Pumpkin' Pickin'

Many of you are aware that we are adopting, hence the blog title, but you probably are not aware that my sis, her hubby and their son are also in the process of adopting. These wonderful people are going to be parents again and I can't wait!!! Seriously, I am a cool aunt  and Brandon is a cool uncle. Another kiddo (or two)  partakng in our coolness is what this world needs!

A few weeks ago, Brandon and I traveled back home to help them drive all over Louisville and beyond collecting truck and trailer loads of items to sell at their adoption yard sale THIS SATURDAY. Let me tell you, if you love yard sales like I do, this one Cannot.Be.Missed. So many people have graciously donated  all of their unwanted items to this fundraiser and it is going to be amazing. Please please please come out and celebrate with us:

Calvary Christian Center, J-Town, Taylorsville Road

Saturday 8-1

We have lots of items for sale, including a homemade gift table where you can pick up crafty, handmade and inexpensive christmas gifts for yourself and loved ones. Not to mention, my awesomely cool sis and I will be there and we have lots of fun together, it's ridiculous. So, come have fun with us and take home some treasures :)

During our visit with family, we made a trip to Gallrein Farms in Shelbyville to pick pumpkins. I have realized that because I am the one usually taking the photos, I tend not to be in any, something I will need to remedy... someday,  For now, enjoy the photos. 

~Brandon & Nichole~

https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/pray-love-act-fundraiser/206175

Break Time...

Don't you just love that phrase "Break time"? You can hear the waves crashing on the beach as the breeze rocks you to sleep in your beach chair with your feet in the sand. No? Just me then. A.N.Y.W.A.Y.

As this is primarily an adoption blog, I wanted to give you a quick update. We are currently in the waiting phase of this process and as such we have no news, or updates for that matter :). We could be matched with birth-parents anytime. 

While we wait for that precious news, I am going to be writing about many different topics, mostly lighthearted subjects, sometimes tearjearking stories. I love you, dear readers, so I hope you will stick with us through the marathon in which we are walking and continue to follow us on this blog. 

My first lighthearted subject: My Nephew, Reed

This adorable, funny and silly 7 year old is the coolest! I love tickling him as he laughs SO LOUD, having pillow fights while my sister isn't looking (Hi Nasha), egging him on to tickle Brandon while he sleeps, and just hanging out with him. When we were in town last, we took him to SkyZone and he loved jumping on the trampolines and into the foam pit with reckless abandon. I pray for this kiddo to know and love Jesus with that same reckless abandon. I love my nephew, and I'm not the only one. Below are some photos of this awesome 2nd grader who steals my heart all the time.

Oh I guess I will give a shout out to his awesome parents too:

~Brandon and Nichole~

Excuse me sleeve, can I have my heart back? Nevermind, keep it!

To be saying this ONE day after our profile books have been received by our agency is crazy, but it's true, there is a dear birth-mother who is hurting and a precious baby that needs a home. We have agreed to show her our profile. This does not mean that we will be chosen, this just means that among other profiles, ours will be shown and have a chance to be chosen. Folks, it doesn't work like this, we were assured, and yet here we are putting our hearts out there, trustin' Jesus and praying hard. So please excuse me if this blog seems a bit scattered, my mind is a little crazy at the moment.

Those who have known me for five seconds, know that I put my heart out there for the world to see. I could have just met you and if you mention something dear to my heart, I will show you some tears and I will be proud of them. Those tears come from knowing and experiencing heartache myself and let me assure you, my tears are genuine.

Our Heartache

We love children and have known from our beginning that we wanted a family. Growing our family has been the challenge. Some women struggle for years to get pregnant and my heart aches with them. We have been struggling for a year, but we knew that we didn't want to try for years and years just for the faint hope of conceiving, we wanted a family. I am emotional person and most of the time my emotions lead me in the right direction, I have learned to trust my emotions and intuition. But, sometimes they lie to me and cloud my judgement and make it difficult to hear God's whisper. ALERT: time to Brag On My Man. Early on in my relationship and marriage to Brandon I began to understand that my husband was and still is an easy going guy and usually pretty laid back in terms of planning. When big decisions have come up, I learned to pray for God to lead Brandon in the right direction, so when he states, "let's try for eight months then we will start the adoption process," I have learned to trust that this is from God. It has now been about a year since we began trying to grow our family and there have been muiltiple times when we thought we were pregnant, with no success. Let me tell you, if you have never struggled with infertility, it is maddening. At first, you allow yourself to hope because you have no past experience to compare. Every month without success, you lose more and more of that excitement, while your negative tests every month laugh at you as you feel less and less inside. It wasn't long before I became jaded with getting pregnant, I just wanted to be a parent, pregnancy did not matter to me. I felt very strongly about this for a few months, until last month.

