Another Grant!

We just got an e-mail yesterday that we got another grant from Sowing Roots! With some unexpected expenses that came up in Ohio, it is awesome to see how God continues to provide and come through in amazing ways. We are so blessed to see how His provision comes at just the right time.

Pictures of Adelle with Some of Alicia's Family

Pictures of Adelle with Some of Adam's Family

MIRACLE!

Adelle's Social Worker in Ohio, Beth

Right after we signed paperwork for Adelle

Last Thursday, November 12th, we got to sign paperwork for Adelle! What a blessing. We were MORE than ready. To celebrate, we went out to a Mexican restaurant the family we were staying with recommended. They made us a really nice supper at their place to celebrate, as well. Our first night with her went very well; Adam and I took shifts with the feedings, and were both able to get at least 5 hours of sleep.

Last Friday, November 13th, we were given permission to come back to Minnesota. As of 4:00pm Thursday the 12th, the states still had paperwork they needed. Our social worker said she had never heard of things going that fast: less than 24 hours!  We started packing the car, right away, at about 1:30pm. We said goodbye to Adelle's foster family and the families that had hosted us. Then, we were on our way. Since it takes about a half hour to feed Adelle anyway, we decided to eat at a Waffle House one last time for supper. That was definitely a God thing, because not long after we got back on the road there was a bad accident on Interstate 70. There were 2 helicopters, 4 firetrucks, and 4 other emergency vehicles that responded. After waiting for almost a half hour, we used the median to turn around (like many other cars were doing), and found some back roads. Adelle started getting hungry, so we stopped at a Walgreen's to feed her. Another God thing: we left the store about 5 minutes before it closed. We stayed at a hotel from 1:30am-7am and slept and had breakfast. After getting gas, we were back on the road. We stopped at an oasis in Illinois for a break, around Eau Claire, WI. Then, we made it to the Twin Cities!

Saturday night, Adelle got to meet her Eme (sp?) and Papa and Aunt Heather and Uncle Brian. We had fun getting to talk and have supper together, and Aunt Heather even got to feed Adelle. :)  One of our friends from Rochester, Virginia, was up in the cities for the weekend, so she also came by before she headed back south. It was so much fun to get to see her, since we live so far away!

Sunday morning, Adelle got to meet one of her cousins, Avery. It was sooo precious.Avery wanted to take good care of "Baby Dell", and gave her her blanket when Adelle was crying, and helped feed Adelle. Avery was so gentle; she is going to be a great big sister!

Avery meets Adelle

Sunday afternoon, we went to Adam's parents. One of Adam's sisters and brother in law, Adam's brother, and Adam's grandparents were there! They had a beautiful sign and balloons for Adelle, and Adam's grandma had a care basket of fruit, bread, and cookies. Yum! It was so fun to get to spend some time with them and see them love on Adelle.  I can't find these pics, so will have to upload them later!   :)

 

Since coming home, we have been busy! We went to Alicia's school, and it was so fun for the staff and students to get to meet Adelle. It was great to see my (Alicia's) students again. We also got to see one of the new moms in the couple's Bible study we go to, Sarah. It was the first time I (Alicia) was able to meet her son, so that was exciting! He is only 3 weeks older than Adelle. We are having out Minnesota social worker, Emily, over tonight for the first visit. 

Week 5

Ready for another car ride!

So AWAKE!

Sleeping in her favorite position....I call it the "Touchdown!" "Praise Jesus!" pose

Staring at each other...the best past time ever!

Sleeping on daddy

Adelle has been more and more awake. Sometimes, she is awake for two and a half hours at a time now. She likes to look around (to the extent babies can) and see all the new places we go to. She likes to lay on the floor and have us talk to her, and is a very calm baby overall. She REALLY likes to be held. She does not like to be messed with in any way: diapering, changing, baths.... It's all about "status quo."   :)

Adelle's birthfather signed the paperwork he needed to for the court on Friday. Praise Jesus! We are so excited for her court date tomorrow. We will go to Adelle's adoption agency and sign for her the morning of November 12. Then, we will be with Adelle 24/7.

On Saturday, we moved to a new place. It is the house of the care pastor for the church that we have been attending here, C3. They  have a private apartment in their basement complete with a fridge, microwave, and full bath. There is a meal ministry at C3, and they brought us some meals. So far, we ate the Mexican Shephard's Pie. Amazing!  

We got to go out to eat with Adelle's foster family yesterday for lunch, which was fun. Their girls have a favorite place they like to go for their "gotcha days" (days when their adoptions were finalized), so we went there. It is called Bob Evan's. Very similar to a Perkins.

Last night, Adam and I played Phase 10 together, and we went on a walk in the afternoon. The weather here has been beautiful. It has been a blessing to see the sun, and get to be outside more than we might otherwise get to be this time of year. On Saturday, we went grocery shopping and to Kohl's. It is so weird to be new parents and have this much energy, but we are sure next week will be different!

