Our Adoption Journey: 2010

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

We are FAMILY!!!

Forgive me as its been a while since I last posted. The most important update of all is that our adoption is finalized!!!! Please welcome Camden Simeon O'Neal ... born 1/12/09, adopted 3/3/10! Thanks for all the prayers and support throughout our journey.

For the record, I rec'd the call from our attorney on 2/16 at 11:18 am notifying us that Camden would be forever ours on 3/3/10!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

We are in the home stretch ... One step away!!

Well its been over a 1 week since my last blog update, and boy do I have good news to share. I'll list in descending order ...

2/3/10
- Court Appearance for our Permancy Hearing - it went great, Camden was well behaved, judge granted ruling to proceed with permancy/adoption plan
- Met with our adoption attorney to sign the petition! What a feeling!!!
- Next steps ... 1. paperwork filed by adoption specialist and attorney 2. Adoption Hearing!!!!

1/27/10
- Adoption specialist visit ... very successful. Reviewed remaining steps to adoption and applicable benefits

1/26/10
- First contact with Adoption Specialist; visit scheduled for tomorrow, 1/27
- Contacted/selected Adoption attorney, Susan C

1/25/10
- rec'd VM from newly assigned adoption specialist, Erica H.
- visit form our R&C worker ... annual assessment/paperwork completed

Monday, January 25, 2010

A month full of "First" ...

First Birthday Party ... 1/16/10

First Haircut ... 1/15/10

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Camden turns 1 ...

1/12/10 Camden turns 1 ... weighing in at 27lbs 1 oz. To God Be The Glory!!! Stay tuned for more photos after his big bash on Saturday, 1/16/10.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Camden's First Love ...

He's not even 1 and he's already found his first love :-) How cute are they???

Camden's First Christmas, pt 2 AND ... did I mention, he started walking!!!

Camden's First Christmas, pt1

Just had to share Camden's first Christmas ... we had Christmas at our home in NC

He's worth the wait ...

He's worth the wait, He's worth the wait, He's worth the wait ... this is how we handle email updates like the one below

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From: XXX, Rebecca C (CHFS DCBS JSR Jefferson)
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 11:47 AM
To: Tamla

Remember this is an estimate! The adoption specialist says the average time between them getting the case and the adoption is 3 months. They will have the case Mon or Tue.

Rebecca XXX, BSW

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He's worth the wait, He's worth the wait, He's worth the wait, He's worth the wait ...

Dear Birthmother

Dear Birthmother,

We know that you are reading this because you are considering placing your baby for adoption. We appreciate and admire your courage and strength, and pray that you will receive a sense of peace and comfort about your decision. We believe that adoption is a beautiful relationship between two families that want the best life imaginable for one of God’s children. We know how much love it takes to make this decision and we are so honored to even be considered.

We cannot imagine the range of emotions you are currently facing. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you make this journey, perhaps the most difficult journey of your life. Don’t ever doubt your selfless love and incredible sacrifice. Please know should you select us to parent your child, your child will always hear about the love that brought all of us together.

We have no idea who our future child will be, but know that we love them already. From the moment we made our decision to expand our family through adoption, we have carried them in our hearts. We (especially their big sister) think of them daily, what they will look like, and what they will become.

Our promises …

To You:
· To respect your decision
· To be open with you about ourselves
· To share with your child all the love that went into your decision
· To raise your child in a living home under the admonition of God

To Your Child:
· To pick them up when they are down
· To embrace their laughter
· To kiss away all their tears
· To hug them, to love them
· To encourage their dreams
· To be there for them always!!!

We would be honored to talk with you about your adoption plan and hope that in doing so, it lessens your pain and brings comfort. Our prayer is that God will guide you to the right family. May you find peace in your decision … listen to your heart.

Blessings and Peace.

Adoption Journey Playbook ...