GREAT NEWS!

We have so much JOY right now to share some great news with you all.

We met with a birth mother yesterday who decided she wants to give her baby to us!!!! 

FAQ:

Q: How old is she?

A: She is 21 years old and just so beautiful and sweet. 

Q. Does she have any kids?

A: She has 2 little boys already, ages 1 and 2. I think her hands are just full at this point, and she is basically single parenting. But this will still be a VERY difficult decision to follow through with, as it would be for any mother so we need to continue praying that she feels confidence in us and in her decision. 

Q: When is she due?

A: September 23rd, 2011!!! Very soon...this is 6 weeks from tomorrow. She would like me to be in the delivery room with her, and Kev will just be waiting at the hospital while she labors and delivers. Her hospital is in Illinois, and so we will be living in Illinois for a couple weeks until we are legally allowed to bring the baby across state lines. She will have 72 hours after the baby is due to change her mind, so we will need to COVER her in prayer as this will be a huge loss for her.

Q: Race of baby?

A: The baby will be 1/4 hispanic, 3/4 Caucasian! Mommy is half hispanic and birth dad is white. Birth dad isn't in the pic anymore due to abuse, so we need to pray for protection for mom at this point. 

Q: Boy or girl?

A: Baby boy!! We have a name picked out, but don't ask. :) It's a secret until he is officially our baby. 

Q: Open, semi-open, or closed adoption?

A: She wants an open adoption, which is a little scary for us but also exciting! We are praying for continued bonding between us as the next few weeks progress and praying that it will be an appropriate and awesome match. This means we will coordinate times to meet and she will get to see the baby/meet him and watch him grow. We don't want to keep the adoption a secret from our children at all, it's something to celebrate! However, it won't likely be a 'close' friendship. We are going to feel it out, so we can't say for sure but we probably won't see her more than a couple/few times each year. They definitely let us decide what we're comfortable with, so we're praying about it and trusting God with the details.

That should pretty much cover the basic questions, feel free to email, call, or hang out with us to talk about any more questions you may have. 

Another thing we want to hilight is how God's provision is just over us. Adding to our excitement and peace about the situation,...we are literally OVERWHELMED with joy and thankfulness for all of your prayers and  generosity. It's just amazing. We have raised over $2,000 dollars already, and are hoping to raise at least 1,000 more at our fundraiser on August 20th and T-shirt sales! This will allow us to cover the $5,500 we owe when the baby is born, and then we will owe another $4,500 over the next year. Obviously, this isn't something we can put a "price" on, and every penny is so worth it. Thank you for giving and praying and buying T-shirts. I registered at Target and Babies 'R Us yesterday when I got the good news (with my good friend Katy who gave me some good mommy tips and insight.) 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. And we ask you to continue covering the birthmom and our new baby boy in prayer. This could be it (and we definitely know to keep our expectations in check in case it falls through), so it's totally out of our control and we're just trusting and praying, with great hope and expectation.