Monday, October 27, 2008

A bump in the road...

Well...we hit our first bump in the road this morning with the whole adoption process.  And, I'm sure it won't be the last.  Thankfully it's not a huge deal, but it is pushing us back several weeks.  Long story short, we are having to schedule another photo session to get some additional "action shots" of us separately and together for our profiles that potential birth mothers can view.  Pictures of Ben playing golf and working on cars...pictures of me playing the piano or playing volleyball...pictures of the two of us playing a sport or doing something active together.  (The lady who was telling us this over the phone mentioned getting shots of us kayaking... at which Ben and I both cracked up laughing.  If you know us at all, you would know how often we go do that...NEVER.)  And...we have to be wearing different clothes in each shot and make sure that they don't look "canned".  Ugg.  I know this seems dumb, but it's actually a lot harder than it sounds and escalated my frustration this morning to a whole new level.  IF we can manage to get everything in by the end of this week, then the earliest that potential birthmothers can start viewing our profile is the week of Thanksgiving.  Ugg, again.  I was very disappointed, to say the least.  We're just so ready to meet Baby P!

We couldn't work in another photo shoot until Thursday evening because we both have extremely busy work weeks this week..and we're already booked in the evenings with physicals, FBI Fingerprinting, police fingerprinting for the state of TX, notary appointments, you name it.  Last night, Ben and I were talking and realized that we have already spent over 40 hours filling out all of this paperwork.  That's mind-blowing.  Not to mention all the hours of work we have left ahead of us before we're done.  We know that it will all be worth it in the end...but right now we're feeling very overwhelmed and stretched thin.  

Just a little bit ago, I had to pause in the middle of my crazy day and read this verse...it always helps to calm me down and I will definitely be camping out on this thought for today... But any prayers you could throw our way this week would be greatly appreciated =)

Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of it's own."

Ahhh....that's always good for me to hear!

On a more positive note, we did have a great weekend at the Tapestry Adoption Conference 2008.  I won't go into too much detail, but the most interesting session we sat in on was called "An Adoptee Panel: A look Ahead."  It was a panel of adult adoptees sharing their different life struggles in dealing with adoption.  They shared their personal adoption stories and how they dealt with the different challenges and blessings that being adopted brought into their life.  It was really great to hear them share about their adoptive parents and about things they did or didn't do well to communicate adoption with them.  We truly enjoyed it!

Also...our great friends Michael & Tiffany McDaniel had their baby this weekend...YAY!!!  We were so excited to finally meet little Brielle and so thankful that she is healthy and doing well.  We went up to the hospital on Saturday evening with Grant & Jayme and all just had a great time hanging out.

That's it for today... more to come later this week, I'm sure... Thanks again for all of your prayers and support!

2 comments:

Greg Rice said...

Hey Ben & Holly,

I was so glad to find your blog and see that you are in the adoption process. My brother and sister-in-law just brought home their precious little girl Alina from Russia last month. I know that the time filling out paperwork, going through background checks and other tedious processes, and the waiting and waiting will all be just a small memory when you finally hold your precious little one. What a beautiful picture of the relationship we have with our Heavenly Father! Stay strong and patient. It will be worth all of the struggle!

martha said...

Oh Holly. I am sad and disappointed with you and so appreciate your candidness so warriors can pray for you and the birthmother and Baby P (for precious)! Know that I am praying fervently for you every day and my heart is yearning for you, with you, for that snuggly baby.