We have BIG news!
We are adopting a child! We have just embarked on this journey! However, it is a journey that has been thought about for many years. A journey that has been discussed. We know that we need others to help us this journey. We are thankful for those who have already been venturing on this journey with us. The four of us are excited for the child that awaits us at the end of this adoption journey.
We are beyond excited and are doing everything we can to be prepared to welcome a beautiful new life into our home. As part of our adoption process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. It may surprise you to hear that adoption related costs can easily total up to $10,000 or more. This is why we have set a goal of $10,000 to help ease the financial burden that often overwhelms adoptive parents.
We hope that by inviting you into this process, you will see yourself as part of the community we hope to build around our child as he/she grows up.
In case you didn't see it on Facebook yesterday, J is coming home today!!! It was just confirmed yesterday. Nothing like the last minute. It doesn't matter how much time we had, you are never fully ready. You have no clue what to fully expect. However, we have been working to get the house and family ready for this addition. We are ready to be more Van Awesome!
They will be landing in a few hours, and he will move in with us. He is only bringing two bags filled with clothes, so I believe that there will be some shopping in our future. Since some people have asked, we will share what needs he has. I am sure we are going to need more clothes for him. I am not sure what else. In another update, I will share some of the awesome things that Tina did to get ready. She is the real MVP getting everything organized. We work to our strengths.
Looking forward to continuing to share this adoption journey with you! We are so thankful for your love, support, and prayers. We so need your prayers right now. It's like being new parents all over again. Much love family!
J came for his first visit this weekend. It was a short but amazing visit. We knew from the first moment we met on Friday afternoon that he was the missing piece from our family. When you thought that we could not be more Van Awesome, then along comes J and does just that. Even though our time was short, it was beautiful where everyone got along well and we were really able to bond.
J was accompanied by his caseworker and CASA worker (she's a volunteer), both who are amazing people who love J and truly want what is best for him. It is evident in how they interacted with him and with us. They arrived Friday afternoon. Our time together began with J running out of the car to greet us with hugs. So sweet. We were able to eat lunch together. Our first meal together. Of course, we had to show him his room, which he loved. He has a loft bed with a slide and a fort/secret hideout underneath plus that really cool chair that Liam and I put together.
After lunch, we headed to Tall Pines for a family hike. The boys "skipped" rocks together and were able to see a turtle who was walking out of the lake. We cut our hike short when the rain hit us. Fortunately, we were back in our cars before the monsoon hit us. It was some crazy rain driving back to our house.
When we arrived back home, the boys disappeared in the basement to play Minecraft. It was a great opportunity for them to bond while us adults talked about J. Tina had written down questions that she wanted to ask the caseworker and CASA worker. We had a great discussion while the boys very much enjoyed playing Minecraft. J loves Minecraft. I think he reflamed Liam's love for Minecraft, because Liam has been playing a whole lot more since that time on Friday. I haven't seen Liam that obsessed with it in a long time.
After some down time, we headed up to Fig Leaf Thrift and the church. We wanted J to get familiar with some other places where he would be spending some time, and we wanted to see if we could find anything for him at the thrift store. All J wanted from Fig Leaf Thrift was a plastic placemat USA map, so that he could show his friends and others where he was moving (and had just visited). On the way here, he told everyone at the airport and on the airplane that he was traveling to NJ. After he got a wings pin from the pilot, he showed it to everyone.
Our original plan was to park at the church, help set up for Fourth Fridays and then head Uptown to enjoy the festivities. The weather changed our plans. Therefore, we drove over to Sunset Auditorium for the Fourth Fridays Festivities where we got dinner from the food truck, played cornhole and Connect 4, created chalkart, checked out some vendors, and J got to meet some new people (some of you!). We all had a great time.
On our way home, we decided to stop at his future school so he could see it and we could take a picture. Liam wanted to show him the playground, so they ran around the building and played for a bit on it. When we arrived at home, we had ice cream and the boys played Beyblades. Of course, you have to end an amazing day with ice cream. The caseworker and CASA worker left after he got ready for bed allowing Tina and I to tuck him in by ourselves. We first read to him a little bit from Dog Man. He fell asleep quickly and slept well through the night not waking up until 6:45am.
Saturday morning consisted of walking Latke, Beyblades, basketball, dancing, Minecraft, and eating a homecooked breakfast as a family where J led us in prayer. "God is great. God is good...." The boys knew the prayer and were able to jump right in. After the caseworker and CASA worker returned, we were able to talk about the next visit/our future together. It looks as though he will be returning either June 23-26 or June 30-July 2 with placement following the visit. We cannot wait for that to happen.
