I need you

It is only fitting that the song playing in the background at this very moment is "Lord, I Need You" by Matt Maher.

And where you are

Lord, I am free

Holiness

Is Christ in me

I need you

Oh I need you

Every hour I need you

My one defense

My righteousness

Oh God, how I need you

When I cannot stand

I'll fall on you

Jesus you're my hope and stay

Mmmm, what rich rich words about promises fulfilled by our Lord.


Anybody can attest to the truth of life changing on a dime with something as simple as a phone call.  Ours did with the call that we had been chosen to be parents then again with the call that Derek had been pink slipped not once but twice and finally with a 3:30am call from my mom.

I knew the day would come that my phone would ring and someone would be on the other end telling me my dad had had a heart attack or a stroke.  I knew it, but I feared it all the same.  When that 3:30am call did come, I went on autopilot for the next ten days until his last breath was breathed.

We are now 49 days shy of one year since that final good-bye.  One of the hardest things has been to keep going.  Our life doesn't stop because his did.  Business doesn't slow down.  School doesn't stop.  Babies don't stop having birthdays.  Life continues no matter how dreary the days are or how hard Satan tries to steal your joy and your thoughts.  The best part about life continuing is that so does the Lord.  Praise God, good-bye for us was Welcome My Child for my dad.  He met his Lord face to face and I can hear his deep bass voice singing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah even now.  Here on this dirty earth I can rest easy in, as Peter says in 1 Peter 1:4, that "inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade." for when I cannot stand, I can fall on this.

Derek and I were at the very end of a grueling 10 week class to become foster parents when all of this happened.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt Dad was our biggest supporter in this endeavor, so we knew we had to endure and complete the task set before us of becoming foster parents.

Grief then set in in such a way that there were days I could not physically get out of bed.  I could not care for myself, let alone my family or a child in desperate need of stability.  Thank the Lord again for his hope and stay and placing a wonderful counselor in my life to help me through this grief.  Do not get me wrong, there are days that are more difficult that I could have ever imagined, but the Lord is good and carries me through.

We also knew Dad would not want us to stand by and forgo our desire to adopt again.  He bent heaven and earth to help fund our first adoption.  After some conversations, we decided to begin pursuing our second adoption before finalizing our DHR licensure.  This was a difficult decision because somehow we felt like we were leaving God's calling on our life to go down another road, but again, the Lord is good.  He has given us a peace and paved a road for this adoption that could only be done by His mighty hand.

The cost is a little less, but not by much.  We will again be needing to fund an almost $30,000 adoption.  We will also be using the same agency, Lifeline Children's Services.  This agency is who our first adoption was with and our foster care classes.  They love the Lord and have a primary responsibility to birth mothers/families.  They share the gospel without hesitation or shame.  They live out going to your neighbor and showing the love of Christ.  This is why we have chosen to continue to grow our family with them.

Our fundraising for round 1 was extensive.  Though we will fundraise, we believe it will look drastically different.  Be on the lookout for what the Lord is orchestrating.

The End of the Book

A wise woman once told me that "there is a perfect plan already set out.  We just don't know what it is.  Haven't read the end of the book"

Ironically, that same woman's favorite Bible verse is:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up on wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint. 
Isaiah 40:31

I admit that there have been times that I read the end of the book before I read the middle.  I also readily admit that I have read the Cliffs Notes and watched the movie instead of reading the whole book.  --- Those times that I didn't do so hot in my English classes in high school and college are now making a lot more sense ;-) 

Infertility and adoption is not a book one can skim through.  It can be compared to skimming through one of the great novels like Moby Dick, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, or The Brothers Karamozov.  The details and the suffering and the lesson are not found easily.  

One of my favorite bible verses is Romans 5:3-5 which reads, 
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured  out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  

We have been very transparent about the introduction and beginning chapters of our book but have withheld details about those middle chapters that were full of suffering to reveal a sneak peek of the final pages ending with our happily ever after.  If you would, please bear with me to tell the details of those middle chapters, for in the end there is hope and joy.  

