Third Draft

So I have noticed recently that our blog posts have been about money. I hate that. I hate that adoption is centered around money when it should be centered around excitement and faith! But, it is what it is I guess. I have written two other posts in the last month but they sit here in the wordpress drafts folder. I keep re-reading them and keep getting a negative vibe from them. I don’t want to blog about the negative all the time. We can’t avoid the negative but lately that’s how I have been feeling. I hate that too because we truly feel called to share our story to help other people. Not everyone puts there infertility struggles out there for the world to read. We want to be a blessing to others!

When I got to thinking about those two negative posts I realized that a lot of the anger built up in them is from the fact that a year ago this month we lost Sarah. So I really sat down and got to thinking about turning that negativity around. I prayed that God would bring us some good news. We are still waiting on that good news but I realized that I have been missing out on the little things that should be reminding me that people do care, that we ARE getting closer to growing our family and most of all that God has not forgotten about us. Things like emails from friends checking in on us. Random donations that come right when we needed a boost. Little kids asking us when we will get our child (we are so lucky that our child already has friends waiting for them!). Friends wanting to have fundraisers for us. People telling us that our story is helping them. All these things are positives.

Another positive that keeps me going is WHITNEY! I don’t tell him nearly enough that he is my rock. Poor guy married the most emotional woman on the planet! He’s a keeper. God didn’t forget about me when I asked Him for an amazing husband!

So I guess my point here is let’s all remember the positive today. Whatever your situation is right now at this very moment, try and think back about a time you didn’t have what you have right now, at this very moment. Life is pretty good.

Love,

Whitney & Tara

On a side note: To update everyone on which direction we are going with the adoption….we can not afford two anymore. So right now, we are going with only one. We have a deadline of 6-8 weeks from now to sign up with our international agency. During this time, we could POSSIBLY do a domestic adoption if a birthmother comes through our social worker or we happen to meet someone. If that does not happen, our domestic homestudy will be switched to an international one, and that is the avenue we will take. I wish we could do more than one but it is just not possible right now.

We Carry Your Heart

Well this post isn’t strictly just about our adoption. It’s part of our story sure, but right now, this is on our hearts.

We are sitting at this moment in a hotel in Albuquerque. We even got a discounted rate at this hotel because we are a part of a group that is here for a memorial service tomorrow put on by UNM Hospital. The memorial is for all the families who had children that have died during the past year.

Man, it’s been a whole year!!! I wish I could say we were only up here to go to an awesome restaurant, see some old friends, do a little shopping in the big city and get our Starbucks fix…which we did. But that was today….tomorrow is about our daughter Sarah Grace.

We found a church to visit in the morning, then we’ll head over to the memorial service. We also bought some pink flowers today to take over to her gravesite. We have not yet seen the pink stone marker we picked out for her. We don’t do that because we believe that is where she is, we know she is in heaven as she never got the chance to reach the age of accountability, but we are going to take this one opportunity to just thank God for letting us have her for a long as we did and for what He did in our lives because of her.

Thinking about this time last year when we were up here in the hospital not knowing what was going to happen is a little weird. It almost doesn’t seem real even though we think about Sarah everyday and she has forever changed our lives.

Instead of the heartache, I’m trying to think of the wonderful things we had with her for a while. The best story I think of is that I was CERTAIN she was a boy. Everyone else thought girl girl girl. And Whitney, well knowing the love this man has for his nieces, well he knew it was a girl. I think maybe deep down I knew Baby O was a girl but someone had to be right in case she was a he:) I would have LOVED to tell my son that I was the only one who knew the truth.

I remember too when I was working in Virginia, sick as a dog and feeling horrible, I had never felt so gross and ugly. Someone told me that we must be having a girl because girls suck the pretty out of you. Sarah was one crazy beautiful girl then!

Please pray for us tomorrow as we take a small break in our adoption pursuit to remember our crazy beautiful girl that we had for such a short and powerful time.

Love,
Whitney & Tara

Adopted Sisters

We have A-MAZ-ING friends. Since we began this journey, people have donated towards our adoption fund, bought items from the store and prayed for us. We’ve even had a church in Georgia that doesn’t even know us, take up a love offering! We are truly blessed. We have also had a few fundraisers and a lot more in the works. So many people have offered to help by holding fundraisers with the items they sell. My sister had a Silpada jewelry party, my friend Misty just wrapped up a Scentsy party and now we have a Thirty-One party going on starting today through the whole month of September.

Flashback to 1999. I entered Marietta College with the hopes of just experiencing college without getting too involved with extra-curricular activities. I needed a break from the busy schedule I held in high school. Then I met a bunch of girls at a yellow brick house on Fourth Street. Little did I know that I would be spending the next three years at that house and making lifelong friendships with those girls. I never thought I would EVER join a sorority but there I was, a member of Sigma Kappa.

This month’s fundraiser is being held by one my my sisters, Lindsey Meili (aka Swank for all you Kappas). She sells Thirty-One bags and we hope you check them out. For those of you who haven’t heard of Thirty-One, they are awesome. They sell totes, purse and tons of other organizational items. You can even personalize them. Thank you Lindsey for helping us on our journey through adoption!

Here’s the link and just so you know, Thirty-One is holding a special in September so check it out: http://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx?eventId=E2164613&from=DIRECTLINK&verify=true

Love,

Tara & Whitney

PS….When I went to write this post, you know I HAD to dig through some old photos….enjoy!!