my call to adopt.

In 2006, my husband & I decided to try to have a baby. Well...I decided, and I somehow convinced him. Because we were also building a house at the time, and "What if you get pregnant during the move...", yadda yadda. So I came off The Pill, and thus began the "trying". After a few months, we were starting to get a little antsy, but also knew that technically we weren't considered "struggling with infertility" until we'd been trying for a year.

I won't go into the details of the "trying" years (I have written about some of my struggles at the time); just know that it involved "home remedies", ovulation calendars, Clomid, ovulation tests, pregnancy tests, bloodwork, an HSG, testing for the hubs, unwelcomed advice from random people, and lots of crying. Most of my friends were getting pregnant & having babies, and I was not. It was a very difficult time, and I struggled spiritually & emotionally. Every time a friend announced she was pregnant, the bittersweet emotions I felt were so overwhelming, it exhausted me. I was genuinely happy for my friends - I really was. And yet I was also so discouraged that it wasn't me. It was tough, y'all.

In 2008, we decided to consider adoption. I won't lie: at this point, adoption was a back-up plan. It was my "I guess if I can't get pregnant, I need to consider adoption" plan. Don't get me wrong; I clearly felt as if God was calling us to adopt. But I also still strongly desired pregnancy, and would have been totally ok if God wanted to go on & proceed with our Plan A. Then, in 2009, I became pregnant, I found out I'd lost our baby, and we once again got back into the adoption process, only this time with more passion than before. I cannot put into words what happened to me between the pregnancy/miscarriage and the decision to once again pursue adoption, but I know it was God leading me, growing me, and assuring me that this was His Plan A.

Fast forward to 2014. I have two amazing children. God chose to send them to us through adoption, and each of their stories is beautiful. (Read about their stories, and our adoption journey, here.) Relationships formed with their birthmothers have blessed us more than we could have imagined. Technically, we are still infertile, since we have not gotten pregnant. But honestly, I do not long for pregnancy anymore. At some point in my journey, God turned my desire for pregnancy into a desire for a child. And that is when I realized that I wanted to be a mommy - not necessarily a pregnant woman. I said goodbye to pregnancy, and fully embraced adoption. It is my heart now. This is not to belittle the miracle of pregnancy & childbirth, but to highlight the beauty of motherhood, however it may come about.

God desires for us to take care of orphans, and I feel so inadequate, but want so badly to fulfill this desire He has for these children. If you are a believer in God's word, you know He wants you to love Him & love each other; act justly & love mercy; never stop praying. Taking care of orphans and widows fits perfectly with God's overall desire for us to pursue relationships that glorify Him. That is what God wants for all of us - to develop & nurture relationships that glorify Him. I won't try to argue that the bible specifically commands all Christians to adopt a child. I don't believe God has that plan for each & every one of us. But I do know that God loves adoption, He loves all of His children, and fostering/adopting children is such a beautiful way to express God's love for everyone.

Everyone's path is different. God does not make missionaries out of everyone; He does not send everyone to the inner city; and He does not make foster or adoptive parents out of everyone. But is He calling YOU to adopt or foster an orphan? And if He is, are you listening? What will you do about it?

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In writing this post, I came across this article, A Biblical Framework for Adoption. Please read it when you have the chance; I think you will enjoy it!

 



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Nightlight Christian Adoptions

Our adoption story was recently featured in the newsletter of our adoption agency, Nightlight Christian Adoptions. Our social worker asked me to write a short story for the winter newsletter, and of course, I had a hard time keeping it "short"! :-) Click on the image below to read the story; it begins at the bottom of page 2:

bittersweet chaos

The past month & a half has been a little chaotic for us, to say the least. ;-)

Let me sum it up for you in pictures:

Tyson Nolan H. just after birth, about to have an urgent heart catheterization

 Happy Halloween from the NICU at MUSC!

Trunk or Treat at a local church in Charleston

 Moved to the PCICU; this was taken a few days before the heart surgery

Happy birthday Baron!! Holding Tyson for the first time, the night before surgery.

Exploring Charleston

 Finally in a private room in the step-down unit

 Handsome.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunset on the harbor

So happy to have family with us!

Granmama was so much help on this trip!!

There is always time for tickles.

 Going home from the hospital!!

