Saturday, December 18, 2010
Christmas is Almost Here!!
We are so excited that Christmas is literally right around the corner. We are excited to be close to family for the holiday, and we are looking forward to going to New England. It has been 5 years since we had Christmas in New England! The last time we were their for the holiday, Paul and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary (of dating). That was December 26, 2005. We had recently bought our first home, and Paul and Donnie had officially been Florida residents for six months. Now, five years later, we have gotten married, been foster parents, sold our home, moved into the home my inlaws purchased in Florida as a future retirement home, adopted our son, and purchased our second home. We hope to be in this home for a long time! Most recently, we had family pictures done. My friend Teresa did them for us. She is a really good photographer and has a small photog business on the side (she daylights as a nurse). Here is a sneak peak at some of the pictures we had done. We had them done at Lake Mirror in downtown Lakeland!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Our Journey Thus Far...
It has taken me quite sometime to get to the point where I felt comfortable posting about our journey to add to our family. It is not something that I felt we should blog about openly, but with so many of our family and friends supporting us and following our trials and tribulations, I felt that maybe it would be helpful and therapeutic for me, as well as my family, if I opened up about it more on this blog. I mean, this blog has been such a wonderful place to document our lives so far. So, why not? You have watched us get married, and adopt our darling son Isaiah. Why not discuss our journey trying to add to our family of three?
Let me backtrack a little. Paul and I made the conscious decision to try to expand our family in July of 2009. We thought the answer was simple...try and you shall succeed. Well, it was a very busy time...I was getting ready to start my new job as a guidance counselor, and we were getting ready to close on our house. We were also awaiting the date for our adoption finalization on Isaiah. So, when we did not succeed in getting pregnant right away, it was okay. We did not think much about it. But, as the months rolled by, we started to question whether or not we were able to HAVE kids. So, we both ended up getting testing done. I won't go into all of the details, but it was about mid September 2010 when we finally found out that we were infertile.
So, the question loomed...how do we proceed? Many people take IVF as the next course of action. For us, we talked long and hard about it. We really felt that putting thousands of dollars into IVF was not where we wanted to go with our money. It had no guarantees, and we really didn't want to go down another road that would only bring heartache and unanswered questions...so we took a hard look at our current situation. Didn't God bless us with an amazing son? Did it matter that he was not biologically ours? We finally realized that we felt we were meant to expand our family in the form of adoption. Now that the decision was made, we were not quite sure how to proceed.
I turned to a friend of a friend. She is an adoption counselor at one of the local adoption agencies. I had gotten to know her pretty well, and felt comfortable confiding in her about our current struggle. She offered to meet with Paul and I, and give us all the information we needed in order to consider adopting through the agency she worked for. Everything sounded wonderful, and it was something we really wanted to do, but there was one huge problem. The money involved. It was a hefty charge to do what needed to be done in order to adopt a newborn baby, and we were not sure we could actually put all of that money together. At least, not without some serious work at it. So, with heavy hearts, we told her that we did not think we could work with her agency, and explained our reasons why. She was so understanding about it. She gave us lots of resources, and wished us well. We decided to look into other areas of adoption.
We thought it would be easy. We even considered fostering again, so that God may bless us with another child like he did with Isaiah. We did not anticipate hitting road blocks with this as well. We found out that foster parents were only being licensed to do just that...foster. So, if you ended up wanting to adopt the child you were fostering, it was not an easy task. The state was now transitioning children in care for over a year or more to adoptive homes. With the number of adoptive homes wanting babies and toddlers, they would not even license us again as an adoptive home because they were only taking applications for adoptive families interested in adopting older children....and by older children, I mean 10 years old and up. So, yet again another door was closed in our face.
You would think by now the process would FINALLY get easier. But, we looked into agency after agency, and either they wanted WAY too much money to do the paperwork and legal aspects of adopting a baby, or they would not even work with us because we were not of a certain religious faith. So. We find ourselves back at square one.
