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Lonnnnng Time Overdue!

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Hey Everyone,

It’s November!!! HAPPY ADOPTION MONTH! <3

This is way long overdue, but we brought home our little angel in June. I’ve been putting off blogging for so long. I’ve written a post or thought about writing a post but never got to finishing it.

We had about a month to prepare. We sent some of our family and friends this photo to let them know:

The girl made her debut a few days earlier (June 16th) than her due date, and placed with us the very next day June 17th- just in time for Father’s Day. We are still waiting on her adoption to be finalized so we aren’t going to post her photo on the blog just yet, but we did post this after our 30 day wait period on our personal social media. 🙂 She’s not so tiny anymore!

We officially started our adoption journey in February 2016- and we were placed with our girl in June 2017. This little girl is so very loved by us, her birth family, and our family and friends it’s unreal! We are so lucky to have her in our lives. It was quite a rollercoaster of emotions(sometimes it still is!), but we would do it all over again in a heartbeat because we found our lucky Penny! <3

*Also we were hacked a few times within the last few months so we are working on making our website look more normal again! But I’ve been really wanting to share the news in case there is someone out there following our journey and did not know!

Lots of love,

Matt, Jess, George, & PENELOPE!

Waiting…

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Last year around this time we signed our papers to start our adoption journey (The home study process takes a few months to complete.) So we are currently in the middle of updating all of our clearances and our yearly physicals. 2016 went by so very fast, and it doesn’t seem like 2017 is doing any slowing down.

As an update and putting my full vulnerability out here- Waiting is HARD. it’s VERY hard. Some days are certainly better than others, but some days it’s hard to endure, especially since there is little to no control in the situation. We’ve technically only been waiting 8 months since going “live” (as they call it in the adoption world. haha!) Some people wait years, and that could potentially be us too. There is no way to know- which is even scarier for someone like me who likes to have a plan in place for basically everything, but you have to put these waits in perspective. We think of the future expectant momma who is also making this extremely difficult decision (probably one of the hardest in their life.) So our wait is mundane to her difficulty in this decision, so can’t even imagine it. There will come a time when our wait will be over, but it would be much easier to know a specific date! The unknown is frightening but I’m sure it will all work out in the end. If you think about it waiting for anything feels like this. But I will say this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and if anything will get harder. Until then, we’ll just keep praying for us, our baby, and our baby’s first momma and dad.

In other unrelated adoption news, George is officially a CGC (CANINE GOOD CITIZEN!) He worked so hard to earn this title, and he’s not stopping! He took the test last Saturday February 4th, 2017. If you’re unfamiliar with CGC this is the definition:
“Canine Good Citizen. Responsible Owners, Well-Mannered Dogs. The AKC’s Canine Good Citizen program is recognized as the gold standard for dog behavior. In CGC, dogs who pass the 10 step CGC test can earn a certificate and/or the official AKC CGC title.”
Super Cool right? We are so proud of him!

Thanks for reading! <3

It Takes a Village!

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I can’t believe how fast 2016 is flying by! It seems like we were just working on all of that paperwork for our home study and now Thanksgiving is already over and Christmas is just right around the corner! Not to mention I’ll be 30 in just a few days, how did that happen?

Anyway…

We are doing a puzzle fundraiser!

Every person who donates to our adoption becomes a part of our story; a piece of our puzzle.

Here’s how it works:

  • We have selected a 550 piece puzzle; every piece symbolizing someone who will help bring our baby home.
  • Each piece is a donation of $25!
  • You may choose to be one piece of the puzzle or several pieces of the puzzle (and write a personal message!).
  • Your name/message will be written on the back of the piece(s) of the puzzle you represent!
  • After the puzzle is completed, we will frame the puzzle and hang it in our child’s room. This will be a wonderful keepsake to see all the people who helped bring our little Baby Bels home!

I can see us sitting down one day with our child and reading off all the names that helped bring him/her home!

“These people loved you before they knew you!”