We've talked about waiting, but I don't think we have gone into the details of what waiting looks like for a domestic adoptive parent.  

Beginning on October 29 Derek and I began getting birth mother summaries. These summaries include information that is sensitive and specific to each birth mother.  Birth mothers bravely express medical and social details that could be embarrassing or shameful.  

Once we receive the summaries we have a time limit to respond whether we want that birth mother to see our profile or not.  For example, there could be a birth mother summary in our inbox at 4:00pm and we have to read and pray over the summary and respond by noon the next day.  

Every time we said "Yes, show this birth mother our profile" we then had to wait an unknown amount of time to hear an update from our social worker.  While we waited, the birth mother was given a stack of profiles in the form of picture books for each family who also said "Yes, show this birth mother our profile". Our wait seemed to be tiresome and unnerving but the choosing process for each birth mother is even more tiresome and unnerving than we could imagine.  She had to look through book after book for the family she would place the child growing in her belly with.  

I needed an update and I needed an update quickly.  Waiting and patience were difficult day in and day out.  Derek and I prayed daily for the birth mother looking at our profile and specifically for the one who would one day choose us.  As I prayed for her peace and her salvation, I also asked for patience for myself and a softened heart for the pain and suffering and grieving our birth mothers were living through.  

Each "No" was both heartbreaking in the knowledge that we were not chosen yet joyful in the knowledge that that birth mother had done the most difficult decision and chosen an adoptive family for her child.  

Some weeks we read one summary while some we read four.  November came and went, as did December, January, February, and March.  My phone could constantly be found in my possession waiting to be updated.  

April rolled around and we had seen upwards of 20 summaries.  That is 20 mothers Derek and I prayed over, thought about, and hoped to one day meet if not here in Heaven to say Thank You to.  

Our fourth anniversary was April 6.  The week before we bought fruit plants and an apple tree.  When we exchange anniversary gifts we follow the traditional gifts.  Year four is fruit.  On our way to dinner we received another birth mother summary.  We decided to say Yes and to wait again.  April 6 was a Wednesday.  Monday my phone rang.  It was the phone call we had been waiting to receive.  It was the phone call that would change our lives forever.  It was the phone call that told us we had a son.  Our waiting was over, or so we thought.  Our hearts were filled with such joy.  

We learned that those fruit plants and apple tree were planted on the day our son was born.  One of my devotionals during those couple of days of waiting on our son was Deuteronomy 28.  
"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: 
You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 
Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 
You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." 

The Lord has blessed our crop.  We still pray daily for our son's birth mother.  We still thank the Lord for her bravery and obedience.  We wait for the day we stand before a judge and hear that our son is officially a Dupuis.  Until that day we rejoice for his life.  We rejoice for his birth mother.  We rejoice for each "No" we received was only paving the path for this perfect gift we've been given.  

Process of Prayer

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always. 

Pray continually.

Give thanks in all circumstances.  

These are what have brought us through our adoption journey. 

We have rejoiced.  We have prayed.  We have given thanks.  

 Our rejoicing has been seen through the deposits into our saving account, completing each set of paperwork, and being passed on to the next stage.  Our rejoicing has also been the rejoicing of those loved ones near to us who have cried, encouraged, and worried right along beside us.  

I've got to be honest, giving thanks in all circumstances has not been the easiest of the three.  When the days are good and the money is flowing in and our counselor releases us to begin Home Study our giving of thanks is abundant.  When the days are long, arguments real, and energy drained the act of giving thanks is difficult and painful yet necessary. 

Finally, we have prayed.  And prayed.  And prayed.  Each and every thank you note we have written has pleaded for our donors to pray.  Our prayers at first were for us, selfishly.  Then we saw a need to pray for our family.  Our families are affected by this adoption just as much as we are.   

