Our Home Study is Complete!!!

   Last week on Monday, Kim came out to our house to do our final visit for our home study. In the week leading up to it we had to cancel her initial appointment for that Saturday am because Maylena had just gotten over pink eye in both eyes and a bad sinus infection, Billy had gone to the minute clinic and was thought to have the flu with his symptoms, and our heat had been broke downstairs for a week. I was doing all I could just to keep my head above the water but I still felt like I was sinking.
   Before Kim got to the house there was a lot of cleaning to accomplish, especially since she is allergic to dogs and we have 2 inside dogs that shed a lot. When she got to our house we took the dogs out into the front yard to meet her outside first. They barked as though they were going to attack her, which we warned her would be the case until they get to know you. She wasn't concerned about that thankfully and we put them in our garage for the remainder of the visit. We have already gotten to know Kim really well and she feels like a friend more than a social worker. She came inside and sat at our dining room table and pulled up our document she has prepared as a statement about our family and we went to work adding, making changes, etc. Maylena sat at the table with us and was a part of the whole thing. She was doing great until she started drawing in her notebook to pass some time and then when Kim started asking her questions she said, "I am just busy right now". Kim didn't mind and asked Maylena to show her around the house. We went upstairs to Maylena's room and she began climbing her dollhouse headboard attachment on her bed, it's not very high and she loves to climb on the roof and balance in different ways. I cringed a little and what Kim might think, but she was fine with it. Then when we went into our bedroom and Billy was showing her where the guns were kept, etc, Maylena climbed onto our bed and started jumping on it. Again Kim seemed ok with it, even though I was thinking can this get any worse? We showed her around the rest of the house on a very quick and brief tour...she was impressed that our nursery was already so well set up. She said during the process of adopting her own daughter she had nothing ready to show their social worker when she came out. So I felt a little bit more prepared on that end.
  The rest of the meeting went really smooth and she said our document would be submitted to the agency for review by Christmas Eve. Now we wait to hear from Doris who is the head of the agency for our finalization meeting with her. She is supposed to call in about 10 days but we have 2 holidays in that period of time so it may be a little longer. Once we get finished with that meeting that can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours we will be a waiting family!!
   Our shutterfly photo album came in the mail and it looks awesome! I put so much time and energy into it and I am really happy with how it came out. We opened the package up to look at them one they were delivered on Christmas Eve. Turns out 2 of the 3 books were damaged around the edge due to the package getting punctured by something in shipment. I contacted shutterfly immediately through email and they already have new books on the way.
   Things continue to fall in place and I have calculated up what we have raised so far through fundraisers and donations of family and friends, plus money Billy and I have contributed. We have raised around $7,000 towards our $30,000 needed. Now that we have most of our adoption application work out of the way and we are going to be in the waiting phase, we will be concentrating on raising as much of our funds as possible in a short amount of time because it could be really soon when we are matched to a birth mother. We need anyone and everyone's help with this. I set up a YouCaring.com account that will allow people to donate to us by credit card through PayPal. We wanted to have that as an option. The Link is http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/help-bring-baby-woods-home/283728. Please check it out and pass it along to as many people as you can.
We appreciate all the support. Over Christmas Billy and I decided to ask for money only to put all of it towards our adoption expenses. We raised quite a bit of funds and just lack around $2,000 to complete our home study. That money is needed when Doris completes this last interview. I will be working on our puzzle soon and adding names of all the Christmas money donations by Tommy and Denise Wofford, Shelia and John Allen, Brandon Allen, Bethany Allen, John L. Allen(brittany's grandad), Ted Woods and Bill and Sue Durham(billy's grandparents), Rachel Matthews(brittany's grandmother), Debbie and Mike Woods, Cheryl and Steve Eckerd, and Margaret & Smokey Bissell. Thank you for your donations. We are going to be able to piece together a good portion of the puzzle and I look forward to showing the photo update.

What a Week!!

It's the busy holiday season and we all have A LOT on our plates, Christmas shopping, holiday events, family get together's....all fun but when you add it together it can leave you feeling worn out.
  Last week on Tuesday I began working on our shutterfly profile photo album. The book that the birth mother will select us by. I knew this was going to be no easy task because I have created a shutterfly album for my mom of her and Maylena for a Christmas gift last year...it took me 3 hrs to make and I wasn't trying to impress anyone but myself. This go around our whole lives needed to be packed into just 20 pages, with not too much wording but also enough to tell a story about your family. Starting before marriage until now. It was hard just thinking about how to start. Finding photos spread out over that many years was task number 1. Then last Tuesday after my 10 hour work day I on a whim began the book and as Billy went to bed I shut myself in my closet with the light on and ended up working 3 hrs and didn't go to bed until close to midnight. By the end of that first night it wasn't looking too good. I spent that long and hardly got anywhere. The options are endless as to layouts, backgrounds, etc. Working multiple late nights and some over the weekend I finally accomplished a rough draft about 16 hrs of work later. Next I had to submit it to a lady who works at the agency for review and critique. I held my breath hoping for good news. I really wanted this book done as soon as possible because shutterfly has their photo books on sale this month for 50% off and I really want to get in on that deal since we need it soon anyway. Debbie, from the agency reviewed it and gave minor changes that were quickly fixed and I was so happy! Now that big project is finally off my plate. Just when I completed it and felt the burden lift, we woke up to our downstairs heat broke in Monday morning. Billy immediately contacted the family friend, the only one we trust to work on our units, only to hear he is in the hospital and can't come out until probably later this week. Thankfully we have had milder weather this week and all our bedrooms are upstairs where the heat still works. We have been plugging in a couple of space heaters in the rooms we sit in downstairs and we are making it work. That same day that the heat broke Maylena started getting really sick by the afternoon and we called to make her an appointment but they couldn't see her until today. Turns out she has pink eye in both eyes and a bad sinus infection!! We are going through it right now. I always know we are on the right track when obstacles fill the path. But we will continue to press onward through these attacks. However I would appreciate prayers over our family for our health, safety, and this adoption process.
   We heard from our social worker yesterday and she will come out to our house this saturday at 9am to walk thru our home and meet briefly with Maylena and talk to her. She is hoping to have our home study submitted to the agency for review by Christmas. It's still blowing my mind how fast this has all started to move. I will attach a link to the blog or through Billys Facebook page soon for those of you who are interested in viewing the album I put together.

