Overwhelmed with emotion

We've been submitting our profile to different agencies to present to the "outreach" situations. The situations are posted on websites and Facebook. We read them, pray and then submit our info if we feel led. I told you last week about a local agency. Since then we submitted to one to Georgia.

OK, so here is how it happened, last Thursday before I left the house I browsed Facebook and came across a post about a baby due in May, the agency needed profiles by the following day. I called Joe, we talked and decided to give it a shot. We sent in our profile. To be honest, we forgot about the situation. It was Brooke's birthday weekend and life was just hectic.

We are waiting to hear from the local agency. The EM meets with the CW today. She is due in April.

In the meantime, yesterday, Joe got an email, something about Skype. He called me wanting to know, I had no idea, so he forwarded the email. Low and behold, it was a message from Georgia, the EM wanted to have a Skype meeting with us at 12:30. We don't have Skype, we don't have a webcam...ahhhh! Quick, Apple to the rescue, there's an app for that! I downloaded Skype onto my phone, Joe arranged to come home from work for the meeting.

I spent my morning staying as busy as possible, I just cant sit around and think about the baby all the time. It breaks my heart. Joe got home just in time for the call.

The caseworker called us to tell us how to set Skype up, cause apparently you have to be "friends" before you can make calls. We got it all set up and she called us back to start the conference.

The video on her end didn't work, so all we saw was the logo for the agency. We were very nervous. Joyce, the EM called Joe out on his nerves, but admitted that she too was nervous. Apparently, she had been matched before, but because the baby is biracial the other family backed out (so sad!). I, me, the shy little noodle, dominated the conversation on our end. I had lots I wanted to share. The call lasted 19 minutes. Joyce had another family to call, but would try to make a decision in the evening.

We got an email from the agency in Utah wanting to know if we would like to be presented to an EM due in March. 

Yesterday at 2:48, my phone rang with a Georgia number. I excused myself (Girl Scouts was just about the start, I left my co-leader standing in the kitchen waiting on the girls), went to my room and took the call. It was the CW asking how I felt the call had gone. And then-BAM! She layed it on me, Joyce wants us to be the parents of her baby! After all this time, all the rejections, all the heartache, all the low moments, we are going to have a baby!

I thought I was going to pass out, the room started to spin, I couldn't catch my breath, my brain left my body and I couldn't form a response. I finally regained enough composure to say thank you, voice my excitement, and ask our next steps.

I couldn't share the news-not until Joe knew and not until we told the kids, so I had to go through our girl scout meeting with this giant secret bubbling inside me. I did send Joe a picture, a picture of a positive pregnancy test. Being the doofus that he is, he wasn't quite sure of what I was telling him. He sent a question, I confirmed. After Girl Scouts, he made it home and we took the kids out to dinner to spring the news and celebrate.

Rather than go eat, we pulled off the side of the road to go geocaching. Joe asked where the closest cache was, I replied Georgia. The kids were so confused, what is in Georgia they asked. I very evenly replied, your new baby brother. It took a minute to sink in, but as soon as it did they got super excited and had a gazzillion questions. We answered everything the best we could and then went on to dinner (we never did make it, too many people, so we ate at home).

So there you have it----WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

Now to raise the money needed to bring him home-better get a move on the Both Hands Project. Oh wait, you don't know what that is. I will post that later today. Right now I need to go get the kiddos from school.

Good and not so good

Let's start off with the good. I was able to deliver all of our registration, clearances, and profile books to the agency here in AZ. It was quite the drive! First, I went to the wrong address-it was a UPS store, then I got to the agency and they were out. There was a note for UPS saying to leave packages across the way, so I took my stuff over and asked if I could leave it too. LOL! They said yes, then I emailed, called and left a note under the door letting them know I dropped everything off. They have since let me know that they got everything and our profile will be shown on Wednesday the 6th.

Now for the not so good. :( Never fun to share unpleasant news, but unfortunately the downs are as much a part of adoption as the ups. The CW from Utah sent a text, stating that we were not chosen. She said "so sorry, you guys weren't chosen, hang in there:) " Ugh, could that be just a little bit more impersonal or cold? I thanked her for letting us know and she replied with, others will come. I feel like I am out hunting quail not waiting on God to finish knitting. She also said that we may need a new profile, since we are up against some really well done hard bound books-the competition is steep. I don't want to compete! I just want someone to recognize what a wonderful, loving, kind, open family we are and want to join us. We aren't looking for just a baby, but an extended family as well.

We are saddened and disappointed, but we know that God has a plan, a plan not to harm us, but to prosper us, give us hope and a future!

I really am trying to be positive and happy for the family that was chosen. Who knows, maybe their jpurney has been even more bumpy than ours..................

Oh and to top off my day, Anna/Rachel, whoever she is, decided to send another email letting us know that she has opted to work with a different family. That doesn't bother me much, cause I am almost 100% positive that she is a scam artist. Scamming for what you ask? Nothing! She is simply an emotional scammer. Pretty messed up!



2/7/13*****update on Anna/Rachel-she contacted another member on the FB adoption page, who wanted to refer her to an AZ family so the adoption could stay open, well I happened to be the AZ contact-the other member shared the details of Anna (who is now back to being called Rachel), due in mid June (Was April 20) lives in Yuma (was Paulden)..lots of inconsistencies. So the member asked her about me, haha Rachel told her that I was too close to her and it would make it painful to be so close, she no longer wants an open adoption, and also her and I just couldn't agree on what would be best for baby.What a crock! So yeah, it was a scam, sad though, this girl needs some serious help.

She's looking now!

Holy macaroni, the birthmom in Alabama is looking at our profile right now! We got a text from the CW asking our motivations for adopting.