The 4th Week

Diaper Change....lots of PINK! :)

Just waking up

Daddy's Little Girl

Trying to Sleep :)

Daddy is the BEST pillow

Adelle was experiencing vomiting and diahrrhea last week. Tuesday, we had a follow up doctor appointment to the other appointments she had last week. She is feeling better, and now weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Her diaper rash that she had is getting better, and we are so thankful!

Sunday night, we had supper with Adelle's foster family. Tuesday night, we had supper with them and attended a prayer meeting at their house. We have been so blessed by them! The have provided physical resources as well as a listening ear. They have provided a good social outlet when we need it, as well.

The family that we (Adam and Alicia) are staying with has also been a blessing. We eat supper with them almost every night. They have let us use their washer and dryer for laundry, and been very open with their home. We are so glad to call them friends!

We have beeen going out to eat about once a day, and it has been interesting to see how different people react to Adelle. They usually want to know about her red hair, and since we don't have an abundance of pink onesies with us, we are using a pink blanket from someone in the church we have been going to here in Ohio to make sure eveyone knows she is a girl!

We had a meeting last night with Adelle's guardian ad litum, the person who represents her best interests before the court. She was a very nice lady and explained to us how things might go today, and the steps the lawyers have been working on to get cooperation from Adelle's bith father. She said she was recommending adoption to the court, so we were very happy for that.

Adelle's court date for termination of parental rights was today. They were not able to terminate rights, because the birth father has not signed the paper work that he needs to. This is a big prayer request. The new court date is set for November 10th. At that court date, we are praying that the signed papers are in hand OR that we have favor with the judge, and he says we have done enough to notify the birth father, and rights can be terminated.

Praises:

1. Excellent lawyers

2. Favor with Adelle's guardian

3. Adelle's foster family

4. The family Adam and Alicia are staying with

Prayer Requests:

1. For Birth Father to sign papers
2. For Adelle to get 100% healthy
3. For opportunities to be a blesssing to the people who are blessing us here in OH

The Third Week!

This has been a busy week! We are starting to settle into our roles as new parents, with several bumps along the way.  Our first resturant outing was to a Cracker Barrel last Wednesday night, in celebration of Adelle getting out of the hospital.  She was awake for most of the time, so we ate in shifts, and like the novice parents we are, we forgot the diaper bag in the car, and ended up needing to go out to grab it.

Both of our hair was begining to get a little unmanagiable, so Adam wanted to get a haircut.  As we were waiting for our turn, Adam told a father who was there with his two daughters that we were in the process of adopting Adelle. We found out a bit later that his parents adopted him. He brought me a gift card and told me thank you for what we were doing. It was so cool to see how much he cared.

Thursday night, we got to go to the mall. It was great to get out and walk around. The social interaction was very needed! The mall we went to was indoor/outdoor,  so that was fun to see since we had never been to one before. We got a smoothie, and looked around some fun shops like American Girl (at least fun for me!). A teenager stopped to tell us how cute Adelle was. We were surprised!

The first visit with our social worker was Monday afternoon for the current situation we are in, and it was also Adelle's first doctor visist in the morning.  The visit with the social worker went well, but was a little stressful as we were telling about the fact that Adelle has not been feeding well or pooping normally lately. So, Adam took me out to the Waffle House afterwards since I was feeling so stressed. Breakfast food! So great. We had a really nice waitress as well.

Monday night after the leaving the Waffle House, we ended up taking Adelle to Urgent Care, because she was continuing to not feed well and poop normally. We ended up taking her in for a check-up Wednesday as a followup for Monday morning and evening. She has lost a little bit of weight, so we will be going in again on Friday just to make sure she is headed in the right direction.

The Second Week

Here is a quick update of how we are doing, and how things are going. :)
 
We left the hospital on Wednesday with Adelle and the social worker; the charge nurse gave us a whole bag of diapers/formula/wipes. She was so excited for us, and wished us luck. The nurses were truly a blessing, and became attached to Adelle and us since we spent so much time there. It was so wonderful to see how much they cared about Adelle and how they wanted to know how things were going even when she wasn't "their" patient that day or night.

We moved into a hotel for the first couple of days in Columbus.  Adelle has been sleeping with her foster family, and we get to love on her during the day.  There was lots of construction, so the drive took a little bit longer, but the weather was good.  Alicia keeps comenting on how beautiful the trees are with the changing leaves.  They seem to change a bit slower arround here than what we are used to.

The foster family Adelle is staying with is wonderful. They adopted two girls, and are currently fostering a baby boy. It was a blessing to get to meet them and see their hearts for children. We know our baby is in good hands when we can't be with her! We are looking forward to spending time with them, and are so thankful for the compassion they are showing.  They reached out to their church and were able to find a family that is willing to let us stay with them for a few weeks while we wait for the court system to make progress.

