Oh, I see what you were thinking!! Come on now, that's not what I meant! I meant baby bottles!!
See, this is an important decision- what kind of bottle do you go with? There are so many choices!
Let's see, there is Born Free, and who wouldn't want to go with the bottle that is named after the 1966 movie about a Kenyan game warden who raises a lion cub and then sets it free! (And, we could sing the song all the time- "Born Free, as free as the grass grows.... uh-oh. I'm dating myself. Oh well. Get used to it.)
But then there are Playtex bottles and they get really good reviews, AND, they have been around FOREVER. I remember Playex bottles from the last time around and that would be one thing that would give me some semblance of familiarity.
Avent has worked really hard to make bottles that work well because they are shaped just like... umm... I don't want to get into that here.
And if you want to give your child confidence, who would not want to feed them from a Prince Lionheart bottle? Oh wait. We are having a girl. Is there like a Princess Jasmine bottle?
Gerber is a trusted name. Evenflo sounds like it would work well. Do we want plastic? Glass? Well I do know this - its got to be BPA free. (I am pretty sure that BPA stands for Bottle Pungent Aroma- you know, that smell you get when you leave a half finished bottle sitting aroung a little too long... I think that they have bottles that mask the smell- thus the "BPA Free")
Which one is easiest to clean? Which one holds up after repeated use? Which one will she like? What in the world should we do?
Wait! I found one! There is one called Dr. Brown's! And I am pretty sure that it must be named after Alton Brown on the Food Network- cause after all, who knows more about the science of food and food prep than Alton Brown??
I think we have a winner!
I vote Dr. Brown's!
(But I am not sure I have the swing vote here...)
Thanks for coming along...
More to come...
Jon & Mel
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Next Step...
Just a quick update to keep those who are checking up to date. Hence the name, "update".
We originally thought that our hospital tour with the birth mother would be this week, (either today - Wednesday- or Saturday). The dates didn't work out with the birth mother and her mother who is serving as birth coach. So... after trading some emails, the tour is now scheduled for January 14 at 10:00 am. That date works out well for us because Mel is off work and you don't have to twist my arm to take ANY day off from school.
So, there it is- that is the next step. That is really all we look at- the next step. We are very willing to go one step at a time. However, I will say that the baby's due date is 3 WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!!!!!!
I'm calm...
More to come...
Jon and Melanie
We originally thought that our hospital tour with the birth mother would be this week, (either today - Wednesday- or Saturday). The dates didn't work out with the birth mother and her mother who is serving as birth coach. So... after trading some emails, the tour is now scheduled for January 14 at 10:00 am. That date works out well for us because Mel is off work and you don't have to twist my arm to take ANY day off from school.
So, there it is- that is the next step. That is really all we look at- the next step. We are very willing to go one step at a time. However, I will say that the baby's due date is 3 WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!!!!!!
I'm calm...
More to come...
Jon and Melanie
Friday, January 1, 2010
After A Long Period of Quietness...
That sound you hear is the door creaking and the dust being blown off of the Arvin Adoption Chronicles. If memory serves the last entry came around August of 2008. That is quite a gap. The reason for the gap? There was not really anything to report. There was a lot of waiting. And while there is nothing really wrong with waiting, there is nothing really noteworthy about it either. At least not in the day-to-day accounting. Not for blogging.
During all of that time, Melanie and I held firm to one thing- when the right child was available at the right time, then God would make a way for things to proceed.
It appears that the time has come.
How to tell the story? Like a Star Trek "Captain's Log"? Naa. Christian will call me a nerd. Again.
Like a childrens' story? Hmm... Not sure I have that much creative juice right now.
I've got it!!!
Here we go...
It was a Friday. I was alone in the kitchen. Winter had arrived like Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation. Annoying. Unwanted. Harsh.
My partner and I had been walking the Adoption beat for over a year. To say things were slow would be an understatement. Aside from the occasional update and a phone call here and there, nobody was hiring. Yea. Things were slow. Government Health Care was changing faster.
