Mildly Annoyed

Looks like turning in our dossier is going to be held up, but not because of us. We still need two documents and to write two letters and have it all notarized, but I was going to have it done this week or next. I'm just procrastinating because other things have been calling my name and because even when we get our stuff done, we need our completed home study and a form from the immigration office before we can turn in the dossier.

At the beginning of last week I called Social Worker S. to see if the home study was coming--it should have been coming, from what she'd told me (already taking longer than we expected). But she realized we hadn't gotten fingerprints for the state which they need because we've lived in state less than five years. We went to the sheriff's office to get those last week and sent them off with the criminal check form. Emailed SWS today to see how long it might be now; she called and told me she'd have the home study written up next week (we're second on her list--again/still?) but the prints/check from the state can take a month.

That means that even though we are driving to Portland Tuesday for our immigration fingerprinting appointment, they won't have our home study for probably three more weeks. And until they get that they (presumably) won't start processing our I-171H which could take six to eight weeks (per SWS). It's no one's fault that takes so long, but that clock would have started ticking this Tuesday (or sooner) instead of three weeks from now if we'd known about and done those state fingerprints long ago.

So the vague timeline in my head seems to need adjusting back one month--perhaps travel in May instead of April--and it is a wonder I am only somewhat annoyed with SWS. Of course I know that I am only guessing on our wait time between dossier and referral anyway and that God's not saying, "Oh no! They're going to mess up the plan I had because they won't get the right referral!" No, I will choose to take it on faith that this slowdown was needed to have us ready when our child is, still, "born at the right time."

Sale of the Century!

We finally have our garage back after the sale of the century Friday and Saturday. The last two weeks have been insane. I had rush work projects, appointment in Corvallis, ads to get in the paper, broken van brakes, my first paintball experience, and friends and strangers calling and giving me all kinds of stuff for our adoption fundraiser garage sale. The collections included:

• a carload plus a truckload from people I'd never met up in Alsea
• a carload from a friend's coworker in Yachats
• a garageful from Janice
• a refrigerator we finally figured out how to get over here
• the kiddie pool Jessy had left in Aaron's office (complete with water and rubber duckies)

By last weekend we could no longer park in the garage. By midweek we could no longer get to the laundry. By Thursday the items were overtaking the house, and that wasn’t even counting the several chairs and bags of clothes of our own I was adding to the pile.

A huge thank-you to Karen for keeping me sane and helping me get organized starting Wednesday. We pulled everything out into the driveway, semi-sorting it as we went. After school some kids came to help and we girls started putting things on tables in an organized fashion while the guys took forever and a day to pick up the refrigerator (only minor injuries sustained). Thursday Karen and I took care of last-minute tasks in town, then Aaron and I continued sorting and pricing. We had to get more tables from church and recruited Kerry to help make signs with her paint that would survive rain—yes, rain! It hadn’t rained here in oh, two months, but guess when it was due to roll in? Friday! This had me panicky since it wouldn’t allow us to just throw everything out on the drive/lawn and call it good.

Friday morning it was cloudy but dry at setup time. Nancy brought her crazy canopy we’d used in Mexico, the one that explodes out at you to set itself up but takes seven people 45 minutes to wrestle back into its box. That worked nicely for electronics and guitars, which Terry and Aaron wheeled and dealed into a good bit of funds. I’d advertised to start at 9:00 but at 8:40 here they came . . . and once one’s looking, the rest swarm! It was quite chaotic as we were still pulling things out and not everything was priced and I was trapped taking money while answering a thousand questions. It settled down, but then we got a short rain shower that sent us scurrying for tarps. Thank you Nancy, Kerry, Terry, and Karen for maintaining order and being great sales clerks! We definitely could not have pulled this off without you!

Once we got settled, the sale was the fun part. We had put up signs indicating this was for our adoption so lots of people asked us about it and congratulated us. Some were curious about the process or how we chose Ethiopia (see our FAQs). Many told us about people they knew who had adopted internationally or that they were or had adopted. I felt like we got to know more of our community members—and now they all know about us!

And now for the only thing you are really reading this to find out . . . the grand total! Total profit: $1471.15! (Yes, it’s in the bank. Don’t come rob us.) That is a lot of money for a lot of junk! Sure, we have a long way to go with funds, but what a great start. Again, thank you to all of you who helped out with the sale and donated items to sell!

