Our Childs Journey Home

3 Months Already

2011-03-13T19:54:00.002-05:00

Well I cant believe that Bella is 3 months old already. She has stolen our hearts along with everyone who comes in contact with her. She is the love of our lives and brings so much joy everyday. Her smile melts my heart and I still cant tell her I love her without tearing up. We waited so long for her, but it was worth it all.

She is growing so fast, too fast really!! She is eating well and has been sleeping through the night for awhile now. She has the biggest smile that lights up her whole face. She loves to talk and giggle. She is trying to sit up on her own and doing pretty good at it.

We just cant imagine life without her!!

Home Sick :(

2010-12-10T18:24:00.002-06:00

Well its been a week since Annabella made her arrival into the world. We went to court today and everything went wonderful. We were granted full custody of her and birth moms rights were terminated. She has given us the greatest gift that you could ever imagine and will always be apart of her life. We have become good friends along the way and will continue to grow closer as Annabella gets older.
Kevin got to come visit again today, but when he left it broke my heart. For those who don't know, because we adopted out of state, the baby can not leave the state of MO until we are approved by ICPC. Hopefully by this time next week we will be home. My mother in law is staying with me which helps, but I'm so ready to take Annabella home!! It has been a long week and I'm so very home sick. It would be so much easier if we could just be home, but she is worth every second. I love her so much and cant believe what God has given to us! Thank you Lord for an amazing blessing!!
Annabella is doing wonderful tho, she is eating very good and sleeping pretty good. She is just a doll and has stolen our hearts!

Daddy gets to visit!!

2010-12-10T18:21:00.005-06:00

On Monday Kevin fianlly got to come up and see Annabella. He was all smiles!! He only got to stay for a few hours, but he enjoyed every single second he had with her. He brought such joy to my heart to see them together.

Annabella is in the NICU

2010-12-10T18:13:00.005-06:00

Well about an hour after her arrival we found out that she had inhaled marconium and that made her lungs become inflamed. She had to be admitted to the NICU and be placed under an oxygen hood. She was there until her dismissal from the hospital on Tues. She did very well and recovered quickly. We gave her lots of love and attention as you can see :) She is a wonderful addition!! She is my moms first grand baby and is just in love and is spoiling her already.

Baby Annabella is here!!

2010-12-10T17:59:00.006-06:00

Again I'm sorry it has been so long since I updated! We have been so busy preparing everything and getting ready for Annabella's arrival.

I got the call from birth mom on Fri Dec 3 at around 12:30 PM that her water broke. I was beyond excited and hurried to get everything ready to go. Fortunately my mom and mother in law were able to go with me. So we made it to St. Louis by 4:00 and waited with birth mom.

Annabella Virginia Torea Parkhurst made her arrival on Fri Dec 3 at 11:37 PM. She weighed 7 lbs 4.3 oz and was almost 21 in long.

I was able to be in the room for the delivery and got to cut the umbilical cord. I was fine until she cried out and my tears started rolling. She was so beautiful and I had waited so long for her!! I wish Kevin could have been there for her birth but couldn't be because of work. That's the story of her arrival. Thank you Lord for such a wonderful gift!!

We have an offical match!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-30T21:28:00.003-05:00

We are so excited!!!!!!!!!! We were matched with a birth mom the beginning of Oct. She is in St. Louis Mo, so its only 2 1/2hours from us!

I met with her and her mother yesterday and they are super sweet. I got to go to the Dr with her and she was able to get an ultrasound done while I was there. We found out we are having a GIRL!!!! Annabella Virginia is due Dec 7th and we just can't wait.

I have not posted in awhile and I appologize. My mom was diganoised with breast cancer in June. She had a lumpectomy done in July and they fould the cancer cells were spread. So last month she had a masectomoy. She is doing great now, she will not need any kind of treatment. So through all this God granted a prayer for her to have her 1st grandbaby for Christmas, then he allowed it to be a girl, just what she wanted!!! God's timing is perfect and His blessings are great!

Another Bump in the Road

2010-07-20T15:57:00.002-05:00

Well we thought we were closer to securing our match, but God had other plans. We could not come with the entire amount needed to secure or match. I'm heart broken, but after talking with several people, I feel better. It's just not God's time for us to match up with our child yet. He knows the right time already, I just wish he would share with me! LOL
So now we wait again, this time with a little more knowledge & experience under our belt & more faith then ever!

Fundraiser :)

2010-07-18T18:29:00.002-05:00

With our new match comes great hurdles to overcome. We now need to come up with $16,000 by Monday July, 19th. Well today we had a baked potato bar fundraiser, it was a big success!!! We raised right under $5000. Not bad for less then 24 hours planning.

Now the big hurdle is coming up with the rest of the money by tomorrow.

