support group of adoptive moms. I'm not sure how else to label it- but it is just friends that get together every other Monday night to share the weight and joy of the journey of adoption together. I was excited for this before it started, and it was a real answer to prayer. Adam and I prayed when we started this process that we would have adoptive buddies. Kind of like a friend that you're pregnant at the same time as...but with adoption. We didn't see that prayer answered right away and pushed on alone. God brought at (once again) the best time- this group of ladies to me. Three of us are traveling within a month of each other to pick up our babies. These ladies love Jesus and orphans. They have real fears, real love, real laughter, and real tears that we all get to share. This group met on Monday night. I thought it was so gracious of God to give me the news on a day that I got to go unwind with these friends.
I told the ladies that night that I feel like my pants have been blessed right off of me in this process. My day started in sadness and through the grace and mercy of the Lord I went to bed excited to know when I will see my son, and not wrapped up in my own selfishness.
Please pray with us as we purchase airline tickets next week. Pray for good prices. Please pray for the judge that we have been appointed to for our case. Pray for favor for us with him. Pray for our family as we will have to be split up for part of our trip because it is too long for Adam to stay the whole time. Pray for me as I pack up everyone for 2 months worth of overseas living. In 50 lb. pieces of luggage. Yikes. Pray for the boys as they know change is coming, but have no sense of timing in that. Pray for Jonathan as we only have 40ish days until we meet him - for health and good care. Pray for Adam as he gets details together at work for his time gone. Pray for the leaders that will be serving in his absence and for the students that he cares so much about.
I'm going to get the boys a snack now and then make a paper chain count down! YIPPEE!!

Divine Hiccups

We have meet people from our agency over the internet that will be in Uganda at the same time as us. One of these people is already over there and is adopting a little boy from the same orphanage that Jonathan is at. She had told us that she would take pictures of Jonathan for us so we could have more than the one we got at the time of our referral. I checked for any news from her obsessively as soon as I knew she was in country...even when I knew it was a ridiculous time. Haha. I was so excited to get new pictures of our little boy.

At 4 o'clock on Friday morning I woke up with terrible hiccups. They hurt...and were loud...and weird. I have never woken up with hiccups before. I got up to get some water and figured...why not check for any news?! Haha...like I said...obsessively. 

I had a message on Facebook from the girl in Uganda that she had sent 6 minutes earlier. 6 MINUTES!  She was asking for my email address to send me the pictures she took. I responded immediately, hoping that she would still be online. She WAS! We got to chat for a few minutes. She told me that our little boy is very happy. Such good news. She also told me that he peed all over her when she held him. Haha. She told me she had sent the pictures and...our internet stopped working. My heart was racing. I was rechecking my email every half a second. I had to go downstairs and reset the internet. It was close to an eternity as I waited for all the right lights to start flashing on our internet box and for it to start working! And then there he was...cute little Jonathan. He looks so healthy and big! He looks so much more grown up. I went back upstairs and woke Adam up to show him the pictures. Then texted them to some people because I couldn't wait until the real morning time. I figured it would be a nice surprise for them to wake up to. 

As usual...when it rains it pours. The agency sent us a few more pictures from the social worker later that afternoon. We went from having one pictures to having 9! We can't post pictures but please ask us when you see us...we are more than happy to show anyone! 

As I was trying to fall back asleep after I got the pictures I realized something amazing. We sent our adoption application in on May 6, 2013. Jonathan was born on May 18, 2013. If he was anything like Matthew...we could've sent in our application on Jonathan's due date. Matthew was 11 days late from his due date. Jonathan was born 12 days after we applied. AMAZING!

I'm thankful that God woke me up with the hiccups so that I could connect with our friend to get more pictures! He really does work in some strange ways. Just another part to add to the incredible story God has written for our little boy.

Showered in Prayer

Last night we had the awesome privilege of being prayed over by some of our close friends. Sweet friends threw a shower for us to help with gift cards to go towards buying formula for Jonathan and to have a chance to pray over us and for Jonathan before we go. It was such a sweet time. I wish the prayer would've gone on for so much longer. Standing in a big circle holding hands with people that we know will fight battles for/with us, that invest in our family, that encourage and challenge us, and that can't wait to meet our newest little boy was the biggest blessing. We felt so loved in that moment, and the best part is- those people love us like that all the time...it was just a great big gathering of all of them!! We are blessed beyond measure. The Lord has been so good to us. Jonathan is about to enter a great big awesome family of friends.
I didn't get a picture of all the people. (I really wanted one but in the hustle of it all didn't end up with one. So sad!) I also didn't get a picture during the prayer time. Sometimes I wish my life was a reality tv show so I had documentation of every awesome event in my life like this one. However- I do not wish to have documentation of my ugly moments and bad days so I guess it's for the best. Haha
Here are some pictures of the wonderful set up and desserts. Clearly my friends know what touches my heart. :) So much hard work and time was put into this night. We appreciate you all that made it happen.