Overheard in Waldport:

Woman at sale: “Waldport could use a little color!”

Dossier Productivity

We are making good progress on gathering our dossier paperwork. This week we got one letter of reference and employment letters from church for Aaron and our accountant/tax preparer for me. On Friday we had planned to make a day of getting several things up in Newport (nothing brings freelance work pouring in like having appointments to keep).

Our day involved getting the car ignition looked at (yep, it's messed up), getting passport photos taken at Rite Aid, picking up photos and other things at Wal-Mart and Staples, going to City Hall and learning that the courthouse is a different building (oops), and going to the courthouse and requesting our criminal checks, house deed, and passports. Unfortunately, they noticed that our passport photos weren't done right, so we had to head back to Rite Aid. Now we know why my dad calls it Wrong Aid. As we're driving up and down the hideous part of Highway 101 that's all strip malls and fast food (like 28th St. in GR), the bank sign tells me its 95 degrees. Since 75 is a warm day here and 85 is a heat wave, plus I was hungry and annoyed with Rite Aid, I was getting kind of cranky. But a snack from McDonald's and a free drink from Rite Aid to go with our reprinted photos and I felt better.

Back to the courthouse we went, and the nice lady got our passports finished up. I felt pretty dumb taking that oath with my right hand raised and my left hand on my checkbook, but whatever makes Uncle Sam happy. Then she said, "Now you just have to get your blood drawn at the lab and bring that back . . ." Aaron said, "WHAT?!" He fell for it big time. But she was just yanking his chain and truly very nice about it all, as was the woman across the hall who had the criminal check letters done by the time we checked back (at least the Rite Aid delay was good for something).

The day yielded 2 major documents plus the passport applications. That's a good feeling! Unfortunately, when we learned we would not be assigned a passport number until our passports actually come, we realized we had to pay $120 extra to have them expedited so we can get the number to put on another letter that goes in the dossier. Ah well, at least we will not have to order another copy of our birth certificates since we'll get the copies that went with the passport application back in two weeks. But the birth certificates would have been cheaper. See how confusing all this is? Expensive, too. I laid out $408.95 in two days.

While we were out chasing papers, the couple we met recently who were waiting for their referral got it! He's three months old and his name means "Be a hope." Like us, they are young and it's their first child, so I'm hopeful we'll get a very young referral too, as our social worker said was likely. Every referral story and picture makes it seem more real!

Question for the day: What should we do to celebrate when we have the dossier complete? (Bonus points if you can come up with something cheap, for obvious reasons!)

Media Roundup: "What is Africa to me?"

I mentioned recently I’ve noticed a lot of news and media about Africa, Ethiopia, AIDS, race, and adoption lately. Of course these things, especially AIDS and African concerns, are always in the news; one need only be attuned to them. But I thought I would point out some things and give some links here for those who are interested. (Yes, this is also because we’ve accomplished little on the actual adoption process this week.)

A don’t-miss airing this week: “A Closer Walk,” an amazing documentary about AIDS in Africa. “Narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, A Closer Walk features interviews with the Dalai Lama, Bono and Kofi Annan, with musical contributions by Annie Lennox, the Neville Brothers, Eric Clapton and Sade. . . . ‘This is a story about the way the world is’ says Close in the opening line of the program’s narration.” It will be on PBS Thursday, August 31, 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET.

The Australian version of 60 Minutes aired a wonderful story called “Out of Africa” profiling a family which adopted two school-aged Ethiopian children. You can read a transcript, but you will miss the joy of seeing these exuberant kids on video. (You will need to use Internet Explorer to see the video.)

The Chicago Tribune had this article about Ethiopian and transracial adoptions: “Out of Ethiopia: As more white Americans embrace African adoptions, experts applaud good intentions but point out social realities.”

Illinois Senator Barack Obama is touring Africa and visited his extended family in rural Kenya. He’s popular here but outright celebrity there. NPR had an interesting story about the expectations (hoping for an open wallet) and preparations (whatdya know, that road’s finally been paved!) for his visit. I’m happy he publicly took an AIDS test to set an example.

I have not seen this, but a friend recommends PBS’s “Wonders of the African World” with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. He explores African history and culture, such as ancient Christian sites and the belief that the Ark of the Covenant may rest in Ethiopia. On the more geographical side, PBS also produced the series “Africa.”