Adelle has been sleeping longer, and eating more. It is wonderful to see her thriving. She seems to scratch herslef a lot, so we got her mittens. She likes to eat whenever she wakes up, so we have gotten into a routine of adjusting the amount we offer her if she gets woken up eariler than she usually would by all the moving around we are doing.  There is so much to learn, but we are making progress as we learn the cues of what things mean.  Our favorite thing is to just snuggle with Adelle when she sleeps.  We have received a lot of encouragement about how we are doing, which great since at times we just don't know what she is looking for.

We are also learning what it means to be Adelle's travel entourage.  We were eating at a resturant on Wednesday and we formally welcomed into the "baby club" where random strangers will come up to us and tell us to enjoy this time because it doesn't last, and that she is beautiful.  Also hearing random gasps of "baby" while walking has been interesting as all eyes are for her!

Thank you all so much for the love and support that you have been giving.  It means a lot to us to get the prayers and know that Adelle, as well as us, are very loved.

The First Week!

We have had a great first week! It has been such a blessing to see Adelle grow and thrive. She is healthy and getting stronger and changing every day!

We hit a legal problem in the adoption process, and this could delay the process for up to three weeks. We may need to go to Columbus to get these problems taken care of, if things are not reslved by early next week.

Praises:

1. A happy, healthy daughter!
2. Wonderful nursinng staff
3. Wonderful staff and facilities at the Ronald McDonald House where we are staying
4. The ability to use a hospital room for bonding with Adelle
5. Bonding is going well!

Couple of prayer requests:

1. We are waiting for the legal issues to be taken care of
2. If we are supposed to go to Columbus, we would like direction on where God would have us for housing
3. For the couumunication between OH and MN to be quick, once the legal issue is taken care of
3. Safe travel to Columbus, and hopefully soon to MN!

Thank you so much for all your prayers! We really appreciate and feel all the support.  :)

Adelle Marie

We are so happy to announce that our daughter is here! Adelle Marie was born Tuesday, October 6th at 6:34 pm. She was 6 pounds, 10 ounces. She was 18 inches long, and her head circumference was 12.5 in.

Adelle's middle name is really special to us: Adam's mom's middle name is Marie. Alicia's Nana's first name is Marie. Her Nana's mom's middle name was Marie, as well. It is our way of welcoming Adelle with open arms!

We were able to meet Adelle yesterday morning about 10:30. We are so in love! Adelle is truly a gift from God and we are so thankful to her brave birthmom for making the decision she is making.

We got to meet Adelle's birthmom, biological sister, and biological paternal grandmother yesterday. It was so fun to get to interact with them, and thank Adelle's birthmom in person.

We have been blessed by the wonderful nurses working with Adelle. They have answered so many questions, and been a great resource.

Funding and Adoption Day Postponed

Hello, this is Adam here.  Alicia and I would like to announce that we believe we are very close to meeting all of our funding needs for this adoption!  God has been very faithful in bringing in the money that is needed, and it we are very thankful for all the friends and family that have come along side of us to support us every step of the way.

Since our baby is due September 29th, we will not know the total cost until everything is said and done.  So we do still plan on moving forward with some fund raising once we know what the final amount is.  Anything that is extra to what we need will go into and stay in the church's adoption fund.  So if you want, you can still give to that.

Part of why I mention this is because we believe we need to postpone the Adoption Day Fundraiser that is being hosted by our church.  There is simply too much up in the air right now, with a very good chance that we may not be able to be there for the day because of Baby Osterlund's due date.  We will still have a day to do the work project and spaghetti dinner, but we need to hold off on the date until we know more of what is going on.

Thank you all so much for the prayers, love, and support that you have been a part of.  We are very excited to continue down this path, and look forward to what God has in store for us!

In Shock. Again.

God keeps knocking our socks off. We just got an e-mail about another grant, from the JSC foundation. God is SO good. It has been humbling and a blessing to see how He provides and we are excited to see how this story continues to unfold. Our confidence in God's timing and blessing continue to grow...and we are so very thankful for the grant committees that spend so much time reading over stories (fun) and budgets (NOT fun!).

On another happy note, we had fun last night getting the baby stuff put away that we got this past Monday night.  :)  

Match!

We have been matched with a baby! We are so grateful for the amazing decision the birthmom is making. We got the call Thursday, August 20th. I was checking my phone for something else, and saw that our social worker had called ONE MINUTE before. When I called her back, she shared the good news. So, went right away to talk to Adam at work and tell him in person. We were both in shock, and really excited. We told our parents Saturday, and were able to tell my mom's parents in person, since they were up visiting us. The baby is due September 29th; we will be traveling to Ohio. Please continue to pray as we work through the fundraising we still need to do, and all the other details. We have not had communication with the birthmom since the match, so that something we are praying over. We do not know the gender of the baby, so that will be a fun surprise. There are a lot of emotions and unknowns, but we know our God has the situation taken care of, and we are excited to see how the next page of the story unfolds.