Brittany ' s Home Study

   After work yesterday and a mad dash out for some Christmas shopping...I headed over for my home study. I wasn't nervous this time because I really liked Kim the first time we met and Billy had reported his individual meeting was smooth and pretty easy.
   However, I didn't end up feeling the same way about it being easy. I guess it should have been easy but my memory has always been really bad and I need stuff written down or I forget, and I definitely need the help of my siblings when it comes to childhood experiences fir them to say remember when we....and it always comes back to mind once someone says it. So these meetings are totally on the spot and I ended up coming home with homework to gather more information and email it to her. She would ask me what are some great childhood memories you have, what were things you liked to do or were involved in as a youth, what types of trips have you been on with Maylena?...and I could tell her about 2 maybe 3 for each category and them I was drawing a blank. She even asked why exactly is your memory so bad...haha...I told her I wish I knew but it's always been that way. They want lots and lots of detail and unfortunately I have to have help recalling that sort of thing. I even keep a journal and have since Maylena was born of her life and milestones, funny things she did or said, that way I remember to tell her one day.
   Kim was going over the time line of when we will finish the home study and she told me she may come out to our house next week instead of the following week for the visit. Then she said it should only take her a couple of days to write everything up and we would hear from the head of CAS, Doris, within 10 days after our write up has been submitted. Doris will have a 3 hour finalization meeting with us then we will actually be a waiting family! This means it will be in January not February when we are ready and waiting to be matched. That blows my mind because we started end of July on the beginnings of it all and here we are 6 months later going to be a waiting family.  Wow! It's amazing how the time flies.
   Keep us in your prayers for God's protection and health of the birth mother we will be matched with, pray for us as we compile our photo album and dear birth mother letter to be selected by, and pray for our readiness as a family for all the changes this will soon bring about. Thank you for your prayers and support.
  Just wanted to attach a photo of soon to be big sister Maylena.....she can't wait!!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

  Hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know all of us have so many blessings to be thankful for in our lives. I hope today was a reflection day and allowed you to see all the good you are surrounded by.
  I wanted to show a sneak peek of the nursery to the point we have gotten so far. As you can see we are getting it ready but there are still some decorative touches to be added like wall art, window treatments, etc. We get more and more excited as it comes together!
  Also wanted to include an updated photo of our puzzle fundraiser....we were blessed in a BIG way by a donation from Chuck & Ashley Tyson, good friends of ours, and we have almost fully connected the outside of our puzzle. Since the start of the fundraiser we have a total of 138 pieces purchased which leaves 870 pieces to go. Thank you so much to all who have helped us with it. We appreciate it.
  I have my individual home study meeting this coming Wednesday and I am looking forward to it. I will be giving updates about that later in the week. Have a great weekend!!!

Billy's Homestudy

  Time seemed to have flown by and somehow we ended up at Billy's meeting with Kim one-on-one 12 days from our first visit. I thought it would drag by but we couldn't believe it was already here when he went this Monday. I kept praying for him and waiting to receive the text that he had finished and get the scoop on how it went. Turns out it only lasted an hour when we had been expecting 2 hours. He went at 7:45 am and wasn't too late starting work afterwards. He called me at let me know it went really well from what he could tell, no difficult questions he couldn't answer and it was still a review on our lives and how we met, dated, got married, etc. They seem to ask the same things a lot but I guess that's their way of searching for discrepancies. We have been back on the Adoption Learning Partners website taking more courses online as part of our agreement with the agency. We need to have a total of 4 and so far we have completed 2. The first gave us insight on open adoptions should ours end up as that, and the one we completed tonight was in regards to multiracial families and coping with comments people make, yet making your child feel secure in your family unit. Both courses have given really good ideas and information that have helped prepare us and educate us for life once the adoption is complete.
  We have been working on our nursery, formerly the guest room. We painted it a very light shade of blue and we have a safari theme beginning. I had found an entire crib bedding set at a local consignment sale a couple of months back. It included a clothes hamper, comforter, sheet, bumper pads and dust ruffle, curtain toppers and a rug. I got the entire set for $35. I couldn't pass up the bargain! We are needing to paint trim and put the room back together and then I want to finish up some details like wall decor, etc and I will post a picture.
  Also I want to put a thank you out there to good friends of ours Brooke and Taylor Eckel who helped support us through our puzzle fundraiser!! We are almost to the point of picture time again on the puzzle to.

One Down, Three to Go!