Most recently, I began researching adoption grants. You cannot apply for any of these grants until you have an approved home study completed by the agency you have decided to work with, so until then we cannot apply, but at least there *might* be some reprieve out their. I have also attempted to get back into contact with the social worker we ORIGINALLY met with. It feels right to us now, to reach out to her again and get the process going through them. We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that, a. our baby finds us, and b. that God blesses us with the means of financially doing this! So, until then we are waiting. Waiting for her to get back with us and let us know that we are on board to work with her and her agency. Waiting for the information we need in order to move forward.
Phew! I did not intend for this initial post to be SO long, but now that I have gotten you up to speed on everything, the rest should fall into place!! God Bless.
Love, Us!
Let me backtrack a little. Paul and I made the conscious decision to try to expand our family in July of 2009. We thought the answer was simple...try and you shall succeed. Well, it was a very busy time...I was getting ready to start my new job as a guidance counselor, and we were getting ready to close on our house. We were also awaiting the date for our adoption finalization on Isaiah. So, when we did not succeed in getting pregnant right away, it was okay. We did not think much about it. But, as the months rolled by, we started to question whether or not we were able to HAVE kids. So, we both ended up getting testing done. I won't go into all of the details, but it was about mid September 2010 when we finally found out that we were infertile.
So, the question loomed...how do we proceed? Many people take IVF as the next course of action. For us, we talked long and hard about it. We really felt that putting thousands of dollars into IVF was not where we wanted to go with our money. It had no guarantees, and we really didn't want to go down another road that would only bring heartache and unanswered questions...so we took a hard look at our current situation. Didn't God bless us with an amazing son? Did it matter that he was not biologically ours? We finally realized that we felt we were meant to expand our family in the form of adoption. Now that the decision was made, we were not quite sure how to proceed.
I turned to a friend of a friend. She is an adoption counselor at one of the local adoption agencies. I had gotten to know her pretty well, and felt comfortable confiding in her about our current struggle. She offered to meet with Paul and I, and give us all the information we needed in order to consider adopting through the agency she worked for. Everything sounded wonderful, and it was something we really wanted to do, but there was one huge problem. The money involved. It was a hefty charge to do what needed to be done in order to adopt a newborn baby, and we were not sure we could actually put all of that money together. At least, not without some serious work at it. So, with heavy hearts, we told her that we did not think we could work with her agency, and explained our reasons why. She was so understanding about it. She gave us lots of resources, and wished us well. We decided to look into other areas of adoption.
We thought it would be easy. We even considered fostering again, so that God may bless us with another child like he did with Isaiah. We did not anticipate hitting road blocks with this as well. We found out that foster parents were only being licensed to do just that...foster. So, if you ended up wanting to adopt the child you were fostering, it was not an easy task. The state was now transitioning children in care for over a year or more to adoptive homes. With the number of adoptive homes wanting babies and toddlers, they would not even license us again as an adoptive home because they were only taking applications for adoptive families interested in adopting older children....and by older children, I mean 10 years old and up. So, yet again another door was closed in our face.
You would think by now the process would FINALLY get easier. But, we looked into agency after agency, and either they wanted WAY too much money to do the paperwork and legal aspects of adopting a baby, or they would not even work with us because we were not of a certain religious faith. So. We find ourselves back at square one.
Most recently, I began researching adoption grants. You cannot apply for any of these grants until you have an approved home study completed by the agency you have decided to work with, so until then we cannot apply, but at least there *might* be some reprieve out their. I have also attempted to get back into contact with the social worker we ORIGINALLY met with. It feels right to us now, to reach out to her again and get the process going through them. We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that, a. our baby finds us, and b. that God blesses us with the means of financially doing this! So, until then we are waiting. Waiting for her to get back with us and let us know that we are on board to work with her and her agency. Waiting for the information we need in order to move forward.
Phew! I did not intend for this initial post to be SO long, but now that I have gotten you up to speed on everything, the rest should fall into place!! God Bless.
Love, Us!
Deck the Halls!
