Here goes!!!!

Wow! OK... so two weeks after getting the paperwork, here we go!  The home study paperwork is complete (doctors appointments, fingerprints, and so much more!).  We're sending it out today and it will be delivered to the adoption agency tomorrow!  Now, we'll just be waiting to hear back on who our assigned social worker will be and when the home visits will be scheduled.  This is the biggest step yet!  Pretty exciting!!!

 

No morning sickness yet but the paper cuts are terrible :)

OK, so it's not THAT bad.  We've been working on home-study paperwork for the last week and we're almost there!  Once we go get our fingerprints done, one form notarized and our doctor's appointments completed which are scheduled for tomorrow, we'll be able to mail everything in so we can be assigned a social worker and get our home study appointment dates scheduled!!  This is one of the REALLY big steps so we're very excited!! Yay!!

 

Here's the certificate of completion from our training class which was another one of the required steps in the adoption process.  Like I said in a previous post, it was a great class!!

 

 

Post Adoption-Training Update

As you've probably already heard, Benson and I attended the 2-day adoption training class this past weekend.  It was great and filled with lots of practical as well as in-depth information.  There were various speakers including a birth mom who had put her children up for adoption as well as an adoptive family, an adoption lawyer, a nurse, etc.  It was put together wonderfully and even though at times it felt like information overload, everything we heard was information we needed to hear. 

Hearing from the birth mom was especially impactful and really makes you think about what it's like on her end.  Any birth mom who chooses adoption is an amazing, strong individual who is choosing life for her child and doing all she can to make sure they are raised in a home where they can have the best shot at life.  So many of the birth moms want to hear from the adoptive parents through letters and pictures so they can just know that their child is well taken care of.  We never want the birth mom who selects us to have to wonder if her child is doing well.  We want her to feel secure that she made the best decision. 

I could go on and on about the class.  There was just SO much and we are so thankful that we are working with an agency that takes such measures to make sure you are as prepared as you can be for adoption.  So, the class is complete. Now what?!?!

Thankfully, we were able to pick up our home-study packet at the class. It consists of a bunch of paperwork including physician reports, background checks, emergency plans, family history info and lots more!  We will start working on this and get it turned in as soon as we can get it all completed with our next payment of $2000. Then, we will be scheduled to start receiving a total of 4 visits from our social worker which will range from them taking a look at the home we live in to "interviews" discussing our family backgrounds and plenty more!  Let's just say...you can't go through this adoption process unless you're ready to be very transparent! We're cool with that.

They made it very clear that this is not a pass/fail assessment.  They are not looking for perfection but real people who are ready to open their home to a child and love and nurture the child to the best of their ability.  And, while we're filling out paperwork and getting physicals and finger print checks (yes, really), we'll still be working on the fund-raising. We still have a long ways to go but we are actually started now which is pretty exciting! We we're told that upon approval of the home study, the average national wait time currently for a child is 10 months (although it could be longer or shorter) so I'd say we're definitely closer than we've ever been.  Please continue to pray for us as we sort through all the paperwork of the home-study and start to look at possible grants to help with the additional funds needed.

On a fun note, we started to arrange Abigail's nursery this weekend which was pretty cool! I found this super cute colorful rug (below) that I love and can coordinate so much with all the colors in it. Yep, it's shag and super soft :)

The room will serve as a nursery/office since we live in a small house so I'm looking for ways to blend the two in a fun girly way for Abigail and Mommy!  I'll post some pics once we get it more together :)

The light that shines in the darkest moments....

So far our posts have been primarily about our progress in fundraising.  I decided that I wanted to share a more intimate side of the adoption process with those of you who care to read it and might like to have more of a connection with us through this journey. I feel that those of you who are so generously supporting us, deserve that!

I'm sure if anyone reading this post has gone through any phase of the adoption process, they will be able to relate to this entry.  Even when you are confident that God has lead you to do something (actually, maybe even more so when God has lead you to do something!) the thoughts of doubt start to come in.  For me, they sometimes look like this...

* What are you doing? This is so expensive...
* What if the mom changes her mind during the 10-day window or something else happens where she is taken back?
* You still have so far to go...
* Haven't you heard about how hard it is for the child to adjust?!?!
* What if the child has unknown medical problems that show up later?
* What if Abigail struggles with her identity and why she wasn't raised by her birth parents?
* What if she decides later she'd rather live with them?
* How much of a relationship are we comfortable having with the birth parents?
* What if we don't connect and bond like we should?
* What if I'm an awful mom?
* And...so on.........................

