Saturday, February 18, 2012

But why, mommy?

As I sit here and try to continuously come up with answers to Riley's favorite question "why", I am really having to think about some of them. If you have a little kiddo that is or has been his age, you know that usually you can just throw out anything and they are satisfied. But having a 3 year old when you are adopting presents a bit of a challenge in the sense he doesn't understand why we have to "wait" for a baby. He knows we have to wait for God to be ready for us to bring the new baby home, but to him, that just means each and every day, whenever the thought randomly crosses his mind, he asks can we get our baby now and why we have to wait. And every time we go to get in the car, he asks if we are going to get our baby. When we tell him no, not yet, God isn't ready yet, we get the "but why?". I have been asked a LOT of questions, but this is one I sort of continue to stumble over. How do I make a 3 year old understand? I am stumped. He sees his friends mothers pregnant and knows their babies are in their bellies. That isn't anything you can possibly get a 3 year old to grasp. But for now, We will continue to tell him that God isn't ready yet, until our day comes. I know he is excited about being a big brother. He tells us he is going to change the baby's poopy diapers, and he is going to share his toys, and his mommy and daddy, and he is going to feed the baby their bottles. It is the sweetest thing in the entire world. I know that when our baby does come home, they are going to have the best big brother in the world. Tonight, he even filled a baby bottle up with water and sat it on the table and said "okay mommy, I have the babys bottle ready now so we are ready!". Sweetest thing in the world? Melts my heart for sure. And that in itself makes answering the question "why" a thousand times a day so worth it...

As far as where do we stand now? We are OFFICIALLY WAITING! So now we do exactly that, we wait. Whenever our profile is shown, they will let us know, and they will also let us know if we are or are not chosen. This is where my unfortunate, crazy, nail biting impatience may kick in. I promise, I will try to control it, but if you see me wandering the baby aisles, don't be surprised. I am so excited to know at least at this point, we will get a baby, we just don't know when! Please just continue to send up prayers for us while we wait! They are most definitely always appreciated! And of course, if you hear of anyone wanting to place a baby, or even know of someone who knows someone who may know someone, please put our name out there! That would be a dream come true for us!

Fundraising...please, please, PLEASE send me recipes for our cookbook! (brittanyvaught07@yahoo.com) We are also still selling shirts and bracelets! We are planning an adoption yard / bake sale in late March so if you have anything you would like to donate, please let me know that also! We will take anything we can get! And then of course, we are always accepting donations.

We thank each and every single one of you who have donated, sent your kind thoughts, and prayers. We are blessed beyond belief to have so many amazing people in our lives!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Home Study = Complete!

Well, from the title, you now know OUR HOME STUDY IS DONE! They are "writing" our home study and that should be approved in 2-3 weeks max and then we will be OFFICIALLY WAITING! I am so excited I can barely stand it! But on the flip side of that, as much as I hope and pray this goes smooth and fairly quick, I am dreading the wait. Someone told me, well, a normal pregnancy would take 10 months...well, that is true...BUT at least in a pregnancy you have some inkling to WHEN you will be bringing a baby home! We are CLUELESS! But I know that in God's time, we will bringing our new sweet baby home...I just can not WAIT for that day!

Other news...we are still working on fundraising! We are still selling shirts and both kinds of bracelets. And we are now working on a cookbook so have printed to sell also. So if you have recipes--send them my way! Once our home study is written we can start applying for grants also, so that will be nice. I have to say, the only, and it is well worth it don't get me wrong, partial downfall to this is the financial aspect. It will be worth it, and it will work out, I do not doubt that one bit. I just wish that for anyone adopting, they didn't ever have to think about or stress about the financial factor. There are so many other exciting, stressful, and emotional things about adoption that you get so focused on, I wish that wasn't something that had to be thought about. But again, it will be so worth it in the end, and I know that it will all work out.

