I am super excited to write this post.  Zach (with all his super techie talent) designed and formatted this new website for me since our family is changing.  He is awesome to get this website up and going so quickly, especially since the last few weeks have probably been some of the busiest weeks of our lives.  I have been completely consumed with our adoption.  For those that don’t know, we have finally made the decision to add one more little Evans and have chosen to do that through adoption. Zach and I have talked about adoption for years. We have always known it was a possibility for our family and cannot believe the time has come for us to jump in and get started. We feel completely led by God to start this process.   Up until 6-8 months ago, I was pretty convinced that our family was complete.  As most moms, I felt like my hands were full.  Three little ones that pretty much depend on me for everything left me little time to think about another little one.  But one thing after another opened our eyes and our hearts to a sweet little girl.

Since adoption has always been on radar screen, we felt like God left that door open by blessing us with three boys.  Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a “boy mom” and absolutely LOVE having boys.  Honestly, I am little overwhelmed with the thought of having a girl.  I grew up with two brothers and have obviously only parented boys.  Even as a teacher, I always preferred a classroom full of boys.   But the thought of having a daughter is exciting. 🙂  I can’t even imagine shopping on the girls’ side on Gymboree or Crazy 8’s (but I’m super excited to start).

We also felt led by the adoption movement in our church and community.  Currently, there are 8-9 couples at our church adopting internationally.  We also have several families in our community (including some in Carter’s Kindergarten class) that have adopted internationally or are in the process.  To know that our daughter will grow up in a community that is accepting of her and how she came to us is very encouraging to us.

Finally, we cannot deny the feelings that God placed in our hearts.  I have such a strong desire to go and rescue a little girl that doesn’t have a good future unless we give her one.  While it feels overwhelming to add another child, we know that we are so blessed and God has called us to use our blessings to help an orphan.   In my mind, she is no longer an orphan, just a little girl waiting for her mommy and daddy to come and pick her up.

We are currently in the process of completing our home study.  We are also gathering the many papers needed for our dossier.  Our wait is expected to be 10-12 months from start to finish.  We are hoping to have a sweet daughter to write about this time next year!  We covet your prayers throughout this process.  We ask for prayers for our little girl as she will have some form of a special need (we don’t know what yet).  We pray that she will be well cared for until we can hold her and get her the care that she needs.  We also ask for prayers for us as we gather all these forms and complete so much paperwork.  We pray for peace as we think about being away from our boys for 14-16 days next summer.  And finally, please pray for our boys.  They are VERY excited and I pray these feelings continue.

I hope to update the blog often with details of our adoption journey (and of course, our three crazy boys)!