Yes, I've thought these thoughts!  The enemy wants to plant seeds of doubt!

The awesome thing is that even in the worst moments of doubt, the light shines; His light shines. He reminds us that He planted this desire in us in the first place. I'll never forget when I brought up the topic of adoption years ago, which completely surprised Benson that it was on my heart, and he immediately said he felt the same way.  He had the same thoughts about how great it would be to provide a loving home to a child that might not get that otherwise. Then, we found out that it cost $25,000!  Well, we didn't have or almost have that kind of money!  Still don't! Yet, we are still confident that God has lead us down this path and unless He completely closes the door on it, we are taking one step at a time until we have Abigail in our arms.

We could "what if" ourselves through the entire process. But, why?  God has it all taken care of anyway.  He already knows the end of the story.  And, whatever it is "we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28) That's all that matters!  He's working it all out.  It doesn't matter how long it takes. He's called us to this.  It doesn't matter about the doubts and struggles because they just draw us closer to Him.  They're actually a good thing because He says "when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."(James 1: 2-4)

So, even though we're human with doubts and insecurities, we know who runs the show! We know it will all turn out according to His purposes. How do we know that?  Because, "The Lord will work out his plans for my life— for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever." (Psalm 138:8 ) and He says..."For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.(Jeremiah 29:11)"

Thanks for taking the time to read this and please continue to pray for us, our future daughter, her birth parents and the entire process. We pray that you are all abundantly blessed!

Love,
Heather & Benson

Moving right along...

Like I've said many times, we appreciate and celebrate EVERY donation that we receive- regardless of the amount  We received a donation last night which was the first one towards the 2nd leg of fundraising.  So, as you probably know, we have the $8,000 needed to get started and now we've started working toward the last $17k (See the "Total Adoption Goal" 2nd thermometer below and to the right).  We'll have to have these funds before the agency will start showing our profile to birth moms!  We are very grateful and this was great encouragement before our adoption class this weekend!

Adoption Training Class Time!

We'll be taking our adoption training class this coming weekend and writing check #2 ($650).  We're really excited about this step!  Please keep us in your prayers as we learn more of the nitty gritty details of the adoption process.  My hope is that it will be informative and encouraging without being too overwhelming.  Again, thank you for your prayers!

Here's the class Agenda!

Day 1

Registration

Devotion and Prayer, Introductions, Housekeeping,

Legal Process presented by local attorney

Biblical Parenting

Grief and Loss; The Journey

The Expectant Parents; Their Journey

The Hospital Dance & Levels of Openness

A Birthmother’s Story presented by a birth mother

Developing a Relationship with the Birth Family & level of openness

Day 2

Regroup; Questions; Comments

What Makes a Great Profile? Now What!?!

Attachment; Development; Talking to your child about adoption

Medical Perspectives on Adoption

An Adoptive Family’s Journey presented by an adoptive family

Perspectives from an Adult Adoptee

Post Placement, Supervision, Updates, Support/Resources

Wrap Up: Comments and Questions

 

 

 

Celebrate with us!!! We did it!

A little over a year after starting our adoption fundraising efforts, we have reached the initial 8k needed to get this process moving along!  Thank you all SO much!  And, thanks to a great friend who made the donation this past weekend that helped us finish out this initial goal!  We are so blessed by all of you who have helped!

What's next you ask? 
Well, it looks kind of like this...

1) We've already submitted our Formal Application Supplemental Packet with the initial fee of $550.

2) Now, we have access to the full formal application which we will be submitting this week!

3) In 2 weeks we will be attending our required adoption training class! (another $650)

4) Then, we will be starting the Home-Study. ($2000 at beginning of study and another $4800 once completed)

5) Once the Home-Study is complete, we will be making a profile book that tells all about us which the agency will start showing to birth moms once we have the remaining funds available.  We'll work toward those additional funds through saving, fundraisers, donations, applying for grants and whatever other creative methods we can come up with.  The exciting thing is once we get to this point and have the additional funds, our profile book will be shown to birth moms and anyone of them could potentially be Abigail Grace's birth mom!  Um...exciting!!!!!

