National Adoption Month

I'm sorry for being gone from my blog for so long... I've had a crazy week that I'll have to write about in different posts. But for today, I just want to bring attention to November being National Adoption Month. Adoption has always been in the question (in that it wasn't out of the question) as far as building our family. Even before the whole IF stuff.

And it's November. Which is my birthday month. So that makes this even cooler. In case you were wondering...

In the beginning, I thought adoption for our family would mean international in addition to our biological children. While that's not the path we're currently on, this video really speaks to me.

License to...

foster! We got the call today that we are officially licensed for foster care! I immediately started jumping up and down in my classroom and then went running to some of my teammates' rooms to tell them the news. After all that, I realized in my excitement that I hadn't told D yet, so I rushed back to call him. We're both so excited, but terrified at the same time. As D said tonight, "Les, usually you get nine months to get used to the idea of being a father. But now, I could become a dad overnight."

Yes, D, you could.

And I can become a mom.

This Time

This time last year, I was innocent. Naive, you might even say. D and I were living it up! Finally, we could afford to do things we wanted to do... like Texas football games. And eating out when I didn't feel like cooking. Buying an article of clothing because I wanted it, not necessarily needing it. Continuing to make our house a home with countless trips to Target, Pier 1, and the occasional Pottery Barn (outlet, of course- we still weren't made of money!) trip.

At the same time, we had been trying to start a family for over a year. We were desperate to see those two lines, hear the heartbeat, hold our little one in our arms. And we hadn't experienced this yet. We were confused. Isn't this supposed to be the easy part? Isn't this what we've been trying to prevent all these years, only to find out it's not as simple as we once thought?

So we went searching for answers.

And this time last year, we got our first answer. Which led us to many other questions. And answers that left us still wondering if this would ever happen for us. Seven months of drawn out doctor's appointments. Nervously sitting in the waiting room. Dealing with the shame you feel thinking that people know why you're there, that somehow you're a second-class citizen, embarrassed to be the youngest people waiting to see a urologist.

But this year is different.
We're still waiting, but to be licensed foster parents.
We're still nervous, but about the child we're going to have in our home.
We no longer think that we're second-class citizens- we're just building our family differently than others.

And when we have our money saved up and feel ready to tackle IVF, we'll proudly be the young patients waiting to see the urologist.

Muffins with Mom

photo taken by my wonderful homeroom mom

Yesterday, my class invited their moms to have breakfast with us. They made a cute gift for them using their fingerprints and then told me things about their mom, which I read to the group. It's so funny to hear how old they think their moms are. The "youngest" mom was 5 while the "oldest" was 69. Of course the moms are no where close to these ages, so everyone got a laugh out of it.

I debated sharing our "almost" foster news with the group ( I mean, what better time than when we're celebrating how special our moms are?), but I decided since I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer.

And since we're all so anxious to one day become moms, how about a laugh at some of the ridiculous things out there for parents to buy for their child?

Who doesn't want ultrasound cuff links?

Raising germophobes from an early age... I actually have a friend who would probably buy these. I've joked about getting her the purse size Lysol can.

Really? Really! Dis.gust.ing. For the child who wants to cuddle with their bodily functions...

Not just any teddy bear... a bear made out of placenta!

Because taking the knife out of the drawer to cut the hot dog would just be too much!

Have a great weekend!

Foster is Our Middle Name

(almost)!

We got a call this evening from our AFS who was so sweet to get permission from her supervisor to update us on the process since it's (apparently) been a longer process than usual. She said we've passed the first round and now the state director just has to sign off on us, which should *fingers crossed* happen early next week. Thankfully, she also told us that there's no reason they wouldn't partner with us, so at this point in the conversation, I feel like we're sitting pretty good.

Then she dropped a bomb.

I don't want to be dramatic, but when she told us that they had a placement that day that they "heavily considered us for", my jaw almost hit the floor. She also said that we are talked about a lot in the office, which I feel is a good thing. If they're talking about us, then they'll be thinking about us for placements.

*sings* I'm so excited! I just can't hide it!

Oh my goodness. We're so close to becoming parents. Eeeek!

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The good: I had a relaxing weekend at home. Well, relaxing except during the Texas-OU game, but we had friends over and we were all able to keep our sense of humor over the play calling of the game. This is a huge improvement for me- I would normally be so nervous, anxious, etc. that my friends and D have joked about putting me on some type of medicine to calm me down. Anyway, my fall decorations are up, laundry is done and put away, and my house is clean. I should be ready to start the week.

The bad: Key word in sentence above: "should". Tomorrow is Monday. And I don't want to go to school. My class is tough. Really tough. And sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is baby-sitting. Which is fine in a daycare. But not at school. I think I'm going to talk to my principal this week and see if I can get any extra help. She's been really supportive of us during the whole foster care stuff and frequently stops me in the hall to ask for updates. So hopefully she'll find some help for me.

The ugly: my toes. No really, they are. I painted them a navy blue last Friday, but it doesn't look blue at all. It's black. And while black can look really cute on some girls' toes (case in point- my sister-in-law), it does not look cute on mine. Now it's chipping, so I look like a leftover from Halloween. Speaking of Halloween, I don't even want to write this because then it probably won't happen- but I'm really hoping we have a placement before then so D and I can take them trick or treating this year. Or if they're too little, at least get a cute Halloween outfit.

Fingers crossed that we hear something this week!

Two Day Vacation... Not!

That's right. I had a two day vacation, relaxing at home with a stomach bug Tuesday and Wednesday. After eating crackers and drinking Sprite for two days, I was so glad to finally be able to eat real food last night for dinner. And today, it was back to school for me. Did my class take it easy on me... thinking it might be nice to ease the teacher back into the craziness? In a word- nope. And somehow I actually woke up this morning, excited to see my kids again. That lasted until about 9:15 when I was shooing them out the door for their morning recess (which my aid so graciously did my duty for me). The day was awful and I'm exhausted.

But let's not dwell on that. Thankfully, tomorrow's Friday (jean day!) and I always treat myself to Chick fil-a for lunch. Those two things already make the day 100x better!

While I was at home sick on Wednesday, our AFS called and told me she should have good news for us "very, very soon." I'm so anxious just to know if we're licensed. In other good news, they also asked us if we would be willing to baby-sit a one year-old this Saturday while the foster parents attend an adoption conference. We happily agreed, but found out today they will actually be able to access childcare through the conference. The good part about the whole situation is that, as D put it, "Les, they wouldn't ask us to take care of a foster child if they were going to reject us and not license us." Which is true. So that has calmed my fears of not getting licensed.

Plans for this weekend include watching the Red River Rivalry game with friends on Saturday (not looking forward to the outcome of that one), possibly going to see Social Network (it just seems right to do since I was a freshman in college when facebook opened to other colleges), and getting my house all Fall-ified! From pumpkins, to garland on the mantel, to a new fall wreath to grace my door, my house should definitely put me in the mood for a new season! Happy Fall!