The cake I made Madison for her birthday! Happy 4th Birthday Maddie! I love you!

Don't mind the picture quality of these most recent pics.. they were taken on my LG Shine, and it's only 2MP. :) I remember when I thought 2MP was amazing!
haha..

I'll post more pics later when I can get the memory card from L.

Here are the long promised pictures. Remember the room still needs some work, but it is done to the point where the kids are sleeping in there, and boy were they excited by that!

Dryer

well, our dryer went out. I'd like to pin point a time when it went out, but really we're not sure. Some time shortly after we bought the house the dryer stopped drying at different temperatures. It was either HOT (like shrink everything you own, HOT) or air fluff, (like takes 4 hours to dry your clothes, cool).

Then at some point, holes started appearing in clothing. at first they were small. Unnoticeable, and fixable. Now, we're pulling clothes out with massive holes that are wholly un-fixable. (pun intended!)

So instead of paying the cost of repairs, parts and labor and a service call, we decided to buy a new dryer. Thankfully our favorite Home Depot had one on sale for 239$. It's the bottom of the line, but it should last us long enough to make the money worth it.

Please pray that nothing else gives out on us for a while. I don't know how many more "repairs" and projects our finances can take!

-Megan

The room!

The god-kids have moved into the room! WOO HOO!

we still have a few feet worth of base and crown molding to go up, and some flooring problems to fix. (we have a strange concrete ledge in the room that will be a source of creative outlet for us as we try to figure out how to conceal it.)

We start work on our bedroom this week. Our shower pan has a leak, and thanks to a water damage clause in our homeowners insurance, we are getting a new bathroom, and new flooring for the closet and the whole bedroom! we picked bamboo "hardwood" that is awesome! I am so excited to be able to start on that.. I can only imagine what a difference it will make on my allergies to not have a.) mold growing in my carpet due to water damage, and b.) carpet that holds on to pet dander, pollen, etc..

I will probably post pictures tonight of the room, and maybe a funny video of the kids!

-Megan

new hair!

New hair! I love going red sometimes because it fades so neatly into my natural strawberry blond hair. fun fun!

Thanks Leeann!

2 homestudies submitted, no updates yet. boo. except the room is even closer to being done. all that's left is baseboards and insulation, and both of those things are half way done. When Gabe gets home for R&R, he's going to be doing the electrical work, but that's something we can't do until he gets here.
-Megan

Possible placements

We're submitting our homestudy today! Prayers needed, and more information as I can. Please remember that I can not divulge much information at all, so information will be sparse. Prayers are greatly needed and appreciated!

Apparently the agency still had us on "hold" because of some paperwork they thought we were missing. That paperwork got turned in 3.5 months ago. lovely.

-Megan

Baptisms and other gifts from God!

I think I have mentioned in the recent past (I guess I could just re-read my blog to figure this out) that we are almost done with the garage addition. I am getting sooo excited about it being done! We have had so many wonderful helpers, without whom the room never could have become reality. I wanted to thank them here, and again in a couple of weeks when we have our room-warming party!

Patrick and Lyndsey McAllister: helped with the garage sale a couple of weeks before, and helped us clean and reorganize our garage to make room for the room, and Patrick came back to help frame and install the window. You guys are wonderful, and we are so thankful to have you as friends! (not because you help us, but because you are the kind of people you are!)

Bryan Janek: He was amazing! He was in charge of the framing... amazing man who has a huge heart. Thanks Bryan! Wish we saw more of you and Gilda!

Dean: I am sorry, I didn't even get to meet you! Dean was in charge of buying and installing the correct window. A very important job, as we needed it to be coded for energy efficiency and fire exit but still be in budget! He also helped frame. Great guy for helping out somebody he didn't even know.

Bob the builder: Just kidding. no but really, he lives across the street and has been our go-to guy and helped install our door just weeks after major spinal surgery. He just couldn't not help! He has loaned numerous tools, given lots of great advice, and is an all around nice guy with a heart for adoption.

Nikki and Doug Jenney: they helped with the garage sale that helped clean out our garage.. Thank you so much.. you know Baron and I just think you're great!

Veronica and Aaron Felts: Donated stuff for the garage sale to help us raise money to build the room. Thank you so much! We love having you as neighbors!

Leeann Sanchez: I LOVE YOU! you are my best friend and you have done more than I could ask for. You are incredible, and I thank God for a friend like you every day.
You have helped sooo much, we couldn't have done this without you either.

