Adoption really is a family affair...

There is a book out with the title "Adoption is a Family Affair."  I need to try to pick it up sometime and read it. I was just thinking this morning about how true that title is. During this process, and the ups and downs that have gone along with it, I have been so focused on how the roller coaster ride has affected Ryan & I. Obviously it affects us more than anyone else BUT I never really gave much thought to how much it affected our families. Our parents have thought they were going to be grandparents (Ryan's for the first time) 4 times now only to be disappointed each time. Our siblings have had to ride that roller coaster thinking they would be aunts and uncles (some of them for the first time) over and over again as well. I feel so bad that I've only focused on how it affected us and not thought about how they would be feeling about it. :( I've been selfish and I intend to change that going forward! I'm not sure how many of our family read this blog but if you are reading this, THANK YOU for going through this process with us! Thank you for being supportive and at the same time trying to be cautious in what you ask so that you don't make it harder on us! Thank you for the thoughts and prayers that we don't even know about. We can't wait to introduce you all to your new grandchild, niece, nephew, cousin! I also can't wait to be able to share with them how loved they are and how many people have been praying for them long before they were even born!!!!!

Most importantly, I want to thank GOD for letting us go through this process! Yes it's been hard but already it's been so worth it! We have met the most wonderful people through this process! Some will be lifelong friends. God has also helped us be able to educate people about adoption which has been amazing. Mostly though, he has used this journey to help bring us closer to him and for that in itself, I am incredibly thankful!!!!!!!!!

While I'm writing, I should say that we are still just waiting for "THE CALL." We met with our new caseworker last week and we really like her! She seems really sweet and seems to be a very caring caseworker. We loved and miss our last caseworker but we are excited to see what happens this year and are excited to have a fresh face to work with! We have already told her that we hope not to work with her long. Haha! We have been working on getting our paperwork updated since we have been approved for a year now (I can't believe it's been that long already!). At first, it was hard to realize we have been waiting for a year and were having to update everything but we are confident that this year will be MUCH better!!!! Thanks to everyone who is keeping up with our journey. I'm sorry that I'm not a better writer. I should have Ryan do the posts as he is a lot better with words than I am! Regardless, I hope to give an update with good news really soon!!!!