We are so excited to have the initial funds to really be able to kick this into gear and, we couldn't have done it without you!  Thank you!  We pray that you will be abundantly blessed as you have blessed us! Stay tuned to keep up with our progress.  We can't wait to share the next steps with you as we move forward!

Many Blessings!!
Benson & Heather

Pre- Adoption Photo Shoot

We had such a great time this past weekend doing a little pre-adoption photo shoot. Thanks so much to Shay White for doing such a great job and making it so fun!  The main purpose was to get some good pictures for our adoption profile book which will be shown to the birth mom when she is making a decision on who she may choose to adopt her child! Secondly, we haven't had any professional photos done for at least 10 years and we thought it was about time.  Anyway, hope you enjoy taking a look at them!

Click Here:
Pre-Adoption Photo Shoot

Blessings!
Benson & Heather

Amazing blessing in the mail!

Today we received an amazing unexpected blessing in the mail!  We were speechless! Seriously! I called Benson immediately and we were both like... "What?!?! No way! Yay! Oh my!"  Yep, that about summed it up!

We received a very generous donation from an individual who only knows of us because her daughter shared our adoption journey with her. This individual has never met us and doesn't even live in Virginia.  However, she blessed us with a generous donation that has put us only $125 short of our initial $8000 goal!  This really is such an incredible blessing that we are so grateful for!  Thanks again to everyone who is praying for us through this journey and thank you to this individual, who without even knowing us, has blessed us immensely! Abigail is closer to being in our arms thanks to you and to so many of you! Thank you!!

First Official Step...Formal Application Time!

Could it be?!?!  It almost seems surreal that so many years after first making the decision to adopt, we are FINALLY applying to do just that!
 

 

As those of you who have been following our adoption journey already know, the only thing we've been able to do so far is fundraise and we still have plenty of funds needed!  Fundraising has been and will continue to be, of course, a very important and crucial part of the adoption process!

I know we've said it a million times but, to each and every one of you who have contributed so far in anyway, THANK YOU! To the amazing friends that are showing true support and care, thank you! I know you probably get tired of seeing so much about us needing funds but this is a huge expense we just can't handle on our own.  Honestly, I think God has shown us that He never intended for us to do this on our own anyway.  I think He has shown us that by involving others in this process, it is becoming so much bigger than ourselves and touching so many more than we ever imagined!  We couldn't realize this dream of adopting a precious little girl without you!

With all that said, Benson & I have decided to go ahead and submit our formal application for infant domestic adoption!  We're not even going to wait to complete the training class first.  Since we are already registered to take the required training class next month, we figured this will get us a step ahead! We still have lots of funds to raise but we know God put this desire in our hearts to begin with and will work that all out! 

This is pretty exciting since aside from fundraising, it's the first real step in the process!  We know this is only the beginning of a long roller coaster ride and LOTS of paperwork.  But, we're thankful and excited!  Please keep us in your prayers.

Some people have shown interest in the fees involved and since so many of you are helping to contribute financially, I've decided to post the agency fee breakdown so you can get a better idea of what the money goes toward! 

Again, thank you!!!!
 

Congrats to Jennifer Ford!

A big congrats to Jennifer Ford, the winner of our photo session drawing!  Thanks so much for the support to those who entered!

We still have a ways to go and are a little stuck right now with getting the rest of the $8,000.  Please pray with us that this would happen for us within the next month before our adoption training class in October!

Thank you!

Closing in!

Just a quick update & thank you!!

 We're getting so close to that initial $8k needed to get rolling!  Thanks to all of you for making that happen!  We have about 2 months to close out this goal in order to be able to get started on the time line were shooting for! 

We have a few awesome ways for people to contribute right now!

1)  A chance at a FREE professional photo shoot from www.shaywhitephotography.com !  There is only one week left to enter!  See the donate button in the link below to enter! 100% of the donation amount goes toward our adoption thanks to Shay's generosity!

2) Fall flower fundraiser is in full swing!  Check out the link on the right that says "flower fundraiser"

We also have T-shirts, coffee and if you feel lead there is a straight donate link on the right!

Thanks to all of you who are helping us close in on this goal!!





Win a Portrait Session!

 

We're at 90% of initial goal!

Only 10% ($800) more needed to reach October goal!
 