 

There have been days full of great concern and anxiety over our families' acceptance of a child that is not of their bloodline and not of their race and not of their history.  Praying for the ability to show grace when our family does not understand and for softened hearts became another necessary aspect.  

We have prayed unceasingly for our unborn child.  Our prayers have been for the child's health, safety, and relationship with the Lord.  Learning the importance of praying for a baby who sleeps, claiming against a spirit of rejection, and an assurance of our love has been confirmed and reconfirmed time and time again.  

The last, but quite possibly most important, dimension of our prayer life has been focused on our birth mother.  WDD and I had the pleasure of hearing a birth mother speak to a group of adoptive parents.  She emphasized the power of praying over our birth mother.  Each morning when we sit down for breakfast, WDD and I pray over one of the cards pictured above.  Some days it is easy to pray for her.  It is easy to pray for her salvation and her safety.  Some days it is heartbreaking to pray for her.  No matter how many times we pray that she find peace or for her future, I am broken.  Even as I type this, I am broken.  Imagine if you can being a woman or a girl making the most difficult decision of your life to place your child in the hands of an adoptive couple.  Even knowing the peace of God in my own life, I also know the difficulty of experiencing that peace in the most trying times of life.  Then, to know our birth mom will have a future brings such joy and such brokenness to my heart.  I am broken within my fear that she is ashamed at her decision.  I am full of joy to know that her life is not over.  She will have a lifetime of opportunities to share her story, know the love of the Lord, and our gratitude for her.  

When we ask you to pray, we do not take that lightly.  We believe the Lord hears the cries of his people.  We seek to follow God's will for us through rejoicing always, giving thanks in all circumstances, and praying continually.  

An end always brings another beginning

I have taken quite the sabbatical from blogging but it is now time to lay out my heart.

Summer came to an end in the Doop house and with it came the beginning of a new school year.  In May I would have said that the summer would be full of days spent lazily floating around Logan Martin Lake and reading multiple books, promoting to a Team Leader with Usborne, and finishing up embroidering names on our #quiltedtogether squares.  I also would have said that come August we would be nearing the completion of our Home Study and entering the tedious waiting stage of our adoption.  

My plans are not always His plans and we are now at the beginnings of September and days at the lake are replaced by weekends filled with events like Heart & Hands Orphan Craft Fair because I have not promoted to Team Lead, half marathons with WDD (check out his ramblings of the road here),  Alabama football, and answering a multitude of questions for our Home Study.

There are days I feel like a broken record and it is weary-some.  "No, no baby yet"  "No, we aren't finished with our home study yet"  "Yes, still raising money" "Yes, it does cost quite a bit"  "Yes, I agree.  People who have children naturally should also have to go through counseling"

Then there are days that I am so thankful for that broken record.  No, there isn't a baby yet, but yes, I am able to stand at the start line of my husband's half marathon at 5:00 a.m. in another state.  No, we aren't finished with our home study yet, but we have been able to learn so much about ourselves and receive resources for how to effectively copE+ with a child who may or may not have dependency issues from birth or different attachment skills than us.

I am never ceased from being amazed at the wonders of our God.  Those weary days and wandering and wondering are tiresome while treading through them.  It is in the cries and pleadings of our weariness that our God is made greatest.  (For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:10).  Our suffering and questioning of why WDD was pink slipped and why we had to go through counseling before beginning our Home Study and why some conceive and some not and why my business that I had been pouring myself into wasn't going anywhere did not go unheard or unanswered.

We have begun a new season of loving each other and learning to love the birth mother of our unborn child.  We have been given new and exciting opportunities from WDD getting a job at a high school 5 minutes from home to my Usborne team doubling in two months to new understanding of grace and mercy.

Valleys are promised.  Endings are inevitable.  But beginnings, they are just around the corner.  

