March updates :)

We have been so caught up in paperwork and our checklist that I haven't updated this blog in a month!  Things are moving right along just as planned.  We had the opportunity to speak to our social worker (that we will hopefully meet in person soon) and she is wonderful!!  It really helps out to know you have someone there to support you and answer all of your questions during this lengthy homestudy process. We are about half way through our to-do list and should have our first meeting with our social worker in a few weeks. Once we complete the homestudy process, we can move on to begin matching us with a birthmom!!! Ahhh... It brings tears to my eyes just typing those words.

We are also excited about how well our fundraising/fundraiser planning is going!  Check out the fundraising tab on this page for details and updates.  In less than a month I have received 20 orders for the baby blankets!! I'm thinking the sewing machine and I are becoming great friends!  We are in the works of planning our yard sale for April 5th.  This just happens to be our 5th wedding anniversary, and what a great way to spend it! We are also designing a t-shirt, planning a photographer fundraiser, and a fundraising day at Mickey's Hotdogs in Buford (the restaurant that Steven's parents used to own). 

Thank you all for your continued support and love! Talk to you soon!

Let the paperwork begin :)

We are approved and officially have our Adoption Agency!  

This is such a milestone in the process and I feel like it's really happening now.  We still have a long road ahead but we are moving right along :)

Next Steps for us:
- Complete Homestudy Contracts (already in progress)
- Mail in Homestudy Contracts
- Submit first Homestudy Payment ($1000)
- Plan our FUNdraisers!  We have so many exciting ideas
- Research Adoption Grants

Once these items are completed, we will be assigned our social worker and will begin our Homestudy process.  I've heard lots of mixed reviews on the Homestudy, some say it's as simple as completing a check list and other say it's brutally painful.  We'll see how ours goes, but I think we'll be OK. 

After talking to our agency about our adoption, it looks like our adoption expense will be somewhere between $20,000-$25,000+/-, this does not include our travel fees, legal fees, birthmother expenses, or post placement fees.  To better prepare for these expenses, we have opened a special account at our bank for our adoption fund.  The folks at our bank were so kind and even gave us a piggy bank to start filling up for the baby fund!  (We are really hoping for a great year in real estate)

We are excited to be able to incorporate some great people and great ideas into our fundraising planning.  I will fill you in on those ideas as we go along and if you have ideas you would like to share, please feel free!  So far we are planning to organize a huge yard sale and do a t-shirt fundraiser.

We have set up a "Baby Garner Fund" donation site for anyone that is interested in supporting our journey, it is a fee free site and goes straight to the baby fund.  It can be found here:
http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/garner-party-of-3-adoption-fund/130587



Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support!

Application is in!

Wow!  I am amazed at how much there is to know about adoption and how much we have already learned by attending the four adoption seminars this past month!  After carefully considering each of the four agencies/consultants, we have made our decision to apply for adoption through ...

 You can read all about the agency here: www.oneworldadoptions.org 

One World is a local agency in Sugar Hill. Steven actually used to deliver their mail!  We feel that this agency fits our needs, desires, and adoption goals perfectly.  We have completed our application for domestic infant adoption and submitted our application fee.  We should know if we are approved by their agency within 72 hours, so I'm hoping we will know by Friday :)  We are so excited to have officially started the process! 

1...2...3...GO!

Wow! This has already been such a learning process, there is so much about adoption that we had no idea about.  One thing we already knew before and know now more that ever is that we have some of the best and most supportive friends and family anyone could ever imagine.  So many of you have put us in contact with your network of friends, co-workers, and relatives that have successfully adopted in the past.  That gives us so much hope! We love all of the success stories and advice from those who have been in our shoes! 

So far we have 3 appointments set up with adoption agencies, I have included the links below so you can learn more about each company and the programs that they offer:

1. January 16th - Bethany Christian Services  http://www.bethany.org/main/infant-adoption
2. January 18th - One World Adoption http://www.oneworldadoptions.org/adoption/domestic-adoption-program/
3. January 25th - Adoption Information Services, Inc. http://www.adoptioninfosvcs.com/index.html 

There is one other agency we are considering, but the closest seminar they are offering is in Orlando, FL on Feb 8th. American Adoptions http://www.americanadoptions.com/adopt/articles/cId/56

Hopefully in my next update, we will have our plan together and God will begin leading us down the path He has chosen for us! Until then all we can do is ....

We are so excited to have shared our news with you all today!