Here is our puzzle progress up to date! It will be a long narrow rectangle when complete and the dimensions will be 13" x 39". As you can see we have a long ways to go to complete this project and we are asking you to consider joining with us in buying a piece or multiple pieces to help us piece together our family and a lasting keepsake. There are currently 60 pieces bought from our 1,008 piece goal. Thank you to Bethany Allen (my sister) and her boyfriend, Andrew Davies for their contributions as well this week. It will be so exciting to see it come together!!
We had our first home study meeting this past Wednesday and we met at the CAS office. This meeting was for me and Billy to attend together. I would be lying to say I wasn't nervous. We both as usual had very hectic days leading up to the meeting and after work my mom had decided it was a great day to steam clean carpets in both of our houses and had rented the steam cleaner and was unloading it at my house. On top of that Maylena has finally become very interested in potty training and I was full on working with her on that for a few hours, with great success!! So in the midst of this chaos I threw on an outfit and we rushed out the door and off to this majorly important meeting. I was feeling flustered, tired, and hungry...not a great combination for me, I'm just sayin! And all I could think is what we were headed for...the great unknown. Will this lady be nice or no sense of humor, what questions will they be asking us (especially since you are just put on the spot), what if we don't measure up??? On and on and on my mind reeled as it has almost every day and night since this process started. After grabbing our subway and inhaling it we walked up to the building and met Kim for the first time. She put my mind to ease even with our introductions. She is super nice and laid back and very thorough. We started at 7 pm and ended exactly at 9 as she predicted. The meeting was the start of expanding on our autobiographies we wrote. Learning the who, what, and why's of what brought us to this place, sharing our journeys, talking about Maylena in more detail, etc. I have no idea what I was so worried about and why I envisioned our social worker to be a person who is just going to try and find fault and strike you out. Boy was I more than glad to be proven wrong! Of course there were questions we couldn't answer right away and will need time to think on but that's ok. She briefly went over what the actual visit would be like when they come to to your house and it wasn't anything to sweat either. She laughed and looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I have been painting trim work and organizing closets etc to get ready for this. Maybe it's an adoption "nesting" phase I am going thru but we have been getting loads of work around the house done. Kim said when she comes out to people's houses for that home study visit a lot of people have made it look like a model home and then when she has to come back for the post-placement visits at 2weeks, 3 months and 6 months they are always telling her....this is what life really looks like for us. Haha!
So we have been blessed with an incredible lady to work with and our next visit is Billy meeting with Kim on November 17th. The visits have to be so many days apart, you can't get them all knocked out in a couple of weeks. Then I go for my alone visit December 3rd and it puts our official coming to the house visit around December 17th. I am already getting excited thinking about how pretty and decorated our house will be and what a fun time of year for us to be going through the process, Christmas time.
   Keep checking in on the blog because there will be plenty of things upcoming to be posting about.

Happy Halloween and Happy Beginnings of Home Study!!

Happy Halloween to everyone!! Maylena is especially excited about Halloween this year because in years past we haven't really celebrated it or had her dress up and trick or treat because she was already in bed for the night at that point. However, this year she has already been Tinkerbell at a festival and trunk or treat at her Preschool church, and she was Sleeping Beauty at her Preschool Halloween party today, tonight she will be a bunny at trick or treating and going to my Uncles for a party. She is thrilled about all this dressing up and candy!!
I received an email earlier this week from the agency saying they had assigned up a case worker, Kim, who would be reading through our file and then calling us to set up the home study visits. Well I got that call today and YAY, that's my Happy Halloween!! We are meeting for our first visit next Wednesday as a couple visit. Kim explained to me that the way it works with a domestic adoption, they will have a total of 4 visits. The first 3 will be held at the Christian Adoption Agency office and the last meeting will be held in our home. The 1st meeting is for both of us to attend together...it will be at 7pm next Wednesday and will last 2 hours. Please pray for us as that comes up because I am sure I will be nervous about what they will ask us and go over based off all the things we wrote about ourselves and submitted to them. Honestly you have to write so many things and you want to get them done and back to them as soon as possible so I can't really remember even now all that I wrote. Haha. Then the next 2 meetings will be separate meetings, one with Billy and Kim and one with me and Kim. That will probably make us even more nervous. The final visit will be a visit to our actual home where Kim will look around and do a write up on us to finalize our case. Each visit is spaced about a week to 10 days apart. So we are getting ready to be especially busy along with all the events the upcoming holidays bring as well. I will be posing as much as possible after each visit to give you insight as to how it went.
I want to take a minute to share a setback we had...its hard for me to talk about it because it was total stupidity on my part and sometimes that's hard to admit! The very first fundraiser we did through the Apparent Project where we sold jewelry sets of earrings, necklaces and bracelets and half of the funds we raised went directly to the people of Haiti that made them. Well, after the funds were raised by lots of hard work from my mother-in-law and very generous support of friends and family, I stuffed our portion of the funds raised $327 cash in an envelop and sent it out that day to the agency. I was just so excited to get it out right then and there to them so it could be put on our account, I didn't think a thing about it at the time. However we got a letter in the mail from the agency last week stating we owed money still to start our home study and they listed out all the posted checks, etc that had been received and put towards our account. I looked it over and immediately realized there was a mistake on their part because no where did it list the cash I mailed or 2 other checks that had been sent. Because on my records we were a little ahead of raised funds to start the home study. I called and talked to Robin who is handling all our documentation up til that point. She said they had received the other 2 checks that I wasn't seeing listed on the account but did not receive any cash from me. She took my number and wanted to look into it and call me back. Upon calling me back she informed me that they definitely did not get that money in the mail, she opens it all because she is the receptionist and she would have remembered that much coming in cash because no one really sends cash and especially of that amount...it would have been a red flag. I immediately broke down on the phone with her and told her I needed to go because I couldn't help but cry after all that hard work and how much each and every dollar counts to us and helping reach our large goal. She didn't know what to say other than she was really sorry and understood and to please mail checks in the future. I got off the phone and called my mom and Billy and cried some more because this was money we wouldn't just be able to get back that easily so it felt like a huge loss to me. Billy reminded me that still we helped the people in Haiti so good did come of it, and that is true. My mom said she hopes whoever took that money needed it more than us. All these things did little to make me feel much better in the moment though.
That weekend I was working at the Animal Hospital and I swallowed my pride and shared with one of my close friends there what had happened and another co-worker who I am just getting to know because she was recently hired was listening as well. At the end of my story Erin who is very new and I don't even know as well said I want to write you a check right now for $50 to go towards those funds. I was blown away!! She wished she could write me the full amount... I was super blessed by how God works and her giving me the $50. How cool. All because I decided to swallow my pride and share how stupid I was to even put that cash in the mail to begin with. Erin assured me that God knew I would do that and He will work it for good.
I want to give an update on our puzzle fundraiser....we have had that $50 donation from Erin and for that I put her name on 5 pieces of our puzzle, and we also had a donation from Billy's grandfather Ted Woods with a very generous $400 donation and we put his name on 40 pieces. Billy and I are working towards buying pieces as well and have done 5 pieces ourselves. I will be posting a picture of it with my next post. But as a reminder we have a long way to go on putting that puzzle together and ANY size purchase of puzzle pieces is greatly appreciated, whether its $10 for 1 piece or multiple pieces.
Cindy Garner, a lady we went to church with years ago has donated 12 beautiful spa baskets for me to sell and use the full funds for our adoption. There are detox bath salts, hand scrubs, and a lotion bar, in 3 different scents, orange, lavendar and peppermint. She didn't want or expect anything in return. She has adopted her 2 children and is a big fan of helping us get through this process. My mom is taking them to her jewelry shows and having them on the table to sell, she sold 4 yesterday at her first show! If anyone is interested in these please email me, or post a comment and I will send a picture of them. They are arranged in very pretty baskets and are $20 a piece. Its another good thought for Christmas gifts. Very exciting how everyone is coming together to help us make this happen. We are just so blessed by incredible friends and family!!

