Finished our Homestudy and I married a good man!

Well yesterday we finished our home study. Basically what this means is a lady from our adoption agency comes to see our house and talk to us. I spent ALL day cleaning everything from the baseboards to the inside of our fridge - needless to say she wasn't too worried about all that. I mean it was nice that our house was clean - but she spent her time interviewing us both about ourselves, our families, our marriage, our interests. There were some tough questions for sure but through all of this I am learning so much about myself and so much about the amazing man I married. I think its common in a lot of adoptions for the man to have a tougher time coming to grips with certain decisions. Justin has really amazed me with how much he has opened his heart to our decision we are making together. He is a much more private person than I - so when she interviewed us both together I did a lot of the talking - but when she interviewed him alone he answered some tough questions about being a dad one day and a husband so well - I could hear him through the wall in our bedroom (and those of you that know me well know I was NOT trying to listen ha!)! I am very proud to be his wife! He is an honest man - with Justin what you see IS what you get - at times I don't like this haha - but I am realizing this is an amzing quality and I truly do appreciate him and his heart so much! He is going to be an amazing dad and I can not wait till the day I hear a little boy or girl call him daddy! He was raised in a wonderful family by a mom and dad who loved each other and were always there for him - and I really admire how much he respects them!! They say going through an adoption can be a tough time on a marriage but I am really starting to see this may be one of the greatest times of our marriage - I am seeing a whole different side of him at times - last night he said to our friends and I "Nobody and I mean nobody will ever love this baby the way I am going to - nobody" and this is so true - he's an amazing man with an amazing heart and a lot of love to give and our baby is going to be SO lucky to have him as a father. I see the way he is with high school kids that he genuinely loves and he would take in ANY day if they needed him, I see the way he is with our nieces and nephew and our friends kids we are close to, I see the way he is with our dog (ohhhh he is so crazy about this dog!) and I know I married a man that was meant to be a daddy!

I really don't think there is anything that will bring me more joy than seeing him with our child.  Okay, I'm gushing too much - let me go walk around the house and pick up his shoes that are sitting in the living room I am sure so I can find something to gripe at him about haha - just kidding!  Thank you so much friends and family for your support - I don't write on here all the time but when special things come up I will be posting and I certainly will be if we get any news that we have been chosen by a birthparent - till then please keep us in your prayers and I know God already has a special child chosen to be ours - till then I will just pray for patience for us and keep my FAITH in HIM!

On an exciting note our Panthers won Friday night - just another reason to be thankful! Its gonna be a great season I believe for SO many reasons!!! So I'll leave you with this adorable picture I just love ..... these are the absolute cutest Panther fans (all the coaches kids and one little coaches niece (our Abby) took a picture for a real estate agents ad in the panther program) .....  I just love this picture -GO PANTHERS!

Baby proofing a house!

Well today I am off to buy a fire extinguisher, outlet covers and those little latches that protect little ones from cleaning supplies and what not!  It is an odd feeling baby proofing a house with no baby here - we know and have FAITH that God has our sweet little baby already picked out and every day we get more excited.  Yesterday I made copies of our dogs' shot records, life insurance policies, credit reports, and pay stubs.  I am telling you a lot goes into the adoption process - i HOPE one day our little one will see just how much we TRULY wanted him/her!  I am glad our adoption agency makes us do all this stuff - they have to make sure that the people they are entrusting with this sweet little baby is willing to do the stuff needed to keep Baby Blackwell safe! Friday the fire dept and someone from the cities' environmental health dept. will be coming to the Blackwell house to make sure all is good ..... So cross your fingers that Friday goes well!!  After Friday if your baby comes to our home - rest assured they will be VERY safe here - ha!

Welcome to the blog ;)!

Hi Friends and Family - if you are reading this you more than likely know that Justin and I have been wanting a baby of our own for quite some time.  A few months ago, after much prayer, Justin and I both made the decision to adopt.  We decided I would start this blog because everyones been asking us SO many quesitons about it (ha! and I LOVE that - i love to talk about it but we thought this would sometimes be an easier way to relay info than repeating the same stories over and over ;) ) I'd be lying if I said we weren't scared - we are scared, nervous, anxious, excited all in one!  If you know me you know I LOVE kids - there's nothing more important to me than the children in our life!  If you know Justin then you know he is still a big kid himself - ha! and he loves kids of ALL ages - the kids he teaches/coachs he GENUINELY cares about and loves - he is fiercely loyal and if he loves you he will always be there for you!  He will be an amazing dad one day!  Since we attended our training day at the adoption agency last week - we both have been asked a lot of questions about it.  The agency we are using lets the birthmom pick us so the wait time could be 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years ??? Its basically all in Gods' hands we truly believe!  We really are beginning to understand this is what God wants for our lives - I know we will see that when we look in our babies eyes!  I am NOT a patient person so this is hard - we must be patient and wait for the right person to come along who feels we would make the best parents to bless us with the gift of their child.  If you are like me you don't know much about adoption, I am still learning a lot - we are just taking this day by day and praying that God will bless us with a sweet baby in His perfect timing!  We have started with the paperwork.....  we've made copies of tax returns, pay stubs, marriage license, had referral letters wrote on behalf of us, filled out 35 pages worth of questions - its tough those of you that have babies of your own don't normally have to answer quesitons like: - what goals do you have for your baby, - who will raise your baby if something happens to you and your husband, - how do you feel about daycares and do you plan to work when you have a baby?  These are all questions you usually think about but don't necessarily have to answer.  This definitly feels like the toughest "test" we've ever taken - but we KNOW its well worth it!  We are currently putting together a portfolio - storybook of our lives that our birthmom will look through to decide if she chooses us to be her babies parents.  We still have to have the fire department come to our house to do a review and I need to order a credit report for both of us - ha!  I'm telling you its all a little overwhelming but I know its all done to make sure our baby is in GREAT hands!  We are EXCITED about this journey, we are hopeful, we are faithful, we are thankful for the amazing support we have of our family and friends - thanks for reading our blog and I'll do my best to update this with exciting news!


I am SO proud of this picture! This is our best friends little boy Cade - he surprised us with a drawing on our driveway of Justin and I and our two kids he says we will adopt - needless to say when I walked outside this brought tears to my eyes - it was sweet and i really love this picture more than sweet Cade knows!