Family of 5!!!!

We wrapped up 2016 in a frenzy and as a family of 5!!!

Since we were still a family of 4 we headed down to Florida for Christmas vacation.  Our plan was to be there December 18 - January 2.  We had already spent a week of going to the beach, celebrating Christmas, and eating ice cream everyday.  We even took the boys to Legoland where we opened and closed the amusement park.  The thought was while we're a family of 4 we better make the most of it.  Tuesday, December 27, the day after we lived it up at Legoland I received a call from our adoption agency.  As everyone should while on vacation I was binge watching BRAVO The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the kids were playing with Christmas toys, and big J was riding the golf cart drinking a beer looking for gators at the lake. Our agency explained there was a unique adoption opportunity and wanted to know if we were interested in being presented to the birth mom.  There was a perfectly healthy little bundle of boy born November 30.  He was born at 32 weeks so he was a preemie in the NICU.  I ran to the lake, flagged down big J and we decided there was no reason to not be presented.  I called the agency back and she let me know she would let us know.  The day continued on in silence so we went about our vacation bliss.

At 11:00am on December 28 while I sun tanned and a read a book, the boys splashed in the pool, and big J reset the iPad (long story) my phone rang again.  I picked it up and it was the agency.  She said congratulations you've been picked!  My immediate response was laughter!  She continued to let me know that our birth mom was on her way to sign papers.  Holy cow!  I let her know we were 16 hours away on vacation in Florida.  YIKES!!!!  It was greatly suggested that we start to pack up to come home.  So as everyone should, we went back to our place to get changed and take the kids to ice cream to let them know the news.  While at the mobile home the agency called and we were able to face time and meet our birth mom.  The boys were told of the great news and jumped for joy!  It was a special moment that we all got to share together.

As we traveled to the ice cream parlor we made millions of calls and texts.  Spoke further with our attorney and started to plan our departure for home.  That night we cleaned up the place and packed the car to hit the road in the morning.

Thursday morning we woke up at 6:00am loaded in the car and made the long haul home.  It took us about 16 hours to get home.  We then woke up Friday morning to travel the hour and a half to IU Bloomington to meet our nugget in the NICU.  We got to spend about 2 hours there and then we headed to Ft.Wayne to meet our birth mom for dinner.  It was a wonderful time and such a blessing to meet her face to face.  At about 9:30pm we wrapped up dinner and then headed back home.  We woke up New Year's Eve drove back to IU Bloomington to spend the day with our number 5.  That night we stayed with some friends and then went back to the hospital in the morning.  Sunday afternoon we drove all the way home.  Celebrated with family and watched the winning Packer game.  Monday morning I drove back to IU Bloomington and stayed until Wednesday.  Then big J headed down to IU Bloomington and stayed until our nugget was released home on Friday afternoon. 

So that's the quick condensed version so I could get everyone up to speed!  We are adjusting and loving every minute!

The silence is deafening...

It's been far too long since I have posted anything.  Much of our adoption journey thus far is pure silence!  

First many thanks to those who purchased our "It takes a Village" t'shirts.  We were able to raise around $500 from sales.  We were so blessed that one of our local business is still selling our shirts!  Overwhelming kindness.  This plus our garage sale covers the cost of our attorney fees.  You know those expensive lawyers.  Haha!

We are in the great wait period.  Since we are a domestic infant adoption we are awaiting a birth mom to select us to join her family.  It's so hard to not hear anything!  We have heard from they agency that some birth moms have our bio for consideration.  So we continue to pray for them and their difficult decisions.  Many times the boys have stated they are ready for Baby J to come home!

As we wait...  I continue to pile junk in the nursery which is our storage room at this time so I'm just making that project bigger and bigger!  Haha!  We are still in full on potty training mode.  JR is clinging to his "little boy" status as long as possible.  JC is running full speed into first grade & trying to be as old as he can be.  Our family life continues to press on.

My heart stirs for the unknown but the calendar and tempo of life presses on full speed.  We are trying to take advantage of being a family of 4 as long as possible since in a heart beat it will all change.

Thank you for your continued prayers and reading the blog.  I'm sorry there's not much to post but when there is I will be posting!!!

Thank You! Thank You!

It has been a little while since my last blog post.  One there hasn't been any new developments about leads.  Two, we literally were running a store out of the garage for two weeks.  We had an overwhelming response to our garage sale & people making donations.  The basement was filled with goodies.  Tons of things to sort through and price.  You wanted it we probably had it!  I was so blessed for the friends that came to help sort.  Also those that let us borrow tables so we had a place to put stuff.  People who posted on garage sale sites.  Many of you who are continuing to pray for us as we continue this journey.

Our sale had things like a window air conditioner, patio set, clothes, clothes, clothes, home decor, kid's toys, and a billion other things.  All thanks to the wonderful gift of donations.

The garage was filled with tables & stuff.  We had signs hanging that stated our garage sale was to support our adoption fundraising.  Our first weekend we were cleared out.  Then the next week more & more donations just came rushing in.  Saturday's weather was not nice to us either weekend but we were open Thursday & Friday which was super helpful.  Garage sales always brings in fun people to chat with.  We met a wonderful lady in about her 60's who was adopted as an infant in Indiana herself.  She shopped our sale everyday the first weekend.  She was just so sweet!  We also met someone in the neighborhood who also had two children they adopted as infants.  There were many more stories which were so encouraging.

