Adoption T Shirt Fundraiser

Blake and I will be starting our first fundraising venture for Baby Oakley. ADOPTION T SHIRTS!!! We are super excited about this shirt! We will be doing a pre-sale for a few weeks and then placing the order.

You may purchase the shirt a few different ways:
1. Purchase through our pay pal account that is located on the side of the blog. You can pick the sizes you would like and submit payment via credit card. With this please specify if you would like it to be shipped to you. Shirts are $18.00 and $12.00 for toddler sizes. We will gladly ship to you for an $5.00. Just make sure you select the shipment button when checking out.
2. You may place your order via email or Facebook. Just send me a message with the sizes and if you would like it shipped to you and then you can mail me a check or cash. With this orders will not be placed until payment is received. (Just helps me to stay organized)

And here it is our SUPER SUPER FANTASTIC SHIRT!!!! 

We are hoping to make our first fundraiser a huge success and we are very grateful for your support! Thanks!!!!!!

Warning...very long but exciting update!!

Ok so I have came to grips with myself and who am I kidding........ this blogging stuff is not easy!! I think it would be easier if I had more time. So I apologize for these massive updates. Here we go.....

So lots of exciting things have happened since Christmas in the Oakley house. Baby Oakley received his or her first presents this year for Christmas. Gran and Paps gave us a sock monkey rocker (OBSESSED), baby blanket, and first Christmas books.

Then Blake and I did a little shopping of our own. Okay so ever since we started trying I have really wanted the Britax Cowmooflage infant car seat. So a good friend over Christmas break told me that she saw the car seat at Essex in M'boro. We were at Bristol at the time so we couldn't go at that moment to get it. So once we got back from Bristol Blake happened to go to the Essex in Mt. Juliet and (que the lights and trumpets)......they had it. We immediately went! I don't know if you have ever been to an Essex but WOW!! As soon as I got in the door an overwhelming feeling started to come over me. We found our way to the baby isle and there it was in all its glory! This is one of those moments were we became those inexperienced people standing in the middle of the isle trying to figure out the ins and outs of this car seat. We kept looking at each other and saying "Are we really going to do this" (saying this over and over again). And sure enough we found ourselves leaving the store with the car seat and a SWEET stroller. EEKKKKKKKKK!!! 

 

Sooo suddenly this became real to us. For the rest of Christmas break we were on the GET ALL OF OUR HOME STUDY PAPER WORK AND CLASSES FINISHED ASAP mode. We spent hour beyond hour watching educational videos and filling out endless amounts of paper work. 

This is nothing people........

And this is how I felt after......

But after many, many, many hours and days...we had finished!!!!! And then we mailed our little packet to our social worker. 

At some point I began to work on our portfolio book for our adoption agency. One would think "okay, this is easy just putting pictures in a book and tada you have your portfolio". Think again. This has been something that has taken tons of emotion and thought for myself. These will be the first pictures that our birth mother sees of us our family and friends, the first words that she reads about us and how thankful we are for her, and the book that will help us to be chosen and lead us to Baby Oakley. It has taken much thought and time and I am still not even close to being finished. This portfolio will also contain our first letter to our birth mother. (Insert Tears...buckets if you will). I haven't been able to write our letter yet to our birth mother. I am usually pretty good with writing letters. I get that from my grandaddy who I owe every A to from any high school paper that I needed help in writing. He just has an amazing way with words. But with this, how do you possibly put into words how thankful we are for this women? We love her so much already and we haven't even met her. We are in awe of her and the difficult decision she will make to give her own baby up for adoption. All she wants is a loving family to take care of her baby, a baby that she loves enough to give him or her a loving home and an amazing future. Speechless and typeless.............

On another note.....We had our first interview this week with our social worker. To prepare for this visit our house became organizing, child proof locks, and painting central. Looking back now it is funny to think about all the crazy things we did that were completely unnecessary. I am pretty sure Blake hates child proof locks now. Love you honey!! But everything went great. I took the day off on Wednesday to tidy up the house and get ready. I woke up that morning a nervous wreck. I am not sure why because deep down inside I knew it would all go okay. But I guess I was just having a moment. Our appointment was to start at 6:00 so you can imagine at 5:30 that evening any kind of noise we heard outside or if Bailey barked I was getting up to see if it was her. 6:00 came and she had arrived. She was precious and so nice! First things first, the tour of the home. We started in the nursery and she began to tell us what she would be looking for...smoke alarm, fire extinguisher, where we kept our medicines and cleaning supplies and she wanted to see the back yard. 