NPR recently aired the series “Africa: Portraits of Poverty,” with six parts focusing on issues such as AIDS, educating girls, and the high risks of childbirth. I love the glimpses of life and culture and triumph of these kinds of stories—yet they are filled with sobering realities. These are the challenges facing the Ethiopian families whose children tragically (though joyfully for us) become our children. As adoptive parents we must grapple with these complexities. I wish more people would.

What is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle star or jungle track,
Strong bronzed men, or regal black
Women from whose loins I sprang
When the birds of Eden sang?
One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,
Spicy grove, cinnamon tree,
What is Africa to me?

—Countee Cullen, "Heritage"

Beautiful Families

On Saturday we drove up to Portland to meet some of the families who have adopted or are in the process of adopting through our agency. They were having an informal barbeque, organized through the online group. Only about six families were there, but kids everywhere! I loved walking into that backyard and seeing them all together—from blonde-haired blue-eyed ten-year-olds to the youngest Ethiopian girl, almost seven months old and in America only a month.

Most of them already knew each other, as three of the families actually were in Ethiopia together last year. One couple is waiting for their referral. But they were all welcoming and kind and excited for us just starting out. I appreciated hearing from people face to face what “everyone says,” the things you read: how amazing the adoption experience is, how they loved Ethiopia, how kind the people there were, how much they loved their children right from the start. We also got to hear some of their stories from traveling and get some tips on what to do and what not to worry about. Plus I tried to mentally file little things like how to pronounce the guest house host’s name.

It was a long drive for a cookout but felt worth it for making those connections and having those firsts: We met our first Ethiopian-adoptive families. I met my first AIDS orphans (now orphans no more). I held my first sweet Ethiopian girl, wishing I had a camera as she looked up at me with her deep brown eyes and contentedly sucked on my ONE Campaign bracelet. Our child will look like this! I can only hope our child will be as beautiful and happy as these.

The Little Joys

The little joys of the adoption process:

1. Every time we go to the bank to have things notarized, we get cookies. I love our bank.
2. Teenagers say the darndest funniest things. I love our teenagers.

Toshia: "I am totally willing to babysit for a price of popcorn and chocolate milk."

Max: "Can I be Thor's fairy godfather? I'm not sure even what a fairy godfather does, but it sure sounds cool."

AIDS in the News

Quick paper update: Birth certificate copies ordered. Marriage certificate copies ordered. Passport applications almost complete. Online adoption education course completed. Need to get home study form notarized and we'll be done with our end of that, I think.

I've noted a lot of interesting things in the media related to Africa, AIDS, race, and adoption this week. I will share more soon, but for now a note on the International AIDS Conference taking place in Toronto this week. The reality is that you can't talk about Africa without noting the impact of AIDS, and you can't talk about HIV/AIDS without noting the staggering impact on the developing world and particularly sub-Saharan Africa. I will share more at another time, but for now a note on the International AIDS Conference taking place in Toronto this week. Here is one article on what Bill Gates and Bill Clinton had to say in their appearance together: "PanAfrica: What Bill and Melinda Gates Said." (I chose an article from AllAfrica.com, a site which collects news from all kinds of African media--interesting to poke around on.)

For a more personal story, you might want to read about the "AIDS Grannies": "African Grandmothers rally for AIDS Orphans."

You go, grannies!

Virtual Friends and Real Papers

One of the early joys of our adoption process has been the kindness of everyone connected to the agency. As soon as we applied we were invited into their online forum of people who have adopted or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Since I’m addicted to online adoption info these days, I joined right away. My introduction was greeted with numerous welcoming replies on the site and even a couple personal emails. I believe three other familes also joined that week, so a bunch of the “regulars” re-introduced themselves to everyone. And a couple of referrals came through, so there was much rejoicing (yaaaay)! Several familes are from the Portland area and getting together for a BBQ in a couple weeks--I hope we can go meet my new virtual friends!

The group discusses everything from health questions, travel advice, and fundraising to interesting news tidbits, Ethiopian recipes, and the insanity they’re feeling as they wait for referrals. The Ethiopia program is large enough now that although our agency doesn’t send people in groups, it's working itself out that families are going at the same time. I wonder who we will travel with? Certain folks sure seem like fun! It will be interesting to see how it works out as we get closer. Right now we have no real timeline . . .