It was last month that I actually felt pregnant and was so confident of our success. My food cravings changed, I started experiencing food aversions, that never happens, and I just felt so different than all of the other times. I kept my excitement contained, but secretly I hoped and I prayed, all day, every day, I prayed. I found adorable baby onesies, and bought them. I began buying beloved children's books. Now, I would have bought these anyway, but for some reason, feeling pregnant gave me the guts to actually purchase them ahead of time.

So, you can imagine my surprise and disapointment when I discovered that I was not preggo. It wasn't until that moment, that I decided I don't have to be ok with not being pregnant in order to be wholeheartedly into our adoption. I don't have to choose. We would love be pregnant, and if the good Lord blesses us with pregnancy we will be overjoyed. But, let me tell you, we are 100% thrilled about adopting and choosing a child of God. This child will be our child with no distinction between adopted or conceived. This child will be loved unconditionally, cherished beyond belief, praised and disciplined for their benefit and lifted up and encouraged so they can bless others. This child of God will know that we wanted and chose them for our forever family, not because we couldn't get pregnant, but because we wanted them more than we wanted to be pregnant.

If you are struggling with infertility, I am praying for you and every other woman who has struggled prays for you. There is no advice that helps or makes it feel better. The only thing that helps is a friend to listen and a shoulder to cry on. I hope that I can be that shoulder for someone the way my friends and family have been for me.

Back to Our Profile

There is a possibility of our profile being chosen and if we agree then we will be officially matched with a birth-mother, this fee is the largest payment we will make yet. We are still fundraising to help offset some of the expenses. If you would like donate to our adoption we have several ways for you to get involved.

1. Please be in prayer for us and our family and those struggling with starting a family.
2. We are selling adoption t-shirts for $20 and all proceeds go to our adoption
3. I am offering photography sessions for donations
4.You can donate via youcaring.com/prayloveact

Thank you for partnering with us!

~Brandon and Nichole~

New Online Profile Website

Good Afternoon,

It is a beautiful day in Bowling Green and we have exciting news.

We have partnered with YOUCARING.COM to help us raise funds for our adoption. We have created a brief online profile that allows you to donate directly on their website to our adoption. The site utilizes paypal for their online giving.

The great thing about this website is that you can see the amount that has been raised and the amount remaining. We have already raised some funds for our adoption and are actively pursuing several avenues for fundraising.

 Please check it out using the link below:

 https://www.youcaring.com/prayloveact


~Brandon and Nichole~

A New Adventure...

New Fundraising Adventure...

Friends, I love photography. I love taking pictures of pretty things, interesting things, inspiring things and just plain weird things. The thing is, (ha ha, like what I did there) I am going to use my talent to help with our adoption and give you something you can cherish for years.

How It Works...

I am offering 1-hour photo sessions, your chosen location, with unlimited poses, 1 outfit change on-location (2 outfits total), a CD with at least 5-10 high resolution photos for printing, and a print release that allows you to print at a high-quality printer. I will also offer a 20-30 minute meeting to discuss the number of people in photo shoot, specific photos you may want, clothing to wear/avoid, your chosen location and time of day for photo session. There is no set price. When photos are delivered, you pay what you want

as a donation to our Adoption, and all proceeds go straight into our Adoption Fund. I will also ask each individual family for permission to advertise with their photos for my future photography business. I also respect your right to maintain your privacy with your photos, so I will have you sign a form either way.

In Other News...

Our home studies have been APPROVED and we have printed our profile book. Hallelujah, thank the Lord Jesus. I thought it would never get here. Let me tell you, months go by so quickly. I still don't know what happened to June and now we are halfway through July, Good Grief!

I woke up this morning and noticed the temp in our home was a blissful 73. I then proceeded to perform an it’s-cool-outside dance while Brandon got ready for work and laughed at me, then opened the doors and windows to let in the wonderfully crisp air. We are closer to AUTUMN and cooler weather, people. I can see all the ugly faces that are being made in my direction by those who love summer, but I don't care, make those faces. Didn't your momma tell you not to make faces, they might stick.

