A little bit of everything..

I have had sooo many phone calls, messages and e-mails from people who are interesting in adopting and want to know more, so I will try to keep updating my blog frequently with info and how we are going through the whole process. To all those who are interested I HIGHLY advise going to the orientation meeting, you will find out everything you could possibly want to know, get paperwork, information and they can answer all of your questions and you don't have to proceed further from there if you don't want to. You can just google SC DSS and all of the information is on their website. Also the number one question everyone is asking me is how much does it cost? NOTHING! It's absolutely free we only have to pay for our co-pays to get our physicals done at the doctor, and for Ryder, I just have to drop the form off and they will get Dr. Whitaker to fill it out for FREE! So in our case a whopping $30 :) They pay all of your legal fees, training classes, inspections, you name it! Adopting doesn't HAVE to cost a fortune!

Update for us* We have scheduled our physicals, fingerprinting, and training classes and all will take place in the next 3 weeks! I hope to have the first section of paperwork completed in the next 2 weeks. When we go to the training classes we will get the remaining paperwork left, and get scheduled for both of our home inspections (DHEC & Fire) as well as schedule our home study process. This entire process is said to take 6 months, due to DHEC inspections being 3 months behind schedule.. I am hoping to get done early.. hopefully more like 4-5 months. We will see!!

I also realized I never posted our trip the other week to EDventure Childrens Museum. The first Tuesday night of every month it's only $1 admission!! We got there right when it started thank goodness because after the first hour it was PACKED! Ryder had the time of his life!! (Eric had even more fun if that is humanly possible) 

Ryder and Eric got to be "on the news" and LOVED watching themselves on TV :)

They had all sorts of instruments to play and of course my little drummer boy had a blast!

They have the neatest shopping section, you get to push your cart through the "store" and then checkout! Ryder LOVED it!

 His favorite thing was getting to dress up like a Fireman and drive the firetruck! This little boy was in HEAVEN!

 Ryder and Daddy had a blast! As you can see!

Easter Pictures Preview

We just got Ryder's Easter pictures done, and are waiting on all of them but she gave us a sneak peek... Here they are SUPER CUTE!

A Total GOD thing

When we were at our meeting she informed us that our first inspection would be in about a month or so and they would need to see the room with at least a bed, dresser, and closet to be able to count that as the bedroom for the child. I have already had my mind reeling as to what I wanted and how I would put it in the room and all of that. (of course I did right?) Well there's this bed I have been wanting....

I know ooh and aww right???

I figured it would be PERFECT! The room is very small and this bed has 2 beds AND drawers.. how more perfect could it be?? Well about $450-1200 .. that kind of perfect. So I have been checking websites daily, and looked at craigslist yesterday afternoon with no luck. THEN last night when I got home I checked ONE MORE TIME.. guess what someone had JUST posted this same exact bed! He hadn't listed the price so I knew it still might not work but I wanted to try! So I called the number, e-mailed, and text him. NOTHING... I tried again and still nothing so I went to bed. When I got up this morning I checked craigslist again and it had been deleted. I was totally bummed but just thought oh well it was a shot in the dark anyways.  Around lunchtime I got a phone call from the guy, he told me that the bed was still available and that his phone had been ringing off the hook since he posted the picture so he just took it off the site. So I said yes I am interested but I was wandering how much you want for it..... pause.. "It's free! Just come and get it" I totally got chill bumps!!! ITS FREE??? He said yes were moving and I was just going to donate it so if you want it it's yours... well folks I am the proud new owner of this bed.. how awesome is that?? God is absolutely AMAZING!!

Slow Down...

First off I want to say Thank you to everyone who left comments on facebook, messaged me, e-mailed me and called! Its so nice to have so many people genuinely happy for us and praying for us along the way

Second off.. I think I need to slow down a bit, evidently I was so excited for sending in our application that I got a letter in the mail today stating that we didn't sign on the last page! Ha! Talk about a minor detail! I guess this is road block number 1 :) I am sure there will be many many more so I am thankful all this one consists of is a couple of signatures!

And the Adoption Process Begins....

I have always wanted to adopt children ever since I can remember... I remember talking to Eric about it when we were dating and he agreed that he felt totally fine about it if we ended up getting married. A year after we were married I was pregnant and almost 2 years after we were married we had a handsome little boy and a few months after that we found out I had cancer. Thankfully it was only stage 2 and they caught it in time and were able to get all of it out. I thought that whole nightmare was over with until this past August when I had a check-up with my oncologist. He was asking me typical questions and then I asked him about trying to get pregnant again. He immediately told me it was a bad idea and even though it isn't 100% proven they believe that my melanoma was caused by my pregnancy hormones. I left that office visit feeling completely defeated and alone. It's one thing to decide as a woman that you aren't going to have any more children but to be told you CAN'T is a whole other feeling. I cried for days and days knowing I would never be able to have my own biological child again, and Ryder wouldn't have a biological sibling. Eric and I discussed the risks if I were to just go ahead and get pregnant and they were just too high. My doctor had told me the melanoma would most likely come back in the early stages of pregnancy and grow rapidly because of the hormones and I would end up having to do chemo and radiation as soon as I gave birth. That isn't something either of us wanted to risk especially because I want to be here for Ryder. Eric brought up adoption and I just wasn't wanting to move on from the fact that I couldn't have children anymore so I just shut it off.. I remember a few months ago I was talking to my mom about adoption and I said, maybe we just should only have Ryder, and she said, "Alisha, you have ALWAYS wanted to adopt, I think it was God laying that passion on your heart early knowing you wouldn't be able to have any more" I think about that all the time and she is 100% right. I feel a calling for adoption and that is why we are going foward with this. Whatever happens is totally up to God and we will see where he leads us.  We slowly started talking about it again recently and knew that the time was right. So went to a meeting last night, brought our application with us and turned it in!! Now we have step 1 over with and only 1 million to go!! I am hoping to document everything on my blog so I can keep up with the process! Prayers are appreciated!

"I'm going to do it anyway"

Today was one of those, "I'm going to do it anyway" kind of days.. if you were wandering what one might look like, when thinking this.... here it is....

Laundry and the next Olympic Gymnast!

So right when Ryder and I caught the stomach bug and threw up all night, our washer broke..it was also right before we were leaving to go to Virginia for a few days but THANKFULLY I had already packed almost everything, and my parents let me wash the throw-up sheets and clothes before we left so I didn't have to come home to beyond gross laundry....we ended up having to just go ahead an buy a new one which I L-O-V-E! I can't wait until the dryer breaks so I can have a matching pair! :) ...when we got it I had about 10 loads of laundry piled up to do and I had our medal hamper in the living room..the actual bag that holds the clothes connects with Velcro so I had taken it off...next thing I know I look over to find this...

Ladies and Gentlemen the next Olympic gymnast! 

Trip to Virginia!!

 I am a little behind in posting pictures from our fun trip to Virginia but better late than never! :) We (as in Ryder and I) had a FABULOUS time!:) Eric on the other hand caught the stomach bug from us, and ended up having to get an IV and a shot in his butt......so he was down most of the time but we had a blast! Ryder even got to play in the snow! It didn't stick to the ground but it sure was pouring down! Here are some fun pictures!

Ryder had a blast playing with Matthew! He was attached to him at the hip! 

Ryder and Grandma!

I got to meet Tyler! He is soo precious!

Ryder LOVED Playing with the girls

Ryder LOVES his grandpa