Lanie Jo & Nica Nugget update

Many of you have sent us sweet gifts and words of congratulations and encouragement as we welcomed home our little Langdon Jo on April 19th. We can't believe that we are parents!

The same week we welcomed home Lanie Jo we received more news about our Nica Nugget. Nicaragua slowed their adoption program back in 2017, the country actually declared that they no longer have an orphan problem. They changed all of the orphanages to daycares and were not matching children with waiting families unless they had special needs. While this was discouraging we continued to move forward knowing that with our in-country connections that we have a decent chance of being matched quickly.

The week we brought Lanie Jo home we found out that Nicaragua was struggling with more than a confusing decree in regards to adoption. In the middle of April Nicaragua's president, Daniel Ortega, made a social security reform that led to political upheaval. We have known that Nicaragua struggles with political divides but this brought the divide to a new, and scary, level. We are thankful that the Nicaraguan people are stepping up for their rights, freedoms, and hope but are also saddened that it took violent protests and the loss of 63 lives. As the Nicaraguan people call for Ortega to leave office so they can move back towards democracy for the first time in years, many protests and demonstrations took a scary turn including burning buildings, violence towards student protestors, and tens of thousands of people in the streets.

Now as you can imagine, this upheaval has rocked this country and in turn, has completely stopped any movement for adoption. In fact, one of the buildings that has been burned housed, Mi Familia, the Nicaragua adoption program. We are still waiting for news and praying that this is resolved quickly and peacefully. We are ready for adoption to be open again. Our hearts break thinking about the orphans that are not getting matched with families because of political issues.

It hurts to think that our nugget could be caught in the middle of this. We have been praying that God protects the people of Nicaragua, our dear friends that live there, and that our future child and their birth family remain safe. We have no way of knowing what will happen or how long it will take for Nicaragua to see peace and open up adoption again. However, we are fully confident that we are meant to adopt from this country. That God called us here to wait on our nugget as long as it takes. We are grateful to have Lanie Jo home and healthy as we pray for her future sibling.

Gathering & Growing

If you are here, it is probably because you saw our social media post about growing our family.  We have been so excited to share this news but also savoring the time with just a select few knowing our little secret.

We knew that when we decided to share this news with "the world" that there were going to be lots of questions. It was no longer going to be whispered about among friends and so many people were going to immediately ask about our adoption. So, we knew when we found the right time to share that we needed to take that opportunity to speak and share about our wonderful and unique situation of being pregnant while in the midst of adoption.

To answer the big burning question everyone asks right off the bat, YES- our adoption is still happening and YES we are still right on track.

Now, the biggest thing I want everyone to know is that we are adopting because God called us to and we are growing a little baby because God called us to. He put the desire to adopt a little nugget from Nicaragua on our hearts and opened up door after door to make sure we knew adoption was His plan for our family. Then this summer, He called us to take another step of faith and to grow our family biologically. From the moment Reed and I decided to "talk" about growing our family we said our first priority was to follow God and let whatever we do be for HIS glory. We want our children, adopted or biological, to know that our "family plan" was to grow up children that know and feel the love of God each and every day no matter what their story.

Each of these children is a miracle. We can't wait to meet them both and have these two pictures of our faith be forever in our family. But they are a miracle because they were both knit together by our amazing Father. We are not adopting because we could not get pregnant and we did not get pregnant because we are adopting. We are pregnant and adopting because God wrote an amazing story that we get to live out and share with the world.

Adoption and pregnancy are both a journey that not every family has the joy of experiencing. We know that many families adopting may struggle to get pregnant. Or that adoption may come up later after biological children. We want to savor every moment of both of these journeys and remember that God has us on them, at the same time, so we can share His family story.

The Perfect Combination

Once upon a time I blogged on a daily basis, about every single change in my space.

Obvs that doesn't happen anymore! Maybe sometimes change is just too big to catalog as it is happening. that sounds good, lets go with that. 

So - no DIY tutorials today but I do want to share my most favorite room in our little Chapin Casa!

The living room. The first room our guests see. The room we cuddle in to watch TV. The room that is always the perfect balance of crazy outdoors man and artistic color lover. 

But seriously, we have never seen a room that felt like such a perfect combination between the two of us. 

This little 1940s charm filled house has elements that just begged us to put our stamp on. The light in this room makes my art collection pop. Painting the brick gauntlet grey by Sherwin Williams gave contrast to our 1800s original chippy paint mantel that we brought from York. Oh and that entry wall in that smooth grey made Reeds european mounts seem straight out of a western decor magazine. 

Cozy texture and meaningful pieces has this room feeling like it has always been home.
Vintage chairs - recovered by fabric picked out by my mom and aunt.
Kerosene can lamp- made with an old can found in our previous back yard.
Animal mounts from Reeds many adventures.
Art from my grandma and me.
childhood trunk turned coffee table.

I can't tell you how to replicate this room, or link to the sources for you to get your own treasure. But I can tell you that decorating should be done with pieces you love. When a home is filled with love and pieces picked by people you love then you can't go wrong! Collect memories not things and your house will be a home. 

