Some days....

Some days, all this waiting business stinks!  Some days, I just want to be normal - get pregnant like a "normal" couple. Some days I feel REALLY jealous of all of our friends who have beautiful babies.  Some days I wish God would SURPRISE us with an amazing immediate answer.  Some days, I imagine what I would look like pregnant. Some days, I just want to go back to bed and start the day over.  Some days, I wish that we didn't have to save every penny for this journey. Some days, I cry.  Some days, I imagine that we got pregnant on our first try (four years ago).  Some days, I shop online all day for baby things.  Some days, my emotions are on a roller coaster.  Some days, I want to scream.
TODAY- I got to hold a beautiful adopted baby.  Today I got to see the happiness and joy in a mother's eyes over her baby's journey home.  Today, I got to kiss sweet cheeks that are loved beyond anything she can even fathom.  Today, I remembered that SOMEDAY God is going to bring our baby home, and I will be rocking him/her and kissing him/her and loving him/her.  Today is a day to celebrate.

Hello friends...

Per the request of some pretty fabulous friends - I am updating our blog... Here is the thing about adoption - It is a SLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOW process.  There is a LOT of waiting involved.  So we are trying to take our time preparing for Baby Chalos by slowly purchasing needed items, saving for the adoption, and finally doing some pretty fabulous fundraisers.  Our newest fundraiser is pretty fun.  My hubs designed an amazing shirt that we are selling in adult, child, baby, and dog sizes. :)

Any size shirt is $15.00.  We have been so blessed so far, and we are just trusting that God is going to provide what we need in order to bring this baby home. 

I want to take a minute to say THANK YOU for your amazing prayers.  It means more than you know. 

I will leave you on a funny note.  I recently saw (on a friend's facebook) a coupon for a free baby sling.  So of COURSE, I had to order it. :) We got it really quickly, so we decided to try it out on our first little baby, Joseph Chalos.  Let's be honest, it is just a tad small on Chad, but I HAD to post this pic. 

 It is pretty hilarious.

Hope you enjoyed! (TONI COLLIER. :) )

Our latest favorite verse - You need to perservere so that when you have done the will of the Lord, you will recieve what he has promised. Hebrews 10:36.

Baby Chalos' Room Update

So for the past four years, we have been window shopping and finding our favorite baby items...So when we started this adoption process, it became even more fun.  We are actually getting a baby - we have no idea when, but it is happening.  So if the PERFECT baby item comes along, we can buy it.  It serves a purpose.  HOORAY! That is exactly what happened this weekend.  We were doing the weekly Craigslist search and came across the crib. Our DREAM crib- retailing for WAY more than we could ever afford- BUT on craiglist,we got it for MUCH less than we would have paid for a crib that we didn't love SO we HAD to buy it.  We got up on 6:30 am on Saturday and headed down to Franklin to pick up this crib and it was perfect. The couple selling it were SO sweet and supportive as we told them about our journey.  They gave us a custom made conversion kit (which turns it into a toddler bed) for free.  All of that to say -

WE BOUGHT A CRIB.  SHUT UP. and here is a picture.

The blanket that is sitting in the crib is not a permanent fixture BUT we will be using it.We found it in a vintage store in San Diego California.  :)  The colors in room are going to be gray and yellow.  I have been drooling over a crib set for the past four years, but now that we can finally purchase it- we found out that it is discontinued.  :( BUT on a happy and exciting note, I have decided, with the encouragement of some of our best friends, that I am going to channel my inner seamstress and make the bumper, crib skirt, and maybe even a blanket.  Here is a picture of the AMAZING fabric that I picked out for the bedding....

The dark fabric is what we will be using to recover the rocker that has been handed down to us from Chad's parents (it used to be Chad's Grandparents)....

So that is that. A light hearted happy blog post.  Can't wait to show you our next project as we prepare for the LONG awaited day that baby Chalos comes home.

A different kind of Mother's Day...