So it began....at the end she did not look through any cabinets or closets or drawers.  And of course I wanted to open up everything so she could see how organized we are. Not necessary..AT ALL.  Then she met Bailey. We were nervous about this because Bay tends to bark for a bit around people she doesn't know. Then she gets use to you and wants all 85 lbs. of her to sit in your lap. So we let her in and she did great. One little grrrrr and then moved on to her bowl of food. 

After the house tour it was time for questions and answers. It went great. She made us feel so comfortable with all the questions. And it was so nice to just be "US" and open up to her. So at the end she told us we did great and wanted to schedule our last interview. We were thinking it would be a few weeks and then she said "what about next Thursday". ALL RIGHTY......awesome....great!!!!! So next Thursday will be our final interview. Then we have about two weeks after that to be approved. Which means three weeks until we apply with our Adoption Agency in Nevada and wait.  We are READY!!!! 

So far we have been INCREDIBLY blessed throughout this whole process. We are so thankful for the amazing support that all of our family, friends, co-workers, and preacher has given us throughout this journey. We are fulfilling God's plan that he has for us and our family.  

We are humbled.........We are grateful.............. We are ready.............

Approved!!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh to hear that one long awaited and exciting word, "APPROVED". Still brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it. 

(No this does not mean we are finished with our home study.....ha just got approved to start it)

  Ok so it took Blake and I a while to decide on the agency we wanted to go with for our Home Study. I called three different agencies finding out the basic info. What are your fees, what is the process, etc. After speaking with the first agency I went ahead and made an appoint for our intake interview. I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and set up a time. Then I called the second agency. They were nice but just not for us. I had pretty much already thought in my mind that we would go with the first one, but I still wanted to call the last agency to see what they could offer. I called the last agency, left a message and waited. I didn't hear anything from them until later that night. While talking to the third agency on the phone that night I began to tell her that we are using an adoption agency that is based out of Mesquite, NV and she immediately said, "Ohhh Premier.....they are great!!!". My heart stopped and I had chills. This was another sign that this would be the agency we would use for our Home Study. The one that would bring us one step closer to Baby Oakley. 

Two days had passed and Blake and I finally have a moment to sit down and fill out the online application for Adoption Assistance (Home Study Agency).  The application took 5 minutes to fill out and submit. And at the end of reading and rechecking to make sure we had everything correct I clicked the submit button at the end.

Blake and I immediately looked at each other....And boy what a moment that was!!!!! Several days went by and we didn't hear anything from the agency. Sitting on pins and needles is an understatement at this point. Then on Friday November 30 at 10:07 a life changing moment happened for the Oakleys. I looked at my phone and noticed I had missed a call from a strange number. I checked my voice mail and it was from our agency. The lady started off the message by saying," I am so sorry".......OH...MY...GOSH....I thought to myself is she going to tell me we didn't get approved???? But then she followed with, " I am so sorry that I just got your application today". Long story short apparently it didn't go through the first time and was mixed up in the mail. Deep Sigh of RELIEF. Then that one word came.....or at least it was the only word I could hear at that moment. "Approved"....Our application had been approved and we could now start our home study!!!!!!!! And on the spot I broke down....I broke down with a million different emotions and tears. And all I could do at that moment was thank God. I thanked God over and over and over again. Then I called Blake several times until he called me back. After barely being able to explain everything to him (to the point he could understand me through the crying) I called my parents, in laws, grandparents, and sent a text my closest friends. I was beyond excited!!!! We had an home study agency and a social worker and I was beside myself.

Shortly after I received an email with the home study packet and thus begins the paperwork....HERE WE GO!!!!