Catch Up Time

I am getting a little behind on my blog posts lately and I really need to take a chance to bring everyone up to speed. We have still been moving along with the process and have finally accomplished the completion of our formal application!! It took a little over the projected month they gave us to finish it, but with Billy and I working, plus raising Maylena, its hard to find the extra time to sit down and do the type of reflection it required to write a good autobiography and compile all the needed documents. We went on a family beach trip 1st weekend of October to visit my grandad at the Outer Banks and that's when Billy had a chance to start and complete his autobiography. We spent and hour and a half together at the computer when we got back home, with him reading out to me what he wrote and I was typing as fast as I could for the whole time. But we got it done and submitted!!

Then this past Wednesday we met with one of the pastor's at Fivestones church where we attend, and he had a time of question/answer with us to get to know us on a more personal basis so he could write the reference letter the agency was waiting on. I have to admit I was a little nervous going to this meeting...not sure why, but once we got there it was a breeze and we had a great time talking and sharing our life story and what brought us to the point of pursing the route of adoption, etc. We had to have 1 reference letter from a pastor and 3 others sent in by people who we were not related to but had known more than 2 years and could attest to our personalities and abilities to raise kids. Those letters have all been completed and sent in to the agency thanks to the help of some very close friends. 

Financially things are moving along bit by bit as well. We were lacking around $500 to begin our home study and that came through exactly as I needed to mail the check last week! God is Good!! We just started having interest from people on purchasing puzzle pieces through our puzzle piece fundraiser, we are truly hoping that will take off so we can have an awesome keepsake by compiling the pieces purchased by every individual to complete the puzzle and help bring "baby Woods" home. We are starting our home study and that process takes 3 months to complete, upon completion we need to have raised $7,000! I know we can do it by God's grace.

