Inducing lactation??

I went to see my OB yesterday to talk about trying to induce lactation so that I can attempt to breastfeed new baby. Since I made the effort to nurse Josh and Lillie, I really want to at least attempt to breastfeed baby #3. I feel that the antibodies and other good immune-boosting elements in breastmilk as well as the bonding that occurs with nursing make it too worthwile not to at least give it a try. My sweet friend Emmy is a lactation consultant and had sent me some good info on how to induce lactation. The strategy is to get on birth control as soon as possible and skip the sugar pills. This will trick my body into feeling pregnant. Then a month before the due date I will get off of birth control and start pumping- every 3 hours during the day and once at night. There is also another medicine called Domperidone that can help build milk supply as well. My OB said that the Domperidone is a random drug that most pharmacies don't carry. She said she thinks the closest pharmacy that carries it is in Prosper, TX. Kinda crazy!

Home Study Interviews

Saturday afternoon our social worker came to the house and conducted our home study interviews. She interviewed the two of us together and then both of us separately. The whole process took about 2 hours. She also did a quick walk-through of the house and took note of our smoke-detectors. Someone else will come out and conduct the actual fire safety inspection in the next couple of weeks. She asked about strengths and weaknesses in our marriage, our style of parenting and disciplining, our weekly routines. Individually she wanted to know about our relationships with our parents and siblings. When I told her that I do use spankings as one form of discipline she said that during the adoption process (which I took to mean the 6 months that we will be under the agency's supervision once we bring new baby home) we would probably need to refrain from any physical punishment for even our biological kids. That is not a problem for me. We rarely spank Josh anymore and Lillie responds just as well to time outs and losing privileges.

I asked her what were some of the due dates of the birth moms who are pursuing adoption right now. She said that they confirmed this past week that they are working with 11 birth moms who have chosen adoption. She said that some are early on in their pregnancies, but that she didn't have specifics. I told her it would be an ideal scenario in my mind if we could get matched with someone earlier on in their pregnancy and get to be a part of pre-natal appointments. I think we are still a few weeks out from fulfilling all fo the requirements. I still need to get some bloodwork done, we still have a few paperwork items to submit- floor plan, copy of our marriage license, etc. And it seems like it would be wise to go ahead and start working on our profile- which is more or less a scrapbook of pictures and journal entries introducing ourselves to the birth parents. I'm very excited to submit that profile and get matched!!

Even Sweeter With 3

We just got back from a cross-country road trip and beach vacation with kids. I thoroughly enjoyed almost every minute with my two precious kids. The time in the car was actually fun, the Georgia aquarium was incredible, the kids splashed and played in the ocean to their hearts' content. It was wonderful. And at times it was even easy. It made me think about when Josh was about 20 months old and he was starting to get more independent and Lillie was due in 2 months. I had that nervous feeling that I was about to take my calm, peaceful, easy life and turn it upside down. But now 2 years later life is SO much sweeter with Lillie girl in the mix. Watching their sweet little friendship warms my heart in such a unique and powerful way. And standing at the crossroads of transitioning from a family of 4 to a family of 5 I feel the same way. Our life right now is pretty sweet, but I know it will only get even sweeter with the addition of Baby #3.

Baby Names

I've been thinking of baby names. I need to double check with Jason, but I don't think we are waiting to make the name a surprise. If I get the okay from him, I'll share specific names that I like. In the meantime, here was Josh's suggestion if we have a boy: Duckfield. That boy cracks me up.

Home Study Interviews This Week!!

Yay!! We got a call from our Hope Cottage social worker today and our interviews are schedule for this coming Saturday afternoon! She said she plans to do both Jason's and my individual interviews in the same afternoon. Jason is getting his physical done soon, I still need to get my bloodwork done, and then we will be really close to being able to submit a profile!! We are pumped!!

Progress!

Saturday morning Jason and I went to the police station and got fingerprinted- one of the many items on our checklist for the home study that can now be crossed off the list! Tonight we just finished filling out 3 separate questionnaires and surveys. We are getting closer and closer to being able to get our home study interviews scheduled! Hooray!! I'm grateful for the progress and feeling encouraged. I have mentioned to a couple of people lately that even though my original hope was to quickly blow through this whole process and get to bring our baby home this summer, I do like the thought of a September baby. Since January was when I started seriously considering praying about adoption, I feel like that 9 month period of prayer and pursuing adoption could be representative of 9 months of pregnancy- paper pregnancy! And as much as I thought it would be fun to bring new baby with us on vacations this summer, I am grateful for the opportunity to invest in Josh and Lillie and give them some undivided attention before the craziness of caring for a newborn enters our life.

The New Ocean Room

I am very excited to report that Josh's room is no longer just Josh's room. It is now Josh and Lillie's room. I went to the store on Wednesday night to buy bedding. The ocean-themed quilt at Target that I had been eyeing for Josh was 33% off. And there was a coordinating girl's ocean themed quilt that was also on sale that I hadn't noticed before. It was the perfect coordinating set! I felt so blessed to find exactly what I wanted for such a good deal. Last week I checked out lots of decorating books from the library and looked through them with the kids. Lillie didn't have a strong opinion but Josh really wanted an ocean-themed room with sea-snakes. So while the kids were at my parents house this weekend (which by the way is far more exciting than Disney World as far as Josh and Lillie are concerned), Jason and I painted their walls. The bottom half is a bright sky blue and the top half is a spring green. Once we decide on a new arrangement for furniture I am going to attempt painting a seascape mural on one of the walls. We have a few tasks left to finish off the room- hang curtains, give dresser and bookshelf a fresh coat of paint, buy a new rug, etc. But the big changes that we made this weekend were really fun. The kids love the new room. Yay!! Now baby #3 can have Lillie's old room for awhile!