For the past three years, Mother's Day has been one of the hardest days of the year for me.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE celebrating the amazing women all around me (especially my Mom) who have loved me and given me advice, and just taken care of me. However,it is an extremely depressing holiday for infertile women- a reminder of the very thing that you want SO badly but just can't have.  I remember getting a thoughtless text from someone last year wishing me Happy Mother's Day.  I am SURE that this person didn't even think before they sent it - but it was really tough. That was then. This is now. Now, I have a hope.  I have peace and an assurance that I am going to BE A MOM. Wow. That is almost hard to write and believe. But I do.  Wanna know why?  God is confirming to us over and over that we are on the right path- HIS PATH.  God is blessing us SO ABUNDANTLY.  He is providing and opening doors on this adoption journey.  This week, we have been working on our Mother's Day fundraiser (as many of you already know).  I can't even begin to count the people who have blessed us financially through participating in our fundraiser, to just giving us donations, to having yard sales and donating the funds, to giving through a love offering at our church.  There are just not enough synonyms for "Thank you" in the English language.   How to I begin to thank our friends who stayed up HOURS cutting flowers and making chocolate or donating jars?  How do we even begin to thank the people who are helping us bring home a child that we have LONGED for? I have no clue.  All I can say is you are a blessing to us.  We are so humbled and happy and hopeful. 
Now I am guessing that you would like to umm...I don't know - maybe hear a grand total of funds raised through our fundraiser, contributions, and offering???? You have been amazing in your giving. We have raised 1/5th of our total need in ONE MONTH. WOW. WOW.WOW.  So the tally for this month  is........

$2,900.00

If you look to your LEFT you will see a fundraising thermometer.  We started with $650.00.  Our total is now $3550.00.  Amazing. Our goal is to raise above the $15,000 that we need in order to start an adoption fund/ministry at our church. We are so excited.  There is so much in store for us - and for you. As we walk this journey together.  From the bottom of our hearts,we thank you for your support.

Love,

Kristle and Chad

A lesson in humility and God's abundant blessings...

The biggest lesson we have learned through our journey with infertility and adoption is that God has an ultimate plan and may not answer our prayers in the way we ask (or think we want) - especially on our timetable.  God has a design - more amazing than we could ever imagine.  We are less than an amateurs in this thing called life and he is the life giver - the creator - the visionary.  So as much as Chad and I have prayed for God to answer our prayers for pregnancy (our plan), our prayers were never answered in the way that we thought they would be.  Being completely human, we often questioned God - and thought that maybe he didn't hear us - or that we weren't doing enough good - or we were not good enough.  But that just isn't the truth.  It isn't even the point.  He heard us, alright.  He heard us as clearly as he heard Jesus on the cross asking for him to take his burden, his cup, if it was his will.  But He had a greater plan.  Thank you Father, for your strength in sticking to your ultimate plan.   Thank you Father for using this journey to bring us to a place of brokenness - a place where we needed to be in order to surrender to your plans.  Thank you for a greater faith and peace in whatever your plan will be.  You have taught us to surrender ourselves in so many ways.  As God is allowing us an amazing healing in this process, we are seeing the most incredible outpouring of his Grace and Mercy and Blessings in abundance.  We kicked off our fundraiser at church today, and were honestly overwhelmed with the support in this venture. 

Not only did we have amazing support, but we sat watching (and weeping), as our Pastor shared about Mother's Day and our special speakers who have adopted 3 children and have 1 miracle baby.  He shared a bit about our journey and then he announced that the Church would be supporting us in ways we never imagined.  God is chiseling away at our pride.  He is using this journey to humble us.  We prayed a couple of weeks ago in our small group for support from our church family  because we knew we could not go on this journey without them. Wow. What an incredible answer to prayer! 

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  Ephesians 1:3-6

Thanks for walking this journey with us.  We are loving these glimpses God is giving us of his plan. 

Also, thank you SO much for your amazing support of our fundraiser. 

We have a BUSY week planned with our fabulous friends making candy and preparing flower bouquets. 

Once we get through the fundraiser, we will give you an update on our financial progress. 

Love,

Chad and Kristle