Is my page too busy?? Hello??
I'm thinking it is....too hard to read the text on the side....I'll play with it more later....I love the new options though! Very cool!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Ok so....apparently I can't count...
Because as of today we've been waiting 333 days for a match..LOL...I was getting a little ahead of myself with that last post! Haha!!
We recently began filling out paperwork for our renewal...I 've enjoyed myself immensly filling it out this far...NOT. Although, there is way less now than there was for the initial approval so that's a relief at least. We are also applying for our foster care license! Yay!!! I truely feel that this is THE year!
On the homefront, things are terrific :) We closed on our river lot last week and Steve completed the deck and installed the dock this weekend. Hopefully the weather warms up a bit so we can tube the river soon! We cleaned up our canoe yesterday and will probably take that down the river before we tube it just to make sure there's not any areas that are really weedy that we wouldn't be able to get a tube through. We have some house plans drawn up as well, and we're just waiting for the bid to come back. There's still a few changes we want to make, but we're pretty much sure this is the one! We were forunate enough to be able to take a peak inside the exact same house that they had already built for someone else which was super nice. It's so hard to imagine what the house will look like by looking a flat peice of paper so seeing it really helped make the decision an easy one!
We recently began filling out paperwork for our renewal...I 've enjoyed myself immensly filling it out this far...NOT. Although, there is way less now than there was for the initial approval so that's a relief at least. We are also applying for our foster care license! Yay!!! I truely feel that this is THE year!
On the homefront, things are terrific :) We closed on our river lot last week and Steve completed the deck and installed the dock this weekend. Hopefully the weather warms up a bit so we can tube the river soon! We cleaned up our canoe yesterday and will probably take that down the river before we tube it just to make sure there's not any areas that are really weedy that we wouldn't be able to get a tube through. We have some house plans drawn up as well, and we're just waiting for the bid to come back. There's still a few changes we want to make, but we're pretty much sure this is the one! We were forunate enough to be able to take a peak inside the exact same house that they had already built for someone else which was super nice. It's so hard to imagine what the house will look like by looking a flat peice of paper so seeing it really helped make the decision an easy one!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Day of Waiting 324
Ok....so 324 has no significant meaning...except for that it is a lot of days!! And in exactly 41 more days, will be our one year anniversary of waiting. Hopefully that will be the first and last annual anniversary we will have!
My worker has been very diligently searching for kids lately which has been so great. She also mentioned this morning that our profile had been critiqued recently and the feedback wasn't so great. After hearing what was said and reading it again, they were very right. It definitely was emphasing our need to be matched with a child, rather than the child's need to be matched with us. It also stated that I said "a happy environment produces happy children", which I did, but I meant more along the lines of, if the parents love eachother and treat eachother kindly, that rubs off on the children and usually they end up treating their spouses the same. Not always, I know, but I definitely do not want to give the impression to anyone that I believe I can love a childs problems away, because I know that is not realisitic. You can't love away brain damage from FAS or love away horrible memories of abuse and neglect. Those are things that will exist no matter what you do. So I can definitely see where they were coming from and feel much better now that we changed the wording of it.
It's hard though, trying to make yourself seem so wonderful so they pick you. On one hand you don't want them to think you live in this fairytale world, yet on the other you don't want to share all the gruesome details of all the horrible things you lived through and have them think you're a wacko! Thankfully we're right in the middle. Steve and I have had our share of ups and downs in life - thankfully nothing too traumitizing ;) (although, there was that one time when my mom cut my bangs...haha) But, with the support and love of our family and friends have made it through and became the stronger people we are today. I'm at a place in life right know where I can and want to share all the things I've been blessed with and welcome a child into our home, support her and help her grow up. I hope that is something they can feel when they read my profile. I know this will change our lives forever and that we'll have plenty of bumps along the way - but we're definitely up for the challenge :)
My worker has been very diligently searching for kids lately which has been so great. She also mentioned this morning that our profile had been critiqued recently and the feedback wasn't so great. After hearing what was said and reading it again, they were very right. It definitely was emphasing our need to be matched with a child, rather than the child's need to be matched with us. It also stated that I said "a happy environment produces happy children", which I did, but I meant more along the lines of, if the parents love eachother and treat eachother kindly, that rubs off on the children and usually they end up treating their spouses the same. Not always, I know, but I definitely do not want to give the impression to anyone that I believe I can love a childs problems away, because I know that is not realisitic. You can't love away brain damage from FAS or love away horrible memories of abuse and neglect. Those are things that will exist no matter what you do. So I can definitely see where they were coming from and feel much better now that we changed the wording of it.