Also, a wonderful friend dropped by with a present this week. Truly a gift from God, and one thing we were afraid we weren't going to be able to afford this winter. Insulation for the walls! I though she said she had a partial roll, but came bearing 64 linear feet of insulation for our new walls.. 2 rolls, just enough to cover both walls! God is sooo good and thank you Kristi Daniel!



On another amazing note, Meredith and Barrie are being baptized tomorrow! I am so excited for them to start their Christian walks, and so proud of them that they have made this decision to trust in Jesus as their savior. I hope it will be a very powerful experience for them, and that they will truly understand that this is symbolic of the start of a new life, one that is a living sacrifice to Christ, who laid down His life for them 2000 years ago, that they would have eternal life in Him, in Heaven. Praise God, Creator of Heaven and Earth! Heaven and Earth are full of His glory!

-Megan

Giving thanks

Things I am thankful for this year:

1. Salvation. That Christ died on the cross to atone for my sin, all of it.
2. My marriage. I am thankful for a husband who is an amazing husband, one who is a wonderful spiritual leader for me and our future family. He provides for me and supports me and loves me deeply. I am thankful for a happy marriage, one in which I can feel safe and fall in love with my husband more and more daily.
3. Good friends. My best friend Leeann who also loves me and supports me. My friend Abbi and her loyalty, and all of you other wonderful friends I have. (Those from OS, church, school, etc... you are all wonderful and help make me who I am. It's a great thing when your friends influence your life in such a way that you grow as a person)
4. Family. I am thankful for my family, both mine and Baron's. They love us always and support us when they can.
5. A place to live. I am thankful for a roof over my head. Not only that but a house we own that we never thought would happen but knew needed to happen if we really wanted to adopt.
6. Food! I am thankful for a surplus of food. I am thankful that we have choices, and healthy balanced ones at that.
7. Adoption. I am thankful that I have been adopted into God's family. (Ephesians 1:5) and for the opportunity to adopt here on earth, especially since God is keeping my babies safe until I finally come home!

I am thankful for so many other things, but these I wanted to mention publicly)

-Megan

Plans for the day

so today, we are cutting the baseboards and crown molding, and finishing up the last little piece of sheetrock that needs to go up. We will also be finishing texturizing (sp?) the walls. I am excited, because that leaves only priming and painting, and installing the baseboards for tomorrow.

My dear friend Kristi has some insulation to get us started, and we may go ahead and tack that up on the other side of the walls tonight, but we have to leave some space because when Gabe gets home for R&R, he's going to put in two outlets for us!

So when I say the room will be done, I don't mean totally finished, but I do mean it will be done to the point where somebunny can sleep in it! I need to think about getting some kind of heater in the room.. it was pretty chilly in there this morning.

-Megs

Construction is almost done!

Well folks, our garage addition is almost finished. I'd say we'll be almost completely finished on wednesday night. I am sooo excited. Leeann's kids will be moving in there, and we are making the nursery into a playroom until we get the call. it's been so much fun to build, from scratch! so weird.. I never thought I'd do something like that in my life. I'll have to post pictures soon, but after working for three days straight on framing, drywall, mudding, taping, texturizing, and laying flooring, I am exhausted!

painting and baseboards are almost all that remain!

Pictures will follow. Keep your eyes peeled!



-Megan

discription of injury follows, not for the squeemish!

yeah, so I cut the tip of my right pointer finger off today.

fun!

so it's not really cut off, it's hanging on by a 1/4 inch flap. It's probably just deep enough for stitches, but it's edged by my nail bed, and I don't think they would have been able to actually stitch it. so mom fixed it up for me with some triple antibiotic ointment and a few band-aids to help stop the bleeding, and when I left her house I went and bought some steri strips and fixed it up that way. Hurt like hades, let me tell you.


The interesting thing is how it happened though. Mom and I were trying to take apart my brother's computer monitor to store while he's in basic. The screen part attaches to the base part by a series of holes and buttons, where the "button's" interlock with the holes when it is in place. so to take it apart, you push the buttons and pull the pieces apart. I was pushing in one hole, and mom in the other one, and I gave a good yank and mom moved in time, but I didn't. My poor finger got guillotined by the computer monitor base button system. I just thought I had a blood blister till my mom made a funny startled noise while staring at my finger. I looked down to see the wound, and boy was it gross!

