March Meetcha Days

We met each of our boys in March. We met Jacob on March 25, 2011 and we met Isaiah and Kaleb within a day or two of hanging out with Jacob at the Transition Home. We just met Micah on March 6, 2015.

I love how God is always in the details! March is our Meetcha month for all four blessings!!

The Story Behind His Name

When we met with Micah's birthmom she asked what we were going to name him. We told her two names and her face lit up when said Micah. We then asked her if she would give him a middle name, she was so touched. We explained that all our boys have middle names from their first families and we would like Micah to have one too. As we kept talking she told us that her, her mom, and her sister all have the same middle name- Michelle. That is also my middle name. She said that was her click moment. Our agency social worker had told her there would be a click moment when she just knew it was right and it would click together. We all teared up a little bit. The next day we got a text (through our social worker) that since all the girls in her family had the same middle name that Micah's middle name would be the same as her dads- Scott- which is also my Dad's middle name!! Only God!!!
So Micah Scott was picked in love by both families and means something to both of us!!!
We also picked his life verse:
....And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8

Meeting Our Birthmom

The weekend of Valentine's Day we drove down to Atlanta to meet our birthmom and her family. It was a LONG trip (we drove about 26 hours in 60 hours) but it was such a nice visit! We got to meet 7 people in her family. We all shared hugs, stories, and love for baby boy! Our social worker told us to plan for the visit to be 1- 1 1/2 hours long but we ended up staying almost 3 hours and it flew by! We met at a McDonalds so the boys could play while we visited but after 15 minutes they closed the play area because they had a birthday party scheduled. So we got some food, Kaleb hadn't even taken a bite yet and he threw up all over me and our part of the table and floor. Anyone that was around Kaleb when we first adopted him knows that he used to throw up daily. Thankfully its only a few times a year now but of course it was when we are meeting with our very pregnant birthom and her family. I was really hoping it wasn't the flu, we didn't want our birthmom to get sick. But he ate dinner and was fine the rest of the day. 

We got to talk about so many things that we just couldn't or wouldn't talk about over the phone. It wasn't akward at all. We picked out a name for baby boy together (such a sweet story for another post) that has meaning to both of us. She really feels like extended family!! We love her and her love for our baby boy so much!!! I have heard that open adoption can be such a blessing and I couldn't understand what exactly people meant. BUt now I can see how it can be a beautiful thing! Our son won't have questions about his birthfamily or wonder if his first mommy loved him-he will know she does and be able to find out anything about his birth family that he wants to know!! 

Today is our birthmom's due date, so we are just waiting for the call to come to the hospital and meet our baby boy!!!!!!

Part 2......We Have Been Chosen!!!!!!!

On Tuesday Feb 3rd we got a call from An Open Door. Just as my plan time was starting both my cell phone and school phone started to ring. It was Brad on both, lol. Brad said "I have Tracy on the phone. Are you ready for this roller coaster?" We were just approved with the agency on Friday and they showed our book to a birthmom on Saturday and Monday. They don't tell us when our book is shown, they just call if the birthmom chooses you. Well last Tuesday we were told that our birthmom chose US! Her and her parents looked at 10 books and they said they fell in love with our family and chose us!! She is around 37 weeks!! Tracy said the only catch was that they don't know the gender. The night before we had contacted Tracy and told her that we really felt that we were going to have a daughter and wanted to be shown to girl situations. But as soon as she said they didn't know the gender, we quickly replied that we don't care. A baby is a blessing and we knew that we really didn't care either way. Here was the other catch....we need to whole agency fee asap. They didn't want us to talk to birthmom until they had all the money. Once again we knew this wouldn't be possible without God. If we hadn't had that situation the week before we wouldn't have received that grant. Only God!!!!! Praise God through many different avenues the money is there and we got to talk to our birthmom on Monday night!!!!! It started a little awkward, but it went really great. We planned to have another conference call again next week.
She had a doctors appointment on Wednesday and our caseworker called me and put me on speaker phone. Our birthmom and her mom quickly yelled "Hi Tara" with excitement in the background. I got to hear the heartbeat and hear the doctor saying that everything was looking great!!!! Then she asked if we all wanted to know its gender. All four of us quickly said "YES!!!" It took her a few minutes but then the doctor said "IT'S A BOY!!!!" Our case worker, birthmom and gramnda all started saying "FOUR boys, Tara its #4!" What a huge gift to me!!!!!!!! I'm so thankful she allowed me to experience that with her. We have such a sweet start to a relationship and love her so much!!! Her due date got pushed back a few days and think baby should be here around March 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are so thankful for every step of this process. We know nothing is final until its final with domestic adoption. But my good friend Debb gave me the advice that "you won't regret loving BIG!" We are loving her and supporting her and thankful she is including us in this process as much as she can from afar. God has opened so many, many doors and we know we are exactly where we need to be!!!
Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement!!! We are so thankful we serve a Mighty God who is faithful in all things!!!!! 