We Have A Match!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-17T21:23:00.002-05:00

It's been a long winding road, but we are nearing the end. We got a match today...we are going to be the proud parents of a baby boy due to be born Oct 2nd.

It all started when we got a late night call from a friend. The friend called to tell us about a post she had seen on a yahoo group. She stated that there was a need for a family to adopt a premature baby in Washington.
We followed up with the lead the next day. We were directed to call Abby's One True Gift because they were the agency handling the adoption. We spoke with a case worker and learned that we were the only family interested. We worked hard at getting our application in to them on Saturday July 3. We got everything in and approved quickly and we're ready to move forward to the next step of a match call. We waited and waited, I sent several text, emails and made phone calls. Finally on July 6th we were told that they were waiting to hear from the doctor to make sure the baby was doing OK after the long holiday. Then on July 7th we got a call stating that the child had already been placed with another family. We were heartbroken and stunned. We were told that we were the only family interested and just didn't understand.
Finally after several more emails and text we found out why. The social worker at the hospital convinced the birth mother to place the baby with one of her families waiting.
Less then a week later we got a call about a birth mom in Michigan wanting to find an adoptive family. We got a match call set up for Wed July 13th at 4:00. We we're super excited yet nervous at the same time. We got on the phone to start the call and the birth mom was not on the line. The coordinator didn't know what happened. She tried calling the birth mom back several times with no reply. My heart sunk..I was sure she had changed her mind and we we're in for another heartache. We finally heard back from the coordinator On Thurs saying the birth mom did get scared, but got the call rescheduled for today.
We got on the call today..it lasted about an hour. The birth mom was very shy, but answered all our questions. 30 minutes after the call ended we got the news that she wanted to place her baby with us!!!!!!! I've been on cloud 9 all day!! LOL She stated that she liked how open we are willing to be and that us talking about our faith in God is what made her want to pick us. So that our story for now. We are looking forward to bringing Samuel Wilson home soon!

Time To Wait

2010-05-05T14:12:00.002-05:00

Well everything has been done and approved. We got our PREP training finshed awhile back & had our last home visit for awhile. Now its time to wait. Our birthmom letter & pictures are now in the books. We have been in the books about a month now, but it seems like forever. We know that our profile has been viewed once, so at least there is some activity. I know the right match is out there and it's all in God's timing, but when your heart longs for a child its hard. Hopefully soon we will have good news!!

Thank you to my followers!!

2010-03-23T11:07:00.000-05:00

I have not been very good at keeping up with my blog I guess because I'm not much of a writer. I just read all the comments that some of you have left about my previous post. I just want to thank you all for your kind words and support!!! It means so much to know that you all care and are excited for us!! I'm glad to have you all and that you know the struggles and the happiness that comes with adoption. I am praying for you all as you go through your process! Thank you again and love and blessings to you all.

Its Been Awhile

2010-03-23T10:44:00.000-05:00

Well it's been quite a while since I last updated. First I will start with the good news. We have received more donations from a very gracious family! They have donated $5100 towards our adoption. We can never begin to thank them enough or completely have them understand how very much it means to us.
As far as the adoption process, we have completed our home study and it was approved. This weekend we have PREP training. The next step will be going into the books and waiting for a birth mother to choose us as the parents of her baby. Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. I am so excited and have never felt more ready to be a mother then right now.
My very best friend Shawn is throwing me a baby shower in April. We know we don't have a referral yet, but it just seems like the right time. Since we will be in the books in a week, it could happen quickly. I am really excited about the shower and just can't wait.
I guess that's all the news for now. I will let you all know how the training goes!

Unbelievable Blessing

2009-11-24T12:16:00.000-06:00

We received an unbelievable blessing about a week ago. A family made a $3000 donation to our adoption. I still feel like it's all a dream. I am so thankful to this family! Words can never describe how grateful we truly are to them. They had already donated $1100 so another donation was so unexpected.
We also received a donations for $100 from an unknown donor. We would like to thank them as well!
When we started with our adoption journey, we had no idea how we would be able to pay for it. All I can say is to be faithful to what God wants you to do and he will provide all that you will ever need. Thank you God!!!

Frustrated

2009-10-20T17:33:00.000-05:00

I keep feeling frustrated about our adoption. I'm not getting much support from my fundraising endeavors. I advertised the raffle party we had more then enough, but still no one showed up except a few close friends and family. It's so frustrating to want something so bad, but know that you have to rely on the kindness of strangers to help you get there. Why can people who don't want kids or care anything about the ones they have pop them out like crazy. Yet I have to work and save and skimp in order to adopt and get very little support???
On top of all this I'm not sure how on board Kevin is. I know he is worried about the finances, but do I wait until I can actually afford it? Are you every really able to afford it? It's a big expense, but worth every penny!! How do I get him on the same page as me? We aren't getting any younger!!! LOL :)

Changing Directions

2009-10-08T09:42:00.000-05:00

After long thought and talks we have decided to change direction in our adoption process. We are now going to be adopting domestically. Part of our heart will always long to adopt from Ethiopia, and maybe someday we will, but right now we feel this is the path God is leading us down.
We are going to be doing an open adoption which is exciting yet scary. We will know the birth mother and have contact with her while our child is growing up. The good news is we get to set the limitations on how open we want to be.
We will be getting a newborn!! YAY!! So we won't have to miss out on anything.
We will get put in the book around January, after we go to parenting classes. I'm so impatient!!! I just can't wait!!!!