Our goal was to raise $1000 over the two weekends.  We sold all our kid's clothes for 25 cents so you know you want to be realistic about what you can make.  Well we made that and then some!  Our garage sale total was...

$2700.00

Yes, $2700 dollars.  All thanks to the community donations & those that came out to shop.  We are overwhelmed with blessing & thankfulness!  

Sorry no pictures.  They are all on my phone & well I still haven't figured out how to link the two together.  Clearly learning technology is a downfall to my blogging creativity.  If you check out my Instagram feed in the lower right hand corner you can see some of the sale.

We are now selling t'shirts for our next fundraising efforts.  Take a look & make a purchase!  

It Takes a Village

What's the News?

There's been a bustle of excitement this week.  ASC selected us as a family to have an option of being offered to a couple out of state.  This is a rare situation with ASC as almost all agencies are in the state of Indiana.  The couple had a reputable reference for the agency and so that is how they were referred.  We agreed to have our profile shown to this couple AND NOW WE WAIT!!!!!!  AHHHHH!!!

I can share the couple is a dating couple.  They are currently in the south.  Baby's expected arrival is in August. 

Again exciting news!  At this current time we are just waiting to hear feedback about the couple's decision.  When adopting across states logistics are a little more complicated but exciting all the same!!!! 

https://www.purecharity.com/the-boni-familys-adoption

Pure Charity!

The sun is shining and the weather is finally turning to spring... No Wait!  It's freezing and everything is confused!  The tulips are half up screaming where's the sun?  The kids are dying to get outside until you finally let them get outside and it's FREEZING!  Frankly, I don't think I've recovered from daylight savings yet.  

Currently we are waiting to hear anything about our adoption process.  We're just kind of plodding along through life waiting for a phone call.  We've accomplished some to do's.  JR is in his official new big boy bed.  Although I'm about to make the executive decision to move him back to a confined sleeping arrangement since he doesn't get the idea of staying in bed just yet.  We have a car seat! 

We are hard at work on getting ready for our upcoming garage sale.  I am excited to announce we are in the final stages of our t'shirts before they are launched!!!

If you haven't already seen, we have launched a Pure Charity account.  This is a donation website where you will receive a tax credit code for your donation.  Please take a moment to check it out!

https://www.purecharity.com/the-boni-familys-adoption




Thank you to all who have helped so far!  We appreciate your donations for the garage sale, coffee purchases, and Pure Charity!  Feeling truly blessed.

It's Spring Cleaning Time!!

I appreciate all those who have been reading my blog.  Some may have thought of is there anyway I can help?  This post is specifically that!  We are having a garage sale the last weekend in April & the first weekend in May.  We are collecting donations of stuff for the garage sale.  All sales will go directly toward our adoption fundraising.  I can come pick up any items if it is helpful.  We are open to any types of donations!  I will also be posting fun items that we will have for sale!!!

Please pass this along to anyone you might know that is interested!  

thebonifamily@yahoo.com to schedule a pick up.

A snapshot!

Every good business has a strong marketing campaign and is up to date with today's latest trends.  Currently this CEO knows nothin about none of that!  Truly in this process there is a bit of a marketing component.  Our family is putting ourselves out there as open and available to expand.   

As I mentioned when I went through the gamut of getting started a key component was our Family Bio. The family bio provides a snapshot of your family to potential birth parents.  So how the heck do you provide an enticing honest presentation of yourself on four 8 X 10 pieces of paper and some slots of pictures?!?!

We love the Beach!  We love family trips!  

 One of the many reasons we selected ASC as our agency is that they collect all the information and then put together your family Bio.  Some of the agencies we looked at provided you a template or for an additional fee they would put your bio together.  Regardless this is a common tool used in the adoption process.  Birth mothers will describe a home environment they are looking for to place their child in and based off of her description they will pull familys that meet what is described.  So we put things like lost child in my own home for 25 minutes, keep the floors so clean that we eat off of them instead of on our kitchen table, and closets are for child confinement right?    And of course an enticing family photo! 

On top of the information given in our bio they also use all the other hand outs for health, drugs, etc. to help determine if your family meets what the mother describes. Typically a birth mother will receive 3-4 family options to review.  From this selection she narrows down to two families.  Then from there there could be email communication or a face to face visit with the coordinator present.  This step can take sometime as the mother decides on which family seems the best fit for her dreams and goals for her child.  Yes, her child!  This process provides a beautiful and unique gift to the child.  The birth mother is making the biggest love sacrifice to say I love you so much I have to let you go.  I can provide you a life but I cannot raise you.  Wow, what love and maturity for anyone!  She is not taking the hard way out!  

Here are some examples of what is included in our bio:
-  Our upbringing and childhood.

-  A peek into our marriage and relationship.

-  The current activities we enjoy doing.

-  A description of each of our boys

I would say it took about 20 hours to answer all the questions completely and collect about 150 pictures that described our family.  I think about 10 of them got used.  It was difficult to poor out your heart in the confinements of a scrapbook so to speak.  We took the approach of being honest and transparent.  We pray that something jumps off the page that says we love children, we love each other, and we love you!   

Tips I have if you're interested in the adopting or getting ready to work on a bio:
-  Take lots of pictures!  None staged!
-  Keep your pictures organized.
-  Brainstorm about your childhood and found family memories.  This would be a great time to connect with siblings and family to get ideas going.
-  Have fun!  
  

As always thanks for taking the time to read.  We did receive news that two birth mothers currently have our bios and have not made any decisions.  Good to know we're not still sitting in the drawer!