What perfect timing, and some stuff about Hadley

Yes, it's official I am going back to work tomorrow. I am excited to be starting my new job, I will admit it is a little scary to be starting some place new, but I am mostly just thankful for the opportunity. I lost my job on September 5th, and if my calculations are correct I will be officially starting my new job 47 days later, which is basically unbelievable. My new job is at a federal organization and it usually takes months to get hired on and begin. I will have to admit that I had nothing to do with it! Although I have received a lot of help and support from the people who work there, I cannot give them all the credit either. Things around here have been kind of crazy, but then again I have posted about our crazy home life before, right? But I have to tell those of you who don't know the details the good stuff. So here it is from the top; We were gathering our  paperwork to complete for our home study, we had our family interview and home inspection scheduled for Sept 8,& 9th. On September 5th I lost my job, on Sept 6th I picked up my belongings from my old job and interviewed for my new job (yeah, you heard right! I had an interview the very next day). When our wonderful social worker showed up on Saturday, I met him at the door and said "I lost my job on Wednesday, but I have already found a new one! Are we still good?" Now I say that jokingly, but the truth is I new this was going to slow us way down on our paperwork. The next week they offered me my new job, if all my background stuff checked out. Then I found out from our family coordinator that a lot of our paperwork was going to expire, because the HS wasn't going to be completed due to my job loss. Boy was I upset!!!! So the race was on to get new copies and documents and try to put the dossier together, so when I did start my new job we would have all the other papers ready to go. What's the hurry? Our dossier has got to get to China by January 25, 2013 or some of the paperwork will be expired. The HS has got to be completed and on file before we can fill out our USCIS 1-800a, and it takes up to 2.5 months to get the 1-800a back. I was afraid that I wouldn't get to start my new job until November, and that our time was running out. Oct 16th was a bad day, despite my best efforts to finalize several documents that day I came home with nothing. I fought all day on the phone with a company that owes us money desperately needed to bring Hadley home. Then after being told that I would have to drive over an hour away to get a form notarized, I broke down in the car and all my sweet husband could do was sit there. I was so ready to give up, I felt completely defeated once again. Through tear-filled eyes I looked out of the window I saw it... God showed me his plan with just a few simple words "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear." God was telling me that Hadley was closer than I thought she was.
      The next day I drove the distance to get that simple form certified. As the kind lady was working on the paper I saw the posted sign that said "we do not take debit cards, and no out of town checks". I just started laughing out loud, and said you have got to be kidding me? I never carry cash, and I am most definitely out of town. The woman across the room at another desk looked up at me as if she thought I might be one of those crazy people that carriers an entire conversation on with themselves (which I do, by the way). I start digging through my purse in hope that God put money I didn't know about in there. When the lady returned with my form she smiled and said "it's on me, I will contribute to your adoption", I just started crying my eyes out as I told her thank you. Thursday, I was going over the paperwork I still needed with my mom, and she made the comment that we might not make the time line, and she wanted me to be prepared. I said "where is your faith? It's going to be fine". Friday at 4:15 I received the phone call I had been waiting on, and it was the start date for my new job. So this week I will be able to get the documents needed to complete our HS, dossier, and start to complete our 1-800a. That is 2 weeks earlier than I had hoped for. Thank you Jesus!!!!
     I do want to say that since the beginning of this journey I have encounter many different emotions, opinions, advice, questions, criticism, and judgements. I say this in hopes that if someone who reads this has a dream or an idea of something great yet to happen in their life they are not discouraged, but encouraged. From the very beginning I have had many challenges, many sleepless nights, many scary what-ifs, many believers and many more non-believers. I have been loved and supported by family and friends, and I have been non supported by them too. I have been asked many questions on why, when, how, and what? There have been days when I am unstoppable, and days when I want to lay down and quit. What Brian and I are doing is not so people will think we are the "perfect" family, who have done such a wonderful service to this world. We could be no further from perfect if we tried. We are just average parents in an average house, who live in a small hometown in Kentucky. We have a tight budget, but believed that God would provide the financial means to get her home. We have no idea why God has picked us to be parents to this precious child he has chosen for our family. Hadley will not be blessed to have us, we are blessed to have her.
      Although I fill out form after form, have days I want to scream, and worry about all of the things still yet to come I will not give up. I dream about what life will be like when she is finally home with us, I look over at her pillow every night while laying Haven down for bed. I look in the rear view mirror where her car seat will be, I think about teaching her about trust and love and all about the wonderful and loving God we have. I can't wait until I witness her blowing out her birthday candles, given that she has never ever had a birthday cake. They don't even know the exact day of her birth, let alone celebrate it. But mostly I think about how wonderful it will be to hold her in my arms and tell her that she is loved, loved more than she will ever know. I will tell her about all the wonderful people who helped to get her home, about the people who held fundraisers for us, the people who put money toward helping bring her home, the lady who paid for the document fee in Adair county, and all the people who pray for her safe homecoming. None of this would have been possible without God, he has done it all.

Sunday Snapshot

Time for Football

Hunter suffered an injury to his shoulder early in the season and has had to sit on the sidelines almost all season. I love watching football, but when your kid is out on the field it changes things up a little. Now after the injury he had last season most people didn't agree with our decision to let him play again, and the only thing I can say to that would be as a mother I want my children to be happy!!! The neurosurgeon in charge gave us 100% clearance for Hunter to play again, I prayed about it and decided that I would let him play again. Football gives Hunter a special glow in his face, and being a part of a team I think is good for kids. I am very proud of Hunter and he has really improved in the sport he loves so much.