Then it happened. I was slicing apples for a pie. My partner was getting things for the office Christmas Party. The phone rang. I answered. The voice on the other end asked for my partner. I said she wasn't around, who wanted to know? They said they would talk to me.
"Sure, go ahead" I said. The voice said, " We have a birth mother who has chosen you."
It took what seemed like an eternity for the words to sink in. My head began to swim with questions. Are they sure they have the right number? Are they sure they knew who they were talking to? Was this really serious? Did they really rebuild Hardees?
Ok. Enough of the film noir. Let me fill you in...
A birth mother here in Indiana chose us as her "first choice" about mid December. The birth mother counselor who made the initial call told me that she was pretty firm in her decision to move toward adoption, and she had looked at several profiles and kept coming back to ours. These are all encouraging things! Oh... and she is due on January 28! Yikes!
The birth mother wanted to meet and talk with us and so a meeting was arranged for December 18. To begin with I thought it was going to be the scariest meeting ever. It was the whole thought of saying the wrong thing without knowing it. I mean, you never know what someone might not like. But, as the day drew closer, we became more confident and calm. Hmm. Coincidence? I don't think so.
The meeting really could not have gone better. She seemed very at ease with us and we were comfortable talking with her as well. We talked about a lot of things and we were together for about an hour and a half.
On our way home my cell phone rang and it was the birth mother counselor. She was there with us at the meeting and was calling to say that she, (the birth mother), loved us and wondered if we would be willing to come and go on the hospital tour with her in January. Now I am about as sharp as a marble, but I think that is a good sign.
So here is where things are now. The hospital tour is set up for January 6 and all is progressing in a positive direction. We have begun to prepare- purchased nursery furniture, registered for an upcoming shower- but we are trying to be wise in the things we do. We have heard the stories and know that adoption can change directions suddenly and drastically. There is nothing we have encountered so far to make us think that it will, but we just want to be reasonably cautious with our emotions.
We are grateful for the prayers of faithful friends. We want to give a child a good home and we want to do it all in accordance with God's plan and timing.
More to come!
Jon and Melanie
During all of that time, Melanie and I held firm to one thing- when the right child was available at the right time, then God would make a way for things to proceed.
It appears that the time has come.
How to tell the story? Like a Star Trek "Captain's Log"? Naa. Christian will call me a nerd. Again.
Like a childrens' story? Hmm... Not sure I have that much creative juice right now.
I've got it!!!
Here we go...
It was a Friday. I was alone in the kitchen. Winter had arrived like Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation. Annoying. Unwanted. Harsh.
My partner and I had been walking the Adoption beat for over a year. To say things were slow would be an understatement. Aside from the occasional update and a phone call here and there, nobody was hiring. Yea. Things were slow. Government Health Care was changing faster.
Then it happened. I was slicing apples for a pie. My partner was getting things for the office Christmas Party. The phone rang. I answered. The voice on the other end asked for my partner. I said she wasn't around, who wanted to know? They said they would talk to me.
"Sure, go ahead" I said. The voice said, " We have a birth mother who has chosen you."
It took what seemed like an eternity for the words to sink in. My head began to swim with questions. Are they sure they have the right number? Are they sure they knew who they were talking to? Was this really serious? Did they really rebuild Hardees?
Ok. Enough of the film noir. Let me fill you in...
A birth mother here in Indiana chose us as her "first choice" about mid December. The birth mother counselor who made the initial call told me that she was pretty firm in her decision to move toward adoption, and she had looked at several profiles and kept coming back to ours. These are all encouraging things! Oh... and she is due on January 28! Yikes!
The birth mother wanted to meet and talk with us and so a meeting was arranged for December 18. To begin with I thought it was going to be the scariest meeting ever. It was the whole thought of saying the wrong thing without knowing it. I mean, you never know what someone might not like. But, as the day drew closer, we became more confident and calm. Hmm. Coincidence? I don't think so.
The meeting really could not have gone better. She seemed very at ease with us and we were comfortable talking with her as well. We talked about a lot of things and we were together for about an hour and a half.