 

 

One month old, and 2 days before heading HOME to Alabama!

I will post more about this wonderful adoption experience at a later time. We have been home from Charleston for almost two weeks now, and we are still adjusting to life with a newborn, and life with two kiddos. :-) Needless to say, spending over a month away from home - 8 hours away from home, to be exact - took its toll on me. More to come on that later. Right now I need to catch some zzz's before my next early-morning feeding. :-)

whirlwind.

Needless to say, ever since we found out we were chosen by a birth mother, my life has been a whirlwind. And it won't be slowing down for awhile. :-)

I think there is a reason God gave expecting mothers 9 months to prepare. Having only 3 weeks to get a house ready for a newborn is enough to put a mommy in a crazy house! Add to that the chaos of finding a place to stay in a town 8 hours away for 6-8 weeks, making arrangements for help with the toddler when she & the husband come back to town in a couple of weeks, beginning a relationship with my soon-to-be-son's birth mother, preparing my boss/co-workers for my extended absence, and attempting to savor the last moments at home with friends & family before being gone for awhile; and my brain is officially mush.

But, here I am, the night before our travel day, and I am almost ready. No, not almost ready to bring a baby home. { My house is a mess; the baby's clothes are stacked in his room because his dresser drawers are broken; I don't have newborn diapers; the nursery isn't finished...etc...} I just mean I am almost ready for our trip. Because honestly, I don't think I could manage this whole ordeal if I were trying to get ready for ALL of this at once. I am taking it one day at a time. Tonight, I will get ready for tomorrow's travel. Tomorrow, I will get ready to be in the delivery room for the birth of my son on Monday. Monday, I will get ready for the moments I intend to savor with my son & his birth mother while in the hospital together. Tuesday, I will get ready for the emotions that come when the birth mother signs her relinquishment papers. And all that time, in the back of my mind, I will be praying for my son to just be healthy. I will pray for him to breathe when he is born. I will pray for his blood to circulate. I will pray for the NICU nurses, the surgeon who will operate on him, and all of the people taking care of him while he is in surgery & recovering. I will also be praying for his birth mother, who is nervous, excited, anxious. Who is struggling with her broken relationship with her mother. I will attempt to encourage her, while refraining from saying "it will all work out", when I don't know that it will. I will try to be her friend, because she has none with her at this time.

Friends, this is a lot to deal with. I am an emotional girl anyway, and all of this is just completely overwhelming for me! The only way I am managing to drift through this is because I am relying on God. This is His plan anyway, so He knows what's going on. He is my strength, because I have none on my own. I am fragile & weak & way too emotional to handle this myself. The Joy of the Lord is my Strength. I have had to remind myself of that over & over during the past 3 weeks! The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.

(source)

matched!

So, I'll just get straight to the point:

We've been matched with a birth mother!!

We got a phone call on Monday that a birth mother has chosen us to adopt her sweet baby. She is a young African-American woman, and her baby boy is due November 4th! We are SO EXCITED!!!

Your prayers for our baby boy are coveted. He has a heart condition known as transposition of the great arteries. He will need surgery 5-10 days after birth to correct his condition. He will be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks after the surgery. Which means, we will have an extended stay in Charleston, SC, once he is born. There is also a chance the birth mother could be induced as early as October 23rd. We would love for little man to cook a little longer if possible! We need prayers for this sweet baby, for his birth mother, and for our sanity while we get ready & while we wait! Please, please pray for a safe & smooth delivery and surgery! Thank you all!!

Natalie is so excited to have a baby brother soon!!!

officially waiting

Did I mention we are officially "waiting to adopt"?

Yikes...that's actually a little scary. ;-)

[ Romans 8:28 ]

an adoption update

Hi peeps!

I know, I haven't done a good job of keeping you updated. I was recently completing an online survey which asked, "Do you blog?" and I honestly felt bad answering "yes", because I do it so infrequently! I want to do better; really I do!