Haven and Hadley's Room update

We've gone PINK, I can't believe we did it. I like the color pink, just wasn't to sure about it on the walls but I think it turned out OK and Haven loves it. We converted her little bed into a full bed, added stripes to her wall, and beautiful art work (thanks uncle James). Her comforter is from Pottery Barn and I have to say that Haven did a good job picking it out, with a little help from myself. I need to add the painting that my brother-in-law did for the girls room.

Update on Hadley

 I haven't had a lot of time to tell you all about our adoption progress so here it goes.... I applied for graduate school last November in hopes that I would get in along with my Mom, and complete my dream of becoming a family nurse practitioner. I wasn't to hear back from them until late March early April. April rolled around and my Mom called to tell me that she had been placed on the waiting list, I too found out that day that I had been placed on the waiting list. My mom was adamant that if she got in and I didn't she wasn't going, and I informed her that she indeed was going if I had to drive her to Hyden and drop her off myself. Now as the deadline came closer and closer I had the feeling that I probably wasn't going to get in. My mom found out that she was accepted and I was so proud of her, she agreed to go without me after much deliberation. After a lot of praying and soul searching I decided that going to graduate school may not be the plan God had for me. It made me really question whether or not I would have enough in me to pursue adoption and go to graduate school at the same time. The deadline to hear from school was two days away and I felt so much peace about not getting in that I told Brian it was time to start the adoption process for good. We bit the bullet this past May and submitted our initial application to AWAA. I checked my email every minute. It took 2 days to here back from them, Brian was at work and I had just got home from the store and was putting up the groceries when the phone rang. It was Brian on the other line "have you seen your email?" he asked, "no, what does it say?" I was so overwhelmed with emotion waiting to hear that we were accepted into the adoption program. "Congrats, you got in to school!!!". " What the  @$#**$# " (sorry for the language) those were not the words I was expecting to hear. So I am now in Graduate School and we are going to adopt a baby. Unbelievable!!!!! The next email I got was from AWAA and we indeed were accepted into the waiting children program. Brian and I just can't do anything simple you know. Over the next week or two I manage to order birth and marriage certificates, fill out over 100 informational form, send off for our passports, contact our social worker, send off for police records, and many more other little details we needed to finish.  So we started to get the house ready for Hadley to come home, which was a lot of work by the way, I haven't done a real good job of organization since going back to school you see and the house is very lived in by 4 little people and 2 dogs. Here is the timeline:

1.   05/03/2012  Submitted application to AWAA
2.  05/11/2012   Accepted into program
3.  05/14/2012   Sent agreement to AWAA
4.  05/25/2012  "Welcome" from Aimee our family coordinator
5.  06/13/2012   Orientation meeting with Harlan our social worker
6.  06/13/2012   applied for passports
7.  06/16/2012- 06/24/2012  Family vacation
8.  07/01/2012  Preparing for home study/ gathering papers
9.  07/13/2012-07/16/2012   Church camp
10.  07/20/2012  received physical forms back from doctor's
11.  08/2012   kids start back to school, continue to get ready for HS
12.  09/08/2012  Meeting with Harlan for Family Interview
13.  09/07/2012  Home Inspection with Harlan
14.  10/03/2012  drove to SOS office to certify documents

So we have made progress, even though I wish we were further down the road, I am learning to trust God's timing. Next steps include, finishing the certification of 23 more documents at the county, state, federal, and Chinese level. The major hold up now is getting a letter of employment, I didn't include the job situation we have been dealt on 09/05/2012, but all I can say about that is "there is nothing that the Devil can do to cause me pain and sorrow, that my God won't turn around into a total victory." I will get to China by row boat if I have too. I do have a new job, and I am in my second term in graduate school. I will finish up with this little announcement, after the tragic loss of my wonderful, and beautiful aunt Sue on 08/10/2012 Brian and I finally decided on a middle name for our precious little girl:  Hadley Caroline Merrick 

P.S. Sue I wish I would of told you that you have a niece being named after you, but I'm sure you know that now in Heaven.

Photoshop

Attempting to enhance photos;

My first time

Here are some of the photos I had the privilege to take for my niece Taylor. She is such a beautiful girl and we had so much fun taking them. This is the first time I've attempted to do senior photos, they didn't turn out to bad if I say so myself.

Playing catch up

Tomorrow my second term in Graduate school begins, and I know that the next 11 weeks will be crazy. I will be starting my new job at the VA in the next couple of weeks too. I'm more scared that I'm not going to have time to get stuff done around the house, and for the kids over the next 3 months. Even though I have tried to get organized and get caught up on much needed chores around the house I still don't think I'm ready. I have cleaned, organized the kids clothes, and tried to prepare for the next term. However I know that just because you prepare your self for a disaster, doesn't mean that you still don't end up with the after math of a disaster. So by Christmas it will be nothing short of a miracle if we have the house decorated, the gifts taken care of. Oh well, what can I do about it???? Tomorrow I will start back in survival mode, and that's just the way it is..... Harrison started soccer back up this fall, Hunter had an injury to his shoulder and has just started to play in games this season, Haven has been enrolled in dance, which she LOVES, and Hagan will be playing upward basketball this winter. Harrison had his second music recital and I am so impressed with his self confidence, he got up on stage and acted like no one was watching. We celebrated McKenna's birthday party at a pottery painting place and all the little ones seem to love it. Finally Brian and I our heavily involved with cub scouts and we are the Den leaders for Hagan's grade. I have several post that I need to add on my blog, most are concerning the extreme tragedy our family has endured over this summer. I have been collecting my thoughts, and deciding what I want to say. I also have a few updates about my new job, and most important posts about the progress in our adoption journey. I will try to get them on hear, but remember I will be in survival mode soon, so we'll see...