Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!

I know many of you have been asking about where we are. We are plugging away. This week Michelle had her blood work and TB Xray test. We also applied for all of our clearances (thanks to a wonderful donation from a family we love). We are going to get our fingerprints taken today and then we wait for them to come back. This is another hurry up and wait part of the process.

I had mentioned, last week, that a Go Fund Me Account https://www.gofundme.com/qzvexyks has been set up in our names. We were extremely surprised and blessed by two great friends who created this for us. It was unexpected and we are so grateful. We sit in amazement every time someone helps us. We are reminded how great our support system is over and over again.

We want to explain what is next. Once this set of paperwork and the evaluations are completed our next step is the Home study. This will cost around $3,000 (plus mileage). The home study is just that, a social worker will come to the house and talk to us. The reason they do this is to ensure that a child will have a safe, happy, healthy place to come to and call home. This is all done for the safety and wellbeing of the child.

To some this might seem ridiculous. Although the paperwork is long and tedious and the cost is high, we understand why this is being done! My mind doesn’t even work this way but…. People have adopted for purposes NOT the same as ours. This world can be cruel. With these checks and balances in place, children are safe. We are happy with that!

If you live in central PA you have heard of a story about a girl named Tori. Tori went to be with Jesus yesterday. Part of my job places me in situations that are full of joy and full of sadness. While I never worked with Tori, I know therapists that did, friends, and have followed her parents amazing Blog. A fear of parents as they get pregnant is the same fear of parents who adopt. What if…..? Fill in the blank.  I am just not ready to write that Blog yet.

Tori, there are some awesome kiddos that were waiting for you. They are ready to dance, run, sing, laugh, and play.  I imagine you playing tag with Jesus, sitting on his lap, and the sparkle in your eye that will remain in the hearts of everyone who followed your story. 

I have attached Tori’s blog for everyone to read and be aware of what they can be doing in their state to change legislation.  http://thebrackbills.com/2016/03/27/victoria-ruths-last-hours-and-the-hope-of-heaven/

Brackbill family, I am reminded daily of your strength, your love, your faith. Thank you for sharing Tori with us! We have prayed, and will continue to pray, for you and your family.

Where? What's next?

Hello!

Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support this last week! Your prayers mean so much to us!  As you can imagine this week has been the beginning on a rollercoaster ride. We are surrounded by so much love from our family and friends. I was surprised on Monday by two amazing friends who wrote letters of recommendation for us and who started a Go Fund Me account. More information will be shared about that soon. Then today, as I was writing this blog the doorbell rang and it was a sweet package from another dear friend who sent baby Campbell his/her first book (among other things). This week, I have cried, laughed, smiled, and been overwhelmed with the love people have for our baby and us.  Thank you so much! As we continue this journey we ask for prayers for us, for baby Campbell, for God’s path to be clear, for Holt International, for the birth families of baby Campbell and for the people that will be loving and taking care of our baby until we can be together.

We have been asked many questions in the last few days and we are going to take the next couple weeks to answer some of those questions.

Where are you adopting?

We do not know where we are adopting. We chose a few countries that we are looking into. Different counties have different requirements. For example, some countries require 4-6 weeks of travel time. Other countries require you to be married for 5 years and both parents to be over the age of 30. There are a lot of things we need to look into for each country. We aren’t at the point of doing that quite yet. First we need to finish our home study. That brings us to the next question.

What is your next step?

We are currently completing all of the requirements to have our home study. A home study is when a social worker reviews all of our paperwork, comes to look at and approve the house and area that we live in, and meets us to ensure that the baby will be going to a safe, healthy, clean, happy family. Before the social worker comes our files need to be reviewed. We have a laundry list of things that need to be completed before our files are reviewed. To give you a look into what we are working on I have included the list. All of these things cost money and take time. Once they are completed we will have our home study. Next week I will be answering questions about money and what each payment goes to.

*Adam and I both need to have updated clearances for our home study. (FBI, child abuse, PA and Michelle needs FL)

*We both need to have a psychological evaluation completed

*A map of our house and directions needs to be created

*Copies of legal documents (birth certificates, marriage licenses, etc.)

*We each have about 50 pages of questions to answer about our past, parents, family, marriage, and how we want to raise children.

*Financial paperwork (fee schedules and household compensation) and personal data forms

*We both need to have physicals done with blood work and TB tests

*We both need to have our employment verified

*We have other forms that need to be signed about legal things and finances

*Residence forms need to be filled out with every address we have lived at since childbirth

*We need to complete training courses

*And finally, we needed to select what medical conditions we would be willing to “accept” in a child so that if/when we do get approved we can be matched with a child!

PHEW! That’s a long list and everything takes time and planning. So this is where we do a lot of behind the scenes things and try to hurry as quickly as possible to get to the next step. There is of course cost involved in each of these things so we are unable to do them all over night J. We have been told to expect between 4-6 months from the time you start the paperwork until it is finished for this step. We know that in God’s timing everything will be complete and we will be eager and waiting for our journey to continue!  The reason I am sharing this isn’t to overwhelm you but to help share where we are without having to repeat all of those steps and overwhelm ourselves over and over. 

Please do not hesitate to ask us questions. We will do our best to answer them in person and on the blog for everyone to read. We are so happy to have you along for this amazing journey we are on to find our baby!

Have a blessed day!

Michelle, Adam, and baby Campbell

Welcome to our adventure. We are excited that you will be joining us along our way! Let us begin by introducing ourselves.
Adam is 30 years old. He was born on Long Island but moved to the Hershey, PA  area around 3rd grade. He works at a heating and air conditioning company and is currently in transition from service to sales.
Michelle is 29 years old. She spend the majority of her schooling in Carlisle, PA. She attended college in St. Augustine, FL. She works for a school for the deaf and teaches infants and preschoolers.
About us. Michelle was home visiting her family and met Adam in Hershey on Christmas Eve at Church. Adam pursued Michelle from afar for the first part of their relationship. Upon graduation, Michelle moved back to PA to be with Adam. Quickly they knew this was forever and a few short months later, Adam asked for Michelle's hand in marriage. Of course she said YES!  A little over a year later they were surrounded by friends and family on the most beautiful October day to join in life together! Not long into their wonderful marriage Michelle began noticing some things that needed medical attention. Long story short, at this time, it is not in the picture for Michelle to carry a baby. Michelle and Adam bought a house in Palmyra, PA (right outside of Hershey) and added Mara (our amazing puppy) to the family but, our family isn't complete.
Through this process we both knew that adoption was the path that God was calling us to. We are currently pursuing the process for international adoption and are open to any doors that God may open for us. We are blessed to have the support of our families, friends, and church as we begin this amazing journey to create our family. We know that God has his hand on us and is guiding us along our way.
This journey will be long. Our expected time frame is three years. We are in the beginning stages and are preparing the multitudes of paperwork, tests, evaluations, trainings, etc that are needed for our home study.
Thank you for going on this crazy, wild, love filled ride with us!