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Adoption Journey Timeline


11/11/13  Submitted our Adoption Application to Generations and met/emailed with our coordinator, we'll call him Bob.
11/13/13  Set up orientation date (December 11th), and found out that the (mandatory) February training date was full - womp womp, and the next one isn't available until August 23rd. Disappointing, but I know that everything happens in His divine and perfect timing. We are on the waiting list just in case.
11/19/13  Announced to friends, family and perfect strangers that We're Adopting!

12/11/13 Met with "Bob", our Adoption Coordinator at Generations Adoptions for our orientation. At first we wondered what we would talk about for 3 hours, but when it was over we realized we could easily have spent 3 more hours there! #informationoverload Also found out that there is about a 50% chance that we may be able to get in the February Training (as opposed to waiting until August), which is very exciting! Prayers for God's divine timing (and hoping that it's February)! :)



12/13/13 Received our first puzzle piece donation! Shout Out to Joanna Gallagher! Between the sales of stuff I've made and Joanna's donation, we have raised $370 (as of 12/26) woop!


1/21/14  We moved! And we LOVE it! The kids have been playing in our Ah-Maze-Ing backyard everyday for hours at a time and we could not be happier about the lack of stairs (and carpet)! Unfortunately, that's about all the "movement" that's been going on lately :( We are still working on getting together some of the items needed to submit our placement application forms (we had to wait 'til we moved because they need stuff like floor plans and home pics, etc.), but should be able to finish it all up this week and get it in to Generations. Haven't really heard from "Bob", shocker I know! So I'm not real sure where we stand in terms of getting into the February training. But, in an interesting change of events, we have started to complete paperwork for another agency. Loving Hearts Christian Adoptions is a branch of the Breath of Life Maternal Ministries here in Austin, and they happen to post a few weeks ago that they were in need of more adoptive families. Um, hello! That would be us. So, we're going for it! One cool thing about them is that they charge pretty much the same in fees as Generations, but you don't have to pay anything until you are placed (except for the homestudy and a small $25 application fee). In other news, there was a small glimmer of hope that we may have found someone to carry our baby, but alas it was not meant to be :( So yeah, that's pretty much where we are right now. Oh and big shout out to the Dobies who bought a whopping 17 puzzle pieces! Yeah, do the math, it's amaze-balls! AND the amazingly generous Kubinskys who bought 10 pieces! Woot Woot! - we'll get this puzzle together yet! Thank you all so much for your support, there is no way we could do this without you all!

6/5/14 There really hasn't been much to update lately, hence the radio silence. Obviously, we did not get into the February training, boo! And in classic "Bob" style (a man of few words), when I emailed about whether or not we got in, he just replied back... "no". Thanks "Bob", for telling us we had a 50/50 chance, then never emailing us again, and then having a terrific bedside manor when we the odds were not in our favor, awesome. I have only recently heard back from the friend who offered to carry our baby, you know, the one who contacted me out of the blue and offered, then when I asked her to think about it, well as it turns out, she may have some lady parts issues going on at the moment, so basically, we still don't have an answer there, but I am in no way holding my breath on that one. So, onward we move toward our training in August, and I guess I have to start getting the rest of our paperwork together for that!

7/11/14 We decided to sign up for The Chosen Marathon for Adoption and recruit friends, family and strangers to run with #teammiksovsky as a major fundraiser for our adoption! I pray that we get a good turn out! Jason is running too, so he will have to put his "0.0 I don't run" shirt away for the next couple of months! The race is October 25th, and ALL, yes ALL of each person's registration fee goes to ABBA Fund and they in turn write a grant check for the amount raise (and possibly more) to our adoption agency. How freakin' amazing is that?! Here's our ABBA/Chosen Team website :)

7/15/14 Almost finished with our Shutterfly profile book! So naturally, we find out that we only need (required to have) a one page profile :/ And that only after a birthmother chooses us will she see the profile book that I have been pouring myself into! Awesome. But holla April Kennan is the first to join #teammiksovsky! Thank you April, you are amazing!

