The Book...

So many of you left comments on THIS POST that I wrote a few weeks ago about our Adoption Book. So I thought it would be a good idea to share some things with you about what we did.

We used Shutterfly and it was GREAT! We had actually put our entire book together though Scrapblog and then uploaded each of the pages onto Shutterfly and then realized that Shutterfly has pre-made photo books that have background pages, designs, stickers, and much much more, so we decided to ditch our first book idea and use what Shutterfly had to offer.

The morning I placed the order for our book, I got a text message from my hubby letting me know that he wanted to change some of the wording on one of the pages. So I frantically called Shutterfly and they were so great and allowed us to cancel our order. David fixed the wording on the pages that evening and then I turned right around and ordered the book the following night...WHICH, turned out to be better for us, because they were having a sale on photo books because of Father's Day :)

Our book came in about two weeks ago and I was a little disappointed that one of the pictures we used had low resolution. Before you order your book, Shutterfly tells you all the pages that have photos with low resolution or if you have some photos too close to the edge of the page or if some of your wording is too long to fit on the page. Unfortunately, I ignored that warning, only because when I previewed our book, the photo looked fine to me. But, because this photo was the FIRST photo of our book, I just wasn't satisfied with that and wanted our book to be PERFECT! So I changed the photo and ordered another one :)

David and I talked and decided that we didn't want to share our entire Adoption Book with anyone. We feel as if it is very private and something that is very serious to us. AND, you never know who might see this book through my blog. So I have chosen a few pages that I think are safe for us to share with all of you, so those of you in the adoption process or for those of you considering adoption, this might give you an idea on how you can go about creating your Adoption Book...

This is the cover of our book...it is a hard cover and is glossy.

This is the section in our book where we explained how we met and how long we dated.

And this is the section where we talked about our nephew and how much we LOVE being his Auntie Lianna and Uncle D.

The quality of the book is top notch...I was SO pleased!

AND...I was filled with JOY when I dropped our book off on Wednesday this past week and sat down with our Social Worker to go over all the pages and to give her a little narrative about who everyone was in the photos and a little history about some of the people and things we decided to share with our birthmother. She kept commenting throughout our meeting about how great she thought our book turned out and felt as if it was PERFECT!

It's only a matter of time...and Lord knows we are READY!!!

The Sweetest Words...

I have been diagnosed with colitis since I was a junior in high school. I have been taking pills after pills after pills for over twenty years now. Although I haven't had any physical symptoms of colitis in years, my colonoscopies always come back showing some inflamation and redness.

BUT, now that I have started this new medication, I am proud to say that I heard the sweetest words from my gastrointerologist today...You are completely healed. Your colon is 100%!!!!

I couldn't believe my ears...I have been waiting to hear these words for over twenty years now.

We aren't sure if my colitis has any part in our infertility, but my gastrointerologist has a feeling it does. He has seen research studies that indicate that colitis flare-ups can interfere with pregnancy. But now that I am healed, we are hoping to pursue more treatments.

Praise the Lord!!!!

A WAY Overdue Update!!!

A really good blogger friend of mine, sent me an email this morning to check in on me...it's been FOREVER since I've blogged!!! I have just been busy with work, family, and well, just LIFE!!!

My parents and grandparents have been in town for the past week, so I'm also trying to soak up every single minute with them possible :)

I did want to give a quick update on our adoption and fertility journey.

Our application fee is PAID and I ordered our adoption/life picture book yesterday. So we are moving forward with the adoption process and I couldn't be happier. Not to brag, BUT, we spent so much time on our adoption/life picture book that I can't imagine a birth mother not choosing us :) In all seriousness, I think our book is the perfect reflection of our lives, marriage, and who we are. I am so anxious for it to arrive so I can submit it to the agency. Once that is done, we will officially be ready for a birth mother to choose us. SO EXCITING!!!

We are also moving forward with our last IVF treatment. I FEEL as if my body is doing great with the new colitis medicaiton I have been taking and am scheduled for another colonoscopy next week, June 1. If my gastrointerologist gives us the green light, we'll be starting our IVF treatment immediately.

Who knows...we may be blessed DOUBLE this year! Wouldn't that be a blessing???

His Timing...

Yet again, God spoke DIRECTLY to me through this devotional...
“My times are in Your hand...”~Psalm 31:15
God doesn’t always work on our timetable. In fact, He rarely does. But in a single moment, God can change your life! All throughout Scripture, we see examples of how God was working behind the scenes and instantly turned things around for His people. Scripture tells us He is the same yesterday, today and forever which means He can instantly turn things around for you, too!

You may be going through some difficulty today, but be encouraged because your times are in God’s hands. He wants to accelerate things in your favor. He wants to take you further than you dreamed possible and work in your life in ways beyond what you have ever ima
gined.

Let this truth sink down into your heart today. Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He’s going to accelerate your times and lead you into the life of victory He has for you!


Believing it!!!

Falling Into Place...

This last week has been one filled with excitement, happiness, and joy! It seems as if everything we have been waiting for has been (FINALLY) falling into place.

Through faith and patience, you will see God’s promises come to pass in your life.

We have been spending the past week working on our adoption book and it has been so fun reminiscing about our childhood, wedding, vacations, etc.

One of the agencies we plan to work with has been in touch with our Social Worker and I actually dropped off our home study to them yesterday.

If you will stay in faith, God will always complete what He started in you.

I had a terrible time sleeping last night because I am so excited to be completing our application with this agency T.O.M.O.R.R.O.W!!! We will officially start the adoption process at 11:00 a.m. when we meet with this agency.

Please say a prayer for us as we start this journey...it is our dream come true.

“Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory!”~Judges 4:14

The Next Step...

David and I attended our first Adoption Orientation a few nights ago...and to say it was fabulous, is well, an understatement! It is almost unreal to think that within a year or a year and half, we could have our very own baby...complete with a sweet nursery, late night feedings, coos, cries, onesies and burb cloths...sounds like HEAVEN to me!!!

I really had an overwhelming feeling that our dreams are just around the corner. It's been a long time since I've had this confidence...and it feels so good.

We had our social worker over tonight to finalize our update of our Home Study, since it's already been a year since we obtained it. We asked her several questions and again had a great feeling that our reality will soon involve a baby.

Our next steps are to put in our applications with a few agencies...we already have a few picked out. AND start to work on our Life Books. I plan on visiting Shutterfly this weekend to get started.

It's never felt better to take the next step than it does right now!

Waiting Here for You...

I have had a recurring theme on this blog lately...WAITING!

And just like He always does, God put this song in my path this week. It's called Waiting Here for You and  it's  just FABULOUS!!!



The VERY first line of the song had me hooked!!! Let those mountains MOVE!!!