Attachment and Security

I always thought a parent was either attached to their child or not attached.  Same with a child to his/her parent.  Until going through our multiple counseling sessions on the single topic of attachment did I understand so much more about the attachment of people.

When I say multiple sessions, I mean, Derek had one hour long grueling session just to talk about his childhood and the impact his parents made individually and together on him.  Then, I had to endure the same.  THEN, we both had to determine what our attachment was as children to our parents and how it has evolved into the attachment we have today/what our parenting attachment will be.  To say this is mentally and emotionally taxing would be putting things lightly.

Imagine having to pin point every positive and negative attribute of both of your parents then of yourself.  Imagine having to bring up and talk through every negative event which had occurred up to that point.  How did you react?  How did you cope?  How often do you think of that event?  How does it effect your life today?

Does all of this contribute to your attachment style?  Yup.  Sure do.

Your mom has one attachment style.
Your dad has one attachment style.
Your siblings each have their own attachment style.
You have your own attachment style and it is drawn from both of your parents' styles and your own personality.

Remember earlier when I said I thought it was a simple concept.  Yeah, not so simple anymore, is it?!

This is an excellent visual giving you an idea of what every person's attachment style is.  Our counselor told us that out of every adult in the world, only about 20% of them are Secure.  If you took all of the Secure adults, an even smaller percentage adopt.  

Over the past month or so, Derek and I have been forced to bridge incredibly difficult moments and attribute of our lives with the positive outcomes and attribute.  Completing our attachment style sessions was most assuredly in the running for a difficult moment.  

The most astounding thing about this whole attachment business is that we are all completely and utterly broken people.  I know that to be truth just from my beliefs of the Bible, but to see it in writing in a completely secular form, I am humbled yet again.  None of us has it all together, even our Secure friends out there struggle and at any point could vacillate to a different style just from experiencing certain life events.  

How wonderful, and yet utterly terrifying, is it that my brokenness can help heal someone else's brokenness?  My brokenness is used to care for and comfort a child who is also broken but doesn't know it yet.  My brokenness teaches me how to lean on the one who created me.  My brokenness is painful at times but the one who is whole always seems to fill in the gaps   

Welcome Back Blogger!

For the past year I have been dabbling in the world of paying for my own domain to host all of the updates we have had for our adoption, ventures in cooking, and Derek's races.
There have been things I truly liked about having my own domain but many many more I did not like.  Not having the ability to have comments is the biggest.

I have definitely poured out my heart onto the screen of that page and I can't bare losing all of that material.  -- I hope that one day Baby Doop is able to look back over some of what Derek and I have written and see just how much he/she is loved and wanted.

Please forgive me, but this is just a welcome back for me so here are all of the previous entries made on the domain in one spot.

Aaahhh...it feels so nice to be back.

June 23, 2015

B-Metro has published our story in their July issue.  It was beautifully edited. Beautifully pictured by the fun photographer.  EVERYONE should grab a copy of the magazine!  

We have raised over half of the funds required to complete our adoption.  Honestly, I feel that has been the easiest part of this journey.  Growing up with the Dad that I have, hard work and consistent good work ethic was just part of everyday life. Cutting knee high grass to pay for my very own membership to the local pool and keeping the house or dog pin tidy were typical chores of mine so when it came to the physical aspect of fundraising I felt like it was second nature.  Getting into the nitty gritty of the emotional side has really challenged me to the core.

I am thankful for the listening ears of our Lifeline counselor.  Though each week we attend a counseling session puts us one week away from the Home Study visits, WDD and I are growing in our marriage and we are growing, grieving, and healing individually.  Those moments are what will really count on the day our child will be placed in our arms.  Those moments are what will come to fruition the day our child talks to us about the pain of feeling rejected by his/her birth parents.  

                               

May 26, 2015

Our third anniversary was April 6 and we filed our application for adoption with Lifeline.  Two days later we found out we had been accepted and would then begin to move forward with the adoption process.  Looking back, we had no idea what we were getting into.

