Less than a month!

As you can imagine, the last few weeks have been quite a flurry of activity. Maryssa started school on Monday. I miss going on adventures and playing with her during the day but she truly loves going to school, and I am so thankful for the wonderful loving environment her school creates for the kids.  

She was so excited to head back to school.

While Maryssa was off to school, I spent the morning with my sister-in-law going through boxes of clothes and newborn items for a few hours!  Yes, hours.  I am so thankful for the mounting baby supply that exhibits in my in-law’s basement.  A wall of clothing, and a pile of infant and toddler items.  It’s like going into a store, but all the items are free :)  They are so gracious to store all the baby items for all from all the kids so we can just go in and use what we need and put it back for the next baby.  I have to say, I remembered there was a lot of stuff that comes with a newborn, but I really forgot that it was so much.  4 huge loads of laundry, cribs, rock n play, diapers, wipes, and the list goes on.  What a huge blessing to have all these times and not have to buy anything.  We have also had some very sweet friends who helped fill in a changing pad and diaper pale, the few items that were missing.  Here are some pictures of my living room while sorting. 
 

All the boxes to the right were all emptied of clothing. Now to get through all the other things!

This is just the newborn and 0-3 month clothing. 

 

PJs, burp cloths, and blankets.

The nursery is coming along.  We are doing some drywall work in the master bedroom so for the time being we are sleeping in the bed that is in the nursery.  You know getting ready for the baby means nesting has kicked in, which means Eric needs some extra projects :/  Thankfully he tolerates my craziness and still loves me through it!  I'll post pictures as soon as we get everything set.
We talked with the birth mom last week and she is doing pretty well.  The baby looks great and we are now inside a month before he is born!  She said she is ready for him to be born so she can sleep through the night and we are ready….to not sleep through the night :) 

  
Please continue to pray with us:
-That God will direct the path for this baby. If it's best for him to stay with his mother, that our hearts will be ready.  Also for her health and safety of the birth mother during pregnancy and for the roller coaster of emotions she may/will have during and after the adoption.  That she will be able to get some sleep during the last few weeks of her pregnancy.

-They have talked with the birth father and he knows the baby is being born and has shown no interest in fathering. Still, they will need to post that the mother had a baby, and he will have a timeframe to come forward to claim the child.  Prayers that we will be prepared for any outcome from this situation.

-Prayers for our continued fundraising efforts. We will need to pay the amount in full once he is born. We have plans in place, but it would be such a blessing to be able offset the cost.

-For Maryssa, as she waits over the next few weeks and the transition to not being an only child.

-Praise we have worked out most of the the logistics and details for our trip.  Maryssa will stay in Maryland with family.  Please pray for her while we are both gone for a week and Brandie gone for up to two weeks.  For our family watching her as it will be a change for their week also.  We are thankful our credit card points paid for our plane tickets in full!!!  We will just have housing costs while we are gone.  We are still working to see what our cheapest and best option will be.  

Art Work:A Community Effort-Fundraiser

We want you to be a part of our child for a lifetime.   A piece of art similar to the one below will feature your faces and hang in his room and be something he can keep through adulthood. This will be a lasting reminder to him of everyone who came together to help bring our family together.   

Please provide a picture of your family with your contribution to be a part of this fundraiser.  A suggested donation of $50 can be made through PayPal (sent to couchfamily0403@gmail.com) or via check and mailed to our home.  Please email a picture we can include in the collage to Brandie or the email address posted above for Paypal.  We are hoping to have donations and pictures in by September 12th. Thank you for helping us create this special piece for our baby boy.  

Joy Abounds!

Last blog I was feeling so discouraged with the lull of profiles, but in just one week a lot has changed.  After weeks of nothing, we received a profile that was a great fit for us, so we presented.  A few hours later, we received a second profile that was also a great fit (when it rains it pours). I looked at Eric and said “go figure.” 

A little background here: the same thing happened months earlier where we presented to a mother and a few hours later another great situation came through.  Once we presented, we were being considered by the birth mother along with other prospective parents to adopt. You can’t really present to other situations during this time, so, by the time we learned that we weren't a match with the first situation, we had missed the deadline for the second.

OK, back to the most recent case of double jeopardy.  This time we received a call the very next day from the agency for the first situation letting us know that we were not selected.  It was late Friday night, and we decided to see if there was a way we could still present to the second situation we received.  Thankfully, they said “yes.”  That night we were consumed with packing up to leave the beach. Saturday and Sunday we spent traveling and visiting friends at the river, got home late Sunday night and crashed. Monday I got a call and it was the agency. The weekend was so busy I hadn't thought much about our submission. The social worker was so sweet.  She said "we presented your profile this morning and she picked you!"  I was so shocked. I don't remember a lot of the conversation that followed but my body just started shaking and it took me a good hour to calm down and a few more for it to stop completely. Eric was just as surprised. All he could say was “OK” to everything I told him.  So we are now matched!  We have about 6 weeks and hopefully we will be able to bring home our baby boy!  To protect the mother's privacy we are not sharing details of the birth and location but this is happening quickly. Below is a video of us telling Maryssa.  About 5 minutes after the video for it to sink in and she was doing a big happy dance around the living room. 

What does "matching" mean?  It means the birth mom has picked our family to be a forever home for her boy.  That we have accepted to adopt him and that we aren't presenting to any other mothers.   Over the next few weeks there could be reasons this match could fall through.  We are praying this is it but know that God has been walking along this journey with us every step and that His plans are perfect.  We will accept whatever He has laid before us.  If you can join us in prayer after the next month and a half, we would really appreciate it.  We are so thankful to know you are supporting us.

Please continue to pray with us:

-That God will direct the path for this baby. If it's best for him to stay with his mother, that our hearts will be ready.  Also for her health and safety of the birth mother during pregnancy and for the roller coaster of emotions she may/will have during and after the adoption.

-The birth father has not been located. They will need to post that the mother had a baby, and he will have a timeframe to come forward to claim the child.  Prayers that we will be prepared for this possibility.

-Prayers for our continued fundraising efforts. We will need to pay the amount in full once he is born. We have plans in place, but it would be such a blessing to be able offset the cost.

-For Maryssa, as she waits over the next 6 weeks and the transition to not being an only child.

-For the logistics and details of legal paperwork, hotels, flights, timing and if we fly out Maryssa, etc.

Thank you again. We are blessed to have each of you walking this journey with us.

Below is a video of Maryssa hearing the news today...