How AMAZING are these cookies?!

Those are real center pieces you guys! So beautiful. 

There were even traditional Tanzanian treats. Apparently Uganda doesn't have many desserts. Jonathan is coming into the most dessert loving family around. Culture shock.

Cute little African table.

Blessed the heck out of us. A sweet adoption ornament. Gift cards for formula/diapers. Gift cards for dates so Adam and I can stay connected in the craziness. Gift card to Dunkin Donuts- our favorite family past time. Hand made cards. Gifts of money from children. 

When we got home (it was late and our kids were STILL awake- they were such troopers. It may have been the constant flow of cookies and some of their favorite people to hang out with...) we sat at our dining room table coming down off the high of being loved on so well. We cried as we read cards and prayers for our little boy. I hope all of you can find Jesus loving community that loves on you as well as we have experienced. It is such a blessing and we feel the love of Jesus through each of them. Not sure why we have been called to experience the indescribable blessing of adopting but I thank God often for it. Blessed beyond measure.

By the way...here is a picture of Matthew waiting to go to the shower. What a goofy kid...

Adoption Update...

LOTS to share! 

We got our invitation to fingerprint for the final piece of paperwork we needed on September 16th. It was set for October 3rd. We heard that if we showed up to the office early they would let us fingerprint early. So naturally we showed up bright and early at the office on the 17th! Adam's mom was so great to sit in our car with the boys and watch a movie with them while we had our appointment. They let us in early and we got our fingerprinting DONE! We raced from that appointment to our appointments at the health department for shots. Ugh. The boys got 4 shots each and it was rough. Lots of crying and sadness. They did a GREAT job though. We headed straight to ice cream after that! 

I really do feel the need to document everything. Haha

Poor little nuggets after the trauma.

Matthew's choice to fix the boo-boos.

So after our fingerprinting was done...we wait. We checked the mail about 3 times a day until the mail man would finally come- and there would still be nothing. It is so hard to be patient at this point because nothing other than this approval stands between us and meeting Jonathan. 

On Tuesday of this week we had a Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A. We had scheduled it a long time ago and decided we could use whatever money was raised from it to go towards the medical bills, shots, and prescriptions we need for our trip. It is pretty costly. There were so many sweet people involved in the planning and executing of this event. I am so thankful for all of their hard work and love for our family and Jonathan. We heard that it was the biggest spirit night they had ever had at that location. SO many people came out to support us and love on us! It was AMAZING! I tried to take pictures, but nothing could capture it. I'm pretty sure that during the 2 1/2 hours we were there I only saw about 4 tables of people that were not there for the spirit night. I kind of felt bad for them. Haha. A small group of Junior High girls did the hard work of table clean up and drink refills for the crazy crowd. So grateful for them. THANK YOU times a million to everyone that helped and served at this event. We are so very thankful for you and can't wait to share with Jonathan someday about all the ways people cared for him before they even met him. 

Some of the great girls that were on drink/clean-up duty.

This little guy had a little accident during the party that makes him look tough. He also loved my necklace from Uganda. I think it takes away some of the tough factor.

We are one excited family!! 

Matthew's sweet friends Toby and Levi made signs for us. We are Team Jonathan!

Getting to wear his Big Brother shirt! 

So spirit night came and went. No mail still... today we learned of some new friends through the adoption process that are leaving tomorrow to go to Uganda for their little one. I was so excited for them. I was also a little envious...but them I was excited again because they are going to send us more pictures of Jonathan!! I was so excited thinking that I get to learn more about my little boy next week when our friends tell us more about him. Then I ran to the mailbox hoping there was something in there so we could move on to the step of traveling to Uganda. But no... I came back inside sad. I decided to see if I could call and get the status of our application/fingerprints. I had heard this was a useless step because they just tell you to wait until you get something in the mail. I figured it would be worth a try! I called and ended up getting to talk to the officer working on our case!! She was so friendly. I got to share with her that we did our fingerprints early and they were already done. She said she would bump up our file to the next one she would work on. I cried while I was on the phone with her. I didn't know what exactly working on our file meant but I was thankful to know that someone was aware of us and now of Jonathan too. I was hoping in the next week she would finish and we would be a little closer to our little man! 