Once our application was approved, we met our social worker, Rachel, for our initial interview.  For you future adoptive parents and families out there, this interview is not for the faint of heart.  It was long.  It was in depth.  It covered every possible subject we could think of and then some.  Dear adoptive families, be prepared to openly discuss every aspect of your marriage and childhood - the good, the bad, the super ugly.

After our initial interview we took an online quiz called Prepare/Enrich.  While we were in premarital counseling we took a marriage related quiz with the same system.  Prepare/Enrich identifies the specific strengths and weaknesses within your relationship.

During this process, we had a large online auction fundraiser.  Many many businesses local and far away donated incredible goods to our auction.  In the end, we had 24 items which brought a little more than $1200 which covered the costs for our application ($250) and our initial interview ($875).  If you are looking for fundraiser ideas, this was easy and quite successful.  Our family and friends really came through for us with contacting local businesses or donating original pieces of their own.

We often talk about how God has guided us through each and every step of this process.  The money we have needed has been provided.  Peace with making the initial decisions of what special needs we are comfortable with and how to talk about the possibility of adopting a child with a different race as ours has come when needed.

Making the move to Alabaster from Mobile was a great opportunity for our marriage and our careers.  WDD was employed at a local school system and was forced to step WAY out of his comfort zone for the past two years.  He learned so much from this experience.  He learned he could successfully teach students who are not like him with priorities, ethnic background, and economical background.  He learned he makes a difference in the small everyday things like showing up on time everyday.  Those students who could not rely on their own mom and dad could rely on him and that made a difference.  Those students who had no male guidance in their life to show them how to appropriately dress for a job interview or organize their notes for a college class learned these skills in his classroom without ever directly addressing them.  I have to say, I am very very proud.

This year the school system WDD worked in made the decision to make drastic budget cuts which meant the loss of hundreds of jobs all over the county.  WDD was one of those hundreds.  Again, God had bigger plans.  Our adoption seemed to be stalled.  Our fist home study didn't seem to be able to get scheduled due to calendars and travel.  This could not have been more perfect.

God provided yet again.  A position at the high school 5 miles down the road came available and offered the day WDD interviewed!

We now wait for Friday when we will meet with a set of counselors with Lifeline to discuss the results of the Prepare/Enrich quiz we took.  Our summer will be a busy one.  Physicals.  Background checks.  Paperwork.  Home study visits.

I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. 

                                

March 10, 2015

Barely a month has past since my last post and yet so much has changed.  We are on the brink of having half of the necessary funds to complete the entire adoption.  The quilt is underway but still a long way from complete.  I am on blanket number 5 with orders for 6,7,and 8!! The first decoration for the nursery has been handmade and delivered.  I am selling Usborne Books (d4721.myubam.com) and absolutely loving it. There's also an auction in the works.

Yesterday, WDD received an email from a reporter with al.com and the Birmingham News.  The reporter proceeded to let us know that she had been contacted by a friend of mine talking about how they need to do a story on us and our adoption.  We were shocked that someone outside of our family would take the time and effort to reach out and speak for us.  This afternoon WDD and I got the opportunity to talk to this reporter and tell her the story of "us".

Our story is a long story and a super fun story that goes all the way back to day in the University of Mobile's Learning Center with Fobes, JPoPep, Mindy, Emily, and Megan playing UNO and every now and then doing some actual work.  Those were the days of WDD and I repeating "ew, it's JUST Rebekah" or "ew, it's JUST Derek".

I am so thankful that the way I pictured our story as just friends did not end up that way.  Instead, this afternoon I sat watching, with misty eyes, WDD talk about how he prays for the birth mother of our child as he knits to fill the hat orders he has.  He prays for our child and that we be parents who show Jesus to our child.  He prays that our child and our child's birth mother and birth father know Jesus.

