2nd Draft

Hello,
In celebration of Fall (my favorite season), I'm typing in orange.

Sarah emailed us last night her recommended changes to our Dear Birthmother letter.  Today we made the changes and emailed it back.  Round 2...DONE.  I'm not sure how many drafts we'll go through, but we anticipate it to take 4-6 weeks before we complete the final draft.  In the meantime we'll be working on taking some pictures for the letter. 

Hugs,
Brenda

Letter

Hello,
Mike and I just emailed the first draft of our Dear Birthmother letter to Sarah.  It was more difficult than we both thought to put on paper our lives, feeling and anticipation of bringing a new baby into our lives.  Now we're drained and will be out of commission for the next few days.  :)  I'm kidding.  I'll let you know when Sarah responds with her comments and recommendations on our letter.  Until then, we wait.
Love,
Brenda

TREEEEEEE

Good moring and happy church day!
Susan Reeg, a lady I used to work with at my last job, came over yesterday to paint a tree on our nursery wall.  I even go in there and helped...with a lot of her guidance, of course.  So, without further ado, here are a few pictures of the progression:

Below is a bookshelf/shoe rack that I had purchased, sanded and repainted.

Have a great day!!!

Hugs,
Brenda

Meeting

Hi!
We had another meeting with Sarah yesterday.  We gave her our signed contract and the 1st half of our adoption fee.  Sarah gave us a binder that included:  forms we need to sign, information about their Facebook page, information about their counseling and support program, a checklist of items to be completed for our next meetings, recommendations on how to write our birthmother letter and some sample birthmother letters.  The forms that we have to complete are:
* Employment verification
* Confirmation of personal knowledge (if other children, previous marriages, health conditions, etc.)
* Liability release of the Adoption Center
* Release of promotional material
* Preference form (in regard to a child)
* Adoptive parents information (financial, SS#, DL#, etc)

We will begin writing our birthmother letter right away.  Once we complete the draft, we'll email it to Sarah and she'll make change recommendations.  Then we'll go back and forth until it's completed and ready for birthmothers' eyes.  We also have to take a handful of pictures for Sarah to choose for the letter.

Once the birthmother letter is finalizes, our pictures are in-hand and our forms are signed, then Sarah will come to our house for the next meeting. 

I'll post again soon.

Love,
Brenda

Next Appointment

Dear loved ones,
We have our next appointment set up with Sarah Jensen at the Adoption Center in 1 week.  It's on Wednesday, October 13th.  We will be spending about an hour and a half with her to give her our signed contract, pay 1/2 our adoption fee and the length of time will be reviewing sample Dear Birth Mom letters.  Our next assignment will be to write our own Dear Birth Mom letter.  Sarah will be helping us along the way, so I feel confident that we'll have a good outcome. 

I changed my mind on a piece of furniture in the nursery.  I'm using the changing table that went with the crib instead of the antique piece we purchased.  I sanded and painted it last Saturday and am happy with the outcome.  I'll post a picture next time.

I've been a little down with a cold since Sunday, so I've been feeling a little lazy.  I'm sure I'll be on the up-and-up very soon.

Love,
Brenda

More...Meeting & Crib

Good morning.  Over the weekend mom came down to paint the crib and put it together.  We spent 1 whole, extremely hot day painting the crib.  We primered the crib, then painted it a milk chocolate brown (2 coats) and lastly painted it white (3 coats).  The next day we put it together and sanded down some of the edges to show the brown through the white.  Here are a couple pictures:

It was hard work, but we completed it.  Thank you mom!!

Mike and I met with Sarah Jensen from the Adoption Center yesterday for a couple hours.  The meeting was for Sarah to get to know us better, learn about our family pasts, how we met, and learn more about our relationship.  She gave us a contract to take home, review and sign.  This morning I'll be calling in to make our next appointment to return the signed contract, pay 1/2 our adoption fee, and have a special education session covering:  a) understanding the details of independent, open adoption and b) preparing the "Dear Birthmother Letter" for potential birthmothers.  Sarah also gave us a book called, "The Open Adoption Experience" by Lois Ruskai Melina and Sharon Kaplan Roszia.  We're going to read it together.

I want to close with this loving scripture from Romans 8:28. 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

XOXO

Meeting & Crib

Hello All,
I'm sorry for not updating the blog recently.  Things have been pretty quiet recently and Mike & I just returned from vacation.  Here is a picture of us in Park City, UT.  (We did a lot of hiking.) :)

While on vacation we received a call to schedule our next appointment at the Adoption Center.  So, we go in on Tuesday, September 28th to meet with the director for 2 hours.  This will be our first in-depth and one-on-one meeting for the adoption.  I'll fill you all in on that meeting next week.

In the meantime, Mike and I sanded down a crib that we had purchased.  This is the crib sanded and in pieces.

Mom is coming this weekend to paint the crib with me.  We're going to paint it a chocolate brown and then antique white over the brown.  Then in certain areas we'll sand the white to show the brown to make it look shabby chic.  When it is all put together I'll post a couple pictures.

A friend was going to come this Saturday to paint the tree on the nursery wall, but she is not able to come until mid-October. 

Things seem to be moving along at a comfortable speed.  I will try to post more often.

Love,
Brenda