I wanted to share with you as well about a seminar workshop we attended through the agency today that is a required part of the adoption process. First of all we had no idea what to expect...we knew it was an adoptive couples workshop and that it was an all day event but that was about it. I had no idea going into it what a emotionally heavy day it would turn out to be. A portion of the day was dedicated to a panel of adoptive families who shared their journeys and experiences, all of them were truly amazing! We were able to ask questions and better understand some of the unknowns and clear up thoughts that cause fear such as, "how do open adoptions work, how open are they?", "how long was your waiting period from start to finish?", "what is good advice for people just starting the process?", etc. There were at least 25 to 30 couples from all across the state of NC attending the meeting and we were all at different points of the adoption process, but it was amazing sitting in that room knowing we were all there for a common goal, to give a good home to a child who needs it. The afternoon portion of the event was dedicated to a panel of birthmothers, and that's where the really heavy emotions settled in. I was blown away by their broken life stories that lead them to the point of placing their child for adoption. Two of the young women who shared had both been homeless and in really bad situations such as domestic abuse at the time of finding out they were pregnant, they had no idea what to do but knew that aborting the baby was not an option for them. However they were very scared and didn't want to raise a baby while on the streets and not having any way to care for them. One of the girls mother persistently tried to get her to abort and when she refused her mom cut off all communication and she was left completely alone to figure it all out. It was a very low and scary point in their lives to try and figure out what to do. They both began to research the option of adoption and knew it was the right thing to do and wanted the absolute best for their child, and a mostly a life of stability that they couldn't possibly offer. There is not a day that goes by that they don't wish it could have been different and that there was a way they could have kept their child, but they have both resolved to make something of themselves, go to school, have jobs and try to make their kids proud of where they came from and what they eventually did. Another lady who works in the field of adoption now shared her life story about how she was a birthmother many years ago and was not in a good situation when she became pregnant and she placed her child for adoption way before the legal system is what it is now helping to protect the agreement made between an adoptive parent and the biological mom. The couple she selected agreed upon an open adoption with her and for the first 3 years kept up their end of the agreement, but after that became harder to contact, locate, etc and she has only seen her daughter 2x in the past 10 years when the agreement was she was supposed to be allowed a yearly visit. To hear about the deep hurt and pain she went through was extremely hard as well. I could go into more detail on all of their stories but I don't want this to go on forever. Needless to say I was holding in tears best I could all day because we were in a room full of people I didn't know well. But when we left I just felt such a heavy weight and burden that these birthmothers feel as they try to pursue what is the best for their child. I couldn't hardly talk on the way home, and Billy felt the same, we were drained. Once I got home I couldn't hold it back anymore and the tears flowed and flowed as I sobbed my heart out to God. I have such a new perspective for these birthmothers and I felt sad I had ever thought initially the only route I would want to go in adoption is closed. If I were the birthmother I would want the ongoing contact to know I had made the right decision and that my child was well and happy and ok in life. These birthmothers are people just like you and me, they have just been through so much more in life than I can ever comprehend because I don't come from a broken life but one of a very valued family relationship where we were all close and relied on each other and were fully loved. Anyone who feels led I ask to please pray with me on a consistent basis for the birthmother God will bring across our path, that we can not only take care of the most precious thing she has and is going to entrust to us, her child, but also that we can minister to her heart and show her the same amount of love and concern. The birthmothers today shared one of the biggest things that gave them the most peace was when the adoptive moms would reach out to them by text and ask how they were doing, even though they didn't have to, just showing them you care about them as much as you do their child. Many of them don't feel cared about otherwise and may not have any family/friends to turn to. 

We also learned a few other things during the meeting..I will try to keep this short..The agency told us they usually show our profile photo album to the birthmothers once they are about 7 months along. Which means when you are selected there is little time after you get that call to meet a birthmother for the first time and the actual due date of the child. Very exciting! But also a little intimidating because once we are a waiting family in 3 months after the home study in finished, we could be matched right away and it be very soon after that we have a baby.So our getting everything prepared period is now. Also in most cases the birthmothers pick the names for the child, sometimes if you have a name you really like you might could use the name they pick as the middle name. But the names they select usually have a lot of meaning to them and it means a lot if you keep that name. I had no idea that's how it worked and I honestly have mixed feelings about that part of it. So I will be praying about that. 

I didn't mean to make this soooo long but there was a lot to share. I will try to post a little bit more regularly as things happen so it isn't one big long post. Thank you again for all your continued support through prayers and financial gifts..we appreciate it!!!!

Blessings

  On Friday I made my way to the post office to mail out the funds raised to The Apparent Project after dropping Maylena off at preschool. I closed out the first set of product they sent me which was the necklaces, bracelets and earrings....and thanks to all of your generous support we raised $398 for the people in Haiti and $398 to go towards our adoption!!! Wow, amazing that we raised that off the first fundraiser alone and were able to send that to Haiti with your help. We are almost ready to send back the second shipment of unsold product from the bracelets and ornaments they gave me next. I think every single ornament sold out of the 100 ornaments they sent and that was in a large part due to my wonderful mother-in-law, Debbie, helping get the word out and showing all of this Haiti product to many friends and family members. Soon I will know the total on that fundraiser.
  We are still in the works on our formal application. I attached a lot of needed documents this past Friday while Maylena was at school. I use those 3 hrs every week for catch up on all kinds of errands and I do a lot of adoption tasks that day as well. I was able to upload our marriage certificate, birth certificates on all 3 of us, recent bank statement, Maylena's medical form that was filled out by her doctor, tax return information from last year, and a signed consent form. There is still a few more items to complete and the deposit to pay to get our home study started, but its right around the corner for us. The main tasks left is for me and Billy to finish our autobiographies and upload those as well as meet with our pastor so he can fill out a letter of reference on us. We hope to be done with these last couple of needs in the next 2 weeks, and then I will be able to update you about the home study as we go along. Can't wait for that to start because then it feels more official.
  Maylena is getting so excited about having a baby brother. She talks about how she will hold him and help change his diaper, and help give him a bottle...we will see if that all comes true, but she can't wait to be a helper. We have started clearing out what was our guest room to turn it in to his nursery. We got rid of the older queen mattress and took down the bed frame to store away. We have been sorting through baby stuff and I set up the changing table topper on the dresser we put in there and I have a blue cover on it and a few little boy blankets I recently picked up at a consignment sale. We are trying to start working on the nursery bit by bit so when the time comes and we are matched with a birthmother we have things done and we aren't scrambling last minute to put it all together. It's exciting doing another baby's room!!

Puzzle Fundraiser Opportunity

Thanks so much to each and every one of you who have been keeping up with our adoption process and asking us questions, reading the blog and staying in touch. It helps so much to feel the support from people who genuinely care. We have been praying and seeking God's help for the financial portion of this adoption. With the home study being so close to starting and the need to raise a minimum of $7,000 in the next 3 months which is due to complete the home study, I am starting to feel a little nervous and very excited to see what can happen when you put your full trust in God and ask Him to provide for your needs!! We have raised around $500, through our Apparent Project jewelry fundraiser so far..although I don't have the grand total on funds raised yet because we are continuing it a few more weeks. 

