"Brand New Day"

OUR CERTIFICATION CAME TODAY!!!!!  More to follow...

Restless

We are still waiting for our certification- GRRR!!!!  I did mention (a few times) that adoption is about "hurry up and wait" right?!!  I am feeling so restless as we wait.  I know I was like this waiting for Andrew and Annabelle, but the thought has faded.  I am so excited to see what God has in store for our family- I CAN NOT STAND IT!!!!  I have made lists for diaper bags (halfway done filling it by the way), lists for suitcases (not even close yet, because we don't know where we are going ie. will parkas be required?), lists for registries (check and check), lists for nesting (every time I finish one task, I add two more) and written an in-depth schedule for whoever will be watching Andrew and Annabelle while we are gone.  BTW- the "flying anywhere on a moments notice" kind of adoption is EXTREMELY exciting (what adoption isn't) but not exactly practical when you have two little ones.  Let's just say, I have planned for contingency if we are gone during a weekend (Bill's parents), or during the week (Erin, Amy, Christy, Aunt Frankie, Mimi and UB THANKS GUYS).  So I think it is pretty obvious here I am not doing the whole "waiting thing" very well.  I can say I have had minimal "freak outs" in general.  Both have involved Bill making some snide comment about this "not being a big deal"-well you can imagine how well that went over.  All that being said, I am restless.  I am restless to mark something else off my checklist, I am restless waiting for the nursery to be finished, I am restless wondering what will be.  When I find myself on the edge of restless just about to cross over into anxious, I go into the nursery (pics to come, I swear, when it's done) and sit in the rocking chair.  I DO NOT look at all of the things that need to be done, or packed or finished.  I just sit and pray.   I pray for our baby's birth mom, her health and well being as well as her anxiety about what is to come.  I pray for our baby, as he or she is being formed as I pray.    I pray for all the financial details that must be worked out.  I pray for the chaos that is sure to ensue when we bring another baby into our home (AAHHHH-Can't wait).  I pray for what the Lord must have in store for this little one. I pray for the Lord's will to be done in all of the above because He is the only one who can oversee all of it.  It brought my soul such peace to pray over Andrew and Annabelle in their nursery (before we knew they were Andrew and Annabelle).  I pray over Baby #3 the same way.  Just writing about it calms my restlessness...  Guess what I am off to do?

Maybe a speed bump, maybe a mountain

We just sent all of our "Sanborn Family Profile" pics to our consultant.  She is a little busy these days with a 13 day old baby boy who is in the NICU (check my previous post for the downlow on this sweet family), but looked at them immediately!  We have a few more pics to gather, as the only pics we have of just Bill and I together are from 5 years ago.  The only pics we have of ourselves alone are from our wedding!  Note to self: "Get more pics of you and your husband!".  So our work on this front is not quite done.

We are still waiting on our recertification notice, it should be coming from the courts any day.  Although it could take longer than expected, as it is adoption paperwork!  HA!!

We were also waiting on one more piece of info- our taxes (boo).  Bill wanted to take our "funding sources" to the tax guy to see what makes the most sense financially as we adopt.  Here comes the "speed bump" or "mountain" part.  After talking to Bill on the phone for  while, he seems to think it's in our best financial interest to wait until Jan 1st to procure the funding.  So we now have more "hurry up and wait" in our future.  I was looking forward to having that part be in our review mirror by Jan 1st.  But it looks like that will not be the case.  GRRRRR!!  I know, it's not that long...especially in "adoption time".  I was kind of looking forward to a baby by Christmas.  I also wanted to travel to get the baby and be home before weather in other places gets really wicked.  I would hate to be stranded in an airport with a newborn and 2 crazy preschoolers waiting on the other end.  Well, God's plans are bigger than all of this!  No lack of pictures of Bill and I together (since 2001), no lack of money, no epic winter storm, nothing will thwart the plans He has for those who love Him.  Please join us as we pray for our baby, timing, finances, our baby's birthmom, El Nino... Well you get my drift!  Thank you for taking this journey with us.