What a great middle chapter to our story.  
                                      
                                                  

​February 1, 2015

January was lovely for the Dupuis family.  We filled orders.  I started on an existing order.  I got strep throat.  WDD started on the first section of his National Board Certification process.  He even got a chance to read a book book!  Lately, it has been only audio for us so to hold a book and finish it is a major accomplishment.  We also both chopped all of our hair off in honor of a dear friend kicking cancer's boo-tay!

There were hard stress-filled days and there were great days, sounds pretty much like every single month, right?? :-)

As I promised with my last post, we have an exciting fundraiser that is kicking off TODAY!

These quarters will be cut into smaller pieces and made into a quilt for Baby Doop. Each fabric piece can be sponsored for a donation of $10 or more.  As a sign of gratitude, your name will be embroidered onto your fabric square.  Oh, I am SO excited about this project!!!  I cannot wait to see the final project and all of the names of those who love our baby as much as we do!

In order to keep track of the names for the quilt, please use the hashtag #quiltedtogether when you submit your donation into our GoFundMe or when mailed to us.  Finally, we know some of you want to stay anonymous in your giving. We still want Baby Doop to know your love for him/her.  Please give us a verse you would like to represent you.


So here we go:
1. Donate $10 or more
2. In the comments of your donation, put #quiltedtogether
3. In the comments of your donation, put what name or verse you would like embroidered on your square

We can't wait to see what is in store for us this month!

                                          

December 31, 2014

The past eight months have had many many high points.  Within eight short months we have raised over $7,000 making up 31% of our adoption goal.  I am dumbfounded by the generosity of people who have never met us let alone those who love us and pour into our lives on a daily basis.  We have had two yard sales, baked a lot, knitted scarves, hats, blankets, and coasters, sold books, had t-shirts made, and conquered the unknown area of craft fairs.  All the while we have shared moments of joy, anticipation, gratefulness, and sorrow with each other and many of you.

Our calendars have been booked solid with events and creating products and frankly, we are tired.  You all probably just thought, "Get ready for that baby! Then you'll be tired!".  You would be completely correct. We still want to have the Doop Dash but have not had the time to devote to creating the race.  There are two different yet equally exciting fundraisers coming very soon.

First, we have had some very generous people donate a condo at the beach for a weekend to be sold at auction.  We have also had an incredibly talented artist offer to take a picture of your choice and turn it into a pencil portrait also to be sold at auction.  These two items and their donors are also very dear to our hearts.  A set date has not been decided for the auction as of today but will be decided and announced very soon.  Should you have a service or item you feel led to donate to our auction, please email us to discuss any details.

Secondly, I posted a picture on Instagram and Facebook of some brightly colored pieces of fabric earlier this week.  As you know, we love to craft.  We have been thinking about ways to incorporate our child's nursery into a fundraiser.  At dinner with two of the greatest girls ever, a friend suggested we make a quilt for Baby Doop, so that's what we are going to do!  We want to make a quilt large enough for our baby to grow with and eventually take to his/her home where he/she will raise our Grandbaby Doops.  We will have 6x6 squares of fabric to be sponsored for a minimum of $10.  Once the quilt is fully assembled, we will embroider each donor's name on the back.  Many many years from now, Baby Doop will come home from a terrible day where she got her first speeding ticket because she drives like Mommy or her boyfriend broke up with her or she didn't get into the graduate school she had been hoping to get into or he fell off his bike and scraped his knee and he will grab a carton of ice cream and curl up into this quilt.  He will be reminded of all of the people who prayed for him, loved her, sacrificed to bring him home.

I am excited about this quilt.  I am excited about wrapping up a tiny baby in a gigantic quilt radiating with love.

Our desire is the same on the bad days of sorrow and no understanding and the "Why not me"s and the on the good days full of joy and laughter and seeing God's ever faithfulness - to follow God's calling to be adoptive parents and to give Him praise through it all.  