We heard an idea for fundraising that other adoptive families have done that we were really excited about. It's called a puzzle fundraiser. We have purchased a really cool 1,000 piece puzzle online that we are going to use as our next fundraiser.

Here's How it Works:
  - We have a 1,000 piece puzzle
  - Each piece can be purchased for a $10 donation or more
  - You can buy one or many puzzle pieces
  - Your name will be written on the pieces you purchased

After the puzzle is completed, we will frame the puzzle between two pieces of glass and hang it in our child's room. This will be a wonderful keepsake to see all the people who loved Baby Woods before he was born and helped to bring him home!!

How to Donate:
  - Write a check or donate cash and hand deliver to Billy and/or Brittany Woods
  - Mail a check to us (email me at Brittany_695@hotmail.com for our home address)
  - If you are interested in a tax deductible donation you can mail your check directly to Christian Adoption Services or donate online through their website. If you choose the tax deductible option, please make the check out to Christian Adoption Services and DO NOT write our names on the memo line. Instead include a sticky note on the check stating that the donation should be credited to our account. CAS is a 501(3)c non-profit. A receipt of donation will be mailed for each donation.

*if you mail your check directly to CAS please email me, post a comment on the blog, or a comment on Billy's Facebook letting us know how many pieces you are purchasing so we are sure to label that amount of puzzle pieces with your name.

I am going to be updating the blog as people purchase puzzle pieces showing the adoption puzzle being assembled!! I love the whole idea of this because its an awesome way for family and friends to be involved with our adoption process and it will be an incredible keepsake for years to come. We can't wait to get it started......and I know we will be brushing up majorly on our puzzle working skills along the way. When the puzzle came in the mail I couldn't believe how small the pieces are and what a tough puzzle we picked out as far as the scenery goes. Keep up with the updated postings of the puzzle as it's put together so you get to see the outcome of the picture!

One Day at a Time

One day at a time...a saying I am continually trying to repeat but I am having trouble following my own advice. In Isaiah it talks about, "Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." This verse was laid heavy on my heart last year after our pastor at Five stones asked us each to meditate on 1 statement or verse that would come to mind during prayer and quiet time in place of a new years resolution that fades by the time January is over each year. He challenged us to live with the verse and allow it to reside in our hearts and be shown in our daily lives as situations surfaced and challenges came. When I did my time of prayer and reflection the verse from Isaiah is what was laid on my heart probably because God knows how often I try to handle everything on my own and run a rat race to get it all done..then wonder why I am left feeling frazzled and empty instead of accomplished and victorious! He is always prompting me to ask for help and WAIT upon Him for my strength so I won't get weary. Often times I struggle with putting so much on my plate I don't complete any of it to my best ability or putting my full effort and heart into it.
The requirements for the adoption process have been no different and the bigger the to-do list the greater my sense of urgency in trying to get it all done quickly, boom, boom, boom. But my physical stamina isn't keeping up with the constant mental turning of my gears that has left me lying awake at night needing to sleep but not being able to calm my mind. I am realizing this week as I am trying to step back and take a deep breath that the items on our e-adopt agenda will get done...maybe not in my initial time frame I had in mind but there is no sense rushing and barely keeping up with myself and my family because we will end up with whatever child God has already picked out for our family. I believe that no matter if I go as fast as I can or slow down to a better pace God doesn't have me on a timeline of hurry up or you won't get this child, therefore you might have to wait and try for the next child. I truly believe its all already planned out and I need to start asking for help and WAITING on His strength and guidance.
Thanks for listening to me preaching to myself. Maybe it will come as a reminder in some of your lives as well to just turn it over to God because no one can handle it better than He can! Just a little update about where we are...(we have an e-adopt portal through CAS and we continually complete required tasks and upload them as documents in our portal)
We completed the written part of the formal application with our included references they will check into, etc.
We signed our services agreement and our domestic adoption agreement
Completed an Informal Request to be sent to social services on each of us
Completed form to be sent to the Clerk of the Superior Court for criminal record check
Sent in medical questionnaire forms to be filled out by Maylenas Pediatrician and Brittany's regular doctor. Billy set up a routine exam appt to have his completed
Started rough drafts of our 10-20page autobiographies
And completed an expectations document on strengths we bring to parenting, statements about good moms/dads/wives/husbands/parents. Wishes and fears about child we will adopt,etc
Set up Life Insurance

Many tasks are getting completed and for that I am very thankful because each step gets us closer to being able to start the home study!! I want to say a big thank you to everyone that is continuing to participate in our Apparent Project fundraiser and a special thanks to my mother-in-law for blazing the trail on this one. The generosity and funds that have been provided are a huge blessing!!!

Apparent Project Christmas Ornaments!

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has participated in our Apparent Project fundraiser. It has been a double blessing, one for our family in our adoption process and also for the people in Haiti who we will never personally meet but are helping impact in so many ways. So thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I just received another shipment of products this week and it will be the final batch I help sell. They are beautiful Christmas ornaments made out of the recycled oil drums as well. The ornaments come in many designs but I have a limited amount of each....angels, snowflakes, hearts, bells, birds, stars and stockings. They are $8 a piece. They are a lighter gray than the picture looks. And they have really nice raised patterns of dots on the surface. They also sent me another batch of bracelets which are also $8 a piece. If you are interested in either item, there are a few ways to go about contacting me to purchase. You can post a comment on the blog, or a comment on Billy's Facebook page, email me at Brittany_695@hotmail.com, or call me at (704)607-5062. If you aren't someone I see on a regular basis then I would be happy to meet you sometime in the next couple of weeks to let you see the product, or if I would be willing to ship orders if you could cover the shipping cost. Just let me know what product you are interested in and if its a bracelet the beads are mostly multicolored but some do tend to have an overall color appearance so you can let me know if there is a particular color you want and I will sort through them. I will only have the product a few weeks before I have to return the unsold portion, so if you are interested please let me know ASAP!!