Before our time ended, we knew we needed a NEW family photo. Not only did we get a family photo, but also a short video of us dancing together at the request of J. It was a teary-eyed goodbye. He didn't want to leave. We didn't want him to go. A piece of us left for Texas that day. A piece of our hearts is with him until he returns in a few weeks. He told us that he loves us, and we told him that we love him! We cannot wait to continue making memories together when he returns and we all get to spend the rest of our lives together.
It's official that J is coming for a visit this weekend. He is coming for his first official visit. Everyone is excited and nervous at the same time! They texted Monday night to let us know that they were able to get plane tickets. However, they (J and his caseworker) arrive Friday at 11:41am and leave Saturday at 12:42pm. Basically 25 hours on the East Coast. Quick turnaround.
The good in this is that the caseworker asked if he could spend the night with us. Of course, we said yes. Not only do we get to visit, but he gets to stay with us. We have his bedroom already set up. We had to go purchase a pillow. When we FaceTimed with him today, we showed him his room again. He remembered it from a previous FaceTime.
Tina had the great idea of creating an itinerary for the time that he is here. It includes meals, hiking, games, going Uptown, and more. We want to show him what “normal” is for us. Not that we are that normal. She emailed it to his caseworker to get her feedback.
We were able to FaceTime with J a couple times since our last update. We are creating a good bond during these calls. He is very much excited about coming up here. He told us that today. He even told his teacher that he’ll be missing his last day of school (Friday) because he’s going to meet his new family. Awwww. The teacher called his CASA worker to ask about it.
I’m sure we’ll have a lot to share after this weekend. Stay tuned. Keep those prayers coming! Thank you all. Much love!
This morning, we found out that Texas approved the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. That is HUGE news!! What a way to start the weekend!! I have to be honest. It was hard to concentrate on work things at first. It's just so exciting. J's caseworker said that she is trying to get up here with him next weekend! She is looking to bring him Friday to Saturday for an all-day Saturday visit. She hasn't updated us yet that she got tickets and a hotel. I was able to give her a few suggestions on where they can stay. We are still not sure of the rest of the timeline. However, we believe that things will start to move forward quickly now.
At the same time, this means that Tina can continue to work with the school to get J registered. We know from registering the boys after homeschooling them for a year, that it is a ton of paperwork. We and his CASA worker believe that it would be good for J to go to the summer extended session. Tina has been great at thinking and working on all the details of school and counseling. She is the organized one.
We were able to FaceTime with J again through his behavioral therapist. It was another great conversation and time of laughs, stories, and jokes. We showed him the rocking sofa chair that Liam and I built and shared that Tina or I can read to him on it. He really liked it. We also showed him what I shared in this picture. The whole Wings of Fire book series. If you remember a former update, this is the book series that he wants to read (or someone to read it to him). So in our FaceTiming, we showed him the book series and he was so excited about it. We didn't get him that series. Liam's bestfriend Elliot read the whole series and heard that J wanted to read it, so he gifted it to him. J is already so LOVED by our tribe, and we are so thankful that we will not be on this journey alone. ALL of you are on it with us. Your prayers, your encouraging words, your financial support, and so much more has already been so amazing. We are thankful for each of you.
This past week, we were able to talk to J twice. On Wednesday night, Tina and the boys were able to talk with him. Unfortunately, his caseworker got stuck in traffic that was not moving. She arrived 45 minutes later than she thought. I had to get to a meeting that I was leading. The boys were able to talk about Prodigy (it's a math computer game that they have through the schools) and a couple other things. Then he wanted to show them that he could throw a football. He did that for the rest of the time.
On Thursday night, his behavior therapist FaceTime'd with us, so that we could talk with J. He shared about his school day, showed us his room, and asked to see the outside of our house. He really wanted to see the yard. I took him on a tour of our acre of land. He was pretty stoked about it especially the soccer nets. We have two soccer nets in our yard that are not used enough. Maybe J will want to use them more. He was pretty excited about the yard. However, the best was the end of the call. He melted our hearts again when he said that he will miss us. You can go get a tissue now.
We were able to talk with his CASA worker on the phone this week. She let us know where we stood and what she was trying to work for. She would love for him to do the summer extended school in Texas (3 weeks in June) and then move here before the summer extended school starts in July up here. Nothing is set in stone. She also mentioned that they are working on getting him up here for a visit.
After talking with his case worker, she confirmed that they are working on getting up here possibly Memorial Day Weekend. They have basically finished the ICPC paperwork. Things should now move a little quicker now. We also should be talking with J at least once a week. Slow and steady.
Liam and I worked on a chair for J. It's a cool rocking chair for his room where Tina or I can sit with J and rock and read to him. Check out the picture.