So, if we sell ALL 550 pieces that will raise over $10,000! This will cover a HUGE chunk of our adoption!

We would be so honored if you were a part of bringing our baby home! To get a puzzle piece, just click here to visit our YouCaring fundraising page. Or email us at mjb@heartgrownlove.com to get our address so you can mail a donation (or if you’re in the area- stop by and see us!) If you wish to have more than one puzzle piece (you rock!) then enter the total amount in the field provided. If you’d like your name/message in a certain color please put that in the message body! 🙂 (we have black, blue, green, purple, red & orange.) Message me on FB or send an email if you have any issues/questions!

YouCaring is providing us the fundraising page for free. Feel free to adjust or remove the YouCaring (recommended) fee on your donation to your personal preference.

Adoption will cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000. As you can see, ANY amount helps. If you cannot help financially, please keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate everything and thank you so much for supporting this blessing.

We will be updating the blog often so you can see the progress!

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

us

Everywhere you look, there’s a heart, a hand to hold onto…

mjb@heartgrownlove.com 1 Comment
airport
At the airport bright and early!

Nothing really new on our adoption journey, but we did have the opportunity to explore the West Coast! We were able to take a break from work and reality for awhile and spend some extra time together and with some family who we don’t see too often which was nice!

We were able to celebrate a family wedding in California, explore the Sonoma wine country, and even try tons of amazing food! If you know us, you know we are NOT foodies whatsoever, give us pizza any day! BUT we both ate duck, figs, arugula, Bison, pasta in tomato water (ha?)! Who Are We?

Since we were tourists, it’s only natural that we saw the Golden Gate Bridge, rode the cable car, and walked along the bay in San Fransisco. We only spent a day there, but it was amazing! And don’t worry, I sang the Full House theme song every time we went over the bridge! It’s really the only way to do it!

Next, our adventure took us to Fort Collins, Colorado where we were able to hang out with my brother Jarred! This was my first time seeing Colorado and I couldn’t stop taking pictures; those clouds/the skyline are awesome! We went to a local brewery and got to sample some of their beers, went on some hikes, and drive through the mountains.

We probably took about a thousand photos while we were out there. I’m going to share a bunch of the beauty! And a picture is worth a thousand words, so much better than me blabbing about it! Just some highlights from our little adventure below! 🙂

 

Wedding/Wine Tasting
Wedding/Wine Tasting
Exploring the Redwood Forest
Exploring the Redwood Forest

 

 

San Francisco
San Francisco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GeorgeThe only downside was George couldn’t travel with us! 🙁 No worries though he spent timewith his friends at Camp Bow Wow for the week… I love that we can check in and see how he’s doing! 🙂 Can you spot him among the other pups? Lounging per usual!!

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously great trip and so blessed to have been able to take it!

 

xo

Some Updates!

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We made our blog a few months ago, but haven’t been keeping it up to date! We decided to make a Facebook page, and keep a blog to keep everyone in the loop about the journey! Also  to have a place to share some Adoption related things!

We were home study approved at the beginning of June and went “live” on our agencies website shortly after…

So we are basically in the waiting phase until we match with an expecting mother. Since then we have painted our spare room which will be our nursery. We have not gotten any furniture for the room yet, just slowly putting it together! Check out the accent wall below!

 

Here is the accent wall! This will be the first and last time I (I think Matt would agree as well) paint triangles (SO not fun- it was a lot of work!) haha
<3

First Post!

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Hi everyone,

We are super excited that everyone knows now! It was hard to keep it to ourselves as we worked through ALL of that paperwork. We turned it all in a few weeks ago! We had a lot of clearances, and physicals/labwork to get, numbers to crunch, and photos to print. Theres a lot more but those are some highlights! 🙂

Here are some pics of our paperwork bundle of joy!

happy day #selfie!
paperwork!

Part of the next steps involve meeting with our social worker in her office and one in our home- thus the title of “home study.”

Once we are home study approved we will be able to be matched with expecting parents. We don’t know how long our wait will be, but it’ll be worth it!

xo- Jess