As amazing as our social worker is, and as great as she has been with us, I have to say, I am sort of relieved the home study is over. The paperwork you do with adoption is UNREAL! Let's add we both had to write autobiographies (and anyone who really knows me knows in a serious aspect I do NOT talk about myself!!). And then we had to write our Dear Birthmother letter, and include pictures. A few things about that: 1. I am GLAD it is done. 2. HARDEST letter ever, hands down. 3. I think ours is nothing less than absolutely perfect. I never thought I would be able to write it, but once I seemed to start, it just flowed. Thankfully. So now, here we are, waiting. Hopefully our wait will be smooth, and fairly short. Lord knows all we can do is PRAY now!

Anyways, that's where we are now. We are also planning to do an adoption yard sale in March sometimes, so let me know if you have anything you would like to donate. We will also be doing a bake sale during the yard sale. Anything helps! I want to thank each and every one of you who has at some point helped us, donated, thought of us, and prayed for us. EVERY single thing helps! We notice every bit of it, I promise, and we are SO thankful for every person who has done something for us!  We would not be where we are without help from our family and some of the best friends and co-workers we could possibly ask for!

Now that our home study is done, I hope to keep you all updated more often...it has been CRAZY here! But here is what I want to end on this time...One thing I learned during one of the classes I did online for our home study is this, and it is so simple, so honest, and so true...and I firmly believe that it is us : We may not be perfect, but we will be the perfect fit.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

So many updates!

Hey! Sorry I've sort of been missing! We have been CRAZY busy! We have sold over half of our shirts which is so exciting! And we still have some to get out! (I promise if you've ordered one, I haven't forgotten you, I'll get it to you ASAP!) We are also working on a cookbook now to sell as a fundraiser so if you have recipes you'd like to share - please do! You can comment with them or email them to me at Brittanyvaught07@yahoo.com. I'd love to put as many from all of you as I can!

Where are we at in the process? We have completed 3 of our 4 home study appointments and our last one is next Friday! Super exciting! Then our case worker will write our home study and then we will be approved to be "shown" to birthmothers! So, with that said, we should be officially "waiting" in about a month!!! We are so excited! We are crossing our fingers and praying so hard that our wait isn't toooo long! We know we could wait a while and we know whatever the wait is- it will be so worth it! God has a plan for us! We can't wait to live it out!

We have also painted the nursery and it should be all put together this weekend! We want to be able to include a picture of baby's room when we do our Dear Birthmothers letter this weekend. Speaking of which, I've thought about this letter for weeks. I know we can do it. But it is so much pressure. It feels like we are having to sell ourself to this birth mother, who will choose us to raise her baby. It's so hard to know what the exact words to say are. I know in the end it will be perfect, but it's a lot to think about!

Other than all of that, things are going good! I have started to sew and embroider things for extra money towards our adoption. So if you need anything let me know! I'll try to pos a few pics of things I've done so you can see! :-)

Well, until next time... Keep praying! :-)

Thank you to every single one of you for the support you've continuously given us. We appreciate it so much!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

To answer the question most of you want to know...WHY?

Ever since we mentioned the word adoption, we have been asked "Why?"...and I know without a doubt that there are a few of you out there who want to know the same thing, but just don't ask in fear of offending us... Well, I am here to tell you how we came to this decision, and why it is the best for our family.

We both had always dreamed of having two children, neither of us were only children and we knew we wanted our children to have each other. We wanted to start having children early so that we could have them young, and have them close together, with the thought of having two or three. Well, little did we know that one pregnancy was all my body would tolerate, and there were even questions during my pregnancy about whether it was going to be able to handle that! Once I delivered Ri, my blood pressure went up and stayed there..even til now! But that wasn't the biggest problem..during a routine check up with my cardiologist, she took a picture of my heart to have before another pregnancy just to have an idea of what it looked like before an additional pregnancy. She thought my blood pressure was good to go and saw no reason to not have another biological child. So I set up to have my IUD removed and everything! We were so excited! It was right before Ri was turning 1, things were working out just how we wanted! Well about three days after my appointment, I got a call from my doctor. During the "routine" ultrasound, they found a dilation (enlargement) in a part of my pulmonary artery, which could possibly be an aneurysm, and she wanted me to have an MRI the next week to have it checked. So, after a few days of trying to figure out exactly what that meant, I had the test done. Results : Confirmation of a pulmonary artery aneurysm. Crazy, right? Do you know how common this is? IT'S NOT! So, after that appointment, I had it checked every 3 months until just recently when we have moved to every 6 months. At this point, it's not gotten any bigger, but the odds of it tolerating a pregnancy are slim. So, I have been strongly advised to NOT get pregnant because the outcome could be bad. It would do our family no good to attempt it and end up with no mommy. It isn't worth the risk. My family I have now means WAY too much to me. :)

