Visit to Grandma's House

I didn't look at the adoption agency site all weekend. I'm quite proud of that accomplishment. (Ok, I was up north visiting my grandma and couldn't get Internet access.) So, of course, I checked this morning and lo and behold another match was made - not Dan and I. It's good that there is action, but goodness gracious. Dan keeps the positive outlook for us. Our odds do increase as couples move to the 'matched and waiting' category. Eventually a birthmother will have to choose us, right?

I mentioned visiting my grandma earlier. She is 91 and wouldn't be very happy about me sharing that fact, but I believe she should wear her age proudly. During the visit, she mentioned that someone on my grandfather's side adopted a child. She didn't know many details, but oddly, I found it comforting. She gave me several pieces of family history which I still need to read through. I'm hoping there will be more information in there.

I also noticed all of the photos and the cards and the coloring book pages she has hanging up from my nephews. She asks about them and obviously having those three great-grandsons means so much to her. Although I don't think my child will ever truly know her, I do hope that my grandma gets to meet him or her.

Until next time.
-Jodi

Moving Up

There are currently three couples considered "matched and waiting" at the agency we work with. We've now moved to the top row of the couples "waiting," which means ... we've been waiting a long time. Fourth longest to be exact. No real surprise there. We knew it wouldn't happen overnight. But we still dreamed it would happen that way. Feelings vary daily and it depends on if the head or heart is driving the thought process at that moment.

We wanted to thank those people who emailed us with suggestions for our online profile and of course for the encouragement. We have incredible friends and family. We're compiling comments and will email changes to our adoption agency in the upcoming weeks. Dan and I are also discussing becoming a bit more aggressive in our own search for a birthmother. That's not an easy task and we're researching the best way to go about it so we protect all involved. In the end, it's about a child. It's not a race, it's a lifelong journey.

I hope everyone enjoys their extended weekends for Memorial Day - the unofficial start of summer. -Jodi

Mid-May Update

We received a small update from the adoption agency last week. No matches for us. I believe there was one potential match, but the birthmother chose another couple. There has been an increase in the number of waiting couples. Due to some of the recent holds and changes in the international adoption programs, they are seeing an increase in the domestic adoption programs.
We've looked at our online profile so many times, I'm not sure what changes to make, if any. That said, I'd love for others to check out our online profile and post some comments or suggestions here. Any little thing may help. You know us and sometimes it is difficult to critique yourself. Thanks. -Jodi

April - no matching

Today we followed up with the adoption agency and unfortunately there weren't any new birthmothers that matched with us for the month of April, so our portfolio hasn't been shown. We haven't received the web stats update, but that will let us know how much activity is on the site and how many times our online profile was viewed. That's always a tricky stat because I know I check out the site to see if new couples have been added to the mix or what couples were moved to the "matched and waiting" section. If I do it, I can only imagine other couples do as well. (Or maybe people aren't as nosey as me. Nah, that couldn't be.)

Have a good weekend! - Jodi

The Selection Process

It's been a little more than a week, and guess what ... we're still waiting. (Gee, won't this be an exciting blog.) Since there hasn't been much movement this past week, I thought I'd update on how the actual selection process works.

After Dan and I were officially approved, we took on the big task of building our portfolio: a big binder describing our relationship, home, lifestyle, family, friends and our hopes and dreams of making parenthood a reality. This portfolio is filled with photos too, because we felt it meant more to see us then to just tell about us. Sounds like an easy task, but it is tougher than you think to talk about yourself. I agonzied over photos and words, but in the end, we realized that we just needed to be us and that the best situation will work out because of that.

The binder is housed at Adoption Services, Inc. and if we're a "match" to a potential birthmother and/or birthfather, they view our portfolio and any other "couple matches." From there they can choose a couple or maybe several to meet in person. We haven't made it to this step yet. We do know that our portfolio has been viewed by a handful of birthmothers, but no phone calls just yet. Now that we've been waiting for a few months, we recently made some adjustments to the portfolio and have the new and improved version on display.

While we wait, we think of baby names, look at baby clothes, buy baby toys, etc. I have some great friends who have reminded me that it's okay to do a little baby shopping, so we'll be visiting Babies R Us in the upcoming weeks and maybe picking up a few essentials so when we get that exciting call ... we'll be ready. Well, as ready as we can be.
-Jodi

Adoption Process - Just the Beginning

We've started this blog so we can share our exciting journey toward parenthood through an adoption plan. We made the decision to adopt after 8 1/2 years of marriage and many years of trying to conceive a child. For a couple of years, we researched, discussed, researched some more and in January 2007, we started the paperwork for a domestic adoption and by August 2007 we were approved as foster parents and officially considered "waiting." And it really is just that, we wait, and wait, and wait, and hope too, that we'll get that exciting call everyday. Because there is a lot of waiting in the process, I thought this would be a convenient way for everyone to get updates on our journey. We're so excited about this life-changing decision, because we know it was what we were meant to do. Check back and we'll fill you in on the waiting and hopefully ... the exciting call when it happens. In the meantime, feel free to check out our online profile at Adoption Services, Inc. -Jodi