. . . but we do have real paperwork! We mailed our agency contract (and big fat check, ugh) last Friday and got our dossier packet today. That’s the list and examples of all the letters and documents we need, how many copies, what has to be notarized, etc. Earlier in the week I took care of our USCIS I-600A Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (I just like saying all that fast to sound smart). Basically it starts our pre-approval to bring a child into the U.S. So I wrote my first ever check to the Department of Homeland Security. My joke about suddenly feeling safer feels much less funny today, though.

The other day in Ray's grocery store a man stopped me because he saw my t-shirt from the Cherry Bowl Drive-In in Honor, Michigan—he and his wife used to work there! They moved here two years ago. And I thought it was funny that a man at Young Life leadership camp last year said he had the same shirt; they had visited Michigan from Montana. Okay, I get that it's a small world after all . . . but if I ever meet an Ethiopian in Ray's, I may actually pass out!

For this I scrubbed cupboards?

It's over. We did it. Our home has been studied.

The interview was not at all grueling or probing. No white gloves used or petri dish germ samples taken. I think the only easier test we've faced was our "interview" when we first visited Waldport! Social Worker Sandy is very down-to-earth and unintimidating. She said we did such a good job on our essay homework that we'd already covered most of the areas she would have asked us about. She still needs a few things like our criminal checks back before her report can be completed, but barring something unforseen like discovering our identities have been stolen by one of America's Most Wanted, we seem to have passed the test!

Next we'll start the online adoption education program we have to complete and work on gathering dossier paperwork as soon as we get the agency's packet. Meanwhile, back to working and basking in the (fleeting) glory of my oh-so-spotless house!

Monday, Study Monday . . .

HOME STUDY VISIT MONDAY! AAAAAAAAAAAGH!

What was I thinking when Aaron was on the phone with Social Worker S. deciding on Monday versus Tuesday and I said Monday morning is fine? Tuesday would have given me 24 more hours to prepare, clean, worry, kill fruit flies (little #&%!*s are driving me nuts but goin' down!), organize, be anxious, safety check, rehearse, and get nervous!

I'm actually not truly concerned, although at times when I think about it I get a surge of nervous energy. Not really butterflies, but kind of jittery. No coffee this week!

S.W.S. has been so nice and helpful on the phone, I'm sure she won't be scary in person. Aaron actually asked her if she's "one of those mean ones" and she denied it. She's extremely chatty and easy to talk with. Should make the visit go fast, but on the other hand, if we have to discuss a bunch of specific things without getting sidetracked, it could take forever. She said not to worry about cleaning--but I was going to use this as my only motivation to clean things I never clean. When will I ever scrub baseboards with a toothbrush if not for home study? Too bad, 'cuz there's no time!

I may now return to my regularly scheduled neurosis already in progress.

Speaking Freely

Welcome, new readers! Before reading further, you may want to go back in time and read the first post, "Frequently Asked Questions."

FINALLY we can speak freely! Because we've been traveling and hosting guests so much this summer, we hadn't had good opportunity to tell many people here in Waldport about our adoption plans. It may seem silly, but I wanted the people to whom we are closest to find out first, or at least at the same time (not last). But if we told people one at a time, it'd take forever, and then no one knows who else knows. And we knew once we told Toshia and the rest of the youth group kids, it'd be all over! (No offense, loves, if you're reading this.) But now that we're really getting into the process, we were just bursting to share. With Aaron back from YL camp, I told him I couldn't take it any more--we're telling! Everyone! So this morning at church he stood up and told the congregation at almost the end of the service, since he didn't manage to get it out during regular prayer request time. Everyone grinned and clapped and congratulated us. They're so wonderful. And wouldn't you know it, someone in the congregation has a grandchild also currently adopting from Ethiopia!

I wanted to see Toshia's face when Aaron said it--it was priceless. I've never seen a mouth gape so wide, and for about ten minutes! She was actually almost a bit scary, being so shocked and indignant that she hadn't known--we weren't sure whether she was going to punch us or cry. She soon moved into the latter. Ana looked dazed in her shock. Shayla is calling us Mom and Dad, "so we can get used to it."

