Date Update

We have to tell you that working with Bethany Christian Services has been WONDERFUL!!  They are just so on the ball, organized, supportive and all out AMAZING!! So happy we switched.  We also learned the other agency completed out paperwork in the wrong format and once to the state would have been denied, and who knows when the boys would have been able to move in?!  God is good for providing wise council and ability to quickly switch to Bethany.

What now?: Everything is already done and in!!!!! Can you believe it?? What we worked months on was completed in less than a month!  So now Bethany just has to finish up the forms and they plan to submit them by May 30^th. 

When:  Initial movie in date of June 15^th is still possible but unlikely. The adoption worker has seen the process take 10 days in miraculous occasions, but we are more realistically hoping for June 30^th.

Other updates: Hannah’s friends from work had a kid shower for us and it was incredibly thoughtful, supportive, and encouraging!!  Hannah’s personal note: I can hardly believe I have known these ladies for less than two years and yet they feel so much like family and such a key part of our “Village!” LOVE THEM!!  As a "mom-to-be" I truly felt like I had the experience of a baby shower as I sat there unwrapping Legos, a football, books, etc…it was so cool, I loved listening to other’s advice and feeling their support.  I felt love and excitement in air for us!!

At family therapy we each had to say in thing we like about each other. The youngest child said he liked me because, "she has a good heart and takes good care if us and makes good dinners." About Beaver he said, "he has a good sense if humor and makes me laugh."

We are certainly learning together every time we are together!  The adoption worker said she thought they would need longer to adjust but now sees they are really bonding and ready to move in...pray the paperwork goes through quickly!! They so need stability and consistent environment!

A baker's dozen of important lessons learned this week.

1. When it has been raining, check the playground slide before allowing the child to slide down…unless it’s a lot warmer and he’s not wearing jeans. We all got a good LAUGH out of this one.
2. Being “Soccer Parents” means you SECRETLY hope children on the other team fail, and you want to smack the "parental sideline coaches…hard!”
3. Make everyone pee before leaving home….having to pee is a very CONVENIENT excuse to make pit stops in order to beg for pop and candy.
4. Find BORING pit stops (see number 3)
5. Kid hugs are AWESOME!
6. When a 9 year old boy runs around to open your car door, your heart MELTS!
7. If you torment the goose enough, it will eventually CHASE you, If you scream, run, and throw your back pack at said goose, it will snatch it up and take it to the middle of the pond and drop it in!
8. Four shoes without laces equals the number of times a boy has made a lace/stick fishing poles in HOPES to catch a big one down at the creek.
9. After much hurt, trust takes time…glimpses of it are SWEET!
10. The "Honeymoon Period” was short and sweet. Despite the trials and testing children are scared, hurting, and LONGING for love and acceptance.
11. The sound of little boy giggles is DELIGHTFUL!!
12. It takes a village - Village, you know who you all are and we THANK YOU!!!
13. Being a parent is fun, scary, emotional, tough, exciting, humbling, fantastic, and EXHAUSTING…..good night friends and fellow villagers! 

XO, H&B