We heard the heart beat!!!

Well....kind of....but not really.

There was no trip to the doctor's office and no monitor to look at. No, today we had our first home study interview and home tour! YAY!

Although I have never actually been pregnant, I feel this moment is most closely related to that first Dr. visit where they do an ultrasound and you finally get to hear the baby's heart beat.

Up until now, all you have done is pee on a stick, watch a line appear, and voila! PREGNANT! So you make some minor changes. You start eating healthier, take some vitamins, aka. horse pills, and start thinking of names. Maybe you day dream about whether you will have a boy or a girl, wonder what color hair they will have, what their personality will be like or any other range of thoughts. I have to assume on these next ones though. Maybe a small part of you wonders, is there really a baby in there? I mean...you don't feel any different...at least not until the daily nausea and indigestion sets in. You can't feel it moving around in there. Your toes are still visible and you are still able to tie your shoes normally. Those favorite jeans of yours still fit just like they always have. And at this point you probably haven't eaten the entire county's grocery supply of ice cream, pickles or whatever else it is you may be craving! So is there really a baby in there? Growing? Developing?

This is how I have felt since April when we got our acceptance letter from Lifeline. It's as though I saw a line appear on a stick and then have started a flurry of activities.

Prayer...#1...for our child, wherever they are. For their safely. For love and affection. For food. For their learning and development. For those providing for them. For shelter. For anything we can think of....we pray.

Education....both Kyle and I have completed our Hague Adoption training. This is basically a series of online modules that provide detailed information regarding the adoption process and different things to expect. Although it seemed daunting at the time, now that we are finished we are thankful for the opportunity to learn so much. We also both read two different books on adoption. Both have been wonderful, each in different ways, and have further helped us prepare for the journey we are on.

Saving....and crafting. Many of you are probably aware of the large amount of money required for adopting your child. This may seem unreasonable, daunting or just plain unattainable to some. But not for those of us who are in Christ. We trust in the Lord to provide the funds. Simple as that. At the same time, we have made some changes to our finances to better prepare for this. So Kyle is working extra hours and I have been selling crafts. We have been humbled and overwhelmed at the generosity of family, friends, and strangers (used to be anyway). God is and will continue to provide. :)

Many other things have been happening along the way. I will spare you the details for now, but if you are interested, just ask. We both would love to share.

But today was the day when we finally had that moment. The "wow....there really IS a baby in there!" kind of moment. We met our social worker who will be completing our home study, which eventually will be sent to Hungary as part of our adoption paperwork. Although I was worried about if our house was clean enough, the one load of laundry that didn't get done before she arrived and the stash of crafting supplies that has cluttered our two spare bedrooms, she was more interested in things like our marriage and what we like to do for fun. :) I'm not sure what exactly she thought of our locked medicine cabinet, which really was an old ammunition box turned medicine cabinet so we could lock them, but she said it was fine. You will be pretty creative when you are trying to save money and need to lock up your medicines!!   The Lord was with us and brought great comfort. All in all it went well and we are on to the next step. We both will be writing our autobiographies and then planning our next interview.

We are thankful to the Lord for guiding us through every step of this process. He has provided in more ways than we ever imagined, and keeps on giving. We are looking forward to what comes next. :)