Click!

So it has definitely been a bit too long since our last post and we’ve had a lot of people ask us if we are still adopting since we now have little baby Allie. I can say with absolute surety that YES!, we are absolutely still adopting. Granted, having Allie when we did was not exactly according to plan but if we’ve learned anything through this process it’s that God does not care what you think your ‘perfect’ plan is but rather He knows what your perfect plan is. We have learned to trust and abide by His plan while putting off our ‘perfect plan’ because life doesn’t always happen that way.


Allie has greatly enriched our lives and further fortified our desire to adopt. Over the last 7 months, we have watched her grow, learn things, have lots of fun, meet new people, see new things, be upset, be happy and adapt to her new life in the world. There were definitely some late, long nights and some early mornings when it was easy to question ourselves as parents and wonder if we were doing it ‘right’. However, during those nights when I was up holding Allie while she cried or while she slept on me, my mind often reverted to the thought or where my son was at that moment. Being the man’s man that I am, I instantly teared up at the thought that no one was there to hold him, comfort him, give him a bedtime bottle or rock him to sleep. It breaks my heart to think that there are so many orphans in the world, over 200 million, that do not have a parent to care for them and make them feel special. We know when Allie cries that she needs something and it’s always something simple that she needs and we can fulfill it easy. However, when you read about Eastern European orphanages, you find that they are severely understaffed and not able to provide for the needs of each child. Children don’t have the benefit of bedtime stories, cuddling or even clean diapers because there simply aren’t enough hands to go around and help out. When I think about that it makes me want to do everything possible to get Dane in our arms as fast as possible.

Throughout this process, Nik and I have been focused on bettering the life of an orphan, our child. As we have researched countries, agencies, funding, etc. we have begun to realize that as much as our future son needs us, we need him. God made us for each other and he has selected a little boy for us out there in the world that will enrich our lives in ways we could never imagine. We only hope that we can return the favor to our little man.

Just as an update, now that Allie is 7 months old (most agencies require your kids be at least 6 months old) we feel God pushing us forward in our adoption and telling us to get a move on! We are planning on adopting from Eastern Europe and have narrowed down our agency to either Little Miracles or Adoption Ark based on which country we end up adopting from. No matter where or when, one thing that doesn’t change is the need to fund this operation. We’ve been saving and raising money over the past year and half; we can never adequately thank those who have made donations to our adoption! The outpouring of love and support has been amazing to see and we have truly been blessed by all of you. Thank you all so much! We have raised about half of the funds we need and we have a goal to be 100% funded by the end of the year. With that goal in mind, we have launched a new venture to help us fund our adoption….



We’re proud to introduce ‘Click! Photo Booths’ as our new, exciting endeavor/fundraiser for Dane! Nikki and I have been to a few events over the last couple of years where photo booths were used and have always marvelled at how awesome and fun they are. We talked about starting this business about a year ago and somehow became distracted with other things. Since Nik is such a talented photographer, it’s a natural extension of her business but also a fun way to reach our financial goal! Our plan is to use 100% of the profits from our rentals to fund the adoption until we are fully funded =) The booth is excellent for birthday parties, weddings, corporate events, rehearsal dinners, etc. We have had so much fun setting this up together. This is the first business adventure we have taken as husband and wife and our common goal of getting our son home has made it that much more exciting. Our first booth itself is truly awesome... Thanks to the designing talent of my beautiful wife. She sketches, I build. We’re interested in delivering the full package, all the way down to custom event graphics printed on each strip. So look us up on Facebook or on the new website click-photo-booths.com for more information and help us reach our financial goal by the end of the year!

Our good friend Christie and her fiance Bryan were married this past weekend and we were able to give our new booth a trial run at the wedding. Here are some shots of all the fun we had!

