Philadelphia Cream

Tommy will tell you that I am big on making "snap decisions." Not about major stuff, but little things. Actually, I'm not a quick decision maker at all. I will think, think, think something to death, make a decision, and then change my mind at the last minute. Again, this is for small everyday stuff not major life choices. For instance, at a restaurant while everyone is visiting with each other I intently study the menu. When the waiter comes to take our orders, I ask him to take mine last, and I inevitable change my mind at the last minute and order something different...a.k.a. a "snap decision."

This is exactly what I did when choosing a paint color for our hopefully soon to be nursery. Even before we signed our adoption paperwork and really started our homestudy, I was thinking about a paint color. I looked through my paint deck numerous times and ordered many samples. (I'm a Benjamin Moore girl all the way!) After settling on a very neutral yellow/beige color, I ordered a large paint sample and looked at it in the room in all different lights. This went on for weeks...maybe even months. Well, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. The day we needed to order the paint. I literally had the phone in my hand to call Rainbow Paint, and I thought, "This is not the right color for our Bunnykins!" I went to the design library at work and began looking for another color. That is when I found Philadelphia Cream! I ran it by a coworker, and she loved it too. So, I came home that night with a completely different shade of the most wonderful yellow/cream (although my husband couldn't tell the difference)...and I LOVE it!

We painted the nursery a couple of weekends ago. It used to be red. When we bought our house, we knew that this room would one day be a nursery. So, why we ever painted it red I cannot tell you. Well, two coats of primer and two coats of paint later, we both love the new color! I've included some pictures for your enjoyment. By the way, I did help. Tommy did not do all the work...although he did do most of it. What a great husband!

Progress Update

Some of you may be wondering where we are in the adoption process, and I am pleased to report that we are homestudy approved! Tomorrow we have our "exit interview" with our agency director. We have not met with the her since February, so I think she wants to meet just to talk about how the process will run from here on out. At the meeting, we will also turn in our adoption scrapbook.

The homestudy has been quite extensive. We officially signed on with our agency at the end of March, and the first step for the homestudy was getting background checks. We had to be approved by the FBI, ABI (Alabama Bureau of Investigation), DHR in Mississippi, and DHR in Alabama. So it's official, we are NOT criminals! It took 8 weeks for all of the background checks to come back to us. In the meantime, we gathered the rest of our paperwork together. We got copies of our birth certificates, marriage license, social security cards, tax returns, etc. We had to have references from pastors, bosses, lifelong friends, and family (which could not include parents "because they have to love us"). We wrote our autobiographies and had to get physicals. We even had to turn in vet records for Sadler, our golden retriever.

We turned all that paperwork in, and once the background checks came back, we had our home visit with our social worker. The visit went really well! Our social worker is so nice and laid back. It took about three weeks to schedule the home visit. So during that time, we worked on our adoption scrapbook. The scrapbook is what the agency shows the birth mothers and is basically how they pick us. Yes, in domestic adoption the birth mother chooses the adoptive parents. The book consists of a letter to the birth mother and lots of pictures of us, family, friends, Sadler, our house, vacations, holidays, etc.

So, that brings us to the present. After our meeting tomorrow, we will officially be a "waiting family." The wait will definitely be the hardest part of this whole process. Although the homestudy has been pretty crazy, it has been nice to have something to do. It made me feel like I was somewhat in control, which brings me back to God's sovereignty. What a comfort that God knows exactly when our little Bunnykins will be in our arms. I can't wait to look back and see how each step of this journey happened in His perfect timing. I know life always does.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Tommy and I have thought of this verse throughout our journey, and I hope that if our precious child ever wonders why he/she was adopted instead of born into our family, that it will be a comfort to him/her as well.

What is an Elephant Pregnancy?

So, first I'd like to start by explaining the title of my blog. When we finally decided to move forward with our adoption, Tommy and I researched and visited several agencies. The director of one of the agencies described me as an elephant, meaning that I could be pregnant for a very long time (a.k.a. "the wait"). Apparently, elephants have a gestation period of 22 months. This is the longest of any land animal, and their babies are around 260 lbs. at birth. So, I'm really hoping and praying that this is not a completely accurate description of our situation! Anyway, at first I laughed, but then after thinking about it I was a little annoyed. I later told my mom about the comment, and she thought is was hilarious. So, now I affectionately think of myself as...yes...an elephant....hopefully I don't look like one. The truth of the matter is only God knows how long "the wait" will be, and thankfully He is completely soveriegn over this situation having mapped out every little detail of our adoption journey.

So this is the end of my first post. A progress update will follow soon.