After church many of us went to the Adobe for lunch (a celebration of Desi and Heather, Margaret Ann, and, I suppose, per the sermon, "Cloud Appreciation Sunday"), so we got to talk more with some people. Linda is so cute, all giddy to buy baby things and decorate the room. I reminded her of our first experience sewing curtains . . . perhaps we'll find some to buy! Unfortunately Billie was at home with laryngitis, so we had to stop by and tell her, because Linda said she'd be calling Billie to see if she'd talked to me yet until we did. Sure enough, while we were there, Linda called. What a pair you two are!

We still have people from outside of church and most of the kids to tell, but I'm sure word will spread fast (this is Waldport, after all), and now that it's kind of "out there," I feel like I can tell anyone and everyone. Tell one, tell all! We're pregnant on paper! Whee!

Thank you most sincerely to all of you for your happy and supportive responses. Our church is truly a family any child would be blessed to grow up in.

The Countdown Begins.

Note: If you're new to this site, you might want to start with the previous post, FAQs.

Happy birthday to me--I mailed our adoption application! We have applied for the Ethiopia program of Dove Adoptions International. It's a mid-size agency near Portland. We also have started working on home study paperwork for Sandy C., who is an independent social worker but has worked with Dove a lot.

Choosing an agency was somewhat difficult, but since only a few agencies are licensed for Ethiopian adoptions, our choices were greatly narrowed down. I got information packets from five agencies; two of them have waiting lists because their Ethiopia programs are growing so quickly. I got recommendations from people on online adoption forums. I read a lot and eventually called our top choices to ask questions about their programs and process. I won't get into detail here about why we decided on Dove beyond saying we feel comfortable with their program, their accessibility, their facilities in Ethiopia, etc. For you Reformed fans of Providence out there: Dove was the first agency site I ran into when I started thinking seriously about adoption and doing research. A hint? Ethiopia lodged permanently in my heart right then and there. Just took us a while to get to this point of applying.

We have also started on home study paperwork. Well, Aaron has. He spent a day cranking through his "homework" before Young Life camp. My parents have been here, so I have yet to catch up with him. Sandy may be able to come here for our visit around the second week of August. Yes, things are happening fast! Since the application is in the mail, assuming all goes well, the 9-month timeline clock starts now. Stay tuned . . .

Wendy

Frequently Asked Questions about the Wetzels' Adoption

Family and friends, many of you already know that Aaron and Wendy are hoping to be joined by a little Wetzel through the process of international adoption. Thank you for the support you’ve shown us so far! We know this process is foreign (er, no pun intended!) to many of you, as it was to us before we began. I (Wendy) plan to write here regularly as a way of letting you know what’s going on and learning with us more about adoption.

For those of you who haven’t had a chance to talk to us, and to answer some of those questions you may have wanted to know but been afraid to ask, I’m going to start with a little Frequently Asked Questions about the Wetzels’ Adoption.

1. When did you decide to adopt and why?

Why adopt? Wendy couldn’t survive as a freelancer if she had to give up coffee for 9 months. Just kidding!

We have been thinking about whether, when, and how to add children to our family for a long time. We have loved and still do love the many experiences we’ve shared with kids, especially teenagers—but they are not our family. It’s time for us to have a lifelong relationship with a child of our own. You may be wondering how our experiences with Marfan’s Syndrome factored into this decision. We won’t lie; it was a factor in this difficult decision—although we don’t consider adoption “second best” or a consolation prize. Yes, in a perfect world, we might have had biological children. But this sin-sick world is imperfect in many, many ways. It’s also true that in a perfect world, no children would need to be adopted in order to experience the love of a family. We are confident that God will work through adoption to bring us the child or children who are perfect for our family!

2. What kind of adoption are you doing?

We are pursuing international adoption for a variety of reasons. Some of the draws for us are the more structured nature of the process, more predictable costs and time frames (although delays can happen when dealing with two national governments!), the opportunity to learn about another culture and reflect more of God’s world by incorporating it into our family, and the great need for homes for children in many places.

3. What country will your child be from? How did you choose?
Although we have not decided on an adoption agency yet and so could conceivably change our minds, we are pretty sure we’ll adopt from Ethiopia. Although many people are more familiar with adoption from Asian countries, Ethiopia’s adoption programs are growing fast (thanks, Angelina?), making it the 7th most popular country in 2005 and likely to be in the top 5 in 2006 (given that some countries like Russia are making adoption much more difficult these days). The needs in Africa are great due to extreme poverty; malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases; war; and other factors. Ethiopia alone has an estimated 4 to 6 million children needing families. Despite these challenges, Ethiopian children are as healthy as any when adopted, and the country’s adoption system is now well established.

