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!!!!