I was at the store looking for a curtain rod today and I got a call from a strange 3 digit number. I didn't answer. Then there was a voicemail from that number. The officer was calling me to tell me that she had finished our case and had approved it! WE HAVE VERBAL APPROVAL! No letter yet, but that should be here early next week!! I contacted our agency right away and they said work towards our court date will be started on MONDAY!! What a day! This reminded me of a few different moments along this journey. In the same day that we scheduled our home study we learned that investigations were being done on a baby (who would soon be our baby!). In the same day that we planned on sending out support letters we got 3 phone calls and had the large amount of money we needed to finish paying agency fees and that we would need for travel and living in Uganda. Now today I learn that we will get more pictures of our little boy AND that we are approved and only a couple weeks away from being in country with JONATHAN!! 

Once again- God's goodness overwhelms my heart. I actually screamed out loud a couple of times today with excitement. Matthew asked me why I screamed and I tried to explain but I'm not sure I really did a good job because of my joy! God's timing is strange. I don't always understand it. I can't say I've understood it each day that I stood at the empty mailbox. But I do know that His timing is perfect. Today was the exact day that we needed to hear this news. He knows the exact day we will travel, the exact day we will get a court date. He already knows the date of the first time I get to touch my little boys face, fingers, toes....I don't know it yet but He does. I am so grateful to be serving and following a God that already knows. It is reassuring to be able to rest in His promises of faithfulness. I am so thankful to have been able to experience and learn new things about who God is through this process. I am blessed to have been called to this. 

Little boy...we are so close!! I love you and can't wait to meet you!

Please thank the Lord with us for his provision, faithfulness, timing, and love. Pray for the legal stuff on the Ugandan end as things are scheduled. Continue to pray for Jonathan as we are apart from him. For his health, care, and growth. Pray for us now as we start to pack and things get even crazier. Please pray that when we do have to buy plane tickets on short notice that we would find good deals. Tickets are very expensive, especially when you have to buy them so close to your travel date. Thank you for how you are partnering, supporting, and encouraging us along this journey. We are so grateful for all of you!

27...

I turned 27 a few weeks ago. Things are busy so I haven't posted anything yet. It was a great day/week. On my birthday I ate WAY too much food. Breakfast with the family. Lunch at a friends house. A free Camicake (my favorite) for snack. Dinner with the family. And ice cream at my small group at church. If this is any insight into my year then I am going to be many extra pounds come my 28th birthday. Haha. I also renewed my license on my birthday which wasn't my choice of a good time, but it didn't actually take that long so that was nice. I received lots of fun things from my boys on my birthday that made my heart happy.

Great choice of birthday balloons! Mickey from Andrew and Toy Story from Matthew. 

Matthew's choice of flowers for me.

Andrew's choice.

Adam's choice (with the help of the boys)

Little surprise on my muffin at my Cracker Barrel birthday breakfast from the boys.

Thankful for this one.

And thankful for these two. 

My birthday dessert from Sharlie. She made me wear the hat for the picture too. I mean it does scream celebration!

On Saturday we had some people over for a cookout. It was fun having friends in my home. I felt very loved by those who came out for my birthday. I really like just hanging out with people, and especially when it is something we can host at our house. I LOVE having people in our home. Adam did most of the work, he grilled and even made macaroni and cheese (that was delicious!!). Adam's mom brought some other sides and a yummy cake. We got to swim as a family with some of Matthew's friends after everyone else left the party. I guess I had too much fun during my party because I don't have any pictures to show of it. I'm so thankful for how everyone loved on my for my birthday! Thanks guys.

Date with Matthew

Last Saturday I was woken up with a kiss on my cheek by a handsome little boy with flowers! Matthew asked me if I would go on a date with him. OF COURSE I said YES! I got up and got ready right away.

So sweet!

 When we got out of the car he held my hand on the way inside. He held the door for me. He also told the hostess how many people we had for breakfast!

 We played our own version of checkers while we waited for our food.

 Before breakfast he prayed for our meal. He even thanked God for his beautiful mommy. Then my heart melted.

He even paid for our meal and bought me something from the store.

The date was perfect. I had butterflies! I couldn't help but think during each part of our date that all of this will be gone too soon! He needed help cutting up his pancakes and I could not have been happier to help him. He's growing up way too fast. I'm sure before I know it he will be wanting to take another girl on a date. Please slow down sweet boy! Thank you for such a wonderful date. 

I'm so grateful for the best father for my boys. He wants them to learn how to treat a lady and works hard to make that happen!!