Isaiah is still overjoyed for the holidays! It is so funny to watch him get excited for Christmas, and the soon arrival of Santa! In fact, we have been trying to teach him that Santa watches over and sees when he makes good choices and bad choices, and that he then decides if he should get his presents or not. So, I also invested in the "Elf on the Shelf." So cute. It is a little elf that comes to your home and sits and watches you to see if you are behaving. You read this whole story on the elf together as a family, and then you name your Elf. Each night, while you are sleeping, the elf goes and flies off to Santa and reports on your behavior. He then shows back up to your house, and when you wake up he is in another spot. So fun for him to look for his elf. Isaiah named ours Elfabet.
We finally have all of our holidays decorations up, and now we just need to sit back and wait for the holidays to arrive!
Merry Christmas!
Love, Us!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Thanksgiving Cheer
Happy Turkey Day! I hope your holiday was cheery and bright! We had a wild and crazy week, but it was fun to be with family. My in laws flew into town on Monday, and Isaiah and I were off for the week from school. Monday and Tuesday were spent getting ready for the big turkey feast known as Thanksgiving! We had a great holiday and boy did the week go by fast! Before I knew it, we were back at school on Monday. Now, we are counting down to our 2 week vacation from school for Christmas, and our upcoming trip to New England! YAY! Here are some turkey day pics!!
Love, Us!
Love, Us!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tom Brady is mine!!!!
Sooooo, Thanksgiving Break from school FINALLY came. I thought that I would have a pretty uneventful weekend, getting the house ready before my in laws came into town for turkey day. Boy, was I wrong! It all started Sunday night when a friend of mine posted on Face book that she had rescued a poor kitten out of a storm ditch. She posted pics of the kitten and said she was looking for a good home for him to go to. I fell instantly in love with the kitten and I didn't even know him yet. I begged, and begged and BEGGED to Paul for us to adopt him, but he was weary of another animal...(refresher: we already have two dogs, a cat and a fish). He was afraid the cat would destroy our house (I mean, seriously, how lucky can you get with TWO cats being awesome??) Our cat Baby is already the best, but I have heard so many horror stories about cats that are insanely misbehaved, so we were hesitant. I showed him the pics of the poor lil guy, and I think he instantly fell in love too! But, he still said no.
The next morning I still was on the kitten kick. I really felt like the kitty would be a good fit for our home. Paul finally caved, and asked Isaiah if he wanted a kitten. Isaiah said yes, so within a couple of hours the adorable little guy was ours!
Isaiah really wanted to name the kitty...but he kept wanting to name him after our friends babies...aka, Baby Anthony and Baby Jordan. Then he wanted to name him after our neighbor's cat, Charlie. Finally, after I said something about the Patriots, Isaiah said Brady. So he was named Brady...but, really he is called Tom Brady around here and Isaiah will correct you if you call him otherwise! Brady has fit in SO well with our family, and is the cuddliest little guy you could ever imagine!!!! He loves to be held and loves to be around people. He has been sleeping at night on my pillow right next to head! He truly is a blessing, and what a great blessing at this time of year!
More to come!
Love, Us!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
School Auction!!
This past Thursday night, the school I work for held their annual auction. Anybody can donate items to be auctioned, and many of the teachers, staff, and families donated items. Then tons of local businesses also donated items, which is awesome because lots of the things were Disney or Orlando related...like rounds of golf, resort stays, tickets to Disney etc. I knew I was not attending the auction, as I had plans already that night. So, really I had barely even thought twice about it.
Then one day, earlier in the week I walked into the main office to fax some paperwork, and THERE IT WAS! This unbelievable painting on a beautiful easel. Someone had donated it for the auction, and it was just breathtaking. The awesome ladies in the office kept it out in the office on display as it was a great way to remind people of the auction when they asked about it, and believe me everyone asked about it! Every time from that moment on that I went into the office, I just could not stop gawking over it. Finally, one of the secretaries told me that if I wanted to bid on it, she would bid for me. So, it was set. I was going to try to win the amazing painting. I know, I know...I am just proving how deeply I am obsessed with home interiors. LOL.
So, the auction went off without a hitch. People began posting pics of the things they one on Face book. I wondered if I had gotten my painting. Lo and behold, I walked into the office the next morning, and their was my painting waiting for me. I HAD WON IT! YAY!