I won't post pictures, but I did take them.. (what can I say, my favorite classes are ones that involve dissection, my favorite tv shows are private practice, gray's anatomy and house!)

once again, why I am getting impatient waiting for health insurance underwriters to finish with my policy. I bet they had fun looking through my files.

Congrats for a friend!

Friends, go give JustMe27 over at Living in Louisiana a big Congratulations today, they're officially licensed foster parents! WOO HOO!

Congratulations Holly and hubby!

-Megan

Plants and Ears and Baby Dolls

Wow, today, has been quite a day.

My ear is still not getting much better. That doesn't make me a very happy camper. It still hurts and itches, yet when I touch it, it's excruciating, and makes me cry. ugh. Come on, Zithromycin, do your job!

I went over to my mom's early this morning to help with the garage sale that we are holding to hopefully get enough money to pay for M. and B.'s (my sister's) club volleyball fees. They both made junior olympic volleyball clubs this year and the fees are insane, but they LOVE volleyball, so what can you do except try to make enough money so that they can do it. (Woot Woot!) So I was over there almost all day enjoying time with my mom, grandmother and aunt Nalta, and mom's friend Alice, (who is a hoot!) I invited them all over for dinner, because Grandma and Alice and Nalta hadn't seen my house ever before, and I wanted to treat them to a yummy dinner. while they finished up garage sale prep I came home and cleaned and cooked.

I got to my closet, and I stepped in a puddle for about the 10th time, and it dawned on me that maybe it wasn't just the cat's newest spot to pee while I wasn't looking. (ok, so maybe 10 is an exaggeration.) I picked up the belt at my feet, and smelled it. Sure enough, not cat urine. Just old water. That sent up a red flag, as it should, and I started moving things, all wet, and realized my shower is leaking somewhere, majorly, and it's leaking into my closet. Not only that, but there is something growing in the carpet. I'm not talking mold, (there IS mold growing where everything was stacked on top of the leak unbeknown to me.) I am talking about a plant of some sort! I am not kidding! I finally got enough guts to pull on one of the worm-looking things, and it is definatly not a worm, though it is definatly a root system of some sort. God sure does have a sense of humor. My homeowners warranty ran out 13 days ago. I didn't renew because all our appliances are in working order. I hope I am still in the grace period to renew it. I will be calling in the morning to reinstate it if possible, but yeah, I have a plant growing from a leak in my shower. wow. that's my life! :)

on another note, the chicken cordon bleu I made sure was yummy!

So, while I am hurting and having to deal with no health insurance due this nasty economy and plants growing in my carpet, I am reminded that God is still God, and boy is He good.
I have a husband who is madly in love with me, (and I with him!) a crazy but fun "family" that makes everyday very interesting, a mother and father who love me and are starting to respect me as a person, and a house over my head, and good food on the table. And that's just the start!

I can't wait to see what He has in store for us! (it maybe learning to renovate and build a shower!)

I will leave you with a funny story from the day:

Maddie (a month shy of her 4th birthday) and Leeann were sitting and playing with the new doll "grandma" gave her. Madison exclaimed "His name is Erika, He is a baby brother!" and Leeann kindly said "Maddie, don't you mean: Erika, a baby sister?" and she said "Just give me a break!" and rolled her eyes.

-Megan

Prayers

Prayers would be appreciated. Apparently I have a staph infection in my ear. (fears of MRSA are coming to mind) ridiculous. This is why I need health insurance, because I'm the girl that gets a staph infection from a pimple in her ear. ugh. Quick healing, and some pain relief would be nice, it's been about 6 weeks now, and I'm just now being seen for it as it wouldn't go away on it's own. Love you guys. thanks for listening to me vent and complain sometimes!
More pictures to come. Taking pictures is helping me pass the time. I hope nobody minds that there aren't any good updates lately. We just haven't gotten any news. The great wait is on.
-Megan

Kitty

We have a new kitty! Her new name is Ceilidh Patsy Eidson (the irish for Ceili, pronounced Kay-Lee) yeah, I know, why spell it weird? it's a bad habit of ours. Ask our old cat Supta Padagstasana. :) Sorry the picture quality is bad, I took it with my phone. I'll get some good ones taken and post them as soon as I have a chance.



"Patsy is a beautiful Gray and White Medium Haired Tabby/Maine Coon mix. She also has some Dilute Calico in her too and she was born on 06-07-08. Sadly, someone put Patsy and her family in a box and threw them away. Fortunately, however, they were all rescued.

