June 24th we have a court date to go before the Commissioner and finalize Izzie's adoption. At this point, Isobel will get our last name and will one hundred percent legally be our daughter forever and ever. !!!
We are in the last stretch here as far as the legality of things, one more home visit, a couple more basic things. Our final payment is due to the adoption agency also.
We still need to raise another $1500 dollars for the finalization fees and they are due on May 18th. Also, we also still have 2000 in medical bills for our birth mom that we are trying to knock out bit by bit.
Everyone has been so generous, and so selfless in supporting us, it has been amazing. We know who each and every one of you are, and we are crazy grateful…
You all have given us so much, but if you feel led to help us with this last little leg of our journey to make Isobel our daughter, the agency is establishing an AdoptFund account for us, which is really exciting because any monies donated through the AdoptFund account are tax deductible! We have been waiting for months to take advantage of this but were not able to because we weren't yet certified by the state. We will include a link for the account as soon as we get it, which should be sometime this week. In the meantime, our previous donation avenues through paypal (jesse.brimhall@gmail.com) or through YouCaring, which is linked in the sidebar here.
We cannot tell you how happy we are, how grateful we are, and how humbled we have been by the outpouring of support from all of you over the past months.
Well, everyone wants them, so here they are, a couple Izzie stories.
Becky and I took Izzie to get her 4 month vaccinations a couple weeks ago. Now I had taken her previously, so Becky had missed out on this little adventure, so it was time for her to enjoy it with us.
The nurse came in at the end of the appointment to administer the vaccinations, the first of which is an oral med-- it comes in a little plastic vial, and it is supposedly flavored like sugar water to help baby enjoy it. On our previous visit, Izzie didn't want anything to do with it, and just let it drool back out of her mouth, eventually crying because she was tired of it. This time was different. The nurse came in, a very sweet lady, and started to administer the oral medication… Izzie took a mouthful of it, stared straight at the nurse and spit it out at her. This of course changed the way the rest of the medication was administered, ending with Izzie being very upset and the nurse proclaiming "I win." I think we may have a strong willed child on our hands.
We were also very excited to take Izzie to church this year for Easter. Becky of course settled on an elaborate dress for Izzie, generously gifted to her by her friend, which has come to be known as the Princess Bubblegum dress. She was a hit with pretty much every grandma that walked by.
Also, for those of you who will be around, we will be dedicating Isobel during the second hour service on Mother's Day at Palmcroft.
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Becky here to finish this up :-) Which is kind of how we are doing life these days actually..... Jesse started a new schedule for the first time in over ten years about 3 weeks ago. I head to work at 7:30 am, while he is home with the baby. He then drops the baby off with grandma around 1 pm and starts his work day. I then come to grandma's after work and pick Izzie up around 4 and bring her home for the rest of the afternoon and evening and pray that I can stay awake for five minutes to see Jess when he gets home around 10:45 pm. We are now doing this Monday through Friday and it makes for a pretty long week, but then we hit the weekend and we get two whole days together as a family. We've never had that before! So as tough as the morning shift/night shift system can be, it's been a great opportunity for us to continue to strengthen our team work skills-- what the other person can't finish before work or bedtime, the other person tries to come behind and help complete. And when that doesn't happen for any number of reasons, we are learning to grace each other and start new the next day :-)
I just want to very briefly piggyback on what Jesse said here and just say that we are still really overwhelmed with the generous love we have been shown by all of you in our community these past months. From the dear friend that walked up to us at church less than 24 hours after we'd made our big "paper pregnant" announcement and handed us a hundred dollar check for our adoption fund to the toys, clothing, diaper, formula, and money that are sent to our mailbox or doorstep on a weekly basis-- it hasn't stopped. You are all still showing up for us in such big ways and we are crazy thankful that the body of Christ continues to embrace our journey and invest in our lives in these ways. AND. I have a STACK of thank you notes STILL sitting on my desk here, some that are as old as January-- so please, bear with me-- I promise, I have every intention of acknowledging every single thing ya'll have done for us and for Izzie and I can't do much but a handwritten note is coming your way one of these days, I promise!!! ;-)
Thanks again for staying with us on all of this. There are at least ten moments every day where I literally shake my head, still trying to understand how this little girl is here with us now. And how in less than two short months, she will in every way finally legally be our very own daughter.
Believe me, it's all still sinking in.
Til then. One or two more pictures of our smiley little girl.
Becky here to finish this up :-) Which is kind of how we are doing life these days actually..... Jesse started a new schedule for the first time in over ten years about 3 weeks ago. I head to work at 7:30 am, while he is home with the baby. He then drops the baby off with grandma around 1 pm and starts his work day. I then come to grandma's after work and pick Izzie up around 4 and bring her home for the rest of the afternoon and evening and pray that I can stay awake for five minutes to see Jess when he gets home around 10:45 pm. We are now doing this Monday through Friday and it makes for a pretty long week, but then we hit the weekend and we get two whole days together as a family. We've never had that before! So as tough as the morning shift/night shift system can be, it's been a great opportunity for us to continue to strengthen our team work skills-- what the other person can't finish before work or bedtime, the other person tries to come behind and help complete. And when that doesn't happen for any number of reasons, we are learning to grace each other and start new the next day :-)
I just want to very briefly piggyback on what Jesse said here and just say that we are still really overwhelmed with the generous love we have been shown by all of you in our community these past months. From the dear friend that walked up to us at church less than 24 hours after we'd made our big "paper pregnant" announcement and handed us a hundred dollar check for our adoption fund to the toys, clothing, diaper, formula, and money that are sent to our mailbox or doorstep on a weekly basis-- it hasn't stopped. You are all still showing up for us in such big ways and we are crazy thankful that the body of Christ continues to embrace our journey and invest in our lives in these ways. AND. I have a STACK of thank you notes STILL sitting on my desk here, some that are as old as January-- so please, bear with me-- I promise, I have every intention of acknowledging every single thing ya'll have done for us and for Izzie and I can't do much but a handwritten note is coming your way one of these days, I promise!!! ;-)
Thanks again for staying with us on all of this. There are at least ten moments every day where I literally shake my head, still trying to understand how this little girl is here with us now. And how in less than two short months, she will in every way finally legally be our very own daughter.
Believe me, it's all still sinking in.
Til then. One or two more pictures of our smiley little girl.
Just want you to know we are praying for you.. Your little gal is going to grow up with much love from two special people....
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