                                 

9.20.14

As of today, we have approximately 14% of the total cost for the adoption.  Our bake sale in August was a huge success.  Between our cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, pound cake, and banana bread, we used 14lbs of flour and about 10lbs of sugar along with many many other ingredients!

We will have another bake sale in November for Thanksgiving side dishes.  I am known for my cornbread dressing and WDD has his dad's peanut butter pie!  This should be loads of fun and full of deliciousness.

The first Doop Dash is in the making as well.  With WDD being such an avid runner, the obvious large fundraiser was to host a race.  Please join us in prayer that we find the most affordable location, donations for food, donations for door prizes, and time keeper.  

                                     

​​Our journey to adoption began many years ago before WDD and I even knew each other.  Most girls dream of what their future family will look like.  Mine looked very similar to a rainbow with children from different cultures surrounding me with big smiles.  WDD's dream was one with a wife and children with his nose, hair, and impeccable since of style and wit.  

Years past and my body never seemed to have regular cycles or moods.  After many questions and frustrations, we learned that, no I am not crazy but no I do not ovulate due to my eggs forming cysts instead of continuing the normal cycle.  Could we have biological children? Yes.  Would it take means that are none too romantic? Yes.  Would we be guaranteed a child? No.  We have many friends who have experienced problems with infertility of all kinds.  Our heart breaks for them.  Our prayers for comfort and understanding go out to them.  

God has placed a calling for adoption on our lives.  Could God work a miracle and give us biological children? Yes.  Will that take away the calling of adoption? No.  We believe that God is the first adoptive parent.  He has taken us into his family and loves us as his own.  

Currently, we are in the fund raising stage.  It costs a great deal to adopt a child.  Per Alabama law, as a married couple, we cannot file adoption papers until we have been married 3 years which is April 2015 for us.  Sadly, money talks.  We want to be prepared financially for each step of this process which is why we are intentionally adding to our fund.  

                                                  

Bake Sale!

Happy Friday!!

I am a toddler teacher at a Montessori school here in Birmingham.  We operate on a school schedule which means it is SuMmEr!  We have summer camps throughout and this year I am actually working a lot with the camps.  For June there was an art camp for my toddlers!  We painted and painted and painted and painted!  If you have never had 11 two year olds for two weeks and painted everyday, I suggest you DO IT!  :-)  There is something amazing about watching a child experience painting with spaghetti noodles or spray painting a shirt they can actually wear home or making coasters for Mom and Dad.  Their little eyes light up the moment the color hits the canvas. 

This week I am working with some pretty exciting preschoolers in a camp called Healthy Habits.  What does that even look like for 3, 4, and 5 year olds???? For me it looks like cooking and talking about food.  Cooking?  With a 3 year old?  With real knives and hot convection ovens and real food?  YEP! That's right!  This week we have made yogurt parfaits, fresh guacamole, mini pizzas, juiced fruit to make popsicles, and roasted potatoes.  More is on tap for next week too.  My kids love it.  When asked to help me cook, they jump at the chance and almost race to see who can get in the chair next to me first --- after they wash their hands of course. 

Healthy habits all begin in the kitchen.  I love to cook, bake, and all things kitchen.  When WDD and I started dating and shortly thereafter got engaged, he learned exactly how much I loved the kitchen.  After work everyday I would head to his house and we would cook dinner together.  Once we were married, he was in for the shock of his life.  Pancakes for breakfast.  Homemade bread.  Sautéed vegetables.  The works. 

WDD's mom always has some sort of sweet goody baking and his dad makes it all from cheese cauliflower to pizza on the grill.  He, however, never really made a whole lot more than reservations. 

In the past two-ish years we have learned a lot about each other and our likes/dislikes in the food realm.  At first I sort of shunned WDD from the kitchen.  It was MY domain.  MY happy place.  As time wore on I learned how fun it is to share that with him.  To come together to make a delicious meal we will then eat together, how great is that?!  Pretty great, I tell ya. 