Patsy is a little shy at first until she gets to know you but she loves to be petted. She is laid back, but like most animals can be startled by loud noises or lots of sudden movements.

She loves to watch you do things and likes to sleep in the bed with you at night. She has a very quiet meow and is a petite little girl with lots of purrsonality."

Fun stuff!

This is a video of my god-son, Deacon, dunking his pizza into his Propel (that originally was clear) and eating it.

mmm..



And this is Deacon drinking his Raspberry lemonade Pepperoni Pizza Propel Water. And then chewing it. (nasty!)



And this is the long lost verse to the children's favorite "Oh be careful."

Have fun!
-Megan

more pictures from the party

New Hobby

Hello!

I'll bet you guys can't believe your eyes! Another post, in just a matter of weeks! How exciting! :)

I really don't have much to say, I just wanted to post some pictures I took. I have a new hobby, and I am addicted.

Thanks Leeann. haha..

Mini-Vacay!

This year, for Baron's birthday, we took a mini-vacation. It was wonderful. I booked a swanky hotel just north of here, and off we went. The hotel was beautiful, and we had a great time relaxing. Usually Baron's favorite thing to do on vacation is nothing. He'd rather sleep and lay about. Not this time! He actually wanted to do some things, so we had lots of fun. We watched movies, took a trip to the Dallas Arboretum, went shopping and ate out. We also made use of the hot tub! So much fun was had, we are thinking about making this an annual habit! On saturday we attended some friends wedding, and it was beautiful. It is always nice to remember your own wedding while watching somebody else get married. We then went to my little sister's marching competition, where her band rocked the field and made 1's! (that's a superior rating, for those of you who are unfamiliar with music competition ratings!)
We had a great time and were well rested, just in time to come down with some nasty stomach flu! ick! We've been laying around for 2 days now.. hopefully it will pass quickly!

Hope you are all having a blessed week!
-Megan

News..

Well, we have a little tidbit of news on the foster/adopt front.I talked to a home developer at our agency, and it looks like placement is down nearly 1/3 in the state of Texas due to a law that was passed in July. Children may now only be taken out of their homes AFTER a hearing, unless there is violence going on right then, or the child is in the hospital suffering from the injuries of the violence. While this has cut down on placements, it does mean that children who are being abused but the parents haven't been caught, or the child hasn't been hospitalized are still in their abusive situations. Please pray for our children, as it may take longer for them to come home.
-Megan

well, I have been informed that it is time for an update!

Let's see, there is so much going on that I am not quite sure where to start.

There is no new news on the baby front. We have been licensed for 2 months, and we have only gotten one call. We are getting impatient! We made a call to the agency earlier this week, and they were kind enough to not call us back. Boo! I will be calling back later this week.. like, tomorrow! We have been at this process for a year and a half and we are ready to be parents!

We are going to try to get our renovation project done soon. we need to seal the window and door, and finish off the little bit of sheetrock and the little bit that's left of the floor. some mud and paint and we'll be good to go!

I quit my job a few weeks ago and am enjoying being a stay at home wife! I am not sure how long that will last, as we don't have health insurance right now.. ick!

I am enjoying school, but will enjoy it more when I am done at the end of next semester!

I guess that's about it for now! expect another post later in the week about our mini-vacation that we took this week!
-Megan

No twins.

The twins did not end up coming to our house. They will be staying where they are. Please keep them in your prayers this week though! We wait for another call.

We may end up not taking any placements for a while, it just depends on how our garage renovation is going. We decided we needed a Permit, so we're getting the city involved.. and that's just a hassle, but hopefully this way, the addition of a 4th bedroom will add to the value of our house, and that's a good thing!
-Megan

Baby news!!

That's right, folks! We have a nibble!
Looks like we may be getting twins next week!
They are 3 years old, a boy and a girl. All we know right now is that they were premies and are still a little small for their age, but are catching up. They've been in the same foster home since they were born.. so that's great!! it's still up in the air, but we'll know something more definite by tuesday. :)
Stay tuned!
-Megan

License!!

Licensing day is scheduled, finally! We'll officially be licensed foster parents in 6 days! Thursday, August 15th. I can not wait!

Stay tuned for baby news, but, with such a busy household, I am not sure I'll be posting much. :)

-Megan

Bust...

Clomid, round one: a bust.

oh well. I got a very promising looking positive test on Saturday night, but by Sunday night I was spotting then Monday came along with my usual monthly visitor. I am thinking that it must be a faulty test, because as it dried, it dried with only 1/2 a line. fun fun.