7/17/14 Soooo, my friends Michelle Hunt & Brandi Branch hosted a Back Yard Bible Club last week, and in talking with Michelle, she brought up the fact that she sells Noonday jewelry and accessories! Don't know about Noonday and what they do? You've got to check them out, their organization and outreach is so inspiring and amazing! In addition to help thousands of women and children overcome extreme poverty all over the world, they also help families like us :) I will be hosting a Noonday Trunk Show on August 28th and am super pumped about it! I can't wait to check out the new fall line and just having women over to the house, chatting, eating, drinking, and overall just getting away for a few hours! Here's the invite if you are interested - please join us! Can't make it? No worries, you can shop on-line in your jammies, in Wisconsin at 3 in the morning or whenever is convenient for you between now and the end of August! Just be sure to list Miksovsky Trunk Show when you check out!

 

7/23/14 Took a field trip to the Waco Zoo, and swung by Generations to drop off the rest of our paperwork! Just a few more loose ends and we will be officially waiting!! Thanks Brandi for driving and going out of your way so we could get that checked off the list. It takes a village people!

8/1/14 Jason and I met with a pastor at our church (Jason Smith) so that he can be a pastoral reference for us. We had actually both met him before, me last year at our Back Yard Bible Club, and as fate would have it, Jason met him this summer when he drove the teenagers for the BYBC to a house that his wife was hosting. That God, he is always at work y'all, just weaving away :) I also decided to more forward with our t-shirt fundraiser, so friends and family please accept my early apology for beating you all over the head with fundraising stuff! Between building our #teammiksovsky for the half marathon race, the Noonday Trunk Show Party and t-shirt sales, I'm sure you will all be sick of us in no time! #sorrynotsorry #maybealittlesorry But it will be worth it when you see the shirts, they are pretty stinkin' rad if I do say so myself! Oh and mad shout out to Hillary Adams for joinging #teammiksovsky - woot woot, we are up to 4 on our team! I should mention that other amazing friends and family have verbally committed and/or are strongly considering joining us, so I've gotta give them some love too, Jennifer Kubinsky, George Miksovsky, Michelle Hunt, and David & Charlotte Brodt! Love you guys!

8/8/14 FINALLY heard back from "Bob"/Generations, not sure why it takes 16 days to go through our paperwork and tell me what we are missing, but whatever, again, working on that whole patience thing. On a side note, who knew a) you had to schedule a time to get your fingerprints taken, b) that you could only get them done at select locations, none of them being near your home, or c) that their schedule would be full for a week and a half! WTH? Just breathe and hold tight to that mustard seed woman!

8/11/14 Eek! I just posted our adoption shirts on Etsy for pre-orders! Check 'em out!



Aren't they freakin' awesome?! And y'all, shout out to Ashley Granger who bought our first one! You freakin' rock Ashley! Here's the link so you can pre-order yours today! We are going to stop pre-orders on Sept. 12th and I think the turn around time is really short, so you can be wearing yours by mid Sept! Y'all I.Can't.Wait.!

8/12/14 Woo hoo! Y'all EVERYTHING except fingerprinting and background check has been completed, notorized, signed, dropped off, and whatever else they wanted! We just have to jump through this last hoop and attend a 6 hour training on the 23rd and we can schedule our homestudy and be official. Now that I type it out, it kinda sounds like alot, but y'all I can see the light, and it's glorious! Oh and we sold 2 more shirts today - woo hoo! Shout out to Anna Jenkins and Danielle Harmatuk! Oh and Jason's dad has agreed to join #teammiksovsky! Our team is growing, yay!!!

8/15/14 Yeah, so we sold 5 more shirts! What?! This is crazy! Crazy awesome! Thank you so much Misty McCleary, Jessie Martinez, Colleen Parris, and Tarrah Zomer (the last two peeps BTW we don't even know, but are part of an adoption support group - so humbled by the generosity of strangers) I can't wait to see everyone wearing their shirts - I love it! I am feeling so incredibly loved today! I love love love you all - every single one of you joining us in our journey, praying for us, supporting us, encouraging us. Sigh. I have no words that can adequately express our gratitude. Thank you.

