Great Expectations (the most unoriginal title ever!)

A lot of people already know this, but I guess it's time to make it "blog official" (since soooo many people read this, right?)...

We're adopting again!

We just finished the interview portion of our home study update last Thursday, so as soon as the social worker gets everything written up, we should be in the waiting family phase again.

That means we're waiting for the birth mother to choose us to be the parents of her sweet little girl or boy, which could take a day....or a year.  If I learned anything about the wait last time, it was that we will wait until the baby God has planned for our family comes along.

I feel a lot more laid-back this time.  Probably because I'm not desperate to be a mother like I was when we were waiting for Annie and because I know more what to expect with the process, but mostly because I feel like I've matured spiritually since we started the adoption process for Annie.  As I said in my previous post, I am a different person now than I was then.  I know more of the character of God and how His plan and timing are perfect.

Does that mean I'm not nervous about building a relationship with another birth mom or that I don't think about all of the crazy things that could happen in adoption?  Nope.  I can whip myself into a frenzy with all of the what-ifs in about 10 seconds, but I also know that no matter what happens, God is in control.  He already knows how this addition to the Madole family will pan out in the coming weeks, months and years, so I can either trust Him or I can make myself miserable in the meantime worrying and trying to make things happen my way.  I hope I can choose the first option every single day, even though I know there will be days when my human heart takes over and gets me worked into a frenzy.

That's the thing about adoption.  It tests my faith and builds my faith more than anything I've ever done in my life.

So, there you have it.  A new baby Madole will be here when he or she gets here and we can't wait!

To answer the questions we get most frequently...

-We are using the same adoption agency that brought us Annie.
-Annie will tell you she wants a baby "brudder" or "sisser", but I honestly don't think she has a clue what she's committing herself to.
-We don't know whether Annie will be big sister to a boy or a girl, but since we can't agree on a girl name, I'm certain we'll get another girl. :)
-If we get a boy, his name will be Maddux.  (That's the boy name we had picked when we were waiting on Annie)
-We want to have an open relationship with our new baby's birth mom, just like we have with Annie's birth mom, T, but it's possible the birth mom could choose not to have an open relationship.  We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there.
-This baby will complete our family.  In other words, we are too old to do this a third time!

I should also point out that things have changed a bit since Annie was born.   Our agency has implemented a policy that will not allow us to share pictures or say much about our new addition until the birth parents' rights have been terminated.  That usually takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on the circumstances.  The excited, bragging mom in me doesn't like it, but I completely understand the legal need for it.   So, even though most of you won't see pictures of our baby right after he or she is born, prepare for a picture explosion once we get the green light! :)


~M