Round 2 is scheduled for september, and maybe we can do an IUI then, as I found out insurance doesn't cover it, so it will be out of pocket. Still, not too bad, as we don't plan on trying too many times.

We are currently waiting on being licensed to be foster parents... should only be about 2 weeks or so! Praise God! First and foremost I want to be a parent. The pregnancy thing can come later, as it is a secondary want. :)


So parents we will be, soon, and very soon.

More later, hopefully soon, and not 10 weeks from now, as that seems to be my habit lately!
-Megan

SA what?

Well, in preparation for our fertility treatment, my doc, whom I didn't like before, made baron do a Semen Analysis. I hope he doesn't mind me putting this up here! hahaha.. The purpose of this blog was to inform others as to whats going on, and hopefully encourage others who are in a similar position.
So his results were not great. Morphology (the shape) was low. That's not great, and I guess is what's leading to the infertility and possibly all the early losses. So we're scheduled to do a medicated IUI cycle.
For those of you who are not well versed in Fertilise, that means that I will be taking fertility medication (clomid) and baron will give a "sample" when it's time, that will be "washed" and inserted via catheter directly into my uterus. fun fun! Never thought I'd be concieving this way, but as Baron says, if God wants us to get pregnant we will, and if he doesn't, we won't. The chances of us actually concieving and carrying to full term are pretty high, according to one website, but I take it all with a grain of salt, considering what I said about getting pregnant and God earlier on in this paragraph. No huge deal as we will be parents soon anyway.
We will be turning in all our VERY important paperwork to our Family Home Developer on Monday, and we will be starting our homestudy soon, very soon! We are in all kinds of preparation for that!

So, yeah. that's about it. Sorry I don't post often. We haven't gotten internet set up at the house yet, but it should be up by this time next month. Till next time,
-Megan

TB testing and last class!

EEK! We finish up our classes tomorrow night! wowie!

Baron and I got our TB tests done this week, we have an appointment in 45 min to get them "read".
Baron's looks just like it did that day. a pinprick bruise and nothing else.
I got a hive. yes, it's just a hive. as far as I can tell, it's not a TB reaction, but it is a reaction. nice. just my luck. we'll see what the doc has to say about it.

I am on the look out for cpr classes being held in the metroplex soon, that are cheap!
let me know if you hear of anything!

that's it for now. I am posting from work, so I don't have time for much!
-Megs

Foster-Adopt Classes

WE ARE ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

We finish up next Thursday, (we still will lack CPR, but I am working on that!)

EEEEEEK! This is almost a reality! I am so excited to be so close to fully answering the call!

We will be licensed on July 24th.. the best birthday present EVER!

New Job Details

OOh! I am loving my new job!
Here's what I do:
I am in charge of Elementary Sunday School, known as Journey. It's a rotational style Sunday School, which is so much fun! There are 13 different classrooms,and a couple hundred kiddos, and nearly 40 volunteers each week.
I choose curriculum (basically) and get it ready for each volunteer.
I start and head up new projects for the Elementary Education Department at CRUMC.
I organize, recruit and train volunteers, a list that numbers in the hundreds!

I work from 8:30 (or 9) to about 3:30, Monday through Thursday, sometimes Friday if I want to get work done in peace and quiet, and Sunday mornings for a couple of hours, but I still get to make it to most of the service and my adult Sunday school!

So yeah, that's about it in a nutshell.

new job!

I just have a few minutes, but I wanted to announce that I have a new job!

This week I accepted the position of Assistant Director of Children's Ministries at our church.
I have a real job!

More later!

-Megs

Did Baron and I mention we are looking to join Family Life ministries??? We are sooooooo excited about having a possible opportunity to make our *entire* life about serving God!!
They have an orphan's ministry, that we are hoping to join.. really anywhere we are needed we will serve. I am so giddy about this opportunity!
I would like to ask all of my readers to pray that God's will be done, and hopefully that includes our being able to serve with this ministry!!
quote from the Family Life website:

Not only has God commanded that His people care for those in need, but He has also ordained and modeled the institution of adoption. Anyone who has placed his or her trust in Christ has been adopted into God's family, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Ephesians 1:4b -5 tells us: … “In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…”

