Nitty Gritty

WARNING: This post has no pictures... sorry bout it!


Wow, I look back at the last blog I wrote and my living room has already evolved! I should show you pictures. I'm almost done with my bedroom too, so there will be lots of pictures coming, I promise  :)
I really wish I had more time to keep up
with this blog-baby but it's been a tad hard. Let me fill you in on the lives of Mike and I, a few significant things have happened since my last post. We had a great house warming party, roughly 50 people showed up, I have some pictures of that I'll post in another post after this one! We finished a lot of house projects for the party and up until a couple of days ago all projects stopped since then. It was a much needed break.

In December we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years with our families. I was promoted to a new position in my office, I am now the Administrative Assistant, which is pretty awesome. A couple of weeks ago I changed my eating lifestyle and have currently lost 8 pounds, woohoo! <-- that part of my life hasn't been easy and for some reason right before that change in my life we started pursuing adoption again.

YAY! Now that's what you've all been waiting for right? Well deciding to move forward yet again was both really easy and very difficult at the same time. We started the process about 2 years ago with LDS Family Services and the timing wasn't exactly right, so we put it on the back burner.
We knew when we started working with LDS Family Services that their program would eventually change, we were informed from the beginning but, at that time no one really knew what that meant.

Well friends it means that LDS Family Services no longer facilitates adoptions, which also means we're back to the beginning. Which has been frustrating. There are a few different ways adoptions can go, we could use an agency or we could do what some people call a D.I.Y. adoption. Both have pros and cons, Agencies cost an arm and a leg, but they have connections with hospitals, and have more avenues to find placements, they also have a TON of waiting families which can be a pro and con. D.I.Y adoptions are a fraction of the cost but, they require more work, It's still expensive don't get me wrong, at least its less. To help mediate the cost a little we started a Gofundme account, where people can donate to help make our dreams come true! Even just $5 would make a huge difference! If you feel so inclined please check it out! Here's the link http://www.gofundme.com/woodward

I'll tell you a little bit more about what those donations will go toward, since I know it's natural for one to wonder where their money is really going. I'll break it down a little bit for you and I'll clarify that we're doing a D.I.Y adoption. ;) We have a lot of support still from our case worker at LDS Family Services, and friends who have adopted before!

The process:
-Get a homestudy: $2,600
-Have an attorney: Flat fee $3,500 + possible overages of $100-$300 an hour
-Put our profile on one website: Currently $200 monthly (say we're on a year.. $2,400)
-Find a match! (we'll need your help here too, If you ever hear or know anyone that is looking into placing a baby, please keep us in mind! We may just be looking for each other :)
-Find and pay for Birth Mother/Parents legal council. Depends on state but can range up to $5,000
-Possible counselling for Birth Mother/Parents  $Unknown
-Possible medical fees for Birth Mother     $Unknown
- We will also need to keep in mind airfaire and hotel stay in whichever state.

So there you have it folks, thats the jist of it :) So when I say even 5 dollars will help, It really will. We're already so grateful for the love we've felt from those who have donated and we can't thank you enough! We've waited a long time for this and I know more waiting is in my future, but at least I'm excited.


As of right now, I just sent the application in to get our homestudy started :) I've worked on our profile but can't make it active until we have our homestudy complete.
Some friends have asked me to keep updates coming while on this journey through my blog! So here it is!
I'm all about people having the opportunity to be informed, I hope that in the end of all of this I will have been able to shed some knowledge. :)

I know that our child is getting ready to come to us, our hearts are so ready for them. I love our future child/children so much already and I am beyond excited to finally get to meet them, hug them and love them up!