A Little Update to the Story God is Writing in Our Lives Part 1

We have applied with 3 different agencies just to get our profile book out there. When we were researching agencies we really liked An Open Door but they have a larger commitment fee (some agencies only have like $100 fee to apply and be "active" with them). We decided to try our other 2 agencies first and just wait on An Open Door for now. Fast forward to the first week of Janurary. We were visiting some friends and talking about the whole domestic adoption process. We were saying that we really wanted to apply with An Open Door but the large commitment fee was a big step. We have no extra money in this process and we really wanted to be wise and prayerful about each step. When we arrrived home from our friends house we had a letter in the mail stating that we had a grant from Show Hope that was a little over what the commitment fee was. I sent  a text to the friend we were just visiting and she said this was our sign from God to apply with AOD. I hadn't even thought about that. But after talking and praying, Brad and I really felt that we should send in our application and commitment fee. The ladies at An Open Door have been in excellent communication and so very helpful!! We were excited as she said that 6 birthmoms were going to be looking at profile books in January. It took about 2-3 weeks to get everything sent in and approved so I'm thinking we might have missed being shown to them. In the meantime, our agency in UT called (Wed, Jan 28th) with a situation about a baby girl due in less than 2 weeks and they couldn't find a family for her. This was an agency pick and there weren't any other families being considered at this time. There were a lot of unknowns and risks with that situation but we said we wanted to be considered. We felt good about moving forward even with the scary unknowns ahead. There was also a $10,000 extra fee because birthmom was going to deliver in a different state. Yikes! The financial part is the scary part. The caseworker had made this sound like a less than wonderful thing but we said yes anyways.
On Thursday and Friday we contacted several grants that we had applied for and hadn't heard from yet. We were contacted that a grant was going to cover $10,000!!!!!!!!!!!! What?!?!?! That was a huge surprise and a huge amount!!! Brad got the call that brought him to tears when he was at Walmart. This was another sign the we are on God's path for our lives. Our family was here for Kaleb's birthday that weekend so we got to share the good news and add a little pink to the baby's room. At the end of Kaleb's brithday party on Saturday we got a text that birthmom was struggling with her choice. We were sad but there were just so many doors that God has opened so we continued to trust. On Monday (Feb 2nd) our UT agency called and said that the birthmom was leaning toward parenting and they had some reservations with her. They asked if we wanted to wait it out or look at other situations. I felt like the agency was saying it's not going to happen but I felt like so many doors had opened from God. I mean $10,000?!?!?!?
Part 2 starts on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd.........

Young Living Essential Oils Fundraiser

Have you been wanting to try Young Living Essential Oils and support our adoption at the same time?? For every starter kit that is purchased, $25 goes towards our adoption! Our family has been using YLEO's for almost a year now and we have loved them!! We use Peppermint and Thieves almost daily. We use peppermint for headaches, upset stomach, heart burn, and many other things. Thieves helps build immunity and kills off germs. Each morning we rub Theives and Peace and Calming on the boys feet. Our kids haven't been sick yet this fall/winter. The starter kit also comes with a diffuser ($100 retail price) that we use most days at home. There are so many uses for these oils, Please let me know if you have any questions, I'd love to help if I can!

If you buy the starter kit you will also get access to a Facebook page that has tons of information and a great place to ask more questions!

Use the link below to sign up as a wholesale member and get the starter kit, or as a customer and try an oil or two!

https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?sponsorid=1683596&enrollerid=1683596


I hope you will love using these oils to help you live a healthier life as much as we do!!!

*Disclaimer- these are just the uses we have for the oils, each person is a little different. I'm just a mom trying to keep my family healthy!

Melkam Gena

Today it's Christmas in Ethiopia! We were able to celebrate a few days early with some friends! We made a few favorite Ethiopian foods for lunch. Then we had a little coffee ceremony with popcorn, glass bottles of Coke, dabo (ET bread), and of course apple pie and ice cream. We joked this was a multicultural meal! We are thankful for the Snyder family and that they live close enough that we can get together every once in awhile. 

It Would Be Easier to Say No

We have recieved many comments about why we would be going through the adoption process again. Isn't three kids enough? Are you addicted to adopting?  Why would you spend all that money again? Are you rich? How can you afford it again? How are you going to pay for college for all your kids? Why would you risk adding another child that might have problems to your family? Yes, these are all some questions we've received this time. I kinda flinch at most of them. But I know people are just coming from an honest place and really just want to know more. I'm going to attempt to give you a glimpse into our hearts.
It would be easier to say no. It would be easier to have our little family with our three great boys and not change anything. Yes there are risks, but there are risks anytime you have a baby biologically or through adoption. It would be easier not to empty our savings account again and instead take our kids to Disney World again. It would be easier to not start over with a newborn and middle of the night feedings, etc. It would be easier if we didn't have to do some fundraisers and ask for help (I mean really, who likes to ask for help.) It's humbling and HARD.