Deck the Halls for Baby Oakley...Falalala la la la

Decorating is a passion of mine. That would be decorating pretty much anything. So as I was trying to think of creative ways to raise money for Baby Oakley and one of my close friends gave me a great idea. Decorating friends and families homes and trees for Christmas. WHY YES!!!!! I knew this would be perfect and so much fun. There is nothing I love more then decorating our house and tree during Christmas time while drinking hot chocolate and watching Home Alone. So why not spread the Holiday cheer with others....Unfortunately due to the timing I have only been able to decorate for one amazing person. Never the less decorating for this wonderful person was so much fun.

Continuing on the decorating scheme........It is amazing to me how God works and how many amazing friends I have with great ideas!!! My closest friend approached me with two decorating ideas to help raise money for Baby Oakley. Picking out paint colors for two clients and using my decorating skills. I immediately said "YES". So to work I went on putting together charging fees, idea boards, and downloading swatch booklets to my i pad. 

And my first idea board: (Well actually my third or fourth if you are counting undergrad school idea boards)

So if you are wanting to redo your home/room or you need help picking out new paint colors. Please email me with your ideas and I am glad to help out!!

A little house updating..

Yes it has been two weeks since my last update....Life kind of got the best of me. So I am promising to update my blog every Sunday.

Since we got back from Vegas and picked an agency we have been in the process of updating our house to get ready for the home study process. So let the redecorating begin! Those who know me know how excited I get about things like this. First things first....we sold our old master bedroom suite and ordered a new one. We have had the old bedroom suite since my sophomore year in college so it was time! We purchased a fun new suite from IKEA....(yes it is one of those trumpets and gold light moments) And can I just say I have the most amazing husband who put the whole thing together by himself in 3 days!!!!!

 

 

Next thing is painting. When we purchased our home we painted the whole house (never again) but left some of the trim unpainted. So I began the exciting and time consuming process of painting all the trim, crown molding, and closet doors in our room and bathroom. Thank the Lord it is finished!! So now the only things that are left to do are....deep breath.... paint the red computer room and make that the new guestroom so that the old guestroom is ready to be transformed into Baby Oakley's nursery. I smile every time I say that out loud. Then we will be on our way to begin the home study!!!

 

I have picked a few things out that I know for sure I want in the nursery. Like this fantastic red Jenny Lind crib. OBSESSED is an understatement.

 

And definitely this sign.......

 

 

Which leads to a bigger question.....Gender......As long as I can remember I have always knew that when it came time for me to have a baby that I wanted a girl. I am as about as girly as they come!!!! I knew that I wanted the whole American girl doll, ballet, cheerleading, make up, and anything pink little girl. But when it came time for Blake and I to start trying something changed and I knew that I wanted to be that  playing in the dirt, bugs and worms, football and soccer kind of mom.  I wanted a boy. And now that we are adopting that seems to be the question that is asked the most. Do you want a boy or a girl? Well I can honestly say that we are torn. So I like to play the gender game with Blake.

 

One night we were laying in bed and I wanted to see if he had decided on a gender yet. So I randomly would say the word gender to see what the first word was that came to his mind. NO success..He would say boy but then would follow that by a quick but girls are so sweet. UGGGHHHHH...so after several minutes of continuing my annoying Gender....Gender...Gender chants. I finally said OK the next time Bailey (our dog and first child) breathes hard then it is a girl and if she grunts then it is a boy.......And yes it had come down to the point we were basing our decision on what the gender of baby Oakley would be on our dog's sounds. Lame I know!! The trick was on me though because Bailey didn't make a peep. Of course!!!!





 

 So we are here now with no idea to the question...."Do you want a girl or boy" but we know that either way baby Oakley will be loved and spoiled rotten!!!!!



 





72 hours....

First step......deciding to interview agencies in Utah.

After researching more about domestic adoption and laws for each state in the U.S. Blake and I decided that we would go visit adoption agencies in Utah. Utah's laws are very adoption friendly and we had heard wonderful things about agencies located there. 

Taking this first step was very scary for Blake and myself because we knew that we needed to do this but just were having a hard time with the reality of it. Then we were shown another "SIGN" that pushed us one step closer. We were gifted the means that would for ever change our lives. We had received a southwest gift card paid in full for a round trip to Utah. 

Speechless................Humbled........................