Prayer Request

Our consultant's name is Tracie Loux, she works at CAC (Christian Adoption Consultants).  We don't know her very well yet, but she is an amazing woman.  She has six children, 3 are biological, 3 are adopted and 2 of those are special needs.  She and her husband just (last week) adopted Matthias Samuel.  Mattie is very sick, please pray for him and his family.  You can follow their blog at www.tracieloux.wordpress.com
The story of the Loux family is an unbelievable story of God's leading and grace.  It is a perfect reminder of how fragile a tiny life can be, wether adopted or not.  Please join us in praying for this sweet family.

Finished the Family Profile

What is a Family Profile you ask?  Well it is 27 little questions that will match us with a birth mom...  No big deal right?  BIG FRIGGIN DEAL IS WHAT I SAY!!!  I sat down at the computer at 1:00 and took a deep breath, spent some time in prayer and started writing.  My sweet friends who have done this before told me not to "sweat the small stuff".  I could drive myself crazy wondering how to phrase something or thinking about what a birth mom might want to see.  So I just wrote.  27 questions some 3500 words and 4 hours later I am finished.  Sigh of relief anyone?  Sort of...  This means that I now have 2 more steps to complete before we can being sending out our profile.  One is glorious because I have no control over it- certification from the state!   I know, those of you who know me well say. "did she just say glorious and out of my control in one sentence"?  Yes, I did...  Adoption is changing me...  And truly I HAVE NO CONTROL (even if I wanted to).  We just wait for that to come in the mail!  Second is pictures...  Molly, you say, seriously?  You could find the 80-100 pictures you need between your two blogs!  Although think about it, do I want a birth mom reading my "mother of the year monday" posts?  I don't think so!  Do I want her to see the pics of Andrew's mess (chocolate syrup, flour, eggs and fish oil ring a bell)? Not a chance!!!  I do have 132 pics put together with our shiniest smiles and our neatest hair.  Here comes the but... BUT I do not have any pics of Bill and I together (since our Wedding in 2001) YIKES!!!  Let me tell you I am SUPER excited to go have a photo shoot-BOOO!!!  I love my husband for sure, but I am not looking forward to a few hours of getting our pics taken hoping we get 30-40 good ones (yes, that's how many they want of us).  Okay, bright side Molly!  You will get to spend 2 kid free hours with your husband gazing into each other's eyes. Yea, I'll let you know how it goes!

How do you spell thousand??

I remember asking that question when I wrote my first tuition check in college- YIKES!!!  You have to write REALLY small to get all the letters to fit on the tiny line on the check.  We were asking ourselves the same question again tonight as we wrote the check to Christian Adoption Consultants who will be assisting us with our adoption (see their website at www.christianadoptionconsultants.com).  But again, God was faithful!  He gave us money from another unlikely source!  So we are on our way to becoming parents again!  So we have now cleared out our adoption fund and we are hoping to get a grant or two to help us with the costs for the rest.  We know it is God's plan to grow our family, so we know He will provide.  Here is a pic of the kids mailing a grant application!

Praise the Lord for His provision so far!  Please continue to pray with us as we wait for Baby Sanborn #3- and stay tuned for pics of the nursery and some adorable baby clothes we were given already!

Dear Baby Sanborn #3,

This is the entry from "Our Adoption Journal" from last night:

October 11, 2010

            Today is historic on our road to bringing you home!  After 3 weeks of prayer and tears and more prayer and more tears…  your daddy and I have decided to bring you home from somewhere in the United States, not Ethiopia as we had previously planned. We knew when we started this journey that God would direct us to you, and we wanted to be faithful to His desires for our family.  Well little one, we now know that means taking a path we know nothing about.  You will soon learn that is often how God works.  He wants us to fully trust Him, not rely on what we already know.  This is exactly what we have done with this decision.  In a lot of ways, Ethiopia seemed like the safer route.  We have done it before, had virtually NO questions when we started out paperwork this time.  It seemed right.  The more we prayed about it and thought about it, we just weren’t sure.  That little doubt was enough for us to put aside our plans and ask God what he wanted for us.  And 3 weeks later, we know you will not have an Ethiopian adoption story like Andrew and Annabelle.  You will have your own story, different from theirs, different than any story we could have imagined (and still can’t seem to wrap our heads around).  But your adoption story will end the same as theirs, with you becoming a Sanborn.  

We love you baby and can’t wait to meet you!  See you soon!