Romans 15:13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We know this is where God wants us. We know that He has another child for our family and we are excited to say YES and continue on this path. When we decided to start the adoption process again I was sitting in church just pouring my heart out to God with all my questions.....mostly how could we afford this again. God whispered "Go and tell", let me be clear- its the hardest part of the process. Asking for help is so hard and humbling and uncomfortable. Domestic adoption is often more expensive than international. The average domestic adoption is between $30,000-35,000. We do not have that kind of money, honestly we had very little. On top of a very small savings account, Brad and I both work for the school district and we actually went on stirke right at the beginning of this process which meant no paycheck for either of us for a month and now doc pay into our paychecks for 3 months. We could be mad and discouraged about this but God truly provides everything we need and somehow we have made it all work and paid for all the expenses so far. We often joke with a friend about the huge expenses and unexpected things that occur when we are following God's plan. Satan will always try to steal your joy. But there are truly so many blessings as we have always been able to make it and have what we need. We know we aren't going to be able to pay for college for our kids, but we will help them any way that we can. We think its so much more important to welcome another child into our family and teach them about Jesus and love them like crazy than be worrying about college payments.
Let me be clear- I do not think that everyone should be adopting just because we are. God calls us each to different things and in different ways. This is just where God has us now and how He is using us.

The song "Oceans" by Hillsong has really spoke to Brad and I over the last 1 1/2 years. We desperately want our faith to be without borders and for God to lead us right where he wants us. And for now we are exactly where we need to be!
                                                 "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)"

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

[6x]
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

I will call upon Your name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

Happy Halloween

My boys love to dress up!! Halloween is a favorite around here!!

Trunk-or-Treat a few days ago

B-Pod Super Teachers

Our pumpkins at school

The Paperwork Never Ends!

It seems that we started filling out papers in July when we started this process and we haven't stopped yet! I think we have submitted everything we need for one agency and just waiting on a reference and pastor letter for a second agency. We just finished and ordered our profile books and we are almost ready to be waiting to be matched with a birthmom. We have applied for all the grants that we have found and we are planning our two big fundraisers- a Trivia Night and Quarter Auction for November 7th and 8th. I'm so thankful that Brad is willing to fill out almost all of the paperwork. It's the exact same information over and over again. But each agency or grant application has their own forms so it needs to be filled out again and again. It's like another full time job! But it's worth it! The kids all think waiting is hard. Everyday Jacob asks if God has decided its time to meet his baby sister yet. When we say "not yet", he always follows with "waiting is so hard". I love going through this process with the kids and getting to share their stories again and again with them too. We get to reassure them that they are loved and wanted and adored and that we had to wait for God's perfect timing to add them to our family too! We were at Old Navy the other day and Jacob filled the cart with things his baby sister "needs". It was so cute, I let him fill the cart, only to put it all back since we don't know if it will be a boy or girl yet. Kaleb doesn't talk about it as much yet but he LOVES when babies are around so he will be more excited when he/she is actually here. Isaiah is excited and ready for him/her to be here too. He also thinks we should be adopting a teen brother along with a baby. :)

Handmade Cards Fundraiser Update

We are so thankful so many people bought sets of cards!!!!! We have sold 63 sets of cards so far. WOW!!! THANK YOU!!!I have been busy stamping in any extra time I have and we have 3 variety sets, 4 birthday sets, and 3 thank you sets available to ship today. If you have any special requests I can usually get them ready in a couple of days. Each set is 10 cards for $15 (please add $3 if I need to ship them). Please see previous post for more information and pictures of some of our cards. Every purchase helps!!! We have about $1, 500 we need to raise before we can send in our payment to CAC and get our profile started and be ready to be matched with a birthmom!!!!
We are still waiting for our background checks to come in so we can have our homestudy completed. We found out last week that Isaiah needs a background check too. His paperwork was sent in last week. Hopefully our background checks come in very soon and we can move on to the next step!
People often ask how this domestic adoption compares to our international adoptions and so far its about the same :) This homestudy had a few less restrictions but we are still waiting for approval from the state of IL and we did that with our international adoption too! After our homestudy is completed I think the process will be very different.
The night before preschool started Jacob was so excited and kept saying "I can't wait to go to school and to have a baby!!!" Kaleb still thinks he wants a sister and Jacob thinks he needs another brother now. My boys always make me laugh!!!

1st Fundraiser- Hand Stamped Cards

It's time for our 1st Fundraiser!!! 

We were so blessed by so many people who bought cards to help with our first adoption, we decided to do it again. I have been busy stamping and we have 20 sets of these exact cards to sell!! Each pack has 10 cards and is $15 (plus $3 shipping if needed).
This set includes 4 birthday, 2 thank you, 2 thinking of you, 1 sympathy, and 1 feel better. You can order this set or place a custom order (10 birthdays or 10 sympathy, etc.) You can send a check or pay through paypal, mowen2@hotmail.com