On our way home my cell phone rang and it was the birth mother counselor. She was there with us at the meeting and was calling to say that she, (the birth mother), loved us and wondered if we would be willing to come and go on the hospital tour with her in January. Now I am about as sharp as a marble, but I think that is a good sign.
So here is where things are now. The hospital tour is set up for January 6 and all is progressing in a positive direction. We have begun to prepare- purchased nursery furniture, registered for an upcoming shower- but we are trying to be wise in the things we do. We have heard the stories and know that adoption can change directions suddenly and drastically. There is nothing we have encountered so far to make us think that it will, but we just want to be reasonably cautious with our emotions.
We are grateful for the prayers of faithful friends. We want to give a child a good home and we want to do it all in accordance with God's plan and timing.
More to come!
Jon and Melanie
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Ready...Set...Wait!!!!
My, it has been a while- a while since the last post. I can only tribute the delay to insanity.
Not me!! Come on- I saw you thinking that! I'm not insane, its the start of school that is insane! Its the insanity of getting up at 5 in the morning- (no one should get up at 5). It is the insanity of every school in the school system moving and reconfiguring. It's the insanity of actually having to go to work. And... oh, the list goes on and on. It has just been insane. And I am not sure that you can say that sanity is returning- its more like we are getting used to the new insanity and so we can breathe again.
Anyway, when we last left off, (July 16), I told our faithful reading audience about the education meeting that was scheduled for August 13 and how that was the "last thing" before our profile went into the pipeline.
Well, the meeting has come and gone, a hefty payment made, the profile submitted... and so now we wait.
The meeting was good. The discussion gave a lot of good insight into "how it usually goes" when you get the call that someone has chosen you are a potential adoptive parent. How it usually goes is that "every case is different." So I am not sure there is a "usual" or "normal".
So now we are in the audition of our lives. We have produced this profile that tells who we are and why we think we would be a good choice. Will anyone else think so? How long will it take?
I have spent some time in waiting rooms. Waiting for the results of tests- waiting for news- waiting to hear... So what do you do while you wait?
Waiting will be the subject of the next several posts- that is unless they call next week with a baby. Hey, it could happen.
Maybe we better go get a carseat...
Thanks for coming along.
Jon
Not me!! Come on- I saw you thinking that! I'm not insane, its the start of school that is insane! Its the insanity of getting up at 5 in the morning- (no one should get up at 5). It is the insanity of every school in the school system moving and reconfiguring. It's the insanity of actually having to go to work. And... oh, the list goes on and on. It has just been insane. And I am not sure that you can say that sanity is returning- its more like we are getting used to the new insanity and so we can breathe again.
Anyway, when we last left off, (July 16), I told our faithful reading audience about the education meeting that was scheduled for August 13 and how that was the "last thing" before our profile went into the pipeline.
Well, the meeting has come and gone, a hefty payment made, the profile submitted... and so now we wait.
The meeting was good. The discussion gave a lot of good insight into "how it usually goes" when you get the call that someone has chosen you are a potential adoptive parent. How it usually goes is that "every case is different." So I am not sure there is a "usual" or "normal".
So now we are in the audition of our lives. We have produced this profile that tells who we are and why we think we would be a good choice. Will anyone else think so? How long will it take?
I have spent some time in waiting rooms. Waiting for the results of tests- waiting for news- waiting to hear... So what do you do while you wait?
Waiting will be the subject of the next several posts- that is unless they call next week with a baby. Hey, it could happen.
Maybe we better go get a carseat...
Thanks for coming along.
Jon
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Mark Your Calendars...
Well, OK, you don't have to mark your calendar- but we certainly are marking ours!!! Why? Why, you ask?? Only because the Education Meeting with Bethany we have been waiting for has been scheduled!! The meeting is August 13 at 6:00!