So We Called

Doesn't it feel good when things start to slow down? When you feel like you are starting to get your footing and that maybe just maybe you can relax soon? Well, Reed and I are getting there. We are in our new home - amazed at the way God provided us with this dream of a place to call our own.
We are breathing again.

As we get comfortable in our new home, new jobs, new church - NEW LIFE,  God reminded us that we are not called to be comfortable.

Friday we received an email from our adoption agency stating that there were two little girls, 2 1/2 and 1, that needed to be matched immediately due to medical needs.
I about had a heart attack. I wanted to get sick, cry and jump up and down all at one time.
I couldn't believe that we got this email, I mean we aren't event done with all of the paperwork!
I called Reed in a panicked frenzy unable to make any rational decision at that point.
We discussed if we felt like we could event ask for more information. What if we asked to move forward to learn more about these precious babies and then got scared, if there needs were something we couldn't meet. Would we have the wisdom to know that and to make the right decision for us and them?? Of course Reed reminded me of what we said as we started this entire process over a year ago. We are pursing this adoption until God says to wait.

So we called.

I cried in my office as I tried to figure out what todo. All I could think about was if I was about to become a mom. Was I ready for this? Would I be able to handle this? We just moved in - would our home be ready for this little one? My heart was racing and I was totally not functioning at full speed for remainder of the work day (sorry boss man!). So we prayed, prayed, prayed and prayed.

We received the medical records of both little girls. My heart sank but I could breath. These precious little ones had already had a hard life with many issues that would take many many many visits to specialists. I knew immediately that neither of these girls where our little nugget.

My heart hurt. I wanted it to be our baby. I wanted to see them and the records and know that we were nearing the finish line. But instead God showed us clearly that these babies needed a different family. I was scared that I wouldn't know what to do- that I wouldn't know how to say no to a baby that needs a home. And as I write this I still feel like that sounds so heartless- our home is better than an orphanage right? Yes, but if we had continued to move forward with these girls it would have been for selfish reasons. We would have done it because WE wanted a baby, because WE wanted the process to be over, because WE wanted to celebrate with all of you.

Those are not the reasons to adopt a baby.

So God once again showed us that He is in control. That we are not to get comfortable and feel like we know whats happening. We need to lean on Him. Look to Him in every situation. He is going to build our family when it is time. He IS building our family! These girls may not have been ours, but we are trusting and believing that our little Nugget is out there waiting on us.

So thats the day I almost became a mom.
That God gave us wisdom beyond what we could have done on our own.
That God reminded us that this thing we call life is all in his hands.


So we didn't get matched with our Nugget. But we saw a real baby at the end of all this paperwork - God gave us a glimpse of the day that we will become parents. I'm thankful for Him and His wisdom, and how He works to forever show us His mighty loving hand.

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Chapin Casa

Well hello!
Welcome to our Chapin Casa :)

Yep, we have been in our new house for 1 week today.
We have prayed about this house for over a year. Well, maybe not this house but the house we would call home and begin to build our family in. We prayed that each room would be filled with joy and love, that the dining room would be large so we could host many and that the bedrooms would be cozy and welcoming.

We thought we knew the home we prayed for. I even walked countless circles as I prayed over each room around that home we thought God was giving us. God just kept closing doors. First it was the ranch, then it was York, then it was one house after another in Chapin. I just couldn't understand what was "wrong" with those homes, those plans we made. They were good!

Well it turns out that God had a better plan. I know - I "knew" that. We believed it, which is why we were willing to move from a place we loved for the unknown. But I don't think I really  understood what that could mean. What did better than what I wanted look like.

Well let me tell you! Better than my plans looks like a home built in 1944, remodeled in 2013 but kept the original floors, doors and all the fabulous molding. Oh yeah and did I mention it also sits on an acre of land less than 10 minutes from the highway?

So basically, I was settling for what I thought was "doable" and "good". But thankfully we have a father that works MIRACLES and expects GREAT! This home is better than we could have hoped for. Which makes me now truly understand Ephesians 3:20

Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine...

Photo credit to the wonderful Lydia McCaulley Photography

PS. You are about to see lots of house related posts!

10 days from an answered prayer

Tomorrow we will be 10 days away from closing on our new home. 

10 days away from God fulfilling a promise He made us when we got married. 

10 days away from something prayed for for over a year. 

10 days away from moving out of our storage unit life style we had for 3 months. 

10 days. 

I want to remember the days that I prayed for this day to come. 

I want to remember how faithful God was even when I felt like He wasn't listening. 

I want to remember all the circles I made thinking I knew the right direction. 

I want to remember how God saw us through a time we had no idea which way to go. 

10 days from having a miracle home. 

I hope this home is filled with Gods love. 

I hope the beds are never empty, the table is always full & the living room is never silent. 

Reed and I prayed for this home. We asked God over a year ago to provide a home that was us. That would have enough space to host many friends, to allow us to pursue our passions and to help us bring home our Nica Nugget. 

10 days we can start that again. 

10 days we can pick up our journey towards our family. 

10 days a long almost 6 month journey of uncertainty will become a long journey of establishing roots and producing good fruit!