Can I take a minute to brag on some people? I have to because these people are amazing. They might be a little embarrassed, but they deserve some major hand-clapping. Dearest Jennifer, Sara, Mandy, Stacy, Nasha and our incredible adoption social worker, thank you all so much for taking so much of your time listening, proofing, then listening again and again to us talk about this adoption profile. Without your suggestions, ideas and laughter it would not have been possible, Snaps to you.

Someone else who deserves a lot of praise, my husband, Brandon. I must say that this guy has such a big heart. In our profile we had to address certain questions and topics and his answers floored me. They didn't surprise me, but discovering that my husband had these beautiful thoughts of fatherhood hanging out in his head brought tears to my constantly red and puffy eyes.

Trust me, this adoption thing is no emotional cake walk. What do you get when you toss together the rollercoaster of adopting a tiny human, a husband who says the most wonderful things about the kind of father he wants to be and a girl who is naturally emotional about many things that you would find laughable? You get a girl who just about cried at an outdoor movie with hundreds of other people sitting near, watching a Disney movie..."Do you want to build a snowman?" Frozen, anyone?


~Brandon and Nichole

OH PROCRASTINATION!!!

Are we already here? I knew this day would come. The realization that we have put off a very important task for almost a full month, has hit me hard. I know you've been there and know exactly how I feel, so bear with me a minute while I explain. We knew that when we finished our home studies (meetings with our social worker) that we would have about a month to complete our profile for potential birth mothers. A profile is a book for the birth-mother to review that will help her choose adoptive parents. Most importantly, it needs to communicate the kind of family we are and the kind of life we can provide for the child. This information is presented through pictures of us, our friends and family and stories. A birth-mother can receive so many profiles to view, so it is important for ours to be simple and yet effective at highlighting what make us special. 

Folks, our home studies have been submitted for a final review/approval and alas we have no profile to show for the past month. I am not surprised, this is how I operate. When I was a college student I was one of those students, you know the ones in which I am referring, students who wait until two days before a deadline to begin a 20-page term paper, and still earn a good grade. Don’t hate, it’s my process.

MOMENTUM

The problem, dear friends, is momentum. Oh sure, in the beginning we felt so much excitement and anticipation. We went through our home studies very quickly with the same hopeful feelings. But, the time came when all the paperwork was completed, all questions were answered, and all tests were over, and then we had to wait. WAIT! Oh how I hate that word, let me count the ways. Ultimately, that momentum only takes you so far, until you hit a wall and are left with time to kill. Time, my friend, is the enemy of productivity.

The plan was made for me and Brandon to sit at our comfy dining room table, with a beautifully delicious cup (huge mug) of coffee that would propel us through the crafting of a book of photos and stories. However, the weekend arrives and the weekend departs and no profile. This was three weeks ago people!!! Yes, I hear the collective gasp as you wonder why on earth we would waste precious time. My answer may shock you; however, if you paid attention to the blog post title, I have serious doubts. It is the same answer I gave in college, because there is too much time available and I am a procrastinator. Whew, I feel better already.

So, here we are, down to the wire and take a guess at who is finally ready to start on this project? You guessed it, this gal. Prayers appreciated for the best cup of coffee to be made and the confidence that only God can give that He’s got this and I don’t have to worry ‘bout a thing! 

Oh, if you’d like to show your support in terms in financial giving, we are selling adoption t-shirts for $25, all of the money goes directly to our adoption fund. If you live in town you can email me to purchase one. Out of town readers, there is a PayPal link for you, just be sure to email me with the size you want. We also accept simple donations if you feel led to support us that way. 

Prayers are always accepted in any form!!!!

~Brandon and Nichole~

A Little Touch of Truth

May I be honest with you for a minute? I have to admit, I have not seen this topic discussed a lot on other adoption blogs, but it is a subject that weighs heavily on my heart and definitely Brandon’s heart. When we began the adoption process all we thought about was being parents, and loving this child that we have wanted for so long. We smiled at adorable baby clothes (and sometimes almost purchased them), middle-of-the-night feeding times and laughed about who would be changing the smelly diapers (Brandon's Job...just kidding). We have considered how our holidays will be spent and what traditions we might start with our new baby. We have also thought about how cool and challenging it will be to go on trips with three people instead of only us two, how will we pack a car (with the amount of luggage I pack, this will be interesting). There are so many wonderful thoughts creeping around in the expectant parent brain that is easy to get carried away and forget that adoption is not a rosy and cheerful process for everyone.

