This is Madness!
Hi friends!
We just want to update you quickly on our progress and chat about our next fundraiser! And don't worry, it's just March Madness... everything with the adoption is good! :)
We continue to fall in love with our sweet girl each week, and the more we pray over her, the more she becomes a part of our family. Jordan and Sebastian definitely had a rocky start to begin with, but are coming around little by little. Jordan was especially upset and nervous about the whole situation, but he's since started telling people about his "sister baby Olivia" as well as all the things he's going to teach her (see video!). SO cute!
On the flip side, seeing Sebastian embrace the idea of being a big brother, and telling everyone about his sister has been incredible! He has such a big, tender heart, and it's really shown through in this transition. The other day Sebastian mentioned Olivia to a friend, and they were talking about the red stain on her face. When our friend asked him more intently about the stain, Sebastian replied with, "that's how God made her!" Insert big, weepy tears from this mama 😭 If that is not a parenting win, I don't know what is. We love that our boys will be able to embrace the idea of someone "different" from them, just like they often navigate this process themselves due to their own skin color. God loves all of us so deeply, no matter what we look like, and being able to impart that to our kids is life-changing.
Some nights, when the day has been crazy and our boys are a mess, we get overwhelmed thinking about how we're going to transition to 3...but then other nights we are heartbroken that she's not already here with us. Adoption is such a wild roller coaster of emotions and it's only with Jesus' help that we find some peace in the process. When we think about all these beautiful children without a home or a family, our hearts truly break. God has laid such a calling on our lives, and the more we navigate this process the more we find that promise deeply impressed upon us.
As we prepare our hearts, our boys and our home for Olivia we continue to be changed by the clarity adoption brings. When we first started the adoption for our boys, we felt so inadequate to bring home a child with needs. If I'm being completely transparent, I remember telling God that I couldn't handle a child with any intellectual disabilities (mainly because I was scared!). And then we got to Uganda and saw the needs that Jordan had, and our world was flipped upside down. Yet today we could NEVER imagine our lives without him, and both boys have brought us so much joy in being their parents.
Now fast forward to adoption #3, and we've realized just how much God has deepened our capacity to take on more. To love more...trust more...care more...give more. Adoption parenting is so intentional, and too often we find ourselves exhausted (as does any parent!), but oh how Jesus is so faithful to sustain us and provide for us. This can only be done with a partnership with Him, and we've loved seeing Him grow our family through adoption.
Now on to logistics...we are almost done with our social work visits and should have our home study complete by the end of this month. I'm concurrently working on dossier paper (which is a 3 step process for notarization, verification and authentication! Woof!), but we're plugging along and hoping to have it done by the end of April. Once that is complete we'll just be waiting for immigration approval before submitting everything to China! It's definitely tedious and time consuming, but it's been easier this time around since we've already done it twice before :) Onward and upward!
We are also about to embark on fundraiser #2, which will be a March Madness Bracket Buy In! Basically you will commit to filling out a bracket through ESPN (link will be sent separately!) for a $25 fee and then pick your teams! It's as simple as that! The winner will get a $100 cash prize, one of our adoption t-shirts (coming soon!) and bragging rights! :)
We'd love for you to share with friends and family, as our goal is to raise at least $3,000 to cover our next set of agency fees!
Thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers! This really does take a village, and we are so blessed to have you alongside us!
Love, love, love,
We just want to update you quickly on our progress and chat about our next fundraiser! And don't worry, it's just March Madness... everything with the adoption is good! :)
We continue to fall in love with our sweet girl each week, and the more we pray over her, the more she becomes a part of our family. Jordan and Sebastian definitely had a rocky start to begin with, but are coming around little by little. Jordan was especially upset and nervous about the whole situation, but he's since started telling people about his "sister baby Olivia" as well as all the things he's going to teach her (see video!). SO cute!
On the flip side, seeing Sebastian embrace the idea of being a big brother, and telling everyone about his sister has been incredible! He has such a big, tender heart, and it's really shown through in this transition. The other day Sebastian mentioned Olivia to a friend, and they were talking about the red stain on her face. When our friend asked him more intently about the stain, Sebastian replied with, "that's how God made her!" Insert big, weepy tears from this mama 😭 If that is not a parenting win, I don't know what is. We love that our boys will be able to embrace the idea of someone "different" from them, just like they often navigate this process themselves due to their own skin color. God loves all of us so deeply, no matter what we look like, and being able to impart that to our kids is life-changing.
Some nights, when the day has been crazy and our boys are a mess, we get overwhelmed thinking about how we're going to transition to 3...but then other nights we are heartbroken that she's not already here with us. Adoption is such a wild roller coaster of emotions and it's only with Jesus' help that we find some peace in the process. When we think about all these beautiful children without a home or a family, our hearts truly break. God has laid such a calling on our lives, and the more we navigate this process the more we find that promise deeply impressed upon us.
As we prepare our hearts, our boys and our home for Olivia we continue to be changed by the clarity adoption brings. When we first started the adoption for our boys, we felt so inadequate to bring home a child with needs. If I'm being completely transparent, I remember telling God that I couldn't handle a child with any intellectual disabilities (mainly because I was scared!). And then we got to Uganda and saw the needs that Jordan had, and our world was flipped upside down. Yet today we could NEVER imagine our lives without him, and both boys have brought us so much joy in being their parents.
Now fast forward to adoption #3, and we've realized just how much God has deepened our capacity to take on more. To love more...trust more...care more...give more. Adoption parenting is so intentional, and too often we find ourselves exhausted (as does any parent!), but oh how Jesus is so faithful to sustain us and provide for us. This can only be done with a partnership with Him, and we've loved seeing Him grow our family through adoption.
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| She's already getting things! |
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| We're waiting for you sweet girl! Come fill your shoes! |
We are also about to embark on fundraiser #2, which will be a March Madness Bracket Buy In! Basically you will commit to filling out a bracket through ESPN (link will be sent separately!) for a $25 fee and then pick your teams! It's as simple as that! The winner will get a $100 cash prize, one of our adoption t-shirts (coming soon!) and bragging rights! :)
We'd love for you to share with friends and family, as our goal is to raise at least $3,000 to cover our next set of agency fees!
Thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers! This really does take a village, and we are so blessed to have you alongside us!
Love, love, love,