I have had several people ask me how the adoption process is going. Here's where we stand now:

• We have finished all of the paperwork. {I think we have; there is so much, we may have missed something. :-) }
• I've been working on our adoption profile, which is basically a snapshot of our lives. I'm doing it as a photobook, which is how we did our first one. It's almost finished; we are just getting a couple of updated photos to include, and then we'll be able to order a few copies to send to the agency to show to potential birth mothers. If you'd like to see our photobook, click here. {I think you may have to sign in with a Walmart.com account, so I apologize if it's too much hassle. And please let me know if that link doesn't work! :-) }
• Our fundraisers are going SO WELL, thanks to all you generous people! Honestly, we are so astounded at how giving everyone is! We have had a lot of people give us donations, and Baron has had several orders for his sports figures. I don't know right now how many Wild Olive Tees we have sold, but I hope it's going well! They are such cute t-shirts, and I love that they have this adoption fundraiser as an option.
• I hesitate to announce this, because I'm almost embarrassed, but I'm so excited that I just can't hide it: we had one super awesome individual donate ALL of the rest of the money we needed for our agency fees!!! People, that is a huge chunk o' change. When this person emailed me to tell me, I was completely shocked. I have known a lot of generous people in my life, but I have never been the recipient of such an amazing monetary gift. We are SO blessed!!! The individual asked to not be named, so I will respect their privacy. But I couldn't help but share the news!! We will still need to save up money for travel expenses and legal fees for the finalization, and that is where the rest of the fundraising money will go. But it is such a relief to not have to worry about the rest of the agency fees. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
• We are also still in the process of making room in the house for baby #2. I know once we send our first payment & our profile to the agency, I will start to get the nesting fever, as I did when we were waiting for Natalie. When we get to that point, we will have no idea how long we'll be waiting for a baby, so my OCD-ness will begin to kick in, and I'll want that space ready, like, yesterday. :-)

Thank you so much for all of your prayers! We truly feel that adopting is God's calling for us. There's no other way to explain the generosity of everyone, and the way everything just "falls into place". It seems like an impossible task in the beginning, the whole process. Then when you get into it, and everything starts to work out, you just know that it's what God wants. It really is a God thing, and He knows what He is doing!! Please continue to pray for our adoption journey; the prayers really are felt!

{ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him; who have been called according to His purpose. ~Romans 8:28 }

{ Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence. ~James 1:27 }

adoption fundraiser: bamashark customs

In case you didn't already know, my super talented hubby has a little hobby/business called BamaShark customs. He customizes sports figures. And the packaging. And they're awesome.

As a fundraiser for our pending adoption, he is offering his talents! For $75, you can have your own sports figure, display base, and customized packaging! AND the proceeds go toward our adoption fundraiser!

For more information, and to check out some of his work, head on over to his website. These make perfect gifts for graduation, birthday, father's day, etc! Or just for fun!

adoption fundraiser: wild olive tees

GREAT news! We have been set up with Wild Olive Tees to do an adoption fundraiser! Wild Olive has some super cute, spiritually-themed t-shirts for women & kids. If you'd like to help fund our adoption through Wild Olive Tees, please visit their website and browse the Adoption Fundraiser Tees. Pick out your shirt(s), and when you go to check out, be sure to enter our family code, GOINS220, in the "coupon code" field. That's how we get the credit for the sale. Be sure to enter our family code! These are such great t-shirts, and I am so excited that we are working with them. Please help us out, and tell your friends!

{ check out all of our adoption fundraisers in the sidebar to the right! }

returning to the papyrus basket

If you read this post, you know that we had "started to start" the adoption process again. :-) Well, I suppose at this point, we've officially started it! We are in the process of updating our home study, which the second time around includes:

1) getting updated medicals for Baron, Natalie, and me;

2) updating our adoption profile to include Natalie [and the bazillion pictures I have of her :-)]; and of course, 3) more paperwork. :-)

We have decided to go through the agency we used to adopt Natalie, Nightlight Christian Adoptions. We loved working with them, and we love the work they do with birthmothers and for orphan care around the world. If we're going to save up a bunch of money & use it for an adoption, these are the folks we want to have our money. And speaking of money...we're officially SAVING and fundraising! Which for me translates as, no more eating out during the week, and way fewer stops at McDonald's for a $1 tea. :-) We have an adoption fund set up at our bank, and hope to soon actually start putting more money in it. The cost of a domestic adoption typically ranges from about $20,000 - $30,000. We expect ours to be about $20,000, including legal fees and travel expenses. Would you like to help us? Guess what? You can!! We have arranged with our church to be able to accept donations through them, so that they can be tax-deductible. If you would like to simply write a check to help, you can make it out to Vaughn Park Church of Christ, and in the memo line, mark it as Family Care - Goins Adoption. You can mail your check directly to Baron & me. [Please email me at lauragoins828@gmail.com for our address, as I don't want that published on the www. :-)]