We started the formal application process this week and its so much more than I could have imagined. We will be document gathering for forms such as bank statements, marriage certificate, birth certificates, etc. And Billy and I both have to write an autobiography from a 4 page detailed questionnaire they provide you with as a guideline of what to include...and lots more self-reflecting to answer many questions about our personal faith journeys, parenting styles, upbringings, etc. We are going to need to take a class and become certified in infant CPR, take 3 more online adoption courses, and attend seminars held in the spring and fall through CAS. We will also be creating a family photo book on shutterfly that will be the profile book they show whatever birthmothers we are matches with on requirements to allow them to pick the adoptive family. There is much to do and I just want to make sure its done to the absolute best of our ability so our true personalities show through and we communicate well who we are as a family to the agency and the birthmothers.

It's Official!!

We have been in about a 3 week waiting period to hear back on the preliminary application we sent in to Christian Adoption Services. We knew there were probably many other applications submitted around the same time as ours because they had just held their informational meeting that was packed out with couples. After about 2 weeks of the application being under review I emailed them to see how everything was going and to make sure they didn't need anything else from us. I received an email back stating they would forward the email to Doris as she was the one reviewing the application. Another week went by and still no word. My husband and I both began to think we may or may not get selected just because of how many applications they were probably looking at.
Today when I checked the mail there was a letter from CAS. I was ripping it open as quick as I could while driving down the driveway. Part of me just knew that it was going to be a no, especially since it was a letter and not a phone call. I was so nervous. But as I opened it and read it explained that after reviewing our application, CAS has approved us to work with them for the adoption process!! I was sooo excited, I starting cheering in the car with Maylena and she began to get all excited. She asked to hold the letter and I called Billy to let him know it was official. Maylena said she would read it to Daddy and she began," Once upon a time.." It was very cute. She is so excited just thinking about having a little brother and we can't wait until the time comes to bring our sweet baby boy home.
We have had great results with the jewelry that we are selling to help support our adoption and the Haitians who have made it. So a  HUGE thank you goes out to all who are making that possible!! I know many of you are aware I only have this first batch of product from the Apparent Project for a couple more weeks, but if you wanted to purchase some and now is just not the right time, I will have another shipment of bracelets and handmade Christmas ornaments in just a couple more weeks. I will post pictures on the blog and allow people to tell me what color or item they want and then I will arrange a way to meet you or we could ship it to you. So you can check that out soon.
We really appreciate any help we get in financial support because we have quite a bit of funds to be raised in what could be a short time. CAS gave us a breakdown of the amounts due and when they are due during the process. Our first chunk will be due at the start of the home study $1,500. Then when the home study is completed, somewhere around 3 months, the next chunk is $7,000. After that we become a waiting family and wait to be matched before the final $20,275 is due. (however you may wait a year or so until you have been matched and the baby is born, or it could be just a few months, it depends on the situation). We are placing all of the financial need in God's hands because we know we wouldn't be able to do it on our own. We would appreciate prayers from you as well surrounding our moving forward.
I will continue to post as we hear things and get updates. Right now our next step is to complete our Formal Application so we can start the home study. We have 30 days from now to complete everything needed and get the formal application submitted. It's exciting and we can't wait to get to work. I would always rather be working on a task than just in the waiting phase because it makes the time go by so much faster....

Apparent Project Fundraiser

 We are still in the waiting process to hear approval in regards to our application so we can take the next steps in the adoption process. In the meantime I have been researching fundraising ideas especially since we were not able to participate in the race but we had several people interested in helping us raise funds. I did a Google search one day recently and just happened to come across another lady's blog who partnered with the apparent project to help raise her adoption funds. I went to the Apparent Project website to learn more about it and I was super excited about the whole vision!!
Apparent Project is an organization in Haiti that helps Haitians work to keep their families together and fed and to have a place to live. The Haitians make jewelry and other items from recycled oil drums, aluminum cans, and cereal boxes. The pictures I posted do not do it justice. They are beautiful and have great color! When they complete the items of jewelry its shipped here and you can partner with them to help sell their product and they get a portion of the sales and you keep a portion for your cause. In our case it would help raise funds for our adoption while helping families in Haiti keep their children. I was so touched by that thought. I immediately contacted them about getting the product to sell and I was surprised by the quick response followed by the immediate shipment of the product.  I have necklaces made on leather straps with metal pendants that say love, joy , peace, hope. I have earrings and bracelets as well made with the cereal boxes. They allow me to keep the product for 4 weeks and then I send back the unsold portion for the next person to sell. So if you are interested or know someone you think would be please let them know about it soon! These would make great Christmas gifts even....not too soon to be thinking about that.
This way of fundraising was also really important to me because I felt called to go on a missions trip there 3 years ago but about halfway thru my team training I found out I was pregnant with Maylena and I didn't end up going with the team. Haiti is a place that has always stayed on my heart and when I found out about this organization I couldn't wait to get involved.
So that you know, the necklaces are $12, the bracelets $8, and the earrings $6. You can buy them individually or as a set.
Thank you to everyone who is following the blog and staying up to date on the journey!!