8/19/14 9! Nine more shirts y'all! Holy cow! Blown.Away. Massive amounts of love go out to Sandy, Pumar & Elias Bhakta, Hillary Adams, Brandi Branch, Angela Schneider, Matt & Stephanie Wear, Hillary Adams, and Amie Buckner (another friend who I met while going through IVF together, and also the mom of adorable twin girls who a just a little older than Max & Emma). God is so good y'all! You will never know what this kind of support does to a person's heart - it is so full right now, I feel it may burst! Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my very full heart!

8/20/14 I woke up with tears this morning. You see I was checking my email when I woke up and discovered a very, very generous donation had been made from some very sweet friends from our church. I just feel so unworthy. Especially when given a straight donation. I feel like people should "get" something in return. I guess I just need to work through these feelings. But Melissa and Bob Slocum, we cannot thank you enough. You are too generous. And can I just tell you all how much I love our church! Hill Country Bible Church has been so pivotal in our happiness here in Austin. We are so very grateful to the many friends we have made here.
In other news, Jason and I went to get our fingerprints taken today. And y'all we are in the wrong business! I totally need to buy me one of these FBI fingerprinting machines, rent a tiny little office space (like seriously my closet is bigger than this office), and charge people $40 a pop for 5 min of work! But they had a bowl full of free candy, so that was good. It was name brand candy too :) I was pretty disappointed though, as apparently my fingerprints have massive amounts of damage and scarring, to the point that two of my fingers were unreadable. Awesome. She said between burns, acetone damage (which is weird since I rarely paint my nails anymore, ain't nobody got time fo dat), and scarring from bleach and other harsh chemical in cleaning supplies. I have basically burned the prints off of two of my fingers, although you would never know by looking at them - they all look the same to me. Weird. So what does this mean? More hoops. Awesome. So, the FBI will likely reject my prints, and I will need to go back to have them done again. At the same location. By the same woman. On the same machine. Just to be certain that it is really me. So, so dumb. So of course, the results will take 2-7 days, then I will have to reschedule another day/time to come back in and retake them, probably another 10 days there, wait another 2-7 days for the results to come in, and then we can complete our FBI background checks and move on with our lives. Add it all up, and that's about a month. A month. To prove I'm not an international criminal. Seriously?! Just breathe. I am hopeful that I can get some of this frustration out in my run today. Our training is in 3 days!!!

8/29/14
Adoption Training Recap

10/14/14
We are officially "paper pregnant"!! Now the real waiting begins!

10/25/14
We along with 11 other friends, family and strangers ran with #TeamMiksovsky 13 point freakin' one miles baby in the Chosen Marathon for Adoption! Because of the amazing support of friends and family, we were able to raise $1300! We should know by the end of January how much ABBA Fund will give us in grants toward our adoption, but it will at least be $1200! So YAY! Praise Jesus! God is good all the time... all the time God is good!!

11/7/14
Started the re-lactation protocol today! Haven't been on birth control in I don't even know how long, but here goes something! I plan to be on BCPs and Domperidone for 3 months (12 weeks) and will then start pumping while taking the Dom and a whole host of other vitamins and supplements that apparently contain voodoo milk magic - we shall see!

1/6/15
While sitting in the hospital registration lobby waiting room getting Max all checked in for his surgery, Jason and I got a email from "Bob" that there was a situation with a birthmom and wanted to know if we wanted our profile shown to her! Oh and she's due on Saturday... the 10th... aka MY BIRTHDAY! Cray Cray! Anyway, after some prayer over the situation and the extenuating circumstances that came with it, we decided to move forward with having our profile shown. There were only a few profiles being given to her and we would know something by Monday. Oh the agony of waiting all weekend! Well, long story short... she chose a different family :( This journey is such an emotional one y'all! Here's my brief post about it and it's effects on my heart. So... we just continue to wait on His perfect timing. Almost 3 months in!

1/27/15
We got an email about another situation with a baby boy due March 20th! Our profile is being shown, but it is a risky situation. We'll see how it goes, not getting my hopes up this time. Lesson learned.

