Hi friends! We have had a lot of questions lately about where we are in our adoption process. We have been so busy in the season of life that I haven’t given y’all an update in a while. So, here we are…. in the waiting. It’s an interesting place to be in for sure. We have checked those boxes, as my dear friend Amanda would say. By the way, if you don’t know Amanda, you should definitely get to know this sweet friend of mine. She walked into my life at the most divine time last year. She has prayed for me, supported me, and listened to me as we worked through the ups and downs of this adoption process. You can follow her newest amazing adoption journey here.
As I was saying…checked those boxes. We started this journey a few years ago. It began with a lot of prayers as we were searching for the right country to adopt from. That in itself took some time because we thought God was calling us overseas to adopt. However, we changed course, and came back stateside in our journey. Then we worked our way through the home study, which you can never fully appreciate the work that it requires until you actually go through one. We learned a lot about ourselves. We un-buried a lot of our past, and came to a lot of realizations about what we wanted for our family through that process. It took longer than we thought it was going to take, but I am so thankful for those months.
Now, we are in the waiting to be matched phase. We are live with our agency, and our book is being shown to potential birth parents. You can see our profile here. We are fiercely praying for our sweet baby, and her parents as they make this decision. This part of adoption is the scariest and the hardest for me. There are so many unknowns, and if you know me I am a planner and I keep a tight schedule for our family. None of this can be planned or scheduled. I know that God is using this time to refine me in so many ways. I can feel his presence over our family. I hear him say “Trust Me!” every time I find myself feeling stressed or frazzled.
In this process, I am nesting as well. Who would have thought?!?! It is amazing how a female body goes into this so naturally. I am finding myself cleaning, moving furniture, painting, and preparing. I have been collecting baby items (Shout out to Jessica and Kris), and making a list of things that we still need. It is also amazing that by the 4th baby, you just need a lot less.
We are (not so) patiently waiting for the phone call that will set the Halleck6 into full motion.
We wanted to update you on where we stand financially. We have 3 big announcements!!
- WE MADE OUR PUZZLE GOAL!!!! Thank you to all of our friends and family for helping us.We can’t wait to hang this in her room.
- We received a grant from Chosen for Life in the amount of $3,100.
- Our side hustle( aka table company), Autumn Awakening, is helping us reach our goal. Keep spreading the word!
Here is where we currently stand:
homestudy: 1,200 √
application fee: 250 √
Social Service Fee: 2,500 (mailing out August 1st) √
adoption fee upon placement : 13,500… Still needed ~ $10,000
attorney and 3 post visits: approx. 2,550 √
Total: approx. $20,000 (not including travel)
I have a few more grants in process/finalizing the end of this month. We are hoping to receive a couple more to help us lower the final number needed. If you want to share our AdoptTogether fund (tax deductible) or YouCaring fund, you can do this by clicking on the links and it will take you straight to our page.
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Life…
Life has been fun and our schedule has been full. I think the beginning of school has been challenging for all of us this year, but we made it through the first 9 weeks with our head above water, so that is a win. Weston is playing tackle football, Emma is cheering for the middle school sideline team, and the high school competition team. Ethan has been a trooper and cheered them both on at every game and competition. He gets the award for being the best brother for sure. Justin and I have built 2 tables, 1 desk, and a plank wall through Autumn Awakening the last couple months. He is still loving his new job! It has been fun to see him in this new environment. I have a sweet class this year, that can also be challenging at times. I have to say, the best part of my day is that I get to start every morning with my co-teacher, Karin. She has become a dear friend over the past few months. I am also trying to make purposeful ‘friend dates’ with some girlfriends. Life is too short to not make time for your girlfriends! With all of this, I am also trying to slow down my life in preparation for this new baby about to enter our family. This is probably the hardest part.
We love you all, and are so thankful for you. I have been reading through Psalms 62 this past month. I have been praying over these words:
Keri
autumnawakenings 