-Megan

I am feeling the desire to discuss why we plan on trying out some treatment.
For those of you who know me well, and those of you who read my blog, you should know that we have suffered the loss of 4 babies at a very early stage in pregnancy.
The main reason we are trying treatment, is because it comes with more diagnostic tests.
I don't know about you, but I don't like to lose babies.
We also have very few options for birthcontrol for various reasons (ie: allergies to latex and plastic, propensity for migraines and therefor increased risk of major stroke caused by hormones, etc) so if we are going to not use anything and still have an active *intimate* life, as is necessary for a successful marriage, I would love to find a reason to the RPL so that if conception happens, maybe we'll have a treatment plan in place to prevent miscarriage number 5. People forget that all infertility treatment doubles as a diagnostic tool for those with RPL.(ask Geoffry and Jonathon Sher from the Sher Infertility clinics!)

anyway.. enough ramblings and run-on sentences from me for today.

-Megan

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Rom. 8:14-17)

We are all adopted Children of God!

To imply that infertility is the only reason for adoption denigrates the beauty of adoption.

It implies that we are conceiving out of love, but adopting out of last resort. God tells us that all who are led by the spirit are children of God. That he loves all of us, and because of that, he makes us heirs of God and joint heirs with CHRIST! Praise God!

I am aware of the fact that because of societies long believed myth that adoption is second rate, I will have to defend my family and our choices and protect our children as much as possible, it makes me sad that my kids aren't even home yet, and I am already feeling the need to defend our family.

Simply stated, Infertility is not the only reason for adoption. To imply otherwise suggests that adoption is a second option, and therefore inferior. Our family will be made by adoption, not as a second option, but as an equally beautiful option, and we will make sure that our children, adopted or not, are all adopted children of God, and that they know that adoption is beautiful!



-Megan

an addendum to previous post:

I do not know how God works. I know that some people are healed through genuine miracles, and some are healed through the medicine. I cannot say that the latter, if not both, is a work by God. I assume that both are. I do not know if it is in God's will to heal me, either way.
What I do know, is that by july, we will be proud foster parents, and we are currently up for the challenge of parenting!!

-Megs

I got an interesting comment this week regarding my previous post.
I got to thinking, maybe I should clarify my intentions in all of this.

When Baron and I first got married, and possibly even before we actually got married, we talked about having children, as most couples do, and decided that we would love to have a big family! We talked and talked, and decided that we wanted to have 6 children. We talked about birth children, We talked about adopting. We knew it was just something we both wanted to do (regardless of fertility status). We also decided long ago, that once the children (biological and adopted) were old enough, we would open our home to foster children, and possibly do that for many years. This was before the aforementioned (non-diagnosis) of infertility.

When we realized that there was something wrong, God started working in our lives to open our hearts and lives to adopt/foster NOW. I guess we just assumed that a pregnancy would happen before we were able (financially) to adopt. At this particular time, yes, I still have a desire to birth a child, but I know, as I have wanted to adopt for as long as I have wanted to birth children, that I will love both adopted children and biological children as my own. (and they will be my own, regardless of how they came to our family!) all I really want is a baby in my arms to call mine and to be able to love that child (or foster child who wouldn't be mine for long) for as long and as much as I can. I feel that if I couldn't adopt for some reason, that I would feel the same way. That there would be a certain amount of grief regarding the loss of the ability to adopt (and foster!)

Regardless of your own fertility status, you (my readers) must remember that there are other reasons for wanting to adopt other than JUST the inability to conceive and carry a biological child. This was in the works well before we even officially decided to start trying to conceive. We just feel that maybe God (like we can really know his big plan! haha..) is speeding things up for us on the adopt/foster front. We feel that he doesn't want us to wait until we have biological children to adopt, as our desire to adopt does not rest on the status of my fertility. We really don't know what God wants for us regarding bio-kids, but we do think that he wants us to foster/adopt. I guess only time will tell about bio-kids, but either way, God's will is always best. I guess that's why we're going at this at the same time, that it doesn't matter, either way we are going to foster/adopt. That decision doesn't hinge on the outcome of the treatment.

I want our children to know, whether they are biological or adopted or fostered, that they were ALL wanted, despite their genetic relationship to baron and I. The comment was a great reminder to tell all of our children our story, about how their mommy and daddy, before they were even married, wanted them, and already loved them.

I hope I clarified a few things. I don't want anyone else to think that we are adopting/fostering JUST because we are *infertile*. That is just not the case.


-Megs

Waiting.

Just wait three more months..