It's hard though, trying to make yourself seem so wonderful so they pick you. On one hand you don't want them to think you live in this fairytale world, yet on the other you don't want to share all the gruesome details of all the horrible things you lived through and have them think you're a wacko! Thankfully we're right in the middle. Steve and I have had our share of ups and downs in life - thankfully nothing too traumitizing ;) (although, there was that one time when my mom cut my bangs...haha) But, with the support and love of our family and friends have made it through and became the stronger people we are today. I'm at a place in life right know where I can and want to share all the things I've been blessed with and welcome a child into our home, support her and help her grow up. I hope that is something they can feel when they read my profile. I know this will change our lives forever and that we'll have plenty of bumps along the way - but we're definitely up for the challenge :)
Monday, May 10, 2010
Another couple months have rolled by...and still we have no news to share. We've submitted for a couple kiddos here and there, but for the most part things have been really slow. I keep reading in the news and on all the county and state adoption facebook fan sites that there are over 100,000 kids in care needing homes...where the heck are they all then? How do I find out about them? It's just so frustrating!
There's still that once little one in particular that we are waiting to hear about....I think of her all the time and can definitely see her fitting in very well with our family. So, we'll continue to say lots of prayers that we are choosen for her...guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Things have been pretty busy for us lately. My sister and I recently sold our dads farm and had an auction for all the farm equipment. It went very well and we were very pleased with the outcome. Steve and I recently purchased 1.7 acres on the Otter Tail River - so that's pretty exciting!!! We can't wait to get out there and start clearing out some of the brush. We plan to build a little deck down by the water and a gazebo further up at the top of the hill. Tons of space for kids to run and play! Last night we met the guy that owns the empty lot next to us - he said once the river goes down a bit it's around 5 feet in the deepest part of the river. Kind of dissapointing as far as putting a pontoon in - but it will definitley make swimming a lot more fun!! The bottom is nice and sandy and the current is pretty slow...perfect!! Our plan is to eventually build out there...probably won't happen this summer though. But, who knows!
There's still that once little one in particular that we are waiting to hear about....I think of her all the time and can definitely see her fitting in very well with our family. So, we'll continue to say lots of prayers that we are choosen for her...guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Things have been pretty busy for us lately. My sister and I recently sold our dads farm and had an auction for all the farm equipment. It went very well and we were very pleased with the outcome. Steve and I recently purchased 1.7 acres on the Otter Tail River - so that's pretty exciting!!! We can't wait to get out there and start clearing out some of the brush. We plan to build a little deck down by the water and a gazebo further up at the top of the hill. Tons of space for kids to run and play! Last night we met the guy that owns the empty lot next to us - he said once the river goes down a bit it's around 5 feet in the deepest part of the river. Kind of dissapointing as far as putting a pontoon in - but it will definitley make swimming a lot more fun!! The bottom is nice and sandy and the current is pretty slow...perfect!! Our plan is to eventually build out there...probably won't happen this summer though. But, who knows!
Beautiful!!
That's all for now! Please remember to say lots of prayers for us, that we get matched soon!!
Dawn
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Day 250
Today marks day 250 that we've been waiting to be matched...things have been very slow this past month. We're waiting to hear from a couple different workers if we'll be chosen to go on to the selection meetings. There's one sunny little girl in particular that I can't stop thinking about...I've said lots and lots of prayers over the past few weeks that we are the ones for her!! Of course, any child that we are chosen for will be a wondeful blessing!
While everything on the adoption front has been slow, spring sure has made a quick appearance! Everything has dried up enough that we were even able to take Cooper for a walk today...and better yet, light the bbq grill! Steve's boss gave us some smoked venison brats - they were so tasty!
My mom is coming up on Friday afternoon and will be staying through Monday. She is going to watch T and my niece A on Saturday night, so my sister Lisa, brother in law Mike, Steve and I, can go to the Totally 80's Prom here in town. I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun! My sister and I found the most awesome dress's and have our cans of Aqua Net all ready to go! LOL!
While everything on the adoption front has been slow, spring sure has made a quick appearance! Everything has dried up enough that we were even able to take Cooper for a walk today...and better yet, light the bbq grill! Steve's boss gave us some smoked venison brats - they were so tasty!
My mom is coming up on Friday afternoon and will be staying through Monday. She is going to watch T and my niece A on Saturday night, so my sister Lisa, brother in law Mike, Steve and I, can go to the Totally 80's Prom here in town. I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun! My sister and I found the most awesome dress's and have our cans of Aqua Net all ready to go! LOL!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
I wish I had some wonderful news to post, but I don't :( We're still waiting....
I've been doing a lot of reading in different adoption forums and on Adopt Us Kids' Facebook page and am feeling very discouraged. There are so many families on those sites who have been waiting a lot longer than we have and still haven't been matched yet. There are a few that are open to sibling groups and still haven't been matched.
I know I shouldn't let that get me down though. I know that when the time is right God will let it happen...I just hope God thinks that the right time is very soon...like April or May perhaps? Haha. T and I were shopping this afternoon and walked by a rack of Easter dress's..I stopped to look at them and he said "Mom, I just know we'll be able to buy one of these soon." Hmm...a child's psychic intuition maybe? LOL! I hope he's right!
