Baby shower!!

Next Saturday I will be attending a baby shower, for me! I am so excited, it makes the fact that a baby will be in our house sometime in the next 4-6 months a reality. When Jess and I decided to Foster to Adopt, I honestly didn't think that I would get to have a shower. It's not all that common for adoptions, let alone Foster to adopt. Then we told my parents what are plans were, and my mom asks "when can we have a baby shower?".  I am beyond thankful and feel so much gratitude to be honored in this way. I know that might sound a little silly, but it's true! This girl is going to be a mommy! 

Why foster to adopt?

So, why foster to adopt? I get asked that a lot actually, now that friends and family know our plans. Jess and I have come to this decision after a lot of discussions about how to go about adopting a child. Our decision to adopt through the foster care system and the state is quite simple. We feel that the children that have been removed from their homes need love and a safe place to call home.  There is a huge need in our state for foster parents, and for foster parents that are willing to keep a child long term.   We must fight the notion that foster children are broken; because they are not. These children are resilient and brave and have so much to offer us all. Children do not get to choose their parents, or the situation they are born into.  We feel a calling to be a safe place for a special child, that will hopefully one day be a part of our forever family.

So far we are planning to go through Tacoma Youth for Christ which is a faith based organization that places children that enter the foster care system with families that are certified though YFC. This may change in the next month depending on a few more details that we have to find out still.

Heading into fostering a child, we realize that we may not be able to adopt our first placement. While it will be very hard, this is a risk we are willing to take. YFC has told us that if we intend to adopt, they can try to place us with a child that is either legally free for adoption (parental rights have been completely forfeited) or a child that is from a parent that has never gotten a child back from the foster care system.  If the child does not enter the system legally free for adoption, we will still have to go through the fostering process such as visits with the parents, and allow the parents the proper amount of time to try to get in a better place so that the child may return home.  

We are hoping to be placed with a child by Christmas. There are several factors that come into play with the timeline for placement, so it really is just a hope at this point that we will have a baby by Christmas.  We still have some official training to do, which will take place in October. Once training is complete then we will have our home study done. Once that is complete then we can be placed with a child. There are so many unknowns when fostering. We can literally get a phone call in the middle of the night asking us if we would like to take in a 3 month old, Caucasian female, and can we come get them now? Or it could be a phone call that says, we will have a 2 week old, Hispanic male ready for adoption once they get out of the NICU, do you want them?  We can say yes or no to any placement.

We also get the question “Do you care what race the baby is?”  The answer is a huge NO, Not one bit. We don’t care if it’s a boy or girl or what color their skin is. We will love this baby. It’s a little human in need of a family, and we can do that for them. We are requesting to be placed with an infant rather than an older child. As of right now the window is set at 0-2 years, however I am hoping for much closer to the 0 year mark.

We are so excited to become parents and to be able to take in a sweet babe that is in need of love and a safe place to call home.  Favorite this blog, I will be keeping a journal so to speak of our journey to become parents.  Comments and  questions are welcomed!!

Naming a blog is hard work!

So, for days I have been trying to name this blog...seriously...I can not think of anything cute and catchy that hasn't been done a million times already. Jess said "just call it the blog with no name". I responded with "that's lame! It's not a name at all!!".  Alas, here we are, a post ready to publish and  I still can not think of a name.  So the blog shall officially have no name, from hence forth and forever more!! The blog shall be nameless! Happy Reading :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas 2014!! I am sitting here in my recliner (yes I am 80 years old at heart), looking at my beautiful Christmas tree with gifts beneath it with a very full heart! 2014 has been a crazy year. It seems to have absolutely flown by!! I am sure you are reading this post (the first one I have written in over three years) because you were told that there was some juicy news to be had. Are you just dying to know what it is?? I bet you are!!! Well, let me write a little more of our story before I give it all away here.
Jess and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this summer. 7 years already, seriously, where is time going?! Other milestones this year included my 30th birthday! So crazy. I honestly don't feel a day over 21. But I think that is how is should be. To combat  the "old" label that I felt might come with the 30th birthday, I decided to dye my hair hot pink on the ends. Then a few months later I added purple. You only live once right? I dyed my hair with the full intent of getting it cut or colored back to normal by my 30th, but I kinda love it!  Fun colors are here to stay for now.
Jess had  a great year at work. He was voted "Best of the Best" Salesman of the year by the Korean American Grocers Association. In Salesman Land, this is a huge deal! Only one person  is given this title in the state of Washington every year, and it has never been won by someone from Harbor Wholesale Foods before. So Jess Ryan is officially the BEST. But you don't have to remind him!
Jess and I had the opportunity to see the Dominican Republic on a week long vacation this spring. It was a lot of fun! A week of laying in the sun around the pool was just what we needed.  We also got to do some good RV'ing this summer. We did a trip with my parents to Dosiwallips State Park, and a week at Lake Chelan (or MY lake as I like to call it). I went cliff jumping for the fist time while in Chelan. It was awesome!
Jess's parents took the whole family to Whistler for a 5 day "weekend" this December. I didn't realize how far away it is! It was such a fun  trip. In case you didn't know, Jess's immediate family is 18 people large! So, all of us got to spend the weekend together in one house. Whistler is absolutely beautiful. My first ever trip to Canada was a blast. The Whistler village is so much fun. Think of Leavenworth, on steroids... times a million. 
My Mom treated my Grandma Ruby and I to the PNB Nutcracker this December also. When I was little, my grandma took my mom and I to the nutcracker every year in Wenatchee.  It was the only version of the nutcracker I had ever seen so naturally I thought it was amazing. Then again, what five year old wouldn't?  Being able to share the "real" ballet with my mom and grandma was pretty amazing. 
So, are you ready for the big news yet? I bet you are! Well, here it is...Jess and I are starting our family this year!  We have decided that our first child will be adopted.  So, we are embarking on the amazing journey to parenthood through Fostering to Adopt with the Tacoma Youth for Christ organization. They are one of only two Christian based organizations in Washington that partner with the state and place kids in Christian homes for foster care. Jess and I have a great big philosophy on why we are choosing to adopt for our first child, especially through foster care. I will save that for our next post. So, please join  us in our amazing crazy journey to parenthood through foster to adopt. We are so excited to add some babies to our home! Hopefully next year, as I write a Christmas post to our blog, I will be doing it with a babe in my lap. Please pray for us as we begin the process of paper work, background checks, doctors clearance, childproofing and painting our home. Pray for us as a man and wife, and for our soon to be child, or possibly children.  Jess and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a beautiful New Year.