Sometimes people do things in your life where just simply saying "thanks" could never be enough. I cannot explain the emotion that went through Blake and I at this moment. But we knew that we had been beyond blessed and we were ready to start this journey with all of the amazing support that we were receiving. 

The county that I taught in was getting ready to start fall break and we knew that this would be the best time to go. Taking a deep breath we booked everything!!!! And I thought to myself "Oh My Gosh....we are really doing this". Then we began to prepare our hearts and minds for this exciting trip.  This would be the best and longest 72 hours of our lives!!!!! 

2:30 am......Yes that is correct!!! That is the time that I got up on Thursday morning October 4th. I am a big morning person but holy cow!!! After a few good mornings and VERY little talking, Blake and I drove to his parents house so that his dad could take us to the airport. At 6:05 am we were on our way!!! Nervous, excited, but not looking forward to the 3 hour layover in Denver. After waiting 3 long hours in an airport that I swear was not warmer than 37 degrees we boarded our flight to Salt Lake City, Utah. One hour and twenty minutes later we had ARRIVED!!!!! 

We quickly got our rental car (which looked like a police cruiser), brushed our teeth in the parking garage (gross I know), tried to make ourselves look as presentable as possible and headed for a 30 minute drive towards Sandy, Utah for the first agency. 

This was what we were driving towards......Gorge!!!

We were ready!!! We had all our questions and iPad ready and we were good to go. As we pulled up we had promised that we would take pictures of each agency so that when we decided if this was the route we would go that we would have it documented and we could add it to baby Oakleys story. The first agency was great!!! The environment as a whole was very warm, welcoming, and nurturing. They answered all the questions that we had and then some while walking us through the whole process. Because we were in a hurry to leave that agency to get to the next one we forgot to get a picture.  Bummer.  So then we got back into the car for another 30 minute drive to the next agency. As we drove we passed the mecca.......IKEA. I immediately wanted to stop but unfortunately we had not scheduled a 4 hour shopping stop in between interviews. So after another beautiful 30 minute drive we arrived at our second agency. Lets just say within 5 minutes of talking with this agency we were ABSOLUTELY done and the first thing that came to my mind was "I just passed up a shopping trip to IKEA for this"? Yes it was that bad!!! And to be honest if we had went there first I don't think we would have finished the trip.  We left that agency without a picture. So if we are keeping score here for pictures it would be Blake and Andrea-2, Adoption agencies-0. 

After a long morning and afternoon we got back in the car and drove 4 long, long, long (did I mention long) hours to St. George, Utah.  After  lots of conversation, silence, sleeping, eating, and finally reaching our hotel we were both ready for a restful night. 

The next morning we woke up and prepared ourselves for the final interview with an agency in Mesquite, NV. But before we leave we couldn't miss a quick photo opp. 

Forty five minutes later we arrive in Mesquite. Another "SIGN"....look closely at the wording on the rock. 

Yes God...we are listening!!!! 

We finally found the agency and immediately loved it!!!! It was very welcoming. Pictures of families and babies everywhere. As we were sitting on a couch waiting, a young woman came bouncing out of an office and her energy and love for her job immediately could be seen through her smile and warm welcome. We ended up talking with her for about an hour and a half. She answered any and every kind of question that we could ever have before it came out of our mouth. After sitting there for about 10 minutes I so badly wanted this to be the one!!! We made sure that before we left this agency that we had our picture made. 

We left this agency with an unbelievable feeling of peace. This peace came from the fact that we put all our faith in God and visited 3 adoption agencies in 24 hours with hope that we would have the answer if domestic is what God had planned for us. And knew right away that is was!!!!! 

Answer one: We are adopting Domestically!!!!

We got in our car, headed towards Vegas and began discussing pros and cons for each agency. Shortly after we decided that we would  go with either the first or the third. I was beyond EXCITED!!!!! With that decision made we could finally RELAX and take it all in. The drive to Vegas was breath taking....

And I was beyond ready to get to this wonderful city to celebrate our journey so far. 