Now...unveiling my new prized possession!!!! Hehehe !
Ahhhh, I love it. Ok. I will cool it with the home interiors for awhile.
Maybe.
Til next time! Love, Us!
Then one day, earlier in the week I walked into the main office to fax some paperwork, and THERE IT WAS! This unbelievable painting on a beautiful easel. Someone had donated it for the auction, and it was just breathtaking. The awesome ladies in the office kept it out in the office on display as it was a great way to remind people of the auction when they asked about it, and believe me everyone asked about it! Every time from that moment on that I went into the office, I just could not stop gawking over it. Finally, one of the secretaries told me that if I wanted to bid on it, she would bid for me. So, it was set. I was going to try to win the amazing painting. I know, I know...I am just proving how deeply I am obsessed with home interiors. LOL.
So, the auction went off without a hitch. People began posting pics of the things they one on Face book. I wondered if I had gotten my painting. Lo and behold, I walked into the office the next morning, and their was my painting waiting for me. I HAD WON IT! YAY!
Now...unveiling my new prized possession!!!! Hehehe !
Ahhhh, I love it. Ok. I will cool it with the home interiors for awhile.
Maybe.
Til next time! Love, Us!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
I think I have an Obsession...
With home interiors. It is never ending. I guess I just get a huge rush out of buying things and decorating our house. I guess it is about time we finally started finishing some of the rooms! We did move in over a year ago. Oh well. Little by little our house is taking shape. It is not like we plan on moving anytime soon, so the little bit of decorating we do here and there is fine. We basically finished our bedroom, the master bath, the guest bedroom, the guest bath, Isaiah's bedroom, and Isaiah's bathroom. We have also pretty much finished the kitchen (due to my recent purchases!!!), and our dining room! We still have a ways to go in our hallways, the office (or also known as Paul's man room), Isaiah's playroom (also known as the sun room or Florida room), our living room and our family room. I will get there!!!! I am perfectionist, so I am not going to put anything in there unless it is JUST right.
On Friday November 5, we met my best friend Holly (AKA my Maid of Honor in our wedding) and her fiance Steve for dinner in Tampa. They were embarking the next day on a Carnival Cruise where they would tie the knot! We were unable to go on the cruise, so it was awesome to see them before they left. They were amazed at how big Isaiah is now...they have not seen us since our wedding, so he has grown quite a bit!!!!! It was so great to wish them well...CONGRATS GUYS!!! We went to dinner with them at one of our favorite restaurants, Bahama Breeze.
On Friday November 5, we met my best friend Holly (AKA my Maid of Honor in our wedding) and her fiance Steve for dinner in Tampa. They were embarking the next day on a Carnival Cruise where they would tie the knot! We were unable to go on the cruise, so it was awesome to see them before they left. They were amazed at how big Isaiah is now...they have not seen us since our wedding, so he has grown quite a bit!!!!! It was so great to wish them well...CONGRATS GUYS!!! We went to dinner with them at one of our favorite restaurants, Bahama Breeze.
After the cruise returned our dear friends Aaron and Heather came to visit us for a few days. They had gone on the cruise for Holly's wedding, and extended their vacation to include a visit to us! They have visited us every year since we have moved to the sunshine state, and we always love having them. Isaiah also enjoyed this visit!
Here are some pics of him with Aaron and Heather. Of course, they went out of their way and spoiled Isaiah (Isaiah spoiled?!?!?! nahhhh!), and bought him a TRANSFORMER BUMBLEBEE HELMET that talks and does all sorts of cool things. He LOVES LOVES LOVES it.
One of the things that Heather and I got to do was shop. So, where did we go??? The Auburndale Flea Market. I had never been, but it was humongous, and was quite the experience to say the least!! RIGHT HEATHER?! But, above is a painting I did find, and I am so in love. We all know I collect Van Gogh paintings, and this obession was started by my darling mother and step father who purchased a huge painting of Starry Night for me as my housewarming present for my the very first apartment I lived in on my own, all by myself. Then, I added to it by purchasing a painting of the Cafe Scene, and I also have a very cool painting of a palm tree from Van Gogh which is very fitting for our home. I have been dying to get the sunflower one but have not been able to find it without it costing a fortune. Price for this?? 18$$. Who can beat that????????