We are planning our home study for November of this year. Thanks to everyone again for the support and prayers! We are in awe of the power of adoption and how it has moved through our community. We congratulate our friends and lifegroup members the Bakers and Fickeys as they have made big strides towards their own adoptions in the past few weeks. We know there will be many more families to follow. If you’re interested in adoption yourselves, they have also started an adoption ministry called Reclaimed to walk with families through the adoption process. They’re meeting on Thursday nights and I know the Bakers or Fickeys would love to give you more information about it. If you haven’t already, you should check out their blogs, here and here, and read all about their journeys.

-Josh

Patience

Patience: Quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care. 


This is the definition of patience as it relates to my experiences in motherhood so far. "Even-Tempered Care" hit it spot on as a matter of fact. I have never been a patient person. My clients tell me on a daily basis, as I am molding their newborn babies into photo worthy positions inch by inch as they sleep, that I "must be the most patient person in the world." Negative. I have a temper, am a bit of a control freak and am often grouchy and just plain mean when things don't go my way. Ask my husband. He knows. Which is why I am feeling continually surprised, if not completely in awe of my display of patience over the last 18 weeks towards my ever-changing and sometimes challenging daughter. You'd be impressed mom. When things get messy (literally), loud and downright crazy, It's with quiet and steady perseverance than I am able to make it to bedtime. She is teaching me things I never thought I would learn. Things I never thought I was capable of learning. Patience has many other definitions. This definition...


 An ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.


Is another virtue my darling daughter has gifted me. Long before she was even a bun in my oven. We waited for her. We prayed for her. We waited some more and more and more. We got angry and mad and annoyed and restless and then... One day it stopped. It's exhausting, you know. To pour so much into something you can't control. So we took a step back from ourselves. We felt peace and calm and thankfulness for what we had. We were still waiting, but were willing to. And then... As if she knew we were ready for her, she came down from her little spot in heaven to us. Oh, beautiful girl! What felt so long was suddenly timeless. I will not pretend to know the plan of God in our lives. But I have no doubt that patience is something He wanted us to learn before we embarked on our journey of adoption. I hear it takes awhile. Yes, yes, this might be true. But if there is anything we have learned, we know it will be worth the wait. 


We're EXCITED to test our patience. Bring it. We've got a goal set for October 1st 2012. It's a monetary goal a.k.a. extreme patience tester. But we are excited to challenge ourselves. And when we reach it, and I know we will! We'll finally rolling on this adoption journey! 

Alessandra

Months have passed since our last blog post... about 9 to be exact. One month after our second miscarriage we found out that we were pregnant...again! What a circus ride. Of course, following our second loss, we assumed we knew for certain now what God had in mind for us. But as we are always discovering and never finished learning, we don't know at all what God is up to. Our third pregnancy came with plenty of emotions. Absolute dread and fear were at the top of my list. I was terrified of the disappointment I was sure was coming. To my surprise and our joy, that little bean kept growing... and growing and growing! And on January 12, 2012 a beautiful 8lb 10oz baby girl was born into our eager arms. We named her Alessandra. Defender of humanity. And that is our prayer for her. That sh
e would grow a heart for all people and show God's love to the world.

She is pure joy. A lot of work, a lot of sleepless nights and tired days... But when I look at her, I can't help but see a beautiful miracle. God's promise, our faith, a life lesson right there on her face. We intend to raise her in a way that reveals God's amazing love for her and His world.

Late one night, as I went to get Allie from her crib for that 2am feeding, I found her so wet that she had soaked through her pj's and her swaddling blanket. It broke my heart that she had been laying like that for who knows how long. I changed her diaper, wiped her down and put clean clothes on her. I sang her, "you are my sunshine," I swaddled her in a clean blanket and while she ate, I rocked her and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Honestly, I didn't expect to be thinking about adoption again this soon after Allie was born. But there I was in tears at the thought of the countless babies in this world who depend on the love of an adult that simply is not there. As a new mom, I want to be the one that rescues her. From a nightmare, from a pain, from a soaking wet diaper. Some people want to know if we are still planning to adopt since we now have Allie. More than ever the answer is YES. With more urgency than ever before, we want our son home.