Every Adoption Begins with Heartbreak 

While we are celebrating the addition of a new family member, another family is mourning the loss of one of theirs. A birth-mom, and possibly a birth mom and dad, are making a sad and brave decision to make an adoption plan for their child. They are grieving the fact that they will not be the parents of this little precious baby; they won’t get to see the first smile, hear the first laugh or the first words. These precious and special people are choosing another couple to take on that important role of raising this child, accepting this child as their own.

In the beginning it was easy to gloss over this fact, that while we are laughing and planning, another family is crying. However, our wonderful adoption agency has been a true support in helping to educate us on the flip-side of adoption, the birth-family. Our adoption agency is a birth-mother ministry. Lifeline exists to support, encourage and pour into the lives of pregnant mothers who need help, regardless of whether there is an adoption or not. Lifeline provides housing assistant at Lifeline Village, counseling and many other forms of support. The welfare of the birth-mother is the #1 goal and we love this about our agency. We know and understand that birth-parents never stop loving their child, they will always think about them, their lives, their experiences and whether that child is happy. Knowing and understanding this helps us form decisions regarding the amount of openness we want to have with our child’s birth-parents. Birth-parents and birth families should always be prayed for and never forgotten.

As you support us, would you please pray for the sweet family that will make an adoption plan for their child and choose us to parent? We want to keep them covered in God’s love and protection. This adoption is not just about us and our new baby, it is a ministry opportunity to show the love of Jesus to another family, the love and mercy of God who has adopted us into His family.

~Brandon and Nichole~

Adoption T-shirts through PayPal

Hello all, We are so excited to say that our Adoption shirts are ready to be sold online through our blog and Paypal account. T-SHIRT DESIGN We worked really hard to design a shirt that accurately told a story, our story. Our motto is Pray, Love, and Act and we believe God has called all believers to pray and seek. The Bible tells us that when we honestly pray and ask God for His will and His desires for us, He will answer, in His way. We have always known that we would adopt and God has grown our hearts so much with a deep love for this child. We are acting on our prayers, our love for God and the child in which God has chosen. On the back of the t-shirt, We also wanted to include special words that have meaning to us. May I ask you to do something? Would you commit to pray for the wonderful birth family who will make an adoption plan for their child. This family needs lot of love and support and our prayers. In purchasing this shirt you are supporting an adoption and getting in return a tangible item that you can use to remember to pray for us, but also show others that you support adoption. We also realize that not all of you will be able to purchase one and we understand. We thank you for support through prayer. The shirts below run in true Men's sizes. They are dark grey and very soft. My hubby is wearing a Large. The shirts are $25. For those of you who live in and around Louisville, we can arrange a meeting on our next trip to Louisville so we can get your shirt to you. Make sure you email us with what size you would like. Below are the sizes we have ordered and how many of each we have for sale: S-7 M-16 L-16 XL-7 2XL-5

Brandon and Nichole

Adoption Updates

I have been asked to give updates to many of our prayer partners and supporters regarding the process of our adoption. This blog is my humble attempt to do so. 


Quick History

As we started this process we quickly became aware that there is a lot of misinformation about adoption going around. So, in an effort to educate and update I will give a brief history of our journey this far. 

We started our adoption process in April after much praying and leaning on God. We are working with Lifeline Children's Services, a birth-mother ministry non-profit. We have a wonderful adoption counselor who is very patient with all of our questions. We have had five "Home-Study" meetings in which our counselor learned about myself and Brandon. 


Waiting Game and Fundraising


We are now waiting for our home-studies to be approved, which takes about 30 days. After they are approved which we can begin the process of being matched with a birth-mother. We know and trust that God is in control, so we are trying to enjoy this season of our marriage. 

We recently had a very successful yard sale in order to help with fundraising. Our family and friends were so wonderful and generous with their time and donations. We could not have pulled it off without them. 

We are also selling adoption t-shirts in which all proceeds go to our adoption. The photos will be uploaded soon and there will be a link so you can purchase your own shirt. 

We thank you for your support and continued prayers. Thanks for reading and being a part of our adoption story. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have .

~Nichole and Brandon~