So, with all of that said, we just cannot settle with Riley being an only child. We have always had the dreams of having at least two children, and we will not settle for less. Just because we cannot have another biological child does NOT mean we cannot be a mommy, daddy, and brother to another sweet baby. While in most cases, babies are born from our belly, it does not mean a baby can't be born in our heart. In this case, for us, that's where we will start. We had talked about this decision over a period of 2 years now, and we are at the point in our life where we are ready to jump! So, here we are, in the process, and we could not be any more excited. Riley is excited to have a brother or sister (even though he says he wants a sister and if he gets a brother he will name him sister). We are blessed beyond words to have been able to have one biological child of our own, we could not be any more thankful for that. And now for our number two, the biological aspect does not matter. The baby that is meant for us will be "ours" regardless of where he/she comes from!

So, there ya go. That's our story. Now you know "why" we chose what we did. We have been truly blessed to be supported by such amazing family, friends, people we work with, people we haven't talked to since high school, family friends, and then some people we don't know! It is truly such an amazing blessing to have so many people behind us. Words cannot express the feeling that gives us! So, thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who have helped us at some point, thought about us, spread the word for us, and mostly just prayed for us. Keep it up! We are still very early in the process and while these days are exciting for us, they can get stressful, and the best has yet to come!

Stay tuned for more info as we travel along this road!

You can also visit our fundraising page @ VaughtAdoptionFundraisers.Blogspot.com

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Love and Support...

As much as this decision to adopt and this baby is for our family, as any woman can imagine, mommy is the biggest kicker! I have wanted another baby so bad for so long and not being able to fulfill that for myself and for my family has been seriously hard. It's been mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. More than I could possibly tell you. And this last year with the situations I have been involved in and been a part of, it has only made it that much worse. Worse being unless you know what I'm talking about, you can't fathom the heartache this last year has had on me. Now granted, it turned out best for everyone, but that doesn't make it any easier. But anyways, with all of that said, today I just want to thank my husband for being my rock. Being the support I need most. For listening to my vents and for wiping my tears. There have been days where I wasn't sure which way was up, but he helped me to get there. We have had struggles of our own, but what marriage doesn't? He has helped me get to where I am, and he has helped me be the person I want to be. Even when he thinks I am making a bad decision, he tells me what I think but lets me fall on my face if I need to and he is right there to pick me back up. He may not always agree with the things I say and the things I feel and do, but he always supports me and I know without a doubt in the world he will love me til death do we part. So, Randy, I know you're reading this, and I want to say thank you. And I love you more than words could ever tell you. Thank you for everything you do for me and for just making me laugh when I need it most. Thank you for being right by my side through this, and doing anything you can to help us get to our goal : Riley's new baby brother or sister. I love you. So much.

And as some of you may already know- our shirts and bracelets are in!!!!! You can see the attached picture of my amazing husband showing off our stuff! Message me for info! Can't wait to get all the shirts and bracelets passed out!

Thank you to everyone who is helping us by donating, thinking of us, praying for us, and simply spreading the word! We appreciate everything SO much!

God bless each and every one of you!