So, just what does that mean for the whole process? The Education Meeting is the very very last component of our home study. Once we attend the meeting, we are "in the pipeline." Our profile can be shown to potential birthmothers and we are eligible to be chosen as adoptive parents. Once we hit this point, the "real" waiting begins. There will be nothing else we can do. We will be one of those sets of parents who are just praying and waiting for some birthmother to look at our profile and say, "I like deese guys- deese are funny guys!" (Oops- slipped into movie mode there- 3 Amigos- remember?) But that really is the idea- our profile is what catches the eye of a birthmother- and you never know what might catch someone's eye.
And while we are on the subject- this profiling thing, let me tell ya...
It is not an easy process. I mean, let's think about it... All you have to do is write up a summary of who you are, how you got there, what makes you different, what makes you good people, what makes you good parents, what makes you a good family, what sets you apart from all of the other families out there, what makes your home the right kind of home, what reason to think there is that you will handle adoption issues well, how regular you are at paying your taxes, how you voted in the last 5 presidential elections (and why), your theories on discipline, nutrition, quantuum mechanics, the economy, global warming, public education, the Academy Awards, and which peanut butter is better, (JIF smooth)
OK. So I am exaggerating a bit. But it is kind of like that. You have to distinguish yourselves from everyone else in about a page and a half. Not easy. The text of our profile went through 5 revisions and is pretty much in its final form now. The establishment of the August 13 meeting date gives us a time frame to work with. We want to have our profile ready to roll immediately upon the completion of the Education Meeting. So, in the next month we will have to get the profile into its final format. I will add photos and work on the final layout and produce the copies in order to have the whole thing ready to go on August 13.
So, there you have it. That's the latest. Home stretch on the profile, meeting in a month, then it will be, as they say, in the hand of God.
Brinkley says "hi"- He stopped chewing on things long enough to say it.
Thanks for coming along
-ja-
So, just what does that mean for the whole process? The Education Meeting is the very very last component of our home study. Once we attend the meeting, we are "in the pipeline." Our profile can be shown to potential birthmothers and we are eligible to be chosen as adoptive parents. Once we hit this point, the "real" waiting begins. There will be nothing else we can do. We will be one of those sets of parents who are just praying and waiting for some birthmother to look at our profile and say, "I like deese guys- deese are funny guys!" (Oops- slipped into movie mode there- 3 Amigos- remember?) But that really is the idea- our profile is what catches the eye of a birthmother- and you never know what might catch someone's eye.
And while we are on the subject- this profiling thing, let me tell ya...
It is not an easy process. I mean, let's think about it... All you have to do is write up a summary of who you are, how you got there, what makes you different, what makes you good people, what makes you good parents, what makes you a good family, what sets you apart from all of the other families out there, what makes your home the right kind of home, what reason to think there is that you will handle adoption issues well, how regular you are at paying your taxes, how you voted in the last 5 presidential elections (and why), your theories on discipline, nutrition, quantuum mechanics, the economy, global warming, public education, the Academy Awards, and which peanut butter is better, (JIF smooth)
OK. So I am exaggerating a bit. But it is kind of like that. You have to distinguish yourselves from everyone else in about a page and a half. Not easy. The text of our profile went through 5 revisions and is pretty much in its final form now. The establishment of the August 13 meeting date gives us a time frame to work with. We want to have our profile ready to roll immediately upon the completion of the Education Meeting. So, in the next month we will have to get the profile into its final format. I will add photos and work on the final layout and produce the copies in order to have the whole thing ready to go on August 13.
So, there you have it. That's the latest. Home stretch on the profile, meeting in a month, then it will be, as they say, in the hand of God.
Brinkley says "hi"- He stopped chewing on things long enough to say it.
Thanks for coming along
-ja-
Thursday, July 3, 2008
We Interrupt This Blog for the Following Special Announcement...
We have a new family member!! Now before you get down the road with this too far and start jumping to conclusions and saying things like, "Holy cow- they got their baby! There was no shower! I need to get a present! How did this happen so quickly! Oh my goodness!!!", let me put your fears to rest and let you know that the new family member is not a baby... well, it kind of is... WE GOT A PUPPY!!!!