In the meantime I thought what a better way to wait out the time, than by socializing with other people who are going through the exact same thing? So I formed the Facebook group Waiting to be matched. Theres ten members already :) It will be nice to be able to share stories and offer support to each other while we wait.
I read the book The Lost Boy, a couple weeks ago, written by David Pelzer. He is also the author of the book A Child Called It. His book explained the feelings of a child going into and living in foster care his entire life. He talked a lot about the abuse he endured from his mother and the way it made him feel. Often times people think a foster or adopted child should feel "grateful" towards their adoptive or foster parents - that they have been saved from a horrible situation. Of course, as a child, they don't understand that. They may feel guilty that their parents are in trouble for the abuse/neglect and deep down all they probably really want is to go home. Parts of the book were a little disturbing, but I think it was a good glimpse of the system through the eyes of a child.
Things at home have been quiet this week. T has school off tomorrow so Steve and I are taking a vacation day and we're going to go to Maplewood State Park snowmobiling for awhile. The trails there are smooth, groomed and family friendly. It's supposed to be 27 degrees tomorrow! Woot Woot!!
Last weekend we spent the weekend with Steve's brother and his family in Fargo at the Holiday Inn. There's a small waterpark there and T and his cousin H had a blast swimming and playing ping pong :) It was nice to get away for the weekend...even if it was only an hour away ;)
Have a good weekend!
I've been doing a lot of reading in different adoption forums and on Adopt Us Kids' Facebook page and am feeling very discouraged. There are so many families on those sites who have been waiting a lot longer than we have and still haven't been matched yet. There are a few that are open to sibling groups and still haven't been matched.
I know I shouldn't let that get me down though. I know that when the time is right God will let it happen...I just hope God thinks that the right time is very soon...like April or May perhaps? Haha. T and I were shopping this afternoon and walked by a rack of Easter dress's..I stopped to look at them and he said "Mom, I just know we'll be able to buy one of these soon." Hmm...a child's psychic intuition maybe? LOL! I hope he's right!
In the meantime I thought what a better way to wait out the time, than by socializing with other people who are going through the exact same thing? So I formed the Facebook group Waiting to be matched. Theres ten members already :) It will be nice to be able to share stories and offer support to each other while we wait.
I read the book The Lost Boy, a couple weeks ago, written by David Pelzer. He is also the author of the book A Child Called It. His book explained the feelings of a child going into and living in foster care his entire life. He talked a lot about the abuse he endured from his mother and the way it made him feel. Often times people think a foster or adopted child should feel "grateful" towards their adoptive or foster parents - that they have been saved from a horrible situation. Of course, as a child, they don't understand that. They may feel guilty that their parents are in trouble for the abuse/neglect and deep down all they probably really want is to go home. Parts of the book were a little disturbing, but I think it was a good glimpse of the system through the eyes of a child.
Things at home have been quiet this week. T has school off tomorrow so Steve and I are taking a vacation day and we're going to go to Maplewood State Park snowmobiling for awhile. The trails there are smooth, groomed and family friendly. It's supposed to be 27 degrees tomorrow! Woot Woot!!
Last weekend we spent the weekend with Steve's brother and his family in Fargo at the Holiday Inn. There's a small waterpark there and T and his cousin H had a blast swimming and playing ping pong :) It was nice to get away for the weekend...even if it was only an hour away ;)
Have a good weekend!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wait...wait...and wait some more :)
Unfortunately, I have no new news to share - just wanted to post a little update and ask for everyones prayers that we get matched soon!!
We're just continuing to keep our fingers (and toes, and arms, and legs...and anything else we can cross ;) crossed that we will hear something very soon!
I also wanted to share that last Sunday I purchased kiddo #2's very first doll from us; an extremly cute Cabbage Patch Kid with long curly hair; it was so much fun picking her out!
Nothing too exciting happening on the home front. Steve and I are bowling for his employer this weekend in the Chamber of Commerce's annual "Battle of the Business's". We've been doing it for the past few years and its always a good time. Then of course Sunday is the big Super Bowl game. We're going to try and make a trip up to my dads this weekend too, to show the farm to a potential buyer.
Hope everyone has a good rest of their week!
We're just continuing to keep our fingers (and toes, and arms, and legs...and anything else we can cross ;) crossed that we will hear something very soon!
I also wanted to share that last Sunday I purchased kiddo #2's very first doll from us; an extremly cute Cabbage Patch Kid with long curly hair; it was so much fun picking her out!
Nothing too exciting happening on the home front. Steve and I are bowling for his employer this weekend in the Chamber of Commerce's annual "Battle of the Business's". We've been doing it for the past few years and its always a good time. Then of course Sunday is the big Super Bowl game. We're going to try and make a trip up to my dads this weekend too, to show the farm to a potential buyer.
Hope everyone has a good rest of their week!
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