Apparent Project Photos

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Things to Consider...

   Almost anyone who has researched adoption or began the process realizes there are so many things to think about and most all of them seem to be very major decisions. It really stretches you as an individual and you begin to open your mind and heart to new possibilities...
    I just returned from a week long trip to visit my brother in Lakewood, Colorado. Maylena and Billy stayed at home and I traveled with my family. The trip was incredible and gave me a very clear mind and a lot of time to reflect on the upcoming adoption. I had time to read books and speak with the head of Christian Adoption Services, Doris, over the phone in regards to our preliminary application. They are still reviewing it but she wanted to speak to me personally about the issue of Open vs. Closed adoption. We had left it as not sure, need more information on our application. Its a HUGE area of decision and would change the whole direction of the adoption depending on which way you go. Doris informed me that most all of adoptions these days are open, at least in the adoptions they handle. She said its is very rare to have a closed adoption now, and they are pretty much only accepting applicants that will go the Open adoption route. I don't know that Billy and I are strongly against an Open adoption, however, we having been leaning in the direction of Closed since the beginning. It could be that we just need more information and insight into stories and examples of Open adoption to alleviate the fears we have about it. Talking to Doris at first gave me a feeling of turmoil about if we picked the right agency. I made up my mind to contact a friend of a friend I had met through this process and seek her opinion. She has worked with CAS on 2 adoptions, one was closed, and one was open. She has had a great experience with the open adoption and couldn't imagine it any other way. Her and her husband were initially going to go the Closed route but God worked on their hearts during the course of being a waiting family and they made changes to their application to be an open adoption. It has turned out to be all for the better.
  I have registered for a training course online that covers Open Adoption through Adoption Learning Partners. Doris recommended we take this course and she kept saying that whatever fears you have in the beginning about open adoption, they will begin to fade away the more you learn about it. If anyone reading this post has any insight into open adoption stories and would be willing to share, please email me at Brittany_695@hotmail.com, I would love to hear them!
   Lastly I am sad to say we will NOT be able to use the Chosen Marathon for raising a portion of our funds. For those of you that received our adoption letter in the mail, we were encouraging those that were interested to run a 10 mile race in October to help us raise funds towards our adoption. When I went to set up our team online so that people could register and have funds applied to us, there were fine print details stating you must have a Completed home study at least 30 days prior to the race event. Unfortunately that will not be possible because the Home Study takes 3 months roughly to complete if there are no hangups. Billy and I both were very sad about not being able to participate in the event and we had LOTS of interest from others already saying they were going to do it. I really appreciate everyone interest in wanting to help us raise our funds anyway possible. We will have a fundraiser starting shortly called 144 envelopes. Keep in touch with the blog or Billy's facebook to hear more about that!!

Finally at Square One!

Billy and I have decided on an adoption agency since I last posted!! YAY! After much prayer and consideration, we feel like Christian Adoption Services (CAS) is the place we should work with for our adoption. They are a private, non-profit organization. And have been providing adoption services for over 3 decades. We attended a "Fund your Adoption" fundraising seminar there and one week later we attended their informational meeting all about their agency. After each meeting we felt such a peace that this is the direction we are supposed to go in. They seemed very eager to help and we already feel assured in the fact that they are the experts to lead us along the way. 

Now that we have chosen an agency there are several items on the agenda. To break it down for you...

First decide on Domestic vs. International. We have decided domestic. 

Second, we need to fill out the preliminary application for CAS to review and see if they can meet our initial requests. Then they will inform us on how to obtain a formal application.

Third, once we complete the formal application, a CAS caseworker will conduct a home study as required in NC for all adoptions. This usually takes 3 months to complete the home study.

Finally, we become a waiting family and wait for a child to be referred to us. 

So being the task master I am, I thought we could get this preliminary application out of the way tonight with no problem. Turns out the word preliminary does not mean short and easy. We set aside some time to meet at my parents house after work and try to knock it out. But once we logged on to the online portal through CAS for our application we were met with many different tasks. For starters we needed to set up a profile, which we still lack information on that to be able to check the "completed" box. Next we took a look at the application and it was a list of about 8 categories with multiple pages in each. Wow!! I really like completing tasks and having to leave every single box as uncompleted tonight was daunting! However, this is only the beginning so it has helped me put everything into better perspective about how large and extremely detailed this journey will be. I am still very excited about it and it has only helped to fuel my fire! 

Where it all began....

    We all know that life has its individual journeys and points where we may be called to take a leap of faith, or settle for the norm. Some of us step out, some of us don't. Until this year I always considered myself as someone who stayed with the routines, and never knew exactly what I was here on this earth for. But we serve a much bigger God....and He began placing on my heart the thoughts to adopt our second child. I began having conversations with my husband, Billy, and we continued to think and pray about it and really felt like this was the direction we were being called to go in. While we have one biological daughter, Maylena, we feel very grateful for this direction God has prompted us to take with our next family member. 

    Although we are really, really excited about getting the process started, we know that it will be something that takes time and we will need much support along the way!! We have been researching the ins and outs of adoption. The main thing we have decided is that we want to adopt domestically. We have attended a fundraising seminar that was very helpful with great ideas on how to raise the funds needed for the adoption and we have been to informational meetings. At the moment we are looking into an agencies who can help take us from start to finish. We hope to have a decision on this soon and begin our adoption!! Please continue to check in with us, I will keep this updated very often to help everyone stay in the loop.