And the process begins again....

Yesterday I posted about our big news and within 2 minutes we were fielding tons of phone calls, texts and emails. Everyone was so shocked (as were we) and we've been asked for more details.

If you haven't read how we came to adopt Sam, which my in-laws made possible, click here to read that story first. After Sam came into our lives we were very busy and fulfilled and if we were never blessed with another child well that would be ok. When anyone would ask if we were going to have other children I would always say, "Not unless there is an act of God or we win the lottery."

We've spent the last four years raising Sam and now planning a big move to New Hampshire. Having another child wasn't anywhere on our radar. This was God's plan for our life and we had accepted that.

Well, apparently that wasn't God's plan....

Two days ago a couple of close friends called (THEY HAVE ASKED TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS!) and they asked me why we had never adopted again and would we if we could? Was money the reason why we hadn't? I said, "Yes." They said that they had had a good year and wanted to do something good with the money and they thought of us and wanted to make another adoption possible. I immediately started crying because I NEVER thought it would be possible. I said there was a lot to consider and pray about and I would talk about it with Richard.

When I told Richard he was in complete shock too. If I remember correctly his response was, "HOLY CATS!"

The next two evenings we were awake until midnight debating the pros and cons: our age, putting our move to NH on hold, how Sam would handle things, our age, was this something God wanted for us, starting diapers and formula again, our age, losing sleep, having to buy all new stuff again (last summer I finally got rid of the crib, highchair etc...knowing that of course we would never have another child...ha ha....), room in the house, working full time, our age, child care costs, leave from work (My school system doesn't allow for adoptive mothers to use their sick leave because we aren't "recovering" from anything, so I have to take unpaid leave.) etc. We talked about how we would feel looking back on this amazing opportunity if we said, "no."

We realized we had made our decision when the conversation moved to names, boy verses girl, age of the child we wanted and where we would put the stuff in the storage room....

....which is where the new baby would be sleeping.

Since we bought this house, 10 years ago, it's been used as a storage unit.

Where the heck will I put everything....time to finish my doll house, stop being a pack rat and have a yard sale.

So, then on Saturday evening we called our close friends and told them we had made our decision and yes, we would wanted to do this again. We actually couldn't imagine saying no. We feel immensely blessed and grateful. I feel that God is working through these people to bless us. It's a true miracle!!!

Since we wouldn't have a choice whether we were having a boy or girl if I were pregnant, we decided to leave that in God's hands, as we did with Sam. He will give us whatever child we are meant to have. We will name him, Andrew, if it's a boy and Addison (one of the female forms of Andrew), if it's a girl.

We are just at the beginning of this process, so it will take awhile before we can be officially active (homestudy needed, fingerprints, background check, etc....), but I will keep you updated as we move ahead!

Thanks so much for all the words of encouragement, love and friendship you have given us. We are very excited!

And, of course, a special thanks....words can never express our love and appreciation....to our special angels here on earth, that are making this all possible. We love you!