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Heather and Biggs left on Sunday. I thought my adventurous weekend (and certainly my shopping weekend) were over. But low and behold...
I was driving to get coffee with Isaiah and I saw a sign for a garage sale. I went to check it out and it was actually a woman who had closed down a shop she was selling a lot of her stuff really cheap. So I got a ton of stuff for dirt cheap, even some Christmas presents! Check it out...
It is so funny because the shelf system I got makes me think of my mom. Anyone who knew me growing up, knows that my mom always had her collectibles and dolls displayed in the living room. SO, TADA! I am my mother, lol. I am very proud of this new piece of furniture!
So, that has been live lately. More to come!
Love, Us!
It is so funny because the shelf system I got makes me think of my mom. Anyone who knew me growing up, knows that my mom always had her collectibles and dolls displayed in the living room. SO, TADA! I am my mother, lol. I am very proud of this new piece of furniture!
So, that has been live lately. More to come!
Love, Us!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Halloween Remix
Can you even believe how big Isaiah is??? He was SO excited for Halloween, and it FINALLY arrived. He was so anxious to go Trick or Treating that he barely took a nap, and he was so excited to get to finally wear his Iron Man costume. You just don't understand...this costume and his infamous Spider Man bucket for candy, have been sitting on a shelf in my closet since the day I bought it, um probably back in September sometime. He knew since August that he wanted to be Iron Man for Halloween, and he made sure we knew it. So, as soon as the costumes came out we searched for one, and lo and behold Wal-Mart had a cheap and cute costume. So, Iron Man he was. I took some pictures of him at home before the trick or treat festivities began. Then we had a potluck dinner at our neighbor's house, and headed out for Trick or Treating. Enjoy the pics...Isaiah ain't so little anymore!
Below are Isaiah and his friends...from left to right, Isaiah, Logan, Anyssia and Sabrina! In the bottom photo is Isaiah and Sabrina.
Below is a picture of the scariest house on the block (it was AWESOME), and Anyssia and Isaiah heading up to one of the houses for treats!
Below is the crew heading down the street! Then Isaiah dancing his booty off to a Frankenstein that danced and sang!
AHHHHH! Michael Myer's! He was at the end of the driveway scaring us when we left the scariest house on the block. The mini haunted house this family did in their driveway was PRICELESS! Ask Isaiah what his favorite part of Trick or Treating was, and he will tell you, "The monster that jumped up at us!!!!" He is RIGHT! It was my favorite part too...this family had a guy from Jeeper's Creeper's sitting in a lawn chair. I thought he was fake, and he did not move for ten minutes I swear! Then all of a sudden he jumped up and scared us! Haha, very fun!
Now, that Halloween is over, we are looking forward to a fun filled November. We have lots of visitors coming to see us, and will end the month with Paul's parents coming to visit us from MA for Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays!!!!
Below are Isaiah and his friends...from left to right, Isaiah, Logan, Anyssia and Sabrina! In the bottom photo is Isaiah and Sabrina.
Below is a picture of the scariest house on the block (it was AWESOME), and Anyssia and Isaiah heading up to one of the houses for treats!
Below is the crew heading down the street! Then Isaiah dancing his booty off to a Frankenstein that danced and sang!
AHHHHH! Michael Myer's! He was at the end of the driveway scaring us when we left the scariest house on the block. The mini haunted house this family did in their driveway was PRICELESS! Ask Isaiah what his favorite part of Trick or Treating was, and he will tell you, "The monster that jumped up at us!!!!" He is RIGHT! It was my favorite part too...this family had a guy from Jeeper's Creeper's sitting in a lawn chair. I thought he was fake, and he did not move for ten minutes I swear! Then all of a sudden he jumped up and scared us! Haha, very fun!
Now, that Halloween is over, we are looking forward to a fun filled November. We have lots of visitors coming to see us, and will end the month with Paul's parents coming to visit us from MA for Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays!!!!
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