The fact that I (Wendy) am having trouble not including too much information about Africa here indicates the real reason we gravitated to Ethiopia: We have a love for Africa! We've long felt that if there were ever a place we wanted to visit or do missions work in, it would be somewhere in Africa more than anywhere else. The stories and needs capture our imaginations and tug at our hearts more than those of other places. I believe God gives different people an interest in different places and needs so that our attention and passion can be more focused and effective; He seems to have drawn us toward Africa. Who knew that God would allow us to one day not only visit Africa but also love one of His beautiful African people as part of our own family? We look forward to sharing with our child the miraculous story of how God planted the seeds in us long before one of their days came to be.

4. Does that mean your child will be black?
Yes, Ethiopians are generally quite dark-skinned. We will be facing many new experiences and challenges as a multi-racial (or transracial) adoptive family (many of which we also would have encountered had we decided on a different country, especially since we quickly ruled out Eastern European countries, although that also would have been cross-cultural). We hope you will join us in learning all we can about these issues and providing our child a safe place with loving family and friends in the midst of a society and world with messed-up, broken attitudes and history regarding race. We recognize that we have a lot to learn but trust that with your support and God’s empowerment, our family can be a beautiful reflection of love and understanding.

5. How long does the adoption process take and how much does it cost?
Timeframes vary widely between countries, but Ethiopia has one of the faster and simpler processes. We are told that from the time of applying to an agency (we are currently narrowing it down), the process could take only about 9 months. Sounds like about the right amount of time for a baby to arrive!

Costs can vary too, but let’s just say that international adoption is comparable to buying a new car. And yes, that depends on the kind of car! A significant portion of the costs are for travel, of course.

6. How old will your child be? Will it be a boy or a girl?
Ethiopia has healthy young infants available, and we’re requesting as young as possible to experience as much of that early time as we can [insert joke about young minds ripe for brainwashing here!]. Some Ethiopian babies are coming home as young as 4 months old, which was a definite draw for us.

Some agencies do not allow first-time parents to specify a preferred gender; others do. I’ve heard that this is because more people request girls than boys. Some people think it’s not fair to be able to request gender since with a natural birth you can’t—true, but hey, for a natural birth you don't have to first discuss your history, religion, health, and finances with a complete stranger who holds your future plans in their hands. Adoption is difficult, so it should get to have its own perks too, I say! Nonetheless . . . we think we'll let God decide.

7. What are the steps to adopting?
With a lot of research behind us, our next step is to decide on and apply to an adoption agency. The agency performs a “homestudy” (or has a social worker in your state do it, if the agency is elsewhere). This involves providing information and talking to a social worker about how we’re preparing to adopt, our background, our parenting styles, etc. They will come to our house to terrify us that we are not anal-retentive enough in our cleaning—okay, that’s not the reason, although a lot of people worry about it! They write up a report which essentially approves us to adopt.

We then need to file adoption paperwork with the U.S. government and the government of the country from which we’re adopting; the paperwork for that country is called a dossier. Once they approve our dossier and file who knows how many papers on that end, we can receive a referral of a child. We will receive photos and as much medical and background information as is available, which varies. If we see a medical red flag, we can refuse the referral. Since the children are screened for major illnesses and given a medical exam before referral, hopefully at that point we would accept the referral and make travel plans!

We would travel to Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa and stay near or at the orphanage/care center. The stay required is about one week. Some paperwork there, some paperwork back here in the U.S., and we’re officially all one family! Then, of course, there’s the feeding, diapering, teething, crying, playing, spoiling . . .

8. Is there anything we can do to help?
Sure—we need everything anyone expecting a baby needs! We will need your excitement and encouragement, especially when the paperwork gets tedious and the waiting excruciating. We will need you to come to our garage sale and buy our junk (or help with whatever other ideas we come up with) to help pay for this process and baby gear. And as new parents, we’ll need wisdom and help especially when our baby arrives. We’re thankful to have all of you behind us!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Feel free to comment here or email us, and check back often for our updates and reflections. Blessings,

Wendy and Aaron