Seasons of Adoption {Fall}

In the adoption process…after your home study is done and your profile is submitted, you welcome a small window of time to relax and catch your breath. A home study and compiling your whole life into 6 tiny pages is no easy task.

This post-home study process, like anything, has its ebbs and flows. We are (actively) waiting. We are staying busy, but there are moments (or days) that strike us like a cold breeze in fall. And like fall, there are quiet lulls, but something will suddenly remind us of the journey we are on. A journey to meet a child we do not know and to possibly (hopefully) meet his/her birth family.

But, like we’ve said again and again, we stay busy. We went on our first camping trip as a couple with family. It rained almost the whole weekend, but we both feel like we made the best of the situation. Jessica’s cousins piled inside our tent. We kept them busy by playing games and wrestling (and napping). They kept us busy for sure.

We went to the North Carolina State Fair for the first time this year. Enjoyed several foods. Some of which we had never experienced before. Fried cookie dough, anyone? Yes, please! Fried Reese’s? Yes, please! Anything you could imagine, North Carolinians fry, apparently. We also devoured a turkey leg. Best. Food. Ever.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and we can wait to share that time with our family. We’ll also be celebrating several family member’s birthdays this month. We are looking forward to catching up with out-of-town family and see what kind of activities we can get into.

In Virginia, the weather doesn’t always follow the “weather manual,” if you will. Our falls are cool with a random 80 degree day thrown in followed by a night with a freeze advisor. You never know quite what you are going to get. Adoption is a lot like that. There are many variables that bring a family to decide to place a child for adoption, and how and when they choose a family to parent their child. And the waiting for prospective adoptive parents is unknown as well. We don’t know how long we will wait. Unfortunately, there’s no crystal ball. But, what will we do? Stay busy, of course.