We are approved for adoption...again! Our adoption experience this time around has been interesting. The first time, from starting the adoption process to Jessica's birth was just 14 months. That is fast although it felt and seemed slow to us. This time around, it is a whole different story. We tried starting the process 2 1/2 years ago, but we lived in the middle of nowhere, and it took a few months to get it really going. The official start date for adoption #2 was October 2011. Our home study was completed in December, but we moved to Alaska, so we had to get a few things figured out and our profile went online in February of 2012. Which means we are almost at the 2 year mark for being approved...and that is crazy! But, with three moves, well, things get tricky! Here is to hoping we won't have to go through another year!
Our profile was just posted online today and you can view it here.
And in case you didn't click there, here is our favorite part of our letter...11 random facts about us:
1. Andrew considers our first date together as the one where his roommate asked me out and Andrew was with another girl. While canoeing, he said he realized he had the wrong girl in his canoe.
2. It may surprise you to know that Brianna has been skydiving. I think it is crazy because the idea of jumping out of an airplane sounds terrifying! (Side note from Brianna...I didn't jump, but the instructor strapped to me did, and he was big enough to push me out of that plane with him.)
3. Every time we have family home evening, whoever isn't teaching the lesson sits on tiny yellow plastic chairs. It is always entertaining to see Andrew (who is 6'5") sitting on a chair that is a foot off the ground!
4. We have lived in all the "aska" states (Alaska and Nebraska).
5. We only lived in Alaska for a year and a half, but during that time, we experienced a lot of record breaking weather. We moved there during the winter with the most snowfall on record. The next winter was the longest snow season, which meant the snow started in September and ended in May! It was also the coldest winter ever recorded. Our last summer was the best, with the warmest summer ever...and that is when we had to move!
6. One of Jessica's favorite games is tag. We run in a circle from our living room, through the kitchen, the hall and back again every day...all day. She loves it!
7. Every Christmas we make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, frosting, and a ton of candy! It is one of our favorite traditions!
8. In our first home after we were married, we experienced almost every possible disaster! First, we had a septic tank/plumbing catastrophe, a flameless kitchen fire that filled the house and all our possessions with smoke, and a gas leak in the neighborhood which caused us to evacuate. We also had our phone lines ripped off the house by a garbage truck, a flood in the basement, and gale force winds that were tearing the roof off an old shed (don't worry...Andrew climbed up there in those winds to secure the roof). If you want the full scoop, check out this post.
9. Every night, Jessica requests a new story at bedtime, usually about some pretty random things (purple cats, the letter A, or how we all turn into spotted frogs).
10. Andrew can do some pretty funny things with his face. He can move his eyebrows with precision and accuracy, he can make the biggest frown in the world, and he can make a crazy half-frown half-smile. You will have to see it sometime! Jessica loves making faces with dad and he is teaching her how to move her eyebrows too!
11. We just bought our first home in October and as a special welcome to home ownership, we gutted and refinished the basement, rewired the house, and had to remove a massive pine tree. And all of this began because we needed to replace the carpet in the basement!
Our profile was just posted online today and you can view it here.
And in case you didn't click there, here is our favorite part of our letter...11 random facts about us:
1. Andrew considers our first date together as the one where his roommate asked me out and Andrew was with another girl. While canoeing, he said he realized he had the wrong girl in his canoe.
2. It may surprise you to know that Brianna has been skydiving. I think it is crazy because the idea of jumping out of an airplane sounds terrifying! (Side note from Brianna...I didn't jump, but the instructor strapped to me did, and he was big enough to push me out of that plane with him.)
3. Every time we have family home evening, whoever isn't teaching the lesson sits on tiny yellow plastic chairs. It is always entertaining to see Andrew (who is 6'5") sitting on a chair that is a foot off the ground!
4. We have lived in all the "aska" states (Alaska and Nebraska).
5. We only lived in Alaska for a year and a half, but during that time, we experienced a lot of record breaking weather. We moved there during the winter with the most snowfall on record. The next winter was the longest snow season, which meant the snow started in September and ended in May! It was also the coldest winter ever recorded. Our last summer was the best, with the warmest summer ever...and that is when we had to move!
6. One of Jessica's favorite games is tag. We run in a circle from our living room, through the kitchen, the hall and back again every day...all day. She loves it!
7. Every Christmas we make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, frosting, and a ton of candy! It is one of our favorite traditions!
8. In our first home after we were married, we experienced almost every possible disaster! First, we had a septic tank/plumbing catastrophe, a flameless kitchen fire that filled the house and all our possessions with smoke, and a gas leak in the neighborhood which caused us to evacuate. We also had our phone lines ripped off the house by a garbage truck, a flood in the basement, and gale force winds that were tearing the roof off an old shed (don't worry...Andrew climbed up there in those winds to secure the roof). If you want the full scoop, check out this post.
9. Every night, Jessica requests a new story at bedtime, usually about some pretty random things (purple cats, the letter A, or how we all turn into spotted frogs).
10. Andrew can do some pretty funny things with his face. He can move his eyebrows with precision and accuracy, he can make the biggest frown in the world, and he can make a crazy half-frown half-smile. You will have to see it sometime! Jessica loves making faces with dad and he is teaching her how to move her eyebrows too!
11. We just bought our first home in October and as a special welcome to home ownership, we gutted and refinished the basement, rewired the house, and had to remove a massive pine tree. And all of this began because we needed to replace the carpet in the basement!