Ok, lets just say when I think of Vegas I think of lights!!! We arrived in Vegas during mid day so there was not any lights. Disappointed!! We stayed at Aria which was beyond fantastic. As soon as we checked in and opened the door to our room the tv came on and started playing music, the wall to wall and floor to ceiling window curtain slowly opened and all lights came on. It was one of those moments. EEEKKKKK I was so excited!!!! Because Blake had been to Vegas so many times that it could be his second home, I wanted him to show me the city!!! We walked up the strip through each hotel and did tons of window shopping. That night we had an amazing dinner and I tried to play some slot machines. Only winning a whopping $4.00. 

Saturday morning rolls around and after an amazing breakfast we are ready to head back to good old Nashville. If you ever think that it is not possible to be exhausted but extremely excited at the same time we can most definitely tell you that it is!!! This trip begins the story of a plan that we know was intended for us. This trip was one of if not the most amazing experiences of our lives. Sunday morning comes and we began to share as many details as we could remember with family and close friends. That night over dinner I asked Blake "Which do you want to adopt a girl or boy"? And buddy was I trying to get some kind of concrete decision out of him. He looks at me with all the love in his eyes and says "I will give you one concrete decision......let's go with Premier" (This was the third agency we visited). My heart was overwhelmed with joy and excitement!!! We had just chosen the agency that would place us with a baby of our own, our baby Oakley, but a love for a birth mother that would give us the baby that we have prayed so much for.  Our journey begins here!!!!

The Beginning of a Great PB & J!!!!

Blake and I love a good pb and j sandwich. There is something about the way that the two separate parts come together to create something new with the combination of its tart and sweet flavors while still being two very different things. This love started shortly after we got married. Blake and I make our pb and j sandwiches very differently.  He likes to have peanut butter on both sides of the bread and jelly in the middle.  I however, like peanut butter on one side and jelly on the other.  But somehow we always meet in the middle when we make them for each other and we often find that it does not matter how we make them they still have that same great taste in the end. Our love for this sandwich can be translated into how we view big decisions in our lives.

And our story begins.........

After you graduate college and you have been dating someone for awhile the questions begin. When are you going to get engaged, then you do. Have you set a wedding date? When are you having a baby? And then you fast forward 4 years and here we are.

After our second year of marriage we decided that it was time to start trying to add an "Oakley" of our own to this family. And to be honest I thought to myself, "Ok it's just going to happen, wham bam I could be pregnant." But oh boy was I wrong!! After many attempts, temperature checks, fertility tests, ovulation tests, charts, doctor's visits, lab tests, fertility drugs, and now becoming part of the percentage of couples who fall into the "unknown infertility category"  we arrive at the end of two and a half years of trying and still no little Oakley. Frustrated to say the least!

We had scheduled an appointment with a fertility specialist to start IUI treatments in hopes that this would be our last resort and what would work best for us. The night before the appointment Blake and I took Bailey on our normal afternoon walk, or should I say she took us on her afternoon walk. We started talking about the procedure and something clicked in both of us,  this is not what God has planned for us. And so I called that night and canceled the appointment.

A week went by and one Sunday morning before I started my morning devotional I prayed that God would guide us and show us what his plan was for our family. I began my morning devotional and started reading Esther. And lets just say God showed me a pretty clear sign for what he wanted us to do!!!  If you know me at all you know that I am a BIG believer in signs and sure enough I knew that God was calling us to adopt.

Weeks and months went by of conversations of adoption. And throughout all those conversations we continued to see signs all around us that would become part of our families plan. Somethings that we knew....that we needed to start reading up on everything about adoption. We knew that we wanted to talk to our friends who had adopted so we could better understand this amazing journey. And that we needed to write a letter to all our close friends and family so that they could better understand why we were choosing this path.  Now comes the biggest decision and insert pb and j method.......international or domestic adoption.

Blake immediately thought international and I was leaning more towards domestic. I quickly thought to myself "how in the world are we ever going to make this decision". We knew right away that we needed to talk to friends who had adopted internationally. Blake scheduled a dinner with friends at their house and we got to know their families precious story. Which was AMAZING in every way!!!! We also have a close friend who knew a couple that had just adopted domestically and filled us in about their journey.  International and domestic adoption are two different processes but both with the same ending goal.....a baby!!! A child that we have prayed for, for so long.

Then next thing you know.......we had booked a trip to Utah to interview adoption agencies!!!!