catching up

The last few months have given us so much to be thankful for. We celebrated Forrest's baby dedication at our church November 13th with our family and a few dear friends. It was such a sweet time for our family, and I am so grateful to be a part of a church that embraces adoption. Our pastor, Brad, does some of the sweetest baby dedications I've ever been a part of it, and I say this not because he is our pastor. I said this long before we every joined the church. Our very first Sunday visiting our church we witnessed the dedication of a precious little girl who had recently been adopted from China. I was almost brought to tears by his words and true longing for this little girl to come to know the Lord. Our church also kicked off an adoption/orphan ministry the same weekend as Forrest's dedication. This was an answer to a prayer that had been on my heart for over a year. I longed for our church and community to develop a "culture of adoption" but I had no idea how to accomplish it. Just before Forrest was born we were asked to be on a committee to create such a ministry within our church! God brought a sweet group of people together who all share a heart for adoption and orphan care. What a blessing! Our first meeting brought a much larger crowd than I anticipated, and we are very excited to see where God takes this ministry and what He does in our community through it.

Adoption is not a quick process, even after the baby is born. There are still waiting periods, court orders, petitions and other legal matters that still have to take place. Our court date was postponed a few times, but we were able to finalized the day before Thanksgiving! It truly gave us so much to be thankful for! The court did not tell us anything we didn't know - Forrest was already ours, but there was something about the "finality" of his adoption process that just made our hearts happy. It was also a reminder to me that he really belongs to the Lord. We are simply entrusted with his care for as long as the Lord allows, and for that we are thankful.

Our first Christmas with Forrest was a lot of fun...I think more for us than for him! He really only wanted to eat the wrapping paper! He was a trooper making all the rounds with us to visit our family. We took him to see Santa on Christmas Eve and he didn't make a peep! We thought for sure he would have a meltdown, but not our little man - he sat in Santa's lap and just smiled!

The new year has been relatively uneventful. In early February we made our first weekend trip away with Forrest to a Young Life camp with some dear friends. We had a great time and Forrest did surprisingly well, considering we were often surrounded by 300+ loud teenagers. It was a fun weekend with friends, but it was also exciting to see teenagers encounter Jesus, many for the first time. It was a blessing to see Young Life leaders love on these teenagers not only because they love kids, but because they love Jesus and so desperately want them to know Him. 

a long overdue update...

I have realized I am a terrible blogger! For those of you who have been asking for pictures, I apologize for the delay. Forrest has changed so much in the last few weeks. His little personality, or maybe I should say BIG personality, has really shown up! He loves to laugh, smile, and babble...he really is a happy baby who steals our hearts more and more each day. We recently had our last post-placement visit with our social worker and one of the questions we have been asked each time is, "Is it what you expected?". Our answer has remained the same each time we are asked...it is better than we could have ever imagined! Before we became parents we were flooded with advice, tips, and warnings. The most common being, "you'll never sleep again" and "your life is now over". I can't say those are the most encouraging things to say to new parents-to-be, but somehow it always seems to come out.  I often do wonder when I'll sleep again, but he is worth it, every minute of lost sleep, he is worth it.  And the "your life is over" - I beg to disagree - it only got better.  Yes, there are sacrifices to be made, but again, he is worth it. So many things seem so much less important now. Our priorities are different, and I think we are better people because of it. God has blessed us with this amazing wonderful gift, how could we ever complain? I am sitting here watching him sleep through our video monitor and I almost have to pinch myself to remind myself that he's really ours. We hoped and prayed and waited and prayed and hoped for Forrest for so many years, and he was worth the wait - worth every tear shed, every prayer lifted.

Already and Auburn fan!

  

Our precious pony!

Our Sweet Pea!

 

before we knew you...

Patrick's sisters gave us this sweet painting at a recent shower. It is a perfect picture of our love for little Forrest. Our hearts were full of love for this little boy before we even knew he would be ours. We talk all the time about how we never knew we could love someone so much so quick. He has stolen our hearts! It is amazing how quickly we have forgotten what our lives were like without him. Parenthood has been better than we could have ever imagined. We are so blessed beyond measure!

Thank You!!!

Thank you so much to everyone who purchased a towel through our (Cover)ed fundraiser! We sold a total of 68 towels, which exceeded our goal! Thank you, also, to those of you who chose to generously donate money instead of purchasing a towel. Between towel sales and unexpected donations we were able to raise over $1000 towards Forrest's adoption!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We have already allocated this money to post-placement visits and attorney's fees.  We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the outpouring of support we have received from everyone...family, friends, and complete strangers! Our deepest gratitude is extended to the sweet ladies of (Cover)ed...without their ministry, this fundraiser would not have been possible! Due to the large size of the order, the towels will not be ready until the week of September 26th. Once I receive them, I will contact you to arrange delivery or shipment. Thanks again for all of your support!

LAST DAY TO ORDER!!!

Today is the LAST day to order your custom-made hooded towel!

All orders are due by midnight tonight!

All towels are $25.

Thanks to the generous ladies of (Cover)ed, 

we earn 50% of the profit to support Forrest's adoption!

Click here to view my previous post with more design and color options, as well as ordering instructions.  You can email me at callen820@gmail.com with your order and I will respond with my address for you to send a check.  Please place (Cover)ed in the subject line. Feel free to contact me with any questions! Please pass this on to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers! Thank you so much for your support!  We are truly grateful!

Only 3 days left to order!!

There are only 3 days left to order 
your custom-made hooded towel!

Thank you so much to all of you who have already placed an order! If you haven't ordered yet, you don't want to miss out on these adorable towels!

All towels are $25, with 50% of the profit benefiting Forrest's adoption!

Please click here to view all your color and design options.

You can email me at callen820@gmail.com with your order, 

and I will respond with my address so you can send a check. 

Please place (Cover)ed in the subject line of your email.

The last day to order is Monday, August 22nd!

All towels are custom-made by the ladies of (Cover)ed 

and will be ready approximately 3 weeks after the end of 

my sale, in plenty of time for Christmas!

You can view my original post with more towel options and fundraiser information by clicking here. Thanks again for your support!  

You are truly blessing our family through your purchases!

there's still time to support our adoption fundraiser...

There's only one week left to order one of these 

adorable towels to support our adoption!  

All towels are custom-made and are full size bath towels, 

measuring 30x54 inches.

Thank you so much for your towel orders and encouraging emails thus far! We appreciate your excitement in supporting Forrest's adoption. Our fundraiser ends in one week. You can still order towels up until next Monday, August 22nd. Just email me with your order and contact info. Put "Covered" in the subject line. I'll respond with my address so you can send a check. The ladies of (Cover)ed are generously offering us 50% of the proceeds to go toward our adoption expenses...what a huge blessing to our family!

To browse your design options for your custom-hooded towel, click here.
Each towel is $25.

My realistic goal is to sell 40 towels, and my "dream" goal is 65.  As of today, I have 21 towels ordered. Will you please help me reach my goal by posting the original post (click here) on your blog, facebook or email?  And don't forget, it's never too early to start Christmas shopping! Thank you so much for your support!

With blessings and gratitude,

Carolyn