That's what the doctor said. HAH!
She is reluctant to start treatment because it is so stressful, and doesn't want to label me, *infertile*, seemingly because of some strange self-fulfilling prophecy. (prophecy might only be the case if we were talking about treatment before the 4 miscarriages and 3 years of infertility)

It's been just under 3 years since our first missed miscarriage at 7 weeks 2 days. 3 more miscarriages later and she doesn't want to start treatment yet because of some stupid label and some stress? Doesn't she realize I've already overcome that amount of stress before? That some stupid infertility treatments are going to stress me out unlike 3 years and 4 miscarriages would? And like a label is going to change anything? (unless it happens to come with a cure!)

Ugh.

So anyway, we wait. Baron gets to do his part towards this IF testing in a month and a half! fun fun. finally he gets experience some of this poking and prodding (even if it is in just a psychological way) soon. Sometimes it seems so unfair that we women have to deal with the brunt of the physical strain that infertility testing and treatment consists of.

Stay tuned.
-Megs

Update!

Hey Everybody!

Oh! I have so much to say! I don't even know where to start!

Baron and I have 2 major things going on tomorrow! First, is our first "treatment" appointment.
After listening to a sermon by a very trusted pastor on a passage in john, this is basically what it said: (taken from westpalmbeachchurchofchrist.com

James 15:13-15
13Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.


James says to call for the elders of the church to pray for the one who is sick. Assistance may be necessary for the one who is ailing. In those days, being able to apply oil to oneself when seriously would require help. Thus, the elders should make sure the person was receiving the medical attention necessary. But, as James points out, the important part of this work is the prayers. Let this person’s condition be in the prayers of the saints so that he may be healed and raised up from this serious condition. But prayer was not to be used alone. Christians were expected to use the medical means necessary and available to help with the illness.
It is surprising to me how often I see religions declare that they will be healed of a sickness by the power of God, and will refuse medical treatment. Of course, these people die more often than not when refusing any help. But James is actually commanding the opposite. Yes, we are to rely on God to heal us and raise us up, but we are to use the treatments that the medical community can provide. God can use the simple things of this world to heal our flesh and God can use the power of prayer for the ailments that medicine cannot treat.
If James had used the other Greek word for anointing that refers to the Holy Spirit’s anointing of Christ, then I would be more apt to see the anointing oil to be a reference to God using His power through the use of oil. But that is not the word James used and furthermore, to the first century reader, all James was telling the elders to do was make sure the person received proper medical attention.


So, in light of hearing this, and doing my own studying, and lots of prayer, we have decided to move forward with treatment for infertility. Our goal will be to treat the possible causes of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss. We have several more tests we could run, and several treatment paths we could try. Our first appointment is Tuesday, and we will be mostly just discussing where to go now.


The other thing, is that we will hopefully be attending one of our Foster-to-Adopt classes tomorrow night! It should be Strengthening Family Relationships..

And yes, we will be doing both, if we are blessed with a pregnancy and foster children, we will be doing both!

Well, my Mac is running out of power quickly, so I guess I will post and write more later!
-Megan

Hi Folks!

Not much new to report.
Things are just chuggin along for us right now.
School is going ok so far, foster-adopt classes start next month, and our new car is running just fine.

that's about it.

more soon, I hope.

-megan

Quick updates!

wow, so sorry it's been so long since I've updated!
Baron and I are all moved in to our new house, but we don't have internet access yet. Hopefully coming soon, we'll see.

so I'll do some quick updates, and hopefully some more in depth updates soon, now that I'm back in school and have access at school.

foster/adopt update: we start classes at our new agency, Arrow Project, in February. Looks like we could be done by the end of february, but I have to be 25 to be licensed. So looks like I'll have the best birthday present ever!! We'll be parents by the end of July hopefully!

house update: it's going great.. great house, great blessings, etc. new pictures to come within the week hopefully!

holiday update: they were wonderful. we spent Christmas day in arkansas with family and friends, and had a wonderful time!

family update: we hosted R and S (Baron's parents) last week, had a great visit with them, and hope they come back soon! We went to the 6th floor museum at Dealy Plaza, and learned a lot about JFK.

car update: Baron's satty sat is gone. We said goodbye to it last week, I'll post a pic if I can figure out how. It's been totaled. He was hit head-on, but came away without a single scratch. Praise God! We now have to get another car. fun fun!

I guess that's it, for now!

I'll be back soon hopefully!

-Megan