Stay tuned to my blog for our upcoming adoption fundraisers. We hope to be able to raise the money for this adoption without having to borrow. There are adoption grants to apply for, and there are also loans out there, and we will pursue whatever avenues we feel we need to, in order to bring our next baby home! If you have a fundraiser idea, please leave it in the comments or shoot me an email at lauragoins828@gmail.com. I appreciate your input!

{Curious about the title of this post,

or the name of my blog? Read this!}

the second time...

"When are you going to have another baby?"

"Are you going to adopt again?"

"Natalie is about ready for a little brother or sister!"

Those are the comments you get when you have one kid. I'm sure when you have two, you probably still get them. :) Well, we actually had it in our plans to start the adoption process again toward the end of this year. Guess what? It's NOVEMBER. That's "toward the end of this year". :) We had planned to use a local agency that has strong ties to our home church. Agape of Central Alabama is an awesome organization that focuses on foster care, adoption, and crisis pregnancy counseling. We used them to conduct our home study when we were preparing to adopt Natalie. We wanted to use them for our next adoption for two reasons: 1) They are local, and 2) Their adoption expenses are lower than that of the agency we used the first time. So, the other day I decided to email their Adoption Specialist & ask what we need to do to get the process started. Her reply felt like a door shut in my face. They are not accepting applications for adoptive families right now, due to a lack of birthmothers coming to them. While I realize this is somewhat good news, that there aren't many birthmothers who need or want to place their child in another home, it's not good news for adoptive families. I'll be honest: I got upset when I got this news. You would think that by now, I would realize that my plans aren't always what God's plans are, but I guess my thick skull hasn't quite let it sink in yet. MY PLANS were to go through this agency; it would just be so much simpler that way.

So, that's where we stand right now. We have to decide if we want to use another agency, or if we want to raise the funds to be able to use Nightlight in South Carolina {who we used for Natalie's adoption}, or if maybe God just wants us to wait. We shall see!

Please join us in praying for God's will to be revealed to us as we decide how to grow our family.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ~1 John 5:14

featured in Southern Child Magazine!

Southern Child Magazine included our adoption story in their April/May 2011 issue. Check it out!

the Natalie diaries - part 4: the hospital.

{for the Natalie diaries - parts 1, 2, & 3...click here}

Around lunchtime on Tuesday, March 23, Baron's mom and my parents got to our rental house in Greenville. Obviously they were oozing with excitement & about to jump out of their skin to see Natalie. :) Baron & I ate some lunch and then headed to the hospital, and the grandparents followed us shortly. Their first view of Natalie was through the nursery window as we visited with her. Fortunately, the nursery at the hospital there had a private room {read: closet} set aside that they called the "bonding room". That was where Baron & I did most of our snuggling with Natalie on her first day in this world. We also got to take the grandparents into the room one at a time to hold her.

{holding my daughter for the first time!}

{Baron holding Natalie for the first time}

{Natalie and Granmama (Baron's mom)}

{Natalie and Mimi (my mom)}

{Natalie and Paparoxy (my dad)}

The rest of that day is sort of a blur. We changed, fed, and held Natalie, but all of that took place in the nursery/bonding room. That night we headed back to the house for some much-needed rest.

On Wednesday, we started visiting Georgia in her hospital room, with Natalie. It was awesome to be able to visit with Natalie's birthmother, with Natalie there too. No more tiny bonding room for us; we visited & relaxed in Georgia's room instead. The grandparents were thrilled to be able to meet Georgia too; and the feeling was mutual. We were all like family there in that tiny hospital room. It was an experience I'll never forget! Thankfully we got lots of pictures. :) Georgia's cousin Kelley was especially fond of Natalie. Natalie has several gifts from her Aunt Kelley that she will treasure.

