"A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"

Ashley
Nov 6, 2017
4 min read

Hello everyone! I know it's been over a month and a half since our last update, but time flies when you're having fun! :) November is National Adoption Month, and we could not be more thankful for our little cherry blossom. We thank God every single day for our sweet girl and for the gift of adoption. The fact that we were chosen to parent this spunky, beautiful little girl is beyond amazing, and we never forget how blessed we truly are.

So we have been home for two and a half months, which is unbelievable. It's amazing how time seems to fly by while at the same time feeling like it is standing still. We feel as if we have had Everly in our lives forever, while also finding it hard to believe that she is less than a week away from turning six months old.

Just a week or so ago, a couple we met along this journey, flew to Japan to meet their son, and watching it all unfold on Facebook had me in tears. The excitement we felt for them was almost breath taking. We feel so connected to all of these families we have met along the way, and I guess in some ways we truly do have a connection that we cannot possibly share with anyone else. We know the feelings of anticipation, excitement, fear, anxiety, sadness, love, gratitude, etc that this journey brings, and when another couple is embarking on their journey, we all feel those emotions right along with them. It's indescribable really. We have a couple other families we have connected with waiting for their referrals of their forever children (which could come any time), another couple who adopted a beautiful daughter a year ago that just joined again to bring home another beautiful cherry blossom hopefully very soon, and two who have just joined the program and are working on their home studies as we speak. The excitement I feel for these families is almost as strong as the excitement I had when we brought home our sweet girl. I am so incredibly thankful that God placed adoption in our hearts and to be a part of this community of amazing families.

So in the last month and a half we celebrated Everly turning five months old with a Cinderella inspired photoshoot (we have another Disney princess shoot coming up next weekend for her six month photos), had a blast with pumpkins as big as our little pumpkin, and enjoyed Everly's very first, very cold, Halloween! By the way, she picked her own costume this year...we were looking at them and she was just ignoring all the options until I held up the unicorn. She got so excited and reached for it, so of course we bought that costume right up. :) We also had a fall family photoshoot in Mommy and daughter matching ponchos. Everly also had her first experience with Build a Bear, where we bought her Skye from Paw Patrol (currently her favorite show).

On the adoption front, we have had three home visits from our social worker. She came once the first week we were home, again within that first month being home, then once in October. She will come again this next Wednesday for our three month visit. She will visit once in December, once in January, and once in February. At that time we can officially adopt our sweet girl. :) Our home study agency and social worker just finished preparing our three month report to send to Faith International, who will then send it on to Japan so they know Every is being taken care of. We will need to send another report and six months home, one year, and two years.

Everly currently is sitting up on her own for a little bit at a time at least, loves chewing on everything since her top front teeth are coming in, and as mentioned above, enjoys Paw Patrol. She also loves attention...no seriously, she loves it! :) This girl loves being out and about, and even attended her first cheerleading competition to watch Mommy's team of girls do their thing. She loved every minute and "cheered", threw her arms in the arm, and giggled almost the whole time. I think we may have a future cheerleader on our hands, and boy is Mommy more than okay with that! ;) She has a special language she uses just for the dogs and cats in her life (I can't even explain the noises she makes when she "talks" to them). It's so adorable. When she sees a cat or dog, she lights up and gets so excited. This also makes Mommy very happy...she loves her fur siblings as much as I do.

Speaking of fur siblings, in just a little over a week, it will mark six months since losing Stormy...that is so hard to believe. I cannot describe how much I miss him. I so badly wanted him here to meet Everly, and I think about that every single day. But somehow I know they already have met. She seems to know who Stormy is, and I am so thankful for that at least. This fall has been difficult...Stormy loved the fall and taking walks in the leaves. I know Christmas and snowy days will be even more difficult without him here. His love for snow was unreal. I thank God I have Everly here to experience her firsts as I experience my firsts without Stormy. It definitely helps my heart some.

Until next time, enjoy the photos...

Everly's 5 month Cinderella photoshoot..."A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"