We are SO close!  As of today, we only need $800 (10%) more to reach our initial goal of $8000 so that we can get started on the adoption process in October of this year!  It's so exciting to see how far God has brought us in the last year!  We're so grateful to Him for enabling us to make contributions toward this goal and eternally grateful to those of you who are helping and praying for us!

Look at this jump!!!!

I feel like a broken record but we really do have an amazing support system of friends who are encouraging us and making our adoption journey unbelievable and enjoyable, even this early in the process!  This weekend, thanks to an extremely generous donation from an amazing couple, we made a huge jump closer to the initial $8000 needed to get things rolling!  We are now less than $1000 away from our initial goal.  This means that so far we have raised $7075 through the support of friends and contributions that God enabled us to be able to make. That's just awesome! We really can't convey how much each and every one of you have encouraged us!  And, on a practical note, we couldn't do this without your financial support so thank you so much!  We pray that God will abundantly bless each and every one of you and return your generosity hundredfold!

God is good- all the time!

A combination of funds that Benson and I were able to put in our account along with a donation that came in this weekend have put us even closer to our initial $8000 goal!  We now only have $1425 more to raise to reach this initial goal.  Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and financial support! We know that God planted this desire to adopt in our heart's and that He will see it through! So many of you have already played such a great part in helping us work toward this goal!  We thank you in advance for your continued prayers, encouragement and support!

So thankful!

Yet another generous donation came in out of no where last week that has put us only $1700 from our initial goal of $8000!   And, of course, we know it wasn't really out of "no where".  God's got this all figured out :)

Today, we hit over 75% of our initial goal!!!

Thanks to another generous donation today from a dear friend, we are now more than 75% to our initial goal!  Wow! Crazy!  So much has happened in the last month! Yay!!!

We only have $1950 more to raise until we can start the application and home study! We have already signed up for the required adoption training class in October and are saying (in Faith) that we will have the full $8000 by then and will keep the process rolling at that time! This is so exciting and would not be possible without the generosity of so many.  Thanks SO much to each and every one of you that have contributed in any way and who are praying for us along this journey.  You ALL rock!!

If you would like to purchase a T-shirt, Coffee or make a donation to assist us along this journey, please check out the links on our page here- thanks again!!

Dinner Theater Success!!

I don't even know where to begin in this post. I'm just still so overwhelmed by the complete AWESOMENESS of the weekend! It was such an amazing success!  We were so abundantly blessed by everyone who participated in the show as well as everyone who bought tickets and came out to support our future daughters adoption!

Thanks to all of these amazing people, we raised another $3645 for Abigail's adoption!!  We are so much closer to the initial $8000 than we were before this happened!  Take a look at the fundraising thermometer to the right.  It won't be long before we hit that 8k mark!  Thank you all a million times over!  Like Benson said at the event, "It's a God thing!"

I can't end this post without a huge THANK YOU!!!!! to Shari Davis!!  This play was her idea to begin with and NONE of it would have happened without her.  She put in countless hours and we could never repay her regardless of how hard we try.  If you know her, consider yourself blessed! She is awesome and I love her! OK- that's all.  Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!

Past the half way point and pushing $5000! (Pictures Below!!)

 Thanks to a very generous donation + additional Crazy Capers ticket sales yesterday, we have now exceeded the half way point to our initial goal of $8,000! This means that we have more than half of the funds we need to be able to get the adoption process started! That's really exciting! 

In a step of faith, we have already signed up to take our 2-day required adoption training later this year.  We feel so very blessed and are extremely thankful to everyone who is helping us reach this goal!  We are excited to see how much closer we can get to our initial goal through additional ticket sales for the dinner theater that is happening in 2 days!  It's going to be a great time and we can't wait to see you there!

Here are a couple of pictures below from rehearsals which had Benson and I laughing out loud! Time is almost up to order tickets so don't procrastinate! Every ticket puts us closer to leaving that half way point in the dust!! Also, every ticket purchased online is entered into a drawing for one of two $50 Maggiano's gift cards! And, Maggiano's is providing the food for the event so YUM!

And, remember, this really is more than a fun night out- although it is that! This is a way to help further His kingdom by helping to provide a forever home to a little girl who needs a mom and dad who will love her unconditionally!

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

 

The cast will serve the food in between scenes in character!