Peace

Time for me to weigh in. This is my first official blog post ever on any blog. You are reading history. Now to the topic at hand...

Well, it wasn't peace at first. At first it was "no." When Courtney and I had some more serious discussions about adoption in January, I had just become comfortable with the idea that we were done having kids. From early in our relationship, we discussed having two or three. Recently the conversation focused more on stopping at two so that we could have enough time to focus on building relationships with our kids' friends, relatives, and neighbors.

I thought I had built a pretty good argument in my head for not having any more kids and for simply donating some money and maybe volunteering to help with orphans from time to time. I didn't want to pray about adoption because we had just decided not to have any more kids. We had a plan. Surely God would confirm that He wanted us to be available to build relationships with others rather than adding one more soccer game to our Saturdays for the next 18 years.

Reluctantly, I prayed.

I wasn't diligent in this prayer, but I did ask for God's direction and wisdom. During these times of prayer, there was a recurring thought. It wasn't a guilty push or clanging gong. God amazed me with His gentle nudging. The thought wouldn't leave me, and I couldn't come up with an answer. "What am I doing to sacrificially have the maximum impact in this life for Christ?"

Don't get me wrong. I tried to come up with an answer. But there was also part of me that didn't want to come up with an answer. I don't want what I've done so far to be it. Surely I'm capable of more. I want to be part of God's grand plan - part of something big that may impact hundreds of lives and be talked about for generations. So there I was. Stuck with a question I could not answer and beginning to ask myself a different question. "Why wouldn't we adopt?"

I couldn't answer that question either. There was no good reason for me not to consider adoption. Sure there are plenty of scary "what-if" scenarios, but we have the ability to provide a loving home to a child in need and impact a life forever. Then it hit me. There was an email in my inbox highlighting a need for adoptive families right here in Dallas. Right in my back yard. The decision was made. Here is a need that I can fulfill.

And then it happened. Peace.

My mind and soul filled with peace. And God continues to provide that same incomprehensible peace even as I type this now. No matter what potential thought or fear has come to mind, God has guarded my thoughts and given me focus on the role that He wants Courtney and I to play for this child. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Philippians 4. I'm experiencing the peace that is discussed in this chapter - especially verses 6-7: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

May your decisions today bring you into God's peace - it is such a wonderful place to be.

A New Room For Josh and Lillie

Part of our plan for getting our home ready for baby #3 is to move Lillie into Josh's room. They have been sleeping in the same room for the past few weeks and loving it. It is so precious to see their little friendship growing. I would really like to redecorate Josh's room and make it feel like a new room for both of them. I have seen these comforters at Target and really like them:

I'm leaning toward letting them have these different comforters that weren't intended to coordinate, but have enough colors that overlap that I don't think they will clash either. Thoughts??

Reality Check

Last Saturday we received a new packet of paperwork more involved than the first. This took me off guard. We had turned in so many things when we turned in our application, I was surprised to see the new list of 23 other documents we need for the home study. We need to get our fingerprints done, medical statements signed by our physician that we don't have HIV or TB, copies of birth certificates (guess it's finally time to order Lillie's!), a detailed floor plan of our home, marriage license, confirmation from our insurance company regarding medical coverage of the baby, more questionnaires, more photos, etc. I will admit that the big packet of stuff that will take us a good week or more to complete deflated my balloon a bit. I was ready to schedule that first interview. I am coming to grips with the fact that I can absolutely trust God and his timing for things. So we'll be off to get fingerprinted this week!

Cleaning House

Jason and I sat down together a couple of weeks ago and made a LONG list of things we would like to do around the house to make our home cleaner and more organized before baby #3 gets here. Our big house project last weekend was to clean out our laundry room. Our laundry room had been our "catch all" room and it was time to weed out and organize. Apparently I used to be a really big fan of candles! Why does anyone need 100 tea lights? I still like to burn a candle occasionally, but ever since my first pregnancy I can't do scented stuff like I used to. In addition to candles we gathered up piles of cookbooks. Our sweet friends the Browns are pursuing adoption from Ethiopia and so all of this stuff will go to their garage sale that they are having to raise money to pay for all of the fees associated with international adoption.

In the midst of cleaning and organizing the laundry room we had piles of stuff all over the kitchen countertops and into the living room and dining room. The thought struck me that what we were doing to our laundry room is very similar to what God wants to be doing in my heart. If we had just always kept the door closed when company was over and didn't ever let anyone see our mess we could have kept living with chaos without anyone ever knowing. We could have kept up a really neat and tidy appearance. Bringing all of the junk out of the room that had built up and taken over made the rest of our house so unsightly for a couple of days. But getting the mess out and dealing with it was the only way to get that room into a healthier state. I want to be willing to open up and share the junk that is in my heart with others so that I can deal with it and have a healthier spirit.