How in the world are we supposed to function? I don't know what is harder, knowing when you are being presented or not knowing. I suppose that knowing has its own set of difficulties to swallow, like for instance the rejection, the disappointment of not being selected.

If this mom chooses us, we will have to go to Utah when baby is born. One of us will have to stay for 7-10 business days while the states work together to make everything legal. Hmmm, I think a trip to Utah could be quite nice. We obviously would make it a family event. Like an extra Spring break :)

Being presented...

We just got a call from the agency we are working with in Utah. There is a birthmom in Alabama who is due the end of February. She is having a little boy and needs to match with a family. There are only a few family profiles for her to look at, so our odds are pretty good. She will look at profiles next week. We will see!

In the meantime there is an agency here in AZ with a birthmom due in April, looking for families to be presented. We have printed off our information and will be taking everything out to them on Monday. Oh boy oh boy! We could potentially have 2 babies!!! There isn't a ;aw saying you have to wait a certain time frame in between adoptions.

The money?? Um, I don't know. I guess last night when Joe said he doesn't care how much it costs, he just wants a baby--yep, he was heard loud and clear!

Update on Anna/Rachel

Out of the blue she contacted us again to say that she is having a girl. She decided to find out because another family wanted to know. I asked her to send a picture of the ultrasound. She agreed but said she would be blacking out the private information on the image. WHAT?!?!
She never did send the image. She just changed the subject and asked what our pastor thinks if our plan to adopt. Rather than get into it with her, I simply said, we really need to work through the agency. No reply...imagine that.

Crushed

We got an email from a second expectant mom, due in late July. How exciting, we could possibly adopt a baby due in late April then three months later another baby!!! Only something didn't feel right. The first mom, Annam shared lots of info and seemed very genuine. The second mom, Rachel, didn't communicate as frequently so we didn't know much about her.
Anna asked us early on if we would be willing to compromise on names, of course. Rachel asked us if we had a name and we shared the name. She then told us the names she liked-nothing remotely close to ours. That night I felt led to ask Anna what names she had in mind since she wanted to know if we would compromise. Yup, she named OUR name! HUGE RED FLAG! I tried to reason it away and make light if the "coincidence", however, it kept niggling at the back of my mind.
That night-Monday, I decided to do some online sleuthing. First I tried googling both names, nothing. So I went to trusty old Facebook (HAHA, trusty). I wasn't able to find Anna, but to my astonishment, I found Rachel-with Anna's picture and pictures of her son and it said she lives in Oklahoma. WHAT?!?!?!?!?
I asked Anna about it, but was vague, I never mentioned Rachel or Facebook. Anna explained that Rachel is her sister, and she must have contacted us because apparently she is pregnant and placing too. Hmmm, fishy, very very fishy! I accepted her answer though, but was very guarded.
The next day we contacted our CW for help, but of course she was out of the office.
Back to Facebook! I went to one of the adoption sites and mentioned that I felt like we were in a scammer situation. A fellow mom asked me for the names involved so she could research on a yahoo scam board. In the meantime another mom sent me the link to join the yahoo page as well. The first fellow mom emailed me quite quickly with the information she found-Anna and Rachel and the same person, and it is indeed a scam. I guess she was kicked off of the adoptimist web page several times but keeps changing her name to regain access.
I called Anna out on this new revelation, she replied with, "I'm glad you think I'm a liar". I didn't say that. Before I could respond, Rachel sent a message saying she was so sorry, she was just trying to sabotage Anna because she didn't want her to place her baby, and we shouldn't be mad at Anna. I replied to both messages stating that we would be happy to work through the agency if everything truly is legit.
We left a message for our CW right away.
I talked to our CW and explained everything, she said it definitely sounds like a scam and there had been some red flags on their end as well. She would keep me updated.
Wondering why she would scam us-she didn't ask for money. Accirding to our CW & people from the adoption community, scammers like the power and control and just enjoy causing emotional trauma. UGH!
Rather than be angry, we have decided that we will pray for Anna, or whatever her name is. We will use this as a learning experience and a tool to help us grow and stretch in our faith. It's definitely hard, but really what other choice do we have? Being angry and having animosity takes up so much more energy than I am willing to expel on this situation. Moving on....
Yeah, moving on, until I got an email from my CW. Apparently Anna contacted them again and said that someone contacted us using her picture and that her name is on a watch list but she still wants to match with us. First of all, nobody contacted us with her picture, I found that through my snoopy nature and second, I told her that she had to know that the adoption community was talking about her name-so she still wasn't honest with the pregnancy worker. The agency is proceeding with extreme caution. We will not be communicating with Anna or Rachel unless it is through the agency.

Blessings

For Christmas I asked for The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. It's a tiny book, written about a powerful prayer in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. Basically it is a bold prayer cried out by Jabez, a prayer asking God to abundantly bless him, walk with him, expand his borders and keep him far from evil- and God does so! This book challenges the reader to take a bold stand and ask the same things of God. Well, after reading the book, I dared to stand before God and ask Him to bless me, to walk with me, open my horizons and keep my path straight. I did so with an expectant heart and He answered!
We got an email from a girl who is about 5 months pregnant and considering adoption. She found our profile on adoptimist.com. She isn't working with an agency at the moment. So I emailed her back and we have spent the past three days in communication via email. We have talked about all sorts of things, from hobbies to being present during birth. She has contacted our agency and is getting set up with a pregnancy worker. Now of course I know that this does not mean that she is ready to make an adoption plan and that she may decide to look at another family, but in the mean time this is exciting news. I know that God has answered my prayers, what His will is, I am yet to find out, but until then, I plan to show her God's love and be a support system to her.
So, there you have it...a bold, deliberate prayer answered loud and clear. Never underestimate what our God can and will do when we just submit to Him.