Thankful Thursday- Our New Daughter

I am very Thankful and Blessed to be adding a new daughter to my crew! I wanted to fill everybody in since I am getting a lot of questions. KC and I started our adoption process after moving to Oregon and quickly completed our home study. If you have never been through a domestic adoption, DHS style you get access to websites that list children who are available for adoption. We looked through pages and pages of children. I would often check morning and night to see if any new children where listed. The night our home study was finalized and in our possession we submitted on 4 children we felt would be a good fit for our family. After those initial 4 little ones we continued to look at children online, but never felt the pull like the first 4. We were shocked when 2 weeks later we were told by our adoption worker that 2 of the children's workers had contacted them for more info (if you have done a home study, what more could they want, lol). We obliged and sent the info they requested. Then a day or so later we were contacted again and they said we had been chosen as 1 of 3 families for a little girl. We were given the number to the foster mother and told to call her for information on the baby. We could then decide if we would like to move forward. I can not tell you how nervous I was to make that phone call. After the first 5min though it felt like we were old friends, we talked for an hour. Wow craziness. We ended the phone call with a good feeling. Another week went by and nothing, the waiting is so hard. I just wanted to know when they would decide, then the phone call came they would be deciding baby girls new family Monday January 28th.

In the mean time I had to wait a week for that date, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. During that week we were contacted by another worker on a little boy, the worker wanted even more information from us. I had laid it all out there what more could they want, lol! So I dug deep and sent even more info. I even had some days of massive cleaning which my mom teased that it sounded like I was nesting.HAHA

January 28th I woke up feeling pretty good mentally, physically I had a cold, ugh. I got up, started breakfast as Kendall had the day off of school we had errands to get done. I got on the treadmill did my miles, and said a prayer. I prayed that we would be chosen as little girls family. I prayed for her heart to start being prepared for this big transition in her life. I also made it known that if we were not chosen, it would hurt, but I know God knows a whole lot more then me and can see further down the road. I got off the treadmill and went on with my day. Got Kope to school, and Kendall and I ventured to the Girl Scout store (a new adventure we are starting). I picked Kope up from school and a friend called. We just were chatting away about our adoption journeys as her family is also adopting through DHS. When all of a sudden the phone started beeping with another call, quickly I kicked over and heard the words, "She is yours, baby girl is your new daughter". Of course I started crying happy tears and got full body chills. It was wonderful. I hung up and called all 3 of my husbands phones to find out he was in a meeting, and I told him to step out. He did and I got to tell him the good news. I also told Kendall and Kopelan who jumped up and down beyond excited!!

So I am sure after all that you would like some details on our baby girl. I can not share any pictures as she is still under DHS custody as of now and her picture has to be kept private. Details though, we have chosen to change her name and it will be Karis McKenna Lee, her foster parents know and will be transitioning her with her name before we even meet. Karis will be 1 yrs old next week and we will hopefully get to bring her home on her Birthday or day after. We will get to meet her next Tuesday and are not so patiently waiting, lol. We are taking these next few days to prepare. We have to do all the prep in a week that most people get 9mo to do.

Today I returned home to find the car seat on the front stoop. YAY!! The crib has been ordered (thank you Grandpa and Grandma Lee) and we are so excited for its arrival as it will make Karis's room look real, real as in she is really coming home. I found a rocking chair on Craigslist.com and will be picking that up on Friday. We will probably be spending a lot of time there since we will want to comfort and snuggle her any chance we get.

I hope this helps a little with curiosity about our daughter and how she came to be ours!