3/5/15
We were not chosen... again :(

3/31/15
For the 3rd time, our profile was shown. A baby boy due in June. Found out April 16th that once again, we were not chosen :( Read the post here.

4/5/15
Another situation, another no :(
Read about it here. Going to look into Foster to Adopt.

5/14/15
Met with Angelheart to get more info on foster to adopt and respite care. Loved them!

5/26/15
Sent the email to Angelheart letting them know we are ready to move forward with foster to adopt and respite care for foster families. Getting excited! This will move fast- so nervous!

5/29/15
Learned of another situation today of a mom having a c-section next week! A baby boy. The situation is a little sketchy but we threw our hat in the ring anyway. We'll see if this is the one. Not holding my breath though. It's a no - but at least it wasn't because she didn't pick us, but because  they decided to parent. Read about it here. Jason and I have decided to pursue the foster system and will begin applications and training through Angelheart over the next few weeks.

6/2/15
Another day, another profile showing. This time, she just had the baby, so it would be a stork drop.

6/3/15
"The birthmom and birthdad chose a family this morning. They really liked your profile but said they felt a special connection to a family for several reasons." 

6/6/15
First training day for foster to adopt and respite care!

6/7/15
Another hospital call. We'll see. And we're not it. It's weird how all these babies have been boys and for some reason I always envisioned that it would be a girl.

6/8/15
Jason does his CPR/First Aid training.

6/9/15
Happy 8 year anniversary! Got an email today about another mom due Sept. 19th. Seemed a little early to be showing profiles, but I guess they know what they're doing. We'll see.

6/16/15
Second and final training session for Foster! Then CPR/First Aid training for me! Almost all done!
6/30/15
BEST DAY EVER!!!! Read about it here. Also the day the we got our fire inspection and the kids completed their TB tests - basically officially licensed by the state of Texas to foster. Impeccable timing God! 

7/1/15
Met our sweet birth mom for dinner! We absolutely LOVE her!

7/12/15
My sweet, sweet friend just told me they want to throw me a baby shower! So honored and lucky to have these friend - they are the best! Time to start a registry I guess! Eek!

7/22/15
After exchanging emails for a few weeks, we finally had time to meet up with our birth mom for dinner again! This time with our kiddos! Much less nervous this time! Told her we would like to name the baby after her (have baby's middle name be either her first name or her middle name). I think we have narrowed the field to about 4-5 names - we'll get there eventually!

7/23/15
Our BM emailed and invited us to her next appt! Woohoo! So excited, but even more for our growing relationship with her! Appt is Monday the 3rd!

7/24/15
Our first respite care case!! It was supposed to be one 22 month old boy, but now it will be him and his new foster sister, a 14 month old little girl! Eek! So excited! Crib and pack n play are ready to go!

7/25/15
Man these kids are awesome! We want to keep them ;) The most well behaved little boy I have ever seen, uh can we drop our kids off with you (foster mom), or can you share your magical powers of parenting?! Like for real y'all they set the bar pretttttty high!

7/28/15
Got a call today asking us to do respite care again next month, but we will be on vacation part of the time :/ They have us do it anyway, we'll see! It would be during  the week this time.

7/29/15
OMG - so Angelheart calls today to let us know that a baby girl was born July 2nd, and the mom was now looking to place baby, and we were the first people she called. WHAT?! We couldn't believe it was coming out of our mouths, but Jason and I both felt the Lord putting it on our hearts to say no. Never in a million years did I think I would ever be in this position or that we would say no! Wow, crazy! It was difficult to get it off my mind the rest of the day and that night. I had knots in my stomach and feared that we made the wrong decision. The next day, I decided to give Angelheart a call to put my mind at ease that our no just made some other family's dreams come true. Come  to find out, this woman was trying to scam the agency out of money, and our caseworker wasn't even convinced after talking with her for 7 hours, that there even was a baby at all :/ So sad that there are people like that out there, but so, so thankful that the Lord lead us to say no, and that they didn't call anyone else after us, so no one was subject to heartbreak and disappointment. So glad I called to check in, I can now rest easy.


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