Order tickets now at:

www.cocoscoffeeshop.com

www.cocoscoffeeshop.com

Almost half way to our initial goal thanks to Crazy Capers Ticket Sales!!

Check out the fundraising thermometer over to the right! We're so excited that with just over one week left until the big event, we're at almost half of our initial goal thanks to ticket sales for the Dinner Theatre! If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, it's not too late! And, YOU can be what helps push us over the half way point- which is HUGE! Help us make that thermometer go up even more!!!

This is likely going to be the biggest single fundraiser in our adoption journey and, every ticket sold means were that much closer to bringing Abigail home! Thank you so much to all of you who have already gotten your tickets! You're the ones making this happen! We can't wait to see you there!  It's going to be AWESOME!!

GET TICKETS HERE!
www.cocoscoffeeshop.com

Crazy Capers at Coco's Coffee Shop in less than one Month!!

It's hard to believe but our big dinner theater fundraiser is less than a month away!  We are SO super excited and hope to see many of you there!!  So far we have sold 50 tickets and are expecting to sell many more in the upcoming weeks! As we've said before, we feel so abundantly blessed to have an amazing group of friends and local actors that are doing this for us!  Please consider joining us for an awesome night of great entertainment and delicious food!  All proceeds go toward helping us adopt a baby girl we can't wait for you to meet named Abigail Grace!

 

www.cocoscoffeeshop.com

Thank you SO much to each and every one of you who helped us reach our "Kickstarter" goal!  Every $1 mattered!  You have made it possible for tickets sold for our dinner theater to be pure profit to go toward Abigail's adoption!  This means more than you know!  It could very well mean that we will start getting the adoption process truly rolling later this summer!!!  That's just an awesome possibility!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Goal met! Thank you!!!

Also, don't forget to get your tickets.  Order now for the best seats!! 

 

Order Play Tickets Now

One Quarter goal met & more!!

We are so thankful for the generosity of people who have learned about our adoption goals!  We are especially thankful right now for some amazing friends who are organizing a dinner theater to benefit Abigail's adoption. In addition, we are extremely blessed by those who have stepped up to help us cover the costs involved with the play. We still have a long ways to go but as always, we see God's hand in this and we know it's going to happen!  Just when we start to get discouraged, something awesome happens!  Today, Benson & I were able to make a contribution to the adoption account that, along with the donations we've received, have brought our adoption fund up to $2000 which is one quarter of our initial goal!  This does not include the ticket sales we have coming in from the play which will take place in May! 

To learn more, check out the links below:

Become a Backer or

Purchase Play Tickets

In addition to that, today we're launching our new spring flower fundraiser.  Check it out here:
Flower Power Fundraiser!

 

Raffle #2: Sheltering Arms- Your Choice!

Sheltering Arms Raffle

This is an AWESOME raffle with a choice of prizes!  Choose from:

1) One-month Fitness Membership

2) One Athlete Pre-Testing Session

3) One Personal Training Session  or...

4) A Running Consultation

Entries are only $3 each and all proceeds go directly to Abigail's adoption fund! The session can be used at Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation Centers at 1501 Maple Avenue Richmond, VA.

The raffle starts today (February 5th) at 10 AM and entries will be accepted through 10 AM on Friday, February 22nd. Enter as many times as you like to increase your chances. The winner will be contacted after the raffle has ended to coordinate delivery of their certificate for one of the above prizes.

This raffle has ended.

Thank you for your support!!

Raffle #1 was a success-thank you!

Congrats to Shay White, the winner of our 60 minute massage raffle to raise funds for Abigail's adoption!  Thank you Shay and everyone who helped make our first raffle a success, with $185 raised (plus another $50 from a kind donor)!  We'd like to also send a special thank you to Aly at Not Your Typical Kneads for being so kind to donate the free massage!  You are all awesome!

60 Minute Massage Raffle for Adoption Fund

We're really excited to start raffling off items to raise funds for Abigail's adoption!  First off, were raffling off a 60 minute massage!  Entries are only $5 each and all proceeds go directly to Abigail's adoption fund!  We're starting the raffle Monday, January 7th and entries will be accepted through 5pm on Monday, January 21st.  Enter as many times as you like to increase your chances.  The winner will be contacted after the raffle has ended.  Thank you so much for your support!