We have officially moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. That is said with a lot of relief, happiness, sadness, anticipation and exhaustion. So many people helped us move out of and into our homes. So many sent us off with love. We are so grateful for all those who have had such an impact on our lives these past six years!Moving has brought a lot of fun, a damaged arm from high kicks--you gotta watch those high kicks--and we have been welcomed by new neighbors and new church friends. In true Layne girl fashion we have a slew of excitedly-stated comments and questions, although some are slightly repetitive. These are the comments I've heard lately from our girls...
This is the best house ever!! (They really only loved our first house so this is kind of a big deal!)
Can we go to the beach?
When will we see Baby Joseph?
Can you go on a date so Sharon can babysit us? (They've made "big girl" friends already!)
Can we go to the beach? (This is on repeat)
What do you mean you have a lot to do?...Why can't I walk through the living room? 🙄
Can we go to the beach? (I will never stop hearing this.)
I'm a disco ball.
I'm a little scared of our new water dispenser. Can you get my water?
Are we going to homeschool today? (Apparently, my explanation of homeschool never included it was not a place.)
I want to live in this house forever.
Wait, was that really school?
Can we go to the beach?
On the adoption front, we are....wait for it...
WAITING!
See, a small taste of what we experience on a daily basis. :) One of the ladies from our agency says it will happen when we aren't thinking about it and we least expect it. I'm not sure when that time is. I think about it all the time. One thing I do know is i'm shifting into the realm of disbelief that this will ever happen. I am also numb and feel like it's just something I'm pretending will happen. I hear that's a good thing too. After rolling my eyes, I settle into the truth that God's timing is perfect and I can't make it happen so I need to just stop worrying about it!
Since we moved, the first thing we had to do was finish our most recent homestudy update for the state of South Carolina. We had completed our state and federal clearances but forgot to do the local one. We had to complete that by mail the last week we lived in South Carolina because the clerk of court was attending a clerk of court convention--sounds like a real party! Of course, there is one guy that signs all adoption paperwork in our county and he was at the convention. Just my luck. I received our South Carolina local clearances back this week. So, that finished up everything for South Carolina.
Now on to North Carolina. We have a new social worker and have our home visit this week. She has to see the new house and deem it appropriate, talk with us and our children, and update our financial information, changes in our address and changes in the number of children we are available to adopt. Yep, we want to change our homestudy to say we are willing to adopt up to two children. This does not guarantee we will receive a referral for two children, but it opens the door a little wider! Monday, I got my driver's license. Kev will get his this week. I sent off our North Carolina child abuse clearances today. Friday we pick up our local criminal report for North Carolina. We are getting fingerprinted and then mailing those off for our state level clearances on Friday as well. We already have our federal clearances from the prior update. Yay for Kevy's day off, we are wisely using it to once again show we are the safest people in two states and on a federal level to leave your children with and get this homestudy updated. This update will be accompanied by a friendly bill from our homestudy agency which is always fun. Then we will need to begin the process of updating immigration. That is the most fun as it will cost about $1000 since this is our second renewal of our I-800A and we need to make changes in our state of residence and the number of children we are willing to adopt! Please continue to pray for us through this process. God is definitely challenging us on multiple levels. I am glad God is in control and I'm not making all the decisions. I struggle with the desire to get a referral tomorrow for one little kid based on our current homestudy and 1-800 or wait for what could be another couple months to a year and receive a referral for two little kids or maybe still just one child. I'm so impatient, but I don't want to limit God's plans for us. On top of that, there's just a lot to adjust to as well. Fortunately, God has surrounded us with a wonderful new church family that has so readily taken us in and incorporated us into their lives. Also, being near my favorite first cousin and her super cute baby is a major bonus. He calls me Eggie, it's awesome. So, that's the excitement from our end. Thank you again for joining us on this journey!
 |
| This isn't everyone, but some pics we got with friends the last few weeks! |
Comments