The days spent in the hospital were kind of a blur to us. They all seemed to run together. Georgia's release day was set to be Friday, which meant that was also the day she would sign the relinquishment papers, giving custody of Natalie to me & Baron. That Friday was an emotional day. We were bringing home this tiny life, who we would forever be responsible for here on this earth; we were excited to be able to have Natalie in a more relaxed environment; we were in the midst of leaving our rental house for another one for the second portion of our stay; and we were anxiously awaiting the signing of "The Papers". There was a lot going on this day. I remember the butterflies in my stomach. I remember the mix of emotions in the hospital room while Aunt Kelley fed Natalie for the last time. I remember the overwhelming sense of gratitude I felt for Georgia, who selflessly chose a different mother to raise her child. I remember how strange it felt to hear that Georgia's hospital bracelet for Natalie would be cut once she signed the papers, which would no longer allow her to visit with Natalie alone in her room. And I remember walking Natalie down the hallway from Georgia's room, and breaking down in tears because I felt as if I were taking this woman's child from her. It truly was an emotional time, but overall, so incredible. It was an amazing experience that I will definitely never forget!

{for more pics from our adoption trip, visit my Facebook photo album}

the Natalie diaries - part 3: the birthday.

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2:45 a.m.

My phone rings. The caller ID says it's Georgia, so I quickly answer.

Me: Hello?
Georgia: Did I wake you up?? {at this point I realized it's actually Georgia's friend Jackie.}
Me: Well, yeah, but that's ok.
Jackie: We're having a c-section!
Me: What??
J: Yep, she's gonna have a c-section. They're taking her back now.
Me: NOW?! What happened?
J: She was having contractions, and her water broke, but she wasn't dilated so the baby was in distress. So she's got to have a c-section.
Me: Uhhh...{still waking up} ok, we'll be there in a little while!!

I got up, and of course the first thing on my mind was taking a shower. Really? A shower? Now? But I desperately needed it to clear my head. I took the fastest shower I've ever taken, got dressed, tried to pack a diaper bag with what I thought I needed for a few hours at the hospital, and Baron & I made our way to the hospital. When we got there, we were stopped by the front desk since it was after visiting hours, and at that point I realized that I didn't really know how to quickly explain why we were there, so of course it took me like 5 minutes to explain our situation. Then the lady made us sign the visitor log, and she made nametags for us...BLAH BLAH BLAH HURRY UP WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

We finally made it up to the maternity floor, and then we realized we didn't know where we were going. So we found a nurses' station {after about 5 minutes of wandering around}. The nurse showed us which waiting room to sit in so that we would see the baby coming out of the operating room on the way to the nursery. We sat. My stomach fluttered. The other visitors snored. A few visitors were WAY too loud for 3:30am. I laid down & tried to rest. Then, a nurse came through "the door" with an empty baby crib. "Are you with the Walker family?" she asked. "Yes," we answered. "Wait right here - I'll be right back," she said. Like we were going somewhere else?

{us in the waiting room at the hospital at about 3:30am}

A few minutes later, "the door" opened and out walked Jackie, dressed in scrubs, with the nurse, who wheeled a baby crib with the tiniest, most beautiful baby I've ever seen. She was like a tiny porcelain doll. My heart stopped beating. She was our daughter. I didn't cry like I thought I would, but I was breathless. It happened so fast, and all of a sudden, our daughter was born.

Jackie said that Georgia was fine. She said that the moment she laid eyes on Natalie in the operating room, she told Jackie that she knew she was making the right choice. How incredible is that? For a mother to give birth, and immediately be at peace with her decision to have someone else parent her child. It's an amazing decision that she made, and she was content with her choice.

We followed the nurse to the nursery, where we looked through the window as they weighed & measured her. We couldn't go in there just yet so we waited {impatiently} outside the nursery window. At this point, I was starting to feel the fatigue - it was about 5:00am and already I'd had the most exciting morning of my life. I went on a search for ice water, and came back to Baron to wait some more. We took pictures through the nursery window. We waited. We guessed about her length...and I was WAY off. {She looks much longer than she is!} And then we waited some more.

{our first view of Natalie through the nursery window - 5lbs, 13oz; 18.75 in.}

While we were waiting, Jackie came out & said that Georgia wanted to talk to me. I walked with her back to Georgia's recovery room, and we chatted for a few minutes. She reassured me again that she knew she was making the right decision. She wanted to be sure that I knew that. She looked like she was doing well after her surgery. We talked for a few minutes, and I went back to wait with Baron.