I yearn to pass along the joy of cooking to our future children.  I see flour all over the cabinets, eggs dropped and broken on the floor, butter in a heaping pile, and smiles, lots and lots of smiles. 

WDD and I are hosting a bake sale to help aid in getting that Baby Doop home.  We have been blessed beyond measure already by the outpouring of love and support, but this is a long and trying process that includes many many fundraisers and hard work.  Take a look!  Give us a shout! Eat some amazing food!

Bring home Baby Doop

Wow! It has been a while since I blogged!  I apologize for letting this fall between the cracks.  There are going to be some changes with my blog.  I am not sure how that change will look in the end, but I know it has to be different to stay organized. 

The Doop's have more than starting back with my blog and talking about changing it going on.  For those of you who have not heard yet, we are adopting!!

Young girls dream about their perfect wedding to their Prince Charming to be followed by getting pregnant and having perfect little babies. 

I am certainly not a typical girl.  WDD is certainly not a typical guy.  He is, however, my Prince Charming.  Our wedding was the perfect wedding for us.  Our children will be the perfect little children God has planned for us. 

As a young girl, I dreamed of my family pictures being taken and I am surrounded by children from all walks of life and all different ethnicities.  Like I said, I am not typical.  I dreamed of me with my myriad of children but I never dreamed of that life happening with my Prince Charming. 

As a young boy, WDD dreamed of a little boy and little girl with his and his sister's amazing hair and little bump in the middle of their nose.  He dreamed of having these children with his wife.  The children of his dreams had his DNA.

I grew into a woman who knew something wasn't "right".  Something within my body wasn't acting "normal".  I use these terms loosely because those are the terms society would use.  This may be a little on the TMI side, but I'm pretty transparent so here we go....I don't have a regular cycle.  Rarely to never do my eggs mature and go through a full cycle within my body.  This causes cysts in my ovaries.  This also impacts many other areas of my life.  I am hairy....I mean HAIRY.  I sweat  A LOT.  I hold extra weight in my middle, regardless of how many crunches I do or how little carbs I eat, I will hold extra weight in my middle.  If I have a period, it is never regular in any aspect of the word.  I do not ovulate. 
These are all things that society would deem as not being "normal" or "right".  I have known for a long time that getting pregnant naturally would require a God sized miracle. 

This does not break my heart nor do I believe that I am any less capable to mother.  I believe this is why God placed a yearning in my heart for adoption at a young age. 
There are children, thousands and thousands of them, who are unable to have parents just like I am unable to have children. 
The difference is, I have a family and friends and a wonderful husband who support and love me.  I wake up every morning to a home full of love, encouragement, and support.  These  children do not.  They do not know what it is like to have a Mommy or Daddy hold them at night during a nightmare or wake them up every morning or have their request of "Can Deddy make HIS pancakes for breakfast?" granted. 

God placed in me a love for WDD.  He also placed within WDD's heart a love for adoption.  It was amazing to watch WDD's heart change and a hole grow that will only be filled by the adoption of our child. 


Fast forward a little bit to present day.  The law of Alabama says that a couple cannot adopt until they have been married 3 years.  The adoption agency we are using, Lifeline Children's Services, states in their qualifications for domestic adoption that the couple must be married for three years before filing the adoption application. 

Our anniversary is April 6.  We have approximately 9 months before we can file an application for adoption. 
Adoption, like  birthing a child, is very expensive.  The price for a domestic adoption is approximately $22,500.  (YIKES!) 
We have started a savings account and had a yard sale to start the fundraising.  With both of us being teachers, we do not regularly have $22,500 sitting around so fundraising and savings will be a large part of our lives in the upcoming year. 

We are going to use this blog to talk about our adventure and all the aspects of this adventure.  I am going to keep posting our DIY things and recipes and just things we do on a daily basis.

Please fill free to ask questions, pray with us, help us raise funds, etc. 

Welcome back to this fun and crazy life of mine!!