Horton AGAIN!

Some friends of ours are hosting a pre-shower for us on Saturday! Because adoption is a risk we have been advised not to go gung-ho with lots of baby stuff and normal showers before we have our little one at home. Hence the reason for our pre-shower where we'll be getting the basics and things that we'll need to take out to California.

All that said - this past Monday night Bryan jumped in the car with Winston in the back seat (when Winston rides in the back seat with the windows down he reminds us of the Red Barren). They were going for a walk at a park near our house. During the walk, Bryan was going to be seeking the Lord about the growth our family. Periodically, we find ourselves needing to do this. With the noted risks of adoption and our strong desire to increase our family, it seems like we're having to be in constant communion with the Lord and are desperate to hear His voice and have reassurance through this process. Well, the Lord winked at Bryan that night as he pulled into the park. Right in front of him was a sign saying that the movie "Horton Hears a Who" would be showing at the park only an hour of so after our pre-shower on Saturday night. (For those that don't know - the Lord used an old version of a Horton book to confirm to us we were supposed to adopt. See our first blog post.) The park is fairly new and there has never been a movie shown there. How appropriate that they selected Horton to be the first one!

Only God could coordinate the pre-shower on the one and only night that Horton would be shown in the park right down from our neighborhood!

More Details

Still no confirmation yet on whether we'll be having a girl or boy. The unofficial ultrasound says its a girl. We're waiting for the next one which should be July 30th.

We should get a "hospital plan" at some point soon telling us our birth mom's wishes. These are always subject to change at the last minute but from talking with our birth mom it sounds like she wants us there for the delivery and wants me to be the first one to hold our little one.

Our birth mom will be staying in an extended stay for the duration of her pregnancy. There are lots of details behind this. And yes, we're the ones paying for it but that's fairly normal for the adoption process.

We do talk with our birth mom about once a week on a prepaid cell so she doesn't see our name on any caller ids. She does not and will not know our last name. In her mind, we are just Bryan and Angie from Georgia. In our conversations we're carefully not to share too many details to help her figure out our location. In the end we'll most likely be sending her photos and letters a couple of times a year through the adoption agency and she can do likewise. This is another detail that has to be decided.

I know lots of you have had questions. If I left any thing out, don't hesitate to ask. Its a fascinating process and I know some are considering it for themselves in the future. We'd love to share more.

When we sent our picture profile to our birth mom we included the following short video of Winston. Since she loves dogs we thought she'd like it and we hope you do, too. Poor Winston - he has no idea that he is going to be demoted to the official dog of the family in the next few months!

Whirlwind Week or Two (Check out the end!)

In over a week we've had THREE situations presented to us. The first one we knew pretty much right away that it was not for us but we took the weekend to weigh it out. Then on Monday called the agency to say it wasn't for us. Seemed like minutes afterwards we had another call for another situation. Initially it sounded great! By the next morning we were on the phone with the birth mom. What a surreal situation! What does one say to a woman who is considering giving us her baby? What an honor it is to even make it that far in the process! Despite it being an honor to speak with her and considered by her, we knew deep in our hearts that her baby was not ours. It took several hours to process what was in our heart and then had some family members and a few friends specifically praying for us confirming what we were feeling. That was a great relief to us. We know all the more we made the right decision.


(A brief thanks - We're so thankful for those of you standing in faith believing for the right little one to be in our home. This is one process we truly can't do alone. Also, the advise of our adoption consultants has been invaluable and we're grateful for them. It would be such a scary process if we didn't have them on our side. Also, the Lord has brought the right agency representatives to us. Thank you, Lord -Your kindness is great, support is amazing, and leading is distinct!)

So as we knew the second door was to be closed we were emotionally drained. We had been on the phone a combined 8 + hours in a day or so. On the flip side, we have a clearer understanding of what type situation we want to be matched with. There are SO MANY different types of adoption scenarios out there. We would like a situation where 1. the birth mom has clearly decided not to have an abortion, 2. prefer a teenager and 3. someone that wants her child in a Christian home.


That said, we had another phone call from an agency on Wednesday. When we saw the caller id we were trying to hand the phone off to one another and thinking, "Here we go again!" and then praying, "God give us grace for this call especially if its not a situation that is for us." Saying no to these situations is not fun and extremely draining emotionally.

Fortunately, this situation is right up our alley. The birth mom has: 1. clearly said no to abortion; 2. is 17 years old; and 3. requested that the adoptive parents be Christians. After talking with her over an hour and half on Saturday night we've decided she's the one and she's decided we're the one! It's a match! Sometime at the end of September or early October we will be heading to California to get our baby!!!!

If it comes to mind, pray for our birth mom. I know she needs great grace to give up her little one. She's so touched our hearts with her willingness to place her baby in our home. The least we can do in response is pray and to ask for others to pray for her. She's a gem! She's mature beyond her years in many ways, sincere, goal-oriented and we are believing for a bright future ahead of her!