We have been talking about this for a while and we decided that now would be a good time. We are not traveling in July, I am home most of the day during the summer, and, we found a breeder fairly close with just the dog we wanted!
Our new little guy, Brinkley, (named after Tom Hanks' dog in You've Got Mail), is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and is about 8 weeks old. He is pretty small, (a skadoosh over 3 pounds) and will be around 15 pounds when he is full grown. He is a "blenheim" King Charles, which for the rest of us means that he is a mix of brown and white. We just got him on Wednesday, (7/2), and so now we have been dog owners for a whole day!
We were fully prepared for a long night last night but I put him in his crate, read him his bedtime story, gave him some warm milk...oh wait, I am getting our adoptions confused- those are things I will do with the baby... Anyway, I put him in his crate, talked to him for a minute, closed the crate door, turned off the light, and we never heard another whimper all night long. Totally did not expect that. We will see how it goes tonight.
Photos of Brinkley below!
I guess it is truly the summer of adoption around here. We have added a puppy to the mix. Now on to the main attraction... a baby!!!
Thanks for coming along!
-ja-
We have been talking about this for a while and we decided that now would be a good time. We are not traveling in July, I am home most of the day during the summer, and, we found a breeder fairly close with just the dog we wanted!
Our new little guy, Brinkley, (named after Tom Hanks' dog in You've Got Mail), is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and is about 8 weeks old. He is pretty small, (a skadoosh over 3 pounds) and will be around 15 pounds when he is full grown. He is a "blenheim" King Charles, which for the rest of us means that he is a mix of brown and white. We just got him on Wednesday, (7/2), and so now we have been dog owners for a whole day!
We were fully prepared for a long night last night but I put him in his crate, read him his bedtime story, gave him some warm milk...oh wait, I am getting our adoptions confused- those are things I will do with the baby... Anyway, I put him in his crate, talked to him for a minute, closed the crate door, turned off the light, and we never heard another whimper all night long. Totally did not expect that. We will see how it goes tonight.
Photos of Brinkley below!
I guess it is truly the summer of adoption around here. We have added a puppy to the mix. Now on to the main attraction... a baby!!!
Thanks for coming along!
-ja-
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
No White Smoke Yet...
...but we are getting closer!! We met with our case-worker for the last time, and I think that as far as she is concerned, we pass! (We don't have that in writing yet.) As long as all involved parties get the paper work to the agency, we are only waiting for one more thing- the "Education Meeting". This education meeting is a bit of a mysterious thing to us. No one has really said exactly what happens. I guess they think that it is implied in the title. But we do know this- your home study is not complete and you cannot do squat until you have attended the meeting!
So, when is this meeting? If you hear anything, let us know. Apparently these education meetings are scheduled "every once in a while", and as of our latest communication with the agency, no date has been established for the next one. We are just hoping that it happens before we wind up with a wheelchair and a stroller in the family at the same time!
(You all know I am just having fun with this right? We firmly believe that God is in control of the timing of this entire affair- it will all come together at the right time and we are willing to wait for God's timing. I have noticed that it is just a pinch better than mine!)
In the meantime, I have been writing the rough drafts of our "profile"- the document that will be shown to potential birth mothers to tell them all about who we are and why we are WAY better than any other family out there (kidding). More about this profiling process coming soon!
For now- thanks for coming along!
-ja-
So, when is this meeting? If you hear anything, let us know. Apparently these education meetings are scheduled "every once in a while", and as of our latest communication with the agency, no date has been established for the next one. We are just hoping that it happens before we wind up with a wheelchair and a stroller in the family at the same time!
(You all know I am just having fun with this right? We firmly believe that God is in control of the timing of this entire affair- it will all come together at the right time and we are willing to wait for God's timing. I have noticed that it is just a pinch better than mine!)
In the meantime, I have been writing the rough drafts of our "profile"- the document that will be shown to potential birth mothers to tell them all about who we are and why we are WAY better than any other family out there (kidding). More about this profiling process coming soon!
For now- thanks for coming along!
-ja-
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