Monday, December 26, 2011

What a Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I know we did! Despite my really not feeling good yesterday, we had such an amazing day! My brother and his girlfriend (Audrey) got us the cutest frames ever for Riley and Baby and they gave us like 6 full bottles which totaled to be $170!!! Amazing!!! And then, after our gifts, my step dad (Leon) told us Ivey's is splitting their Christmas fund between the women's shelter and our adoption!!! That is roughly $750!!! Needless to say, I cried like a baby on more than one occasion yesterday! It was truly the best gifts EVER!

Riley enjoyed all of his gifts from Santa! The boy is absolutely rotten! He was so cute unwrapping his gifts though. I can still not believe he is three already! He is a sweet little man for sure!

So with all of this said, I cannot possibly tell you how excited it all makes me! I have been so busy getting ready for Christmas I didn't have much time to write! Please continue to keep up with our posts! Never know what info will come! And keep on helping when you can and spreading the word as much as possible!

Sorry to keep it so short tonight, I am really feeling horrible today and my little man is seeming really croupy so I am going to go lay down with him after we have some medicine and hope we can wake up feeling a little better. :-(

Goodnight...stay tuned for more fundraisers!!! Thank you ALL again for EVERY thing!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

T-shirts, bracelets, fundraising galore!

I can honestly say I am continuously blown away by all of the support we are receiving! It is all truly such a blessing! I hope that the good Lord contintues to place such amazing and giving people in our life. In less than a week we have pre-sold 80 shirts! Can you believe that? I am in shock! But I am SO blessed and excited beyond belief! Please, please, PLEASE keep it up! I am excited to get the bracelet sells going, and the same for the bottle and puzzle piece fundraisers! The puzzle pieces are whatever you would like to donate, anything from $1 up! Every little bit helps! On your piece you donate, your name will be on the back. Once all of the pieces are donated for, the puzzle will be completed and framed and put in Baby's room.

We had our second home study appointment this morning and it went great! It is so weird to answer so many questions about yourself! For those of you who know Randy and I, we are generally pretty goofy, but to talk about ourself and each other to someone who doesn't know us, it is so hard!!! We are enjoying every minute of this though. I can honestly say that seeing him helping and cleaning and preparing for these visits makes me fall so much more in love with him. He is such an amazing man. I love him more than I could possibly say!!

Thank you for all of the prayers, thoughts, and support!! I cannot possibly say thank you enough! Every single thing helps, no matter how big or small! Keep on following us on here, we are hopefully going to have a few other things up and going soon! OH--our Aunt Debbie made us some cookies tonight to sell!! :) Peanut butter with chocolate on top. One bag (of 3 I think) will sell for $1. Everyone loves cookies!!! So, come on peeps! Let's buy some cookies, shirts, bracelets, puzzle pieces, or even just donate! We accept it all! ;)

That is all for today I think... Thank you ALL again for everything! Please continue to support, share, and spread the word!! Tell EVERYONE you know! You never know what could happen!! :)

p.s.... you can also follow us on FB :)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Tis the season of giving!

Christmas is only a few days away! While I prepare for this by decorating and wrapping presents for my little man, my niece, and my two nephews, I think of all the babies and kids out there who need a good home with loving parents who can provide for them not only financially, but mentally and emotionally. I am so blessed to say we will be one of those families one day. I hope with all my might that this is not a long process for us. I hope it's fairly quick, but not too quick of course! We cannot wait to bring home the sweet baby that belongs with us. I know with time and prayer, that will happen. And I can NOT wait! :)

Christmas is about family, happiness, and the gift of giving. This year instead of buying gifts for each other, and buying useless "junk" for our families, we bought for the kids, and we bought for four sweet angels. We got things they needed that their parent(s) couldn't provide. We got things they wanted because every child deserves that. As I look back at that and the decision we made, not even knowing them personally, it makes me feel sk blessed to know that people are donating to our adoption! People we have known forever, people we have known a short time, and some people who don't know us at all. This means more to me than I can express. I mean giving to someone you don't even know so they can adopt their child? This is truly amazing and it is so close to my heart right now! So, whether you have donated to us or simply said an extra prayer, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. We truly appreciate everything everyone is doing for us. Family, friends, friends from school, and the complete stranger. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am truly blessed to have so many absolutely amazing people to support us in life, and to support us in our adoption. You are in my heart and you will stay there forever!!

