The wait is over.....It's Official!!:)

             As I start to write this blog, I find myself at a loss for where to start since I have so much I want to write about. First for some of our friends and family who are out there that haven’t heard the word. David and I are adopting the cutest little boy named Aaron!! He was born with Down syndrome in a country that does not look kindly towards children who are born with Down syndrome or anything which makes them “different” in there eyes! But all we see is an adorable little boy who needs a forever family to give him love and support to help him blossom into what will surely be nothing short of amazing!!:)

            The last week and a half has been very looong but sooo amazing! I have learned that the adventure we are on there will be a LOT of hurry up and waiting. Which for a person like me is going to be hard, I just have to keep my eyes on what’s important!! So to recap the last week and a half this is how it went: As of Tuesday June 21 we were approved to start our home-study. Then the waiting kicked in on Wednesday 6/22 and lasted until Tuesday 6/28. And on Tuesday June 28 we were officially committed to Aaron!! There is no better way to start your day then to find out that our commitment to this adorable little boy has become official! We are just sitting on cloud 9 with this exciting news, which is why I have waited to write this blog, I needed a day to process this exciting news! We can’t believe that this is actually happening for us, we are so thankful to everyone who has given their words of encouragement to us. It means the world to us to know that we have support out there already! I have been lucky enough to meet a family who is currently in country getting ready to bring their son home and they have been able to tell us a little extra about our little guy which is a HUGE blessing for us. Most families who start this process typically only have the photo and information from Reece’s Rainbow to go off of. Which I think it would be complete torture for any person going through this process. So we are truly blessed to have a little extra info!:)

            Since we have started this process we have heard it referred to as a “paper pregnancy” many time. And the further we get into the adoption I find this to be so true. It maybe longer or shorter (hopefully shorter) than a regular pregnancy and there will be WAY more paper work to fill out and many more ups and downs then you would with a regular pregnancy. But we have already learned it is going to be soooo worth every paper filled out, every up and every down we go through. Aaron is being welcomed into our family with arms open wide and hearts full of love to give! We have found it amazing how much we love this little guy even though we haven’t met him yet! It’s awesome to have this feeling inside of us knowing that we were meant to be his mommy and daddy. I never knew I could love like this and it’s absolutely amazing and wonderful to be finding this out with the two people I love more then anything in the world. I am so privileged and honored to be doing this with my husband and son by my side and we are so excited to see what this road holds for us!

P.S. Keep your eyes out for some of our fundraisers coming up. We can use all the help we can get in getting our little guy home to us!!:)

What a week!

    Well it’s been a week since my last post and what a week it has been!!! All week David and I have been working on getting all our paperwork together to send in, to start our adoption process. Who knew that filling out papers would take so much time!! But the most exciting news of the week is we sent in all the paperwork for our home-study and made our commitment to an adorable little boy!! We are sooooo…. very excited to be doing this and can’t wait to really get this amazing adventure started! I know that some of you will want to know more about our soon to be kiddo but I can’t say much until its official with Reece’s Rainbow. So hopefully by the end of the coming up week we’ll be able to make it official!!!

   It is amazing to think that just a month ago we were talking about adoption and now we are getting ready to embark on an amazing adventure! Also in that short time we have made some wonderful new friends that will be forever friendships! And we know this process isn’t going to be easy and that there are people out there who will be against us. But as long as David and I walk hand in hand down this road together nothing can get us down! I couldn’t ask for a better partner to be doing this with!:)

    So I hope you all stay tuned for official announcement from us! As soon as we can I’ll post a picture of our little cutie! Until then have a great weekend and to all the dad’s out there I wish you a VERY Happy Father’s Day!!:)

The Weekend Review

   Well the weekend is over and tomorrow it’s back to business! We had a wonderful weekend with family! Friday my beautiful niece Hannah flew in from Minnesota and I can’t believe how much she has grown in the last year. Also my brother James and sister-in-law Brett welcomed a beautiful baby boy named Max in the world!! David and I are so excited to be an auntie and uncle again, and Ryan is happy to have another BOY cousin!! Saturday Ryan and I saw Mary Poppins the play with my Mom and Lizzy. And I must say it was AMAZING!! We had such a good time and Lizzy kept us laughing with her need to dance. She told my mom that the music was in her bones and she just feels it!! Oh how I love that girl!:) And today Ryan and I had a semi lazy day at home since the weather outside is so lousy! Who would have thought that it would be so cold and rainy in June. I pray we see the sun again soon and hopefully it starts feeling like summer!

   I want to thank Beth for putting me in touch with another wonderful family who is currently in country preparing to return home with their wonderful new addition. They have given us some great insight into the process and how things work while you are there. Other then that we don’t really have any new news on the adoption front. I took a little break this weekend and spent time with the family. I'll start my mission again tomorrow! However I did try to find fun and easy ways to fundraise. I found a few I really like but if anyone out there has ideas or ways to help please let me know what they are, I’m open to trying anything to help us bring a child home to us!!

   I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and have a great week!!

~Melissa~

What a day...now time to spill the beans!!

    Hi everyone!! Well it has been a very long and wonderful day. Today was the day my baby sister, Lizzy, graduated from 8^th grade!! I can not believe that she is headed to high school!! How crazy is that! It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital waiting to meet her. It’s amazing how fast time flies and its days like today that makes me reflect on the last 14 years of my life. I can’t believe all the things I have accomplished as a teenager, a young adult, a married woman and as a mother! I have truly been blessed with an amazing family and friends. To top off my morning I had the honor of meeting an amazing family who has beautiful baby girl with Down Syndrome. This family is amazing in every way, they have 5 children and are currently in the process of adopting another baby with Down Syndrome. All I can say is AMAZING!!! So on that note I guess it’s time to spill the beans….
   As most of you know David and I have been trying to have another baby and had no success. We have tried a couple fertility procedures and had no luck with them. We have found ourselves at point were big choices need to be made. We’ll that choice has been made; we have decided to adopt a baby. We are not going to be adopting just any baby we have decided on a baby with Down Syndrome. Now I know some of you will be shocked and hopefully excited for us! This is a HUGE adventure our family is beginning and we can’t wait to give updates on the process. We are so excited to expanding our family and saving the life of child. I know that some of you may be thinking we are crazy for doing this but I think that the last 14 years with Lizzy has prepared me and given me the strength and courage to do this with David and Ryan. We know that there will be lots of up and a few downs in this process and we are ready to take it all on! We know that we have hearts big enough to love another child along with Ryan and in the end we will have a much stronger family foundation!
   Well it’s off to bed to get some rest for another busy day tomorrow…..I hope you have enjoyed our exciting news and please feel free to leave any comments or questions you may have for us!!

Goodnight and sweet dreams,
      Melissa