Our First Fundraiser

2009-09-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

We made our first attempt at trying to raise money for our adoption. We had a yard sale in Paducah, KY. at the Carson Park Labor Day event they had. We made $400!!!!!! We are so excited that our first event went so well!!!
Now me and my crazy excitement wants to do another yard sale this weekend at my house. I would love it if it would be as successful, but with no advertising it might not be. I am going to do alot of praying though and hanging out signs, so maybe that will help!!! I will keep you updated!

Moving another step closer

2009-08-31T08:10:00.000-05:00

Today is the day we start our home study!! I am so excited to be moving one step closer, but nervous at the same time. We are using Catholic Social Services in Carbondale, IL. I hope everything works out with them. I have heard a few bad things, but if this is who God wants us to use then it will all work out. Please pray for us that all goes well. We will let you know more after the meeting.

Raffle Party

2009-08-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

We decide to do a raffle party fundraiser in Oct. This week we started trying to get some local business's to donate services and product's to be raffled off. WOW, have I been amazed by the generosity of the people in Southern IL and some in Western KY. In just a few day's of phone calling we have managed to get 34 local business owners to donate to our cause. That is just so amazing to me!!! Thank you to all who have donated and to Shawn Roberts (Again) for all her hard work and help! I look forward to what lies ahead when the raffle actually takes place.

A Piece of the Puzzle

2009-08-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

This is our puzzle called waiting for the bus. I would prefer to call it waiting for my new family. Anyway, we are going to be selling pieces of the puzzle to help raise money for our adoption. The cost for a piece of the puzzle is $5.00. Your name and the date will be written on the back of your piece. We will put it together as pieces are sold. When it is finished it will hang in our child's room as a reminder of all the wonderful people who helped bring him/her home. If you are interested in buying a piece please contact me or Shawn Roberts. Thanks so much for your help! You will never know how much it means to us!

One step closer

2009-08-11T09:06:00.000-05:00

We are so excited to be one step closer to bringing our child home. We finally decided on a home study agency yesterday! We have our first meeting on Mon. August 31. I just can't wait to get it all started!
We are also planning a fundraiser yard sale or auction for next month. Just want to thank everyone who has donated their items to us! A big thanks to Allen Ford and family. They have donated at least 3 truck loads of items to us! Also I need to give a HUGE thanks to my best friend in the whole world ever, Shawn Roberts. She has been right beside us every step of the way, doing more then her fair share of the work! I'm going to have to give her parental rights by the time we are done! LOL! But thanks girl, I Love ya!!!!
We also have a big fundraiser coming up on Sept 13Th. My wonderful friend Rebecca Canestrini is going to do a Sweet Bella Grace show for me and donate part of her profit to our adoption. I appreciate it more than you know. Please visit her website at www.sweetbellagrace.com .
Also I want to thank Laura Roberts with Starfish Orphan Ministry for donating her office for us to use for the show. She is a wonderful person who has helped us out greatly with advice. You can also visit their site at www.starfishorphanministry.com , they are doing some amazing things!
Again we just want to thank everyone for their support. We could not do this without the support and friendship of all of you! Thank you so much!!! We love you all!

The Journey Begins

2009-08-07T18:12:00.000-05:00

Well this is my first time blogging, so forgive me if I don't have a clue what Im doing!

Our journey begins as we have decided to step out into the unknown and start our adoption process. It's so exciting yet so scary at the same time. We feel strongly that this is the path that God is leading us down and will not turn the other way. So as we talked it over we felt very lead to adopt an older child. Everyone wants a baby and very few want an older child. They need homes and want to be loved just as much, if not more, then a baby. So our decision was made, we would adopt a waiting child, ages from 3-6 years old, from Ethiopia.

Why Ethiopia you ask? I really can't tell you why. Their has always been something (God I'm sure) calling me too that country. Ethiopia has been in my heart for a very long time, long before our adoption was a for sure thing.

Now the paper work begins. On Wed. July 15 we submitted our application on-line to Holt international for a waiting child. On Fri. July 17 we were officially approved to start the process.

As of today we are still trying to figure out which home study agency is the best fit for us. We still have a long way to go, but it is so worth it. Oh how my heart aches to bring my child home!