Exciting News!

Well, LOTS has happened since the blog went quiet! Ha! Tanner is obviously older…started Kinder this year…and we added a sweet, spunky daughter to our family-Hadley! But the big announcement and main reason for resurrecting the blog is that we’re adopting!

Part of me can’t even believe I’m typing those words and that it’s really happening…but it is! We have officially started the process and been accepted by an agency to adopt a little boy from Ukraine.

For me adoption is something I’ve wanted to do since 8^th grade when my family lived in Ukraine. Living there and then going back to both Ukraine and Russia to work in orphanages has always stuck with me, and I’ve known I’ve wanted to adopt…and my heart’s desire was to do it from Ukraine or Russia. It was a topic Lance and I discussed early on in our relationship and has been something we’ve revisited often.

Since those early conversations, lots of changes have happened on the adoption front-ups and downs. Late last year, we decided we wanted to add to our family through adoption, but were kind of stuck as to what that was supposed to look like and where we would end up. We thought for the longest time, we’d adopt from Russia, but Russia is closed, and Ukraine had changed its laws so we thought that was off the table too.

We contacted several different agencies and even considered different countries, but ultimately found Grace International Adoption Agency and are excited to be starting our journey to add a little Ukrainian to our family!

Tanner is beyond excited. Lance mentioned the possibility to him in passing and it stuck! He immediately came downstairs and told me we were going to “get a kid from another country!” He’s got his own list of names going for his brother and has started announcing to anyone who comes over “We’re adopting a kid!”

Hadley isn’t quite sure what all is going on, but when you ask her if she wants to be a big sister, she’s game for that!

Big brother pointing out Ukraine to lil sis

We’re excited (and a little nervous if I’m honest) about the adventure we’re embarking on! Should be quite stretching for this control-freak! Ha! Or maybe just a good, hard exercise on trusting God because it’s completely out of our control! But he’s taken care of us this far…even when I’ve wondered what in the world he was up to or accused him of putting me in the wrong family (back in 8^th grade when moving to the Ukraine was the worst idea I had ever heard of). He’s proven Himself faithful over and over and over-in small things and big-and He is good.

Can’t wait for this journey and really can’t wait to introduce you to Bailey kiddo #3!