On another note, our friendship bracelets came in today! They are $2 or 3 for $5! I attached a picture. Message me if you want one. 615-972-4189 or BrittanyVaught07@yahoo.com
We also have started our bottle fundraiser so let me know if you want a bottle to fill up! I have ordered more t-shirts too so if you haven't already ordered one-please do! :-)

I want to say a special thank you to my counter guys at work today - Pat and Hector - Thank you SO much for being so willing to have our bottles on the counter! It means so much to me that you are so willing to help us out and raise any money you can!

Thank you EVERY single one of you for your donations, your thoughts, and your prayers! You ALL have a special place in my heart!!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Weekends are never long enough!

I'm sure I'm not the only person who's ever sat down on a Sunday evening and wondered where my weekend went. We have cleaned up, cleaned out, and just cleaned so much this weekend! It's one thing to have friends and family visit, but to have someone come into your home who you're hoping will eventually give you a sweet baby - TOTALLY different story. Every impression you make has to be the best. And having never done this before- that's scary! So, we have worked our hind ends off! We still have a few things to finish up tomorrow and Tuesday night just to cover all our bases. Exciting, nervous, overwhelming!

On another note, I'm so blessed to say we don't even have our shirts yet but we have pre-sold 52 already! I canno thank you all enough! Please please please keep it coming! We need all of the help we can get! It's crazy how much adoption costs, but when it's what you're put here to do, you just "know" God will provide. Some way, some how. He will make this happen for us.

Our Threads of Hope bracelets will be in this week sometime, and so will our puzzle to start our puzzle fundraiser! I'm super excited for the fundraisers we have coming up! So definitely stay tuned to keep helping when you can! Plus you can always feel free to just click away on that little donate button on the blog! All donations are always greatly appreciated! :-)

Well, we are out for the night. All this cleaning has me exhausted! I'm including a picture of my two favorite sweet little boys just because I love them so much! They make my heart smile in so many ways! Riley and Carson - cousins who absolutely love each other. I'm so glad they have each other! Please continue to pray for all of our family during this adventure and while you're at it, say an extra one for my sweet nephew. He could use a few extra ones right now. His life is in a sort of tailspin and as he's too young to really know, pray for guidance for all involved that the good Lord continues to provide the support and love that Carson truly deserves. I truly appreciate it! He's such a funny little guy! :-)

Good night and God bless!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I cannot say thank you enough...

It has been such a short time since we have made our decision public and have started talking fundraising, ideas, etc and I have constantly been amazed at all of the support we have. People buying shirts, wanting to buy bracelets, wanting to help in any way possible. This just amazes me. Most people don't know how rough the last year has been for us, and how big of a decision this has been, so the support we are receiving is just a blessing beyond belief. I cannot thank you all enough. For everything. Helping, donating, spreading the word, thinking of us, praying for us, and most of all supporting us! It means so much!

On another note, we have been cleaning like mad men today! We got Riley's room switched over to the I'd guest room and got his old room cleared out to be a nursery again. It's been a LONG day! Hard and exhausting! But we are making progress. We are so excited (and nervous) for our home study appointment Wednesday! It's so exciting to know that even though this could be a very long process that eventually, we will have a sweet little baby in that room again. Ri keeps telling us he wants a baby sister, but we all know he will take anything!! Just like we will! We are just ready to complete our family!

Well, in case you haven't heard from me, we are pre-selling our shirts! They are black with a red heart puzzle less one piece, piece is underneath and it says Support Adoption... 12.50 each. Let me know if you want one and what size!

I will post pictures when the house is done! I'm so excited to see it in its new form! And spotless at that! I'll post again soon...until then, have a great weekend! Christmas is barely a week away!!