No news yet...

The Milwaukee chapter of Carman cousins eagerly await the addition of a fourth to their motley crew (ok, more cute than motley).

Not too much new to report on the adoption front, but when you've got a photo as cute as this, that's reason enough for a post. The only real news is that we've secured a place to stay during our time in Chicago. We'll be staying at a nice 2-bedroom apartment above our adoption agency, which should provide us with much more space than a hotel would. Our lawyer advised us to plan for a 10-day stay, so we'll be seeing quite a bit of Chicago. Any tips on kid-friendly dining locales & attractions would be most welcome!

update today!..

We found out today that the baby is a boy! And NO not because she gave birth yet, the baby isn't here yet, but we were just told the birthmom is having a boy! So it looks like Olin will be having a little brother :-)
The birthfather signed termination papers today (BFs are able to sign these documents legally before the birth) but he does have 72 hours to decide differently. The birth father shared a name that he would like to be used in some way for this baby, for us to consider. Of course you know we are not going to share any names until the baby has arrived :-)
Birthmom really wants us to be there at the hospital to care for the baby, so the next step is for all the hospital release forms to be signed that give us permission to be there and caring for the baby. Our social worker has said some hospitals are very adoption friendly and unfortunately some are not. The anticipated due date is still somewhere around April 9th and we can expect that we may be getting a 2am phone call!!- so, our cell phones will be on us at all times. WOW!!
Please keep us in your prayers..

Meeting with the birthmom

We had a lunch meeting with the birthmother yesterday in Chicago and things went well. Our social worker, Kathy, called us 30 minutes after the meeting just to share with us that the birthmother "really, really" liked us and is solid on knowing that we are it! We understand that this is how she is feeling right now, feelings and emotions can change at any point in time. We remain hopeful. We feel fortunate to have been able to meet with her. The sex of the baby will remain a surprise until the birth (we are really excited about that) and she is open to us being at the hospital and me in the delivery room, if possible. Olin is calling the crib in his room "the baby's bed" so I think he may be thinking more about what it might be like to have a baby brother or sister. Olin had a very busy weekend, he did not go with us to meet with the birthmom, instead he spent the day with Grandma and took a trip to Discovery World. Then he spent the night at Nana and Papa's house allowing Aaron and I the opportunity to have dinner out and see Missy Higgins perform at the Pabst Theater. It all sort of feels a little unreal right now. We have no control over what the outcome will be, but we know in our hearts if this baby is meant to be with our family forever, this will be.

Meeting with the Birthmother scheduled

Hello again everyone,

Just a quick note to update you all. Our agency called this morning and we've got a meeting with the birthmother tentatively scheduled for Saturday afternoon (3/14) down in Chicago. We're really excited, please keep us in your thoughts & prayers.

Love,
Tera, Aaron & Olin

The call...

We thought by creating this blog we'd be able to keep our friends and family in the loop as we start our new journey. This is where it really begins...


We got a call from our agency in Chicago on Wednesday, February 25th. Our social worker said we've been selected by birthparents! The birthmom's due date is April 9th..this also happens to be my birthday. We are planning to meet with the birthmom sometime next week or the following week, and we can't wait! We won't know the sex of the baby until the day of the birth which is really exciting. It all sort of feels unreal. We are trying to remind ourselves that this situation could go any way, but we could soon become a family of four. All we can do is remain hopeful and jump in! Time to start planning.... so much to do!