Formal Application was Approved

We just found out today that our formal application has been approved. Our social worker will contact us in the next couple of days to start the home study. How awesome!

Kendal's Response

I was talking to Kendal this afternoon about adoption (as much as you can with an almost 4 year old). I asked her if she would like a brother or sister in our family. She said, "Is a brother a boy?" I said that a brother is a boy. She said, "No, I want a sister." Then I asked her why she would want a sister and she said, "No, I want both" with an excited smile on her face. So, I guess we're safe with Kendal with whatever gender (s) comes our way. :)

Thank You

Kreg and I just want to say, "thank you" to everyone. We have so many people in our lives that are so supportive and we absolutely know without a doubt that this child (children) will be loved no doubt by us, but by all of you as well. I think my favorite comment has been by my grandma who most sincerely said, "Stacey, I am so proud of you for adopting." It makes us feel so good to hear all of your heartfelt comments and we just wanted to say that we love all of you and thank you for being a part of our life and this wonderful journey.

The Beginning

7/2009 - Kreg and I have decided to take another step in building our family. We have decided to adopt. We have, as many of you know, had trouble with conceiving any more children. The best way to describe the past 2 1/2 years is what happens in the grieving process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Well, we are in the acceptance stage and have decided to move on a different path. We have researched domestic, foster, and international adoptions for the past couple of months. We've also researched different organizations to go through with adoption. We've read books and talked to people who have adopted. We've been waiting for a "sign" and we have decided on adopting from Ethiopia. One comment from a staff member at Bethany Christian Services was this, "Children in Ethiopia are waiting for a family compared to a family waiting for a child." We would like a baby under 2 years of age. We do not have a gender preference. You don't get to choose when you're pregnant so we didn't want to choose here either. We are also open to a sibling group. We just finished our paperwork last week and are now waiting for our home visits with a social worker. This will be a very long process but we are definitely ready for this next step in our lives. Please pray for us while we take on this journey. We'd like for you to take this journey with us by visiting our blog and keeping up-to-date on our progress.