2 down, 2 to go...

Darryl and I both completed our second meeting. I had mine on Monday and Darryl's was on Tuesday. We were both nervous about it but Jamie is so understanding and does a good job of asking the right questions to get us talking. (Darryl and I are both pretty quiet at times....and being nervous doesn't help that) She asked a lot of questions about our childhood and related those to how we would raise our future children. So now, we are working on our letter to the birth mom which will go in our portfolio. There is so much I want to say to her but don't know how to get it all on paper and in the right words. I don't want to sound too needy and I don't want to seem like it's an easy decision for her either. But as I sat here listening to the Joshua Radin channel on Pandora on my new Iphone (yay) I began to think how much God has blessed us and how I feel like he is guiding us through this process with one hand on our back. And I found this verse which I think I will include in our letter...

“In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:5

I don't know....maybe it's too cheesy but I like that it mentioned adoption and how he knew we would be part of his family from the very beginning. Kind of cool. Well....thank you again for all the prayers and please keep thinking about us as we are remodeling part of the house....(I know....perfect timing right?), attending these meetings, and baby proofing our entire house for our February 21st meeting. We can't wait for the day our family will be Darryl and Jen plus 1....or 2....or 3! :) Thank you for the prayers! xoxo

1 down, 3 to go...

Yay! We are done with our first meeting! We were both a little nervous but our social worker Jamie was and is awesome! She's very understanding and knew that we would both be a little nervous. We had to answer a bunch of questions about how we met (hee hee), when we decided we wanted children, and all about our fertility journey. I was very happy that I only cried once. She asked what the hardest thing for me was during all of this. And I told her it was watching friends around me get pregnant with no problem. As soon as those words came out of my mouth I started crying. She asked if I had a lot of anger towards them and I said no, of course not...just very jealous sometimes. (even of those who have had really hard pregnancies.....I would trade them in a heartbeat) But I do want to thank all of my friends especially those really close to me who have never complained in front of me. I know that pregnancy isn't always hearts and rainbows but I really do appreciate how loving they all have been. I know it's not easy for them either. They feel bad telling me about it and they shouldn't. I am so happy for all of my pregnant friends and those who have had babies. And me bursting into tears when I hear your good news has just come to be a normal reaction. I seriously have no control over it but I'm hoping with children of our own that it will get much easier for me.
But anyhoo, on that note, :) we were able to plan our next 3 meetings. We have one a week and our last one will be on February 21st! So we may even be on the list sooner that what we thought! :) These next few weeks are going to be filled with cleaning, cleaning, and baby proofing the house for our home visit. Please continue to keep us in your prayers over these next few weeks. Our next meeting with Jamie is going to be one on one...so she will talk with Darryl and I separately. They do this to make sure the husband and wife are both on the same page with their thoughts about adoption and about their marriage. I'm hoping again that she will see us for who we are and realize how ready we are for this. :) Thanks again for all those prayers. They are definitely helping! xoxo