At some point while we were sitting outside the nursery window, we called our family. We didn't want to call in the middle of the night; that was pointless, so I think we waited until about 6:00, which was 5:00 their time. They {my mom & dad, and Baron's mom} were planning to leave at 7:00 that morning to travel up to South Carolina to spend the rest of the week with us after the birth of Natalie. Of course, they weren't expecting her to already have been born by the time they left. :)

Finally, a nurse told us she would be bathing Natalie soon & we could come in for the first bath. Soon after that, we got to go in the nursery to see our daughter. The nurse gave Natalie her first bath while we watched, videoing and taking pictures the whole time. Then she put her under the warming lamp to get warm before feeding her for the first time. She showed me how to feed her while under the lamp, and I fed my daughter for the first time! It was an incredible experience. However...at this point, I had gotten so fatigued/hungry/overwhelmed/hot {under the warming lamp} that I started to feel faint. How embarassing. I had to stop feeding her to sit down because I felt so bad! The nurse actually left to get me some juice & crackers to help me out. At least I didn't pass out. :)

{Natalie's first bath}

{Natalie's first feeding}

Later, we took Natalie to the "bonding room" in the nursery - a room they have set aside for parents to privately bond with their baby. This was the first time Baron & I actually got to hold our daughter. It was a precious time for all of us!

{daddy holding Natalie in the bonding room}

Around 10:30, I decided I really needed to go back to the house & take a nap & shower. I hated to leave the hospital, but I decided that I felt so bad that I just couldn't enjoy my time there so I needed to refresh. We went back to the house, and we both took naps & showered. While we were there, our parents arrived, beginning the adventure of our week-long (plus) "vacation"!

{to be continued}

the Natalie diaries - part 2: the call.

It was Monday, March 22nd.

I knew this was probably "the week". Georgia (our birthmother) was going to the doctor this morning to hopefully find out what day this week she would be induced. I had planned to go to work, knowing I could very well leave after talking to her. I woke up that morning, and for some reason felt the need to stay home until after talking to her. Her appointment was at 10:30, which is 9:30 our time, so I decided to stay home until I knew what her doctor told her. I got a few things done around the house, but I was mostly relaxing. I had a lot to do before going to SC for the birth of our daughter, but I was resting a little after my nesting frenzy over the house that weekend. At about 10:45 that morning, she called me. The phone conversation went something like this:

Georgia: Well, I have good news & bad news; which do you want first? {She liked to start her updates like this ;)}

Me: Ummm...the bad news?

G: It could be up to a couple of days before I have her.

Me: Well, that's not too bad! Ok, what's the good news?

G: I'm going to the hospital right now.

Me: {can't breathe} WHAT. Right now?!?!

G: Yes, right now! I'm going to McDonald's to get a sweet tea, and then I'm going to the hospital!

Me: {pretty sure my heart stopped beating...} Uhhh...ok....{I have no idea what I said at this point, as I was in shock, even though this is the conversation I was halfway expecting.}

G: Are you packed & ready to come up here?

Me: No...I was too busy getting the nursery ready!

G: I told you to have your bags packed & ready to go! {True. She did tell me that. But I'm a procrastinator. :)}

So, after talking to Georgia for a few minutes, of course I needed to call Baron. He had about 5 minutes left in his last class of the day, so I texted him instead of calling. I made the mistake of making it seem like an emergency. I guess when you text "CALL ME ASAP!!!" then it does kinda seem like an emergency. :) He actually stepped out of class to call me, and I told him the news. Then I called my mom & got her to call the rest of our family so that I could focus {yeah right}on packing. I packed Natalie's suitcase {which, BTW, I was nearly clueless as to what I would need, so of course I overpacked}. Then I realized that we had to take a MOVIE back to BLOCKBUSTER. Of all things, the morning I'm getting ready to go out of town to adopt our daughter, I have to go to Blockbuster?! Whatever. It was New Moon, so it was worth it. ;)

The rest of that day is sort of a blur. Baron got his stuff done at school before leaving, and we finally left town about mid-afternoon. My dad was working on finding us a place to stay, and he settled on making reservations at a vacation house just 10 minutes from the hospital where Georgia would deliver. By the way, did I mention my mom & dad and Baron's mom were going with us? AWESOME help. We were so glad to have them with us!

