Avery and I at the Arch at 10 PM.
It's been on my to-do list to do a blog update for quite a while and I know there are so many people thinking of us so I made it a priority to update today! Thank you for continuing to think of us during our wait these last few months!
Avery at the hospital where she was born.
On June 13th our websites with our agency finally went "live." It's funny to see the 15 or so pictures they chose to use out of the 180 that we sent them but I guess they know what they're doing. ;-) Our consultant has kept in touch with us every few weeks but basically all we are doing now is waiting. We can keep track of how many people view our profile online but that number doesn't necessarily mean anything - It could be potential birth mothers but it could also be other couples seeing what kind of pictures to send or checking out the competition. :-) So, at this point we've been waiting just over 3 months, which seems like a long time on some days but we know in the grand scheme of things we could be waiting for a while longer.
Maverick, Cora, Avery, and Lilla on the night we walked from Idaho to Oregon.
This summer was actually the first time since we began teaching that Shawn had a full 3 weeks off. Having summers off is definitely an attractive part of teaching but somehow we've always done summer school or had another job during the summer. We had wanted to take a cross country trip for about the last 5 years so we were excited that we could actually make it happen this summer. I had a new niece in Idaho that I was anxious to see and Shawn had a family reunion in Nebraska. Because of the dates of the reunion we ended up crossing Wyoming 3 times - good thing we thought it was beautiful!
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I got in some great baby snuggles with Myra.
Our first stop was in St. Louis. We spent 2 weeks here when we adopted Avery so she was anxious to see the city where she was born. We had started out after Shawn got out of work on Friday so we got in late and made it in to see the Arch just before they closed the gates. Shawn and I went up in the Arch when we met Avery's birth mother the week before she was born and then we went back with Avery when she was one week old. We also stopped early in the morning so that Avery could see the hospital where she was born.
Avery was sleeping so Shawn and I did a selfie when we got to Yellowstone.
We made it to Idaho and enjoyed a few fun filled day with Justin and Jill and their kiddos. Cora, Maverick and Avery were like 3 peas in a pod! From there we went to Yellowstone and then back to Nebraska for a few days for Shawn's family reunion. Our next stop was Las Vegas. We walked 6 miles in one evening to see everything there was to see on the Strip. Needless to say we were exhausted. Next we stopped at Hoover Dam and went on to Arizona to see our friend, Paul. We had a great evening with Paul and Erika! Next, we headed for Texas and boy, is that a big state! We loved San Antonio and definitely want to go back to spend more time. Our last destination was New Orleans. From there it was a short 8 hours home and we were never so glad to see Atlanta traffic as we were that day! 20 states in 19 days!
Yellowstone
One of the prettiest places we stopped - Shell Creek Falls in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
Shawn went back to work the Monday after we got home. He is enjoying his 3rd year as Assistant Principal at Haynes Bridge. I started a new job on August 1st - in addition to teaching Biology online, I am training new teachers to teach online. It was an honor to be chosen for a leadership position in the organization that I love. The first few weeks were pretty overwhelming since I didn't quite know what my job was but 8 weeks later, it's still a lot of work but I'm loving it!
Black Hills - South Dakota
Avery and I went to NY for a week in the beginning of August. It was great to spend some time with family and friends. Avery enjoyed spending so much time with her cousins that we don't get to see as often as we'd like.
San Antonio
New Orleans
Some of the cousins in NY.
At the Pike Fair, where Avery had her first and possibly last ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl.
My big girl in the airport.
Not a day goes by that we don't wonder if today will be the day we get "the call" but we are patiently waiting and know that it will come when the time is right. We had been wondering how and when to tell Avery's birth mother that we were adopting again and didn't know how she'd feel about it. We had decided we'd wait until we at least heard something. Yesterday I received a text from her that said, "Have you all thought about adopting another child? I was an only child & been praying that Avery wouldn't suffer the same. lol" Wow! We texted back and forth for a bit and she is so excited that Avery will be a big sister! Needless to say, I was relieved - one less thing to worry about! :-)
Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers!
