Finally Paper Pregnant!

picture from www.negativepregnancytest.com and edited by me to read "Paper Pregnant"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's official! We are finally paper pregnant again! We found out via email, but it was still a positive test result. And it was definitely a test... of my faith and my patience. I'll be honest. I have taken many real pregnancy tests before... and at the time in secret so that my husband wouldn't know (I wanted it to be a surprise if it was positive!). Never a positive one. Don't feel bad about that, though. False pregnancy tests used to upset me, but Eli changed that for me. Once I held him for the first time, I never needed to see a positive biological pregnancy test. God has allowed me to be totally content with his plan for us to adopt. After all, He did adopt me! Adoption really is a beautiful picture of what God has done for those who choose to follow Him.

On Wednesday, August 6th, Eric and I received an email from our caseworker letting us know that we are now on the waiting list to adopt a child through Covenant Care! What started as an idea and a bunch of papers is now a reality. We are actually now waiting for a birthmom to select us as part of her adoption plan. That means that we are available, approved, and ready to parent another child when God sees that the time is right. We are here to support a birthmom in her time of need.

As an adoptive parent, hearing that you are on the waiting list really is like finding out that you are pregnant. No, I have no clue what the due date will be (could even be way more or way less than nine months). However, it does mean that another child will be joining our family. Finding out that you are pregnant is a REALLY BIG deal, so I had to celebrate...

Eric signing our last document!

School started back on August 7th. This time, however, I started back as a part-time teacher to have more mommy time! My mom spent the night with us on August 7th since Eli's babysitter was out of town. Our last document was submitted to Covenant Care on August 7th, so I just had to celebrate. I went to the store on my way home to get some bread for lunch and left with food for a special dinner and ingredients for cupcakes! :) I even bought pink, blue, and yellow cupcake liners since I don't know whether our future child will be a boy or a girl. I was just so excited that I decided to have a spur-of-the-moment party! My mom, Eli, and I made cupcakes and then my mom and I made a nicer dinner than usual. Our party didn't turn out exactly the way I had planned it to be, but it was fun. I really enjoyed getting to celebrate this big moment! Our future child might not be growing in my tummy, but he or she is definitely growing in my heart!

Almost There!

Next adoption update... since Mother's Day...

- We had our home study update visit 
- We turned in our portfolios
- Our portfolios were submitted to birth mom caseworkers at the end of May but can't be shown yet (we have had to submit extra paperwork and also had to send in our pre-placement fee and wait for our home study update to be written)
- Our home study update was finalized!
- We submitted an application for a matching grant from Promise686 (This is the organization we used for fundraising for Eli's adoption. Pray that we will be accepted!)
- Getting Eli's new room ready so that the nursery will be available for the next little one!

What's next?

- Wait for our money to be processed - For our portfolios to be shown, we had to have our home study update complete, we have to have proof that we can fund our adoption, and we have to have our pre-placement fee submitted.
- Hopefully that will mean birth moms can begin viewing our portfolio soon!

Mother's Day Announcement

I'm so thankful to be able to celebrate Mother's Day as a mom. This is a gift I do not take for granted, and my heart certainly goes out to the many women who wish they were a mom, lost a child, or lost a mom. I definitely count changing my son's messy diapers on Mother's Day as a gift instead of a disgusting task, because that means the child I longed for for so long is a reality.

We have been really really busy so I haven't given any updates on our son, but here are our Easter pictures! Our son is growing so fast and is developing quite the personality. :) He is truly a joy! Yesterday marks 17 months old!

It's time for our son to have a sibling, so it's with great excitement that we announce that our next adoption process has begun! We have started paperwork. Our homestudy update is May 13th. Our portfolios will be distributed on May 22nd! Yay! We are excited about seeing what God has in store for the future!

Birthmother's Day

Happy birthmother's day to our son's birthmother! We are so thankful that this amazing woman chose life for her child and gave us the gift and blessing of parenting him!

Hope Talks About Being Adopted

Monumental December

On December 10th we celebrated Eli's first birthday!!!! It's hard to believe he is already one! He has grown so much that he went from starting in preemie clothes to wearing 24 month clothes! He went from 5 lbs. 8.9 ounces to almost 25 lbs.! He went from 19.5 inches long to 32 inches long! He went from sleeping all the time to being very active and developing a fun personality. Eli is truly a gift to celebrate. Eric and I both took Eli's birthday off from work so we could celebrate. Eli wasn't feeling well that morning (teeth????), but by that afternoon we were able to play at an indoor play place called Catch Air, play with dogs at the pet store (because Eli loves dogs), visit Toys 'R Us, have dinner at Chick-Fil-A (we ordered Eli his own kids meal - he ate two grilled nuggets and several waffle fries), and then went home to play with his new basketball goal that we got him for his birthday. We really had a good time spending the day together as a family. Of course our hearts were also burdened for Eli's birth parents as Dec. 10th must have been a very difficult day for them. We are forever grateful that they blessed us with the gift of Eli!!!!!

Today is another monumental day in the Miller family. Today is the one year anniversary of finding out about Eli! (Except it was on a Tuesday last year) That was one of the most exciting days in our whole lives! Finally the child we had always prayed for had a name and a birthday and birth parents who had chosen us to parent their son! 

Sunday will mark another monumental Miller day. It's Eli's Gotcha Day - the day the two Millers became three! We are looking forward to celebrating Eli's day of coming into our family. 

I can't say enough about the gift Eli is to us. Not a day goes by in which we do not thank God for Eli or cease to recognize Eli's gift. We definitely do not take him for granted and we cherish him with all that we are and have. I might not always like it when Eli cries or poops or doesn't listen to me, but I'm thankful for even those moments because those are moments that used to be so distant and longed for but are now a part of our lives. 

Lord, thank You for your perfect timing, for granting us patience in the long time of waiting, for Eli's birth parents, for Your provisions, and for Eli. Beyond grateful!

Eli September Pictures