We got to Greenville later that night, and went straight to the hospital to see Georgia. She was feeling pretty bad at that point; her head was hurting like crazy {a symptom of the preeclampsia, which is why she was being induced early} so we didn't visit long. She had been given a drug to soften her cervix {can't remember the name of the drug} to prepare to be induced on Tuesday morning, and she hadn't progressed at all that day. So we were expecting it to at least be mid-day on Tuesday before we saw any action. We left the hospital to go to the vacation house to get some rest. Little did we know what lie ahead of us that night!

{To be continued}

the Natalie diaries - part 1: nursery + nesting

I am finally getting around to blogging about our adoption experience. Sorry it's taken me so long, but well, I've been busy. :) And still am, for that matter, but I'm forcing myself to document the experience before Natalie turns 13 and I can't remember what happened when she was born. Anyway, I'm putting this into a few different posts, since it would be way too long to put into one post & I would most likely lose all 4 of my readers. So to begin, I'll take you on a tour of the weeks approaching Natalie's birth, and how I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.



We had started collecting items for the nursery months ago. {Well, technically, a couple of years ago, when I bought the awesome rocking chair that Ashley recommended to me - SO COMFORTABLE. I bought it with the last bonus check I received from my previous employer, before the economy went kaputs & bonus checks were no longer in existence.} We had the room painted "soft mint green" last year - a gender neutral color since we didn't know at that time whether we'd adopt a boy or a girl. I bought a crib at a consignment sale last fall. My awesome friends & family threw a "pre-adoption" baby shower for me last November, and I got a jump start on the "basics" that we would need in case we were to get one of those "we have a baby for you to adopt in 3 days" calls.



So we were on a good start to planning the nursery. Then, in January, we did get "the call". {Read about it here.} At this point, I'm eager to start the "real" nursery planning, and since my friend Ashley Mills over at pure + lovely {shameless plug} had offered to help me design the nursery, she was also eager to get started. I had initially thought I wanted to do owls in the nursery, because I was planning a gender neutral nursery & I started to become obsessed with retro-looking owls. But after "the call", we found out we were adopting a girl, and I just couldn't help but choose something more girly. Ashley has these awesome bird prints that I decided were totally the inspiration I needed for the room. I began searching for color/theme inspiration online, and found the perfect room that represented the exact feel I was going for:

{Norah's nursery by Caroline Armelle}

Piece by piece, the nursery started coming together. Ashley designed the fabric on spoonflower, my grandmother made the bedding from the fabric, Baron & I {ok, mostly Baron} painted a dresser & a bookshelf, and I shopped...and shopped...and spraypainted...and shopped. And finally, on Sunday, March 21st, the nursery was finished. FINISHED. The day before, I had gotten into my frantic nesting stage, cleaning the house like a mad woman, because there was a possibility of our birthmother being induced on March 22nd. I felt it coming. I don't know that nesting is necessarily a hormonal pregnancy thing, because I was totally into it that weekend. And for good cause, because...well...that's another story, for my next post. :) Here are pics of the finished nursery!

{crib from consignment sale; bedding fabric by Ashley via spoonflower & sewn by my grandmother; rug by ekra via etsy}

{beanbag ottoman from Kohl's; chandelier from ikea; round side table from ikea}

{bird fabric designed by Ashley & pillow made by my grandmother; quilt by "Mimi" (my mom); puff rocker via ebay (sorry, can't remember the seller)}

{handmade rug by ekra via etsy; bookshelf by Baron's granddad when Baron was little & painted with Valspar Laura Ashley in pale cowslip}

{shelf from local flea market & painted with Valspar Laura Ashley in pale cowslip; figurines from Hobby Lobby & my personal collection}

{fabric swatch project from The Purl Bee; wall lamp from ikea}

{part of closet turned changing station: dresser from Baron's grandmother - painted in Valspar Laura Ashley's pale cowslip; drawer knobs from Hobby Lobby; curtains from Target}

{Tweet Tweet prints & custom frames from Ashley at pure innovation}

{fabric designed by Ashley via spoonflower; bedding made by my grandmother}

{birdcage from Hobby Lobby; fabric box from Target; mirror from Baron's grandmother & painted with Krylon spraypaint in ballet slipper}

Thanks for looking! :)