Love Is Thicker Than Water

Image taken from the Internet.

 i carry your heart with me

(i carry it in my heart)

i am never without it

(anywhere i go you go, my dear: and whatever is done by only me is

your doing, my darling)

     I fear no fate

(for you are my fate, my sweet)

i want no world

(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

-e.e. cummings

 
I have heard about the dark days of adoption. Naively, I thought I was immune; I was wrong, hence the long absence from our blog. Just when the days seemed darkest and I was uncertain as to whether I could persevere, Eric and I were given a gift by two families we both hold near and dear to our hearts, and we are now and forever will be grateful.

Thursday night, we agreed to meet our good friends Blake Behrens and Kyle Simmons for a quick photo opp for The Okay See. (Shameless plug: If you've not yet visited The Okay See, you absolutely should and may do so here:  http://www.theokaysee.com/). I was praying the photo would be quick, because I was cranky that I had not yet been allowed to change in to my pajamas and slippers. We walked in to the garage, and Kyle, a fellow writer, or wordsmith, as he prefers, began to read this:

Adopt the mindset that if we try to change the world of an individual, 

together we might actually change the World.

For every shirt we sell we will donate the majority of our proceeds to families trying to adopt. 

This shirt will help Eric & Kylie Lyons bring little Joah home 

from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Love IS Thicker than Water.

I was confused and uncertain and momentarily lost touch with reality. Blake then unveiled our design--OUR design--the one that we have been thinking about and brainstorming and researching. Blake and Kyle then told us the story behind their inspiration and how sneaky they had been to keep the secret from Eric during printing nights. When Blake held up our first printed t-shirt, the floodgates opened, and the cry I'd needed to happen for a while began...and didn't stop.

 

There are not words that can express the love we have for Blake and Kyle, their sweet wives, and their beautiful children. Eric and I have both been blessed in our friendships with the Behrens and the Simmons, but neither of us could have ever anticipated their abilities to show us God's love in such a way. "Love Is Thicker Than Water" is the foundation upon which we will strive to bless others who are adopting, because, to be honest, adoption is not cheap. Just as mothers and fathers experience pregnancies and births of children, adoptive families experience trials and periods of waiting and financial obligations, and we understand that. Blake and Kyle have helped us realize our hope of blessing others monetarily in order to bring more babies home to deserving families. The Okay See is now selling our shirt and poster prints, and the proceeds will help us bring Baby T home. The shirts and prints are available at www.theokaysee.com and are amazing! In the future, The Okay See will continue to bless others going through the adoption process through design and printing. Blake and Kyle, we love you.

Update on Our Process: We are anxiously awaiting for I-600a approval. The I-600a petitions for approval for the advance adoption of an orphan. We've signed the form and were fingerprinted. Fingerprinting was a bit intimidating. Security is comparable to that of an airport, and as we inched toward the front door, I realized that, somehow, I had picked up my dad's pocket knife, a sizable pair of toenail clippers, and some cuticle scissors and shoved them in my purse. I ran to the car and dumped out my purse, then took in only the essentials, just to be safe. We made it through sans pat down and were soon waiting for our fingerprinting. I've never been good about wearing gloves when cleaning, and during cold and flu season I do wash my hands a little more than usual, but we had a difficult time getting a print because my hands are dry (read: sandpaper). Fortunately, the woman who worked with me was very patient and even offered her home remedy for dry hands: Vaseline and tube socks while sleeping. Although I have not tried it yet, I have been moisturizing a LOT! We know that our paperwork is being processed, as we were asked to send additional information this week. Fingers crossed that we'll be processed and approved quickly. As soon as we receive approval, paperwork will be complete in the United States and will be sent on to the Democratic Republic of Congo for processing. Our current modus operandi appears to be "hurry up and wait."

Update on Life: I am not sure why our lives seem so crazy, but we continue to exist in the whirlwind to which we have grown accustomed. We recently took our annual trip to Beaver's Bend and spent a long weekend together in a cabin in the woods. As usual, we had a wonderful time and rested and caught up with each other. I realized that Eric is a better cook than I, we are really good at sleeping, and the key to laughter is an episode of "Honey Boo Boo Child" and an hour in the hot tub. We had a great time! The Fancher clan happened to be in town for the weekend as well, so we had supper with them, followed by a campfire! 

Eric is in the middle of his first year as the president of the Oklahoma Art Educators Association, and it's keeping him pretty busy. He and Blake and Kyle have formed The Okay See, a printing company, purchased a screen-printing press, and if Eric is not at home, he is at Blake's printing in the garage. Between that and Thunder games, he's very busy. I think he's finding ways to keep busy while I spend time between working and attending classes at OU, putting in counseling hours at my internship in Moore, and traveling. I am off to Las Vegas on Sunday for a work conference. I've not been to Vegas, and I'm getting more and more excited as Sunday gets closer.

Last weekend, I drove to Austin and spent some time with some of my best friends. We celebrated the upcoming birth of Baby Sofia, who will be the newest baby in the crew, and showered Camille with love and goodies. Now that it is February, we are on the final countdown and are continuing to pray for a happy, healthy baby and a safe, easy delivery. We weren't quite complete and missed Emily and Mary Beth. It won't be long before we are Birmingham bound for Mary Beth's wedding! I love these sweet girls:

Top Row: Becca, Jennifer, & Lindsay. Second Row: Ashley, Kylie, Camille and Baby Sofia, and Rosalyn

I hope your February is off to a wonderful start. I'm ready for warmer weather and spring flowers!

Lots of Love,

Eric and Kylie 

 

   

Home Sweet Home Study, or Babyproofing 101

Photo credit goes to: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=baby+proofing&view=detail&id=A124CF294109AA9BB3402A9DEA7E19F6DD22CD24&first=36

"Ha, babies!" (Tina Fey, "Bossypants")

When it comes to babyproofing the home, there is an endless amount of precaution one can take: socket protectors, cabinet locks, toilet seat locks, doorknob covers, table bumpers, rubber ducky faucet protector, etc., etc., etc. As I worked late into the night, crawling on my hands and knees so that I could, following the advice of the experts (who are the experts anyway?!), view my home from "a child's perspective," I realized we would all be safer bringing children home to padded rooms than the death traps that are our houses. Don't worry; after the brief moment in which I lost complete touch with reality, I called it a night and came back to my senses. As Eric and I have diligently prepared for our home study, I realized that what my mom has always told me is true: With your children, you try your best to protect them; you do what you can, but at the end of the day, it's not in your hands. Honestly, I can't wait for the day that my brilliant son is "taking a bath" in the toilet or attempting to brush our Labradoodle's teeth with his toothbrush, because that will mean he's home with us, safe and sound.

With a TON of help from my mom, Rhenea, we got our house (including the garage, every closet, drawer, cabinet, nook, and cranny) cleaned out, organized, and safe in record time: four days. We worked from sunup to sundown (literally, just ask my mom) and were exhausted but rewarded each day by the prospect of a baby moving in soon. I have been putting off purging closets and drawers for quite some time, and I finally cut ties with many pieces of clothing I have been holding on to for those "what if I'm in this particular situation at this time of year and need to wear a __________," including but not limited to my first "power" suit with shoulder pads Suzanne Sugarbaker would be proud of (If you are unfamiliar with Suzanne Sugarbaker, I suggest you Google "Designing Women" right this instant.); a hot pink broomstick skirt; and the purple dress I wore for my high school graduation...in 2001. After numerous trips to Home Depot/Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Target, and Sonic, we got everything in tip-top shape. There were even a few adventures, including a hornets' nest, a near broken nose, and a mishap with a staple gun, the details of which I will take to my grave.

For those of you who are anticipating (and probably freaking out about, just as I did) a home study, I have some advice: Breathe. I can't count the times my mom, Eric, and our good friends reminded me of this simple, life-sustaining practice--just breathe. With this, coupled with an unending amount of kindness, love, and gracious understanding from those we love most, we did it!

We were extremely blessed to meet our social worker, Heather. If you're an Oklahoman looking for an AMAZING social worker to conduct your home study, I've got the gal for you. The first time I spoke to Heather on the phone, I felt like I was talking to someone I had known my whole life. She was understanding and more than willing to answer my constant barrage of questions. She talked us through the process and really took the time to get to know us (especially during the 4.5 hours she was in our home on Friday). Some people say their social worker knows them better than anyone else, and I absolutely agree; I can't think of anyone better than Heather to guide us through this exciting process.

St. Francis of Assisi said, "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." This Friday, Eric and I are headed to Dimmitt, Texas, my hometown, to participate in 4th and Bedford Church of Christ's Summer Celebration. The theme of the Celebration is "PUSH": Push yourself beyond a life of complacency and answer God's charge. