Adoption Training

Last week was our first all day adoption training. I was experiencing a variety of emotions but overall, I was just excited to be getting started. The girls stayed with my parents, so we would be rested and ready for the training. We woke up pretty early to get ready, and I have to admit it was nice to get ready without two little ones asking a million questions or hanging all over my arms as I try to put my make up on! It's amazing how good an uninterupted shower feels!

So, not the best picture, I'm not so good at taking selfies, but here we are on the way to the training!

When we arrived we noticed a lot of other couples picking up their packets and sitting down at the tables. It is a strange feeling going to an adoption meeting, usually decisions about creating a family or adding to a family are made on a more personal level. You know having a cup of coffee with your husband, deciding to "try again" or to "start trying." There is not a lot of "training" per say. Adoption is a bit more public, you have to fill out forms describing everything about yourself, your history, your struggles, your hopes for the future, basically everything short of what color your underwear is today. So this meeting was yet again another part of our very now public story. It is something I am trying to get used to, and I believe it will actually end up being such a blessing in our lives.

During the training we learned  a lot about adoption. We learned about the spectrum of closed to open adoptions, we learned about transracial adoptions, we learned about birthparents, about grief, also about joy. I think I will probably blog on each of those topics seperately, they will each play a huge roll in our process. We also got to speak and ask questions to a whole panel of adoptive parents, and a birthmother. It was all very eye opening, heart wrenching, and yet beautiful. Adoption is not without its share of pain. We have experienced both pain and loss when trying to build our family. The birthparents will also experience a great amount of pain and loss as they go through this process of trying to do what is best for their child and not necesarily what would be best for their own hearts. The infant/child being placed has also experienced great loss. Yet through these losses we will also experience the joy that adoption brings.

Through the meeting we were also very blessed to meet others that are going through this same experience. We had lunch with some neat couples and were really encouraged by speaking with them. We hope to continue these friendships as we go through the process. So what I had initially felt so uncomfortable about ended up being such a blessing to both of us. I don't think any of us left that day without a few tears being shed, ok maybe more than a few. Our next meeting is August 14th. We are hoping to begin our homestudy process as soon after that as possible. I will keep you updated. We do have a $5,000 dollar homestudy fee coming up in a few months. Please pray with us for God's provision. If you would like to help with these costs please click on the "Give Now" button on our homepage. Any amount would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your love and support.

Puzzle Fundraiser!

We are excited to begin our first fundraiser! The costs of adoption are astronomical, in order for us to adopt and not go into a great amount of debt, we decided that we would need to fundraise for a portion of our adoption. Our adoption will cost us around 30,000 dollars. We are hoping to fundraise at least half that cost. The amount seems insurmountable right now, but we know that anything is possible with God.

For our first fundraiser, we bought a puzzle. It has 1,000 pieces and is of a Mommy elephant and her baby! For each ten dollar donation we receive we will add your name to the back of a puzzle piece. You can buy one piece, or five pieces or more! When we complete filling in every piece we will put the puzzle in a floating frame and hang it in the nursery. As the baby grows, he or she will be able to look at the puzzle and see how many people loved and supported them through the adoption. If we sell every piece we will have 10,000 dollars towards our adoption and be 2/3 of the way to our fundraising goal. This will be an ongoing fundraiser. We thank you so much for your love and support for our baby and we look forward to meeting our new little one.


Getting started!

Some hard working helpers!

Coming together!

Almost there....

Ready to start writing names on the back!

                            

To make it a bit easier to donate we have set up a fundraising site. This will be the "hub" of all of our fundraising efforts, starting with the puzzle fundraiser. If you would rather donate directly to us, feel free to contact us personally. We would love it if you would share this blog/fundraiser page on Facebook or with family and friends. Click the link below to donate now:

https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/baby-alvarez-adoption-fund/207314

What's in a Name?

We decided when creating the blog that we would need a theme. We didn't have to think too hard. I love elephants! They are not only adorable with their big eyes and floppy ears, but they also have some really neat character traits. They are smart, experience emotions, and are one of the few animals who will adopt babies who have been orphaned. Pretty neat!

A family of elephants is called a herd or a "parade." So going with that theme, the blog name, "New Feet in Our Parade" was born (a big thanks to my Mom for helping come up with the name!)

So, if you see lots of elephants around the blog, now you know why! This will also be the nursery theme, but more on that later. Hope everyone has a happy Wednesday!