I got to wear a baby [my fifth niece] for a few hours and I loved it. However, I am going to need to invest some time into you-tubing those videos about how to wrap yourself up with a baby clinging close and how to stuff them in without panicking that you are smooshing them all wrong. That said, I am stoked to wear our baby someday, to fill my arms with fresh baby that I don't have to hand back, to kiss and smooch and pray over, to learn the curvatures of his or her face. It was sort of one of those days where I fell in love with babies all over again. Or, more in love with, I should say.
ADOPTION UPDATE: quick and simple, this is where we're at:
We are still waiting to have our in-home-study and interviews scheduled. When we hired Susan at CAC in May and finished our part of the home study paperwork in June, were banking on being home study ready by August and applying for grants and to adoption agencies, hopefully being available to present by late August.
But as the story goes, things aren't as planned, and landmark months have arrived and we have yet to schedule the home study interviews to be licensed. We do our best to make plans and have goals and then open our hands to let them run their course. Surrender, is the word. I fail at this thing of sweet surrender so often, but its a constant thing I am aware of, a constant reality I am chewing on and fighting to enter into freely and fully, all the way surrendered. But with this minor thing of paper work and home study pushed back a bit, it seems hardly difficult to surrender. It is a thing that really isn't a big deal, that will happen in time, easy to surrender. We know it is for some purpose, as all things are, no matter how (in)significant.
Our consultant Susan (from CAC) is the best and sent us a list of agencies to pray over and sift through, to decide together which states and agencies we want to apply to. She even helped us make a prioritized list, which was so helpful, because we have no idea what to look for. There are pages of documents to fill out for each of these agencies, more applications and words and histories and stories and medical and financial records to share, so much paperwork. They call us Paper-Pregnant.
We are trucking along on our puzzle! I flipped over the bottom half the other day and snapped some images of the newest names added. If you have sponsored pieces in the last month or so, your names should be there. There are also names all over the top left corner and entire border, but I need to glue them together to flip over. Also, sometimes I just look at it and my stomach flops because all thats left are the 50 shades of whites that might have some blue tint or maybe gray, and I just don't. know. what. to. do. How do we puzzle!?
If you have not yet sponsored a piece, we hope that you will think about it. The double-sided-clear frame is being made at Michaels and will showcase every one who helped kick off our adoption with this awesome fundraiser. Your name will be placed on as many pieces purchased and will be seen in the nursery and kept forever and ever, and ever and ever. One family purchased the entire border and all I can say about that is....GRACE UPON GRACE and oceans of tears and gratitude. Another person purchased part of a piece, and we were stoked to add their name to the puzzle, because hello, you are helping us bring home our baby. Grace upon grace and oceans of tears. Its a common theme in the Brenner home these days. Once this puzzle is completely purchased, we will be half way funded.
How it works:
1) Decide how many puzzle pieces you want to purchase to financially support our adoption fund.
1 puzzle piece = $25
2) Click on the donate button below to give securely through PayPal
-OR-
Donate via check. Email us at nataliekbrenner@gmail.com and we will send your our address to mail in a check.
3) Watch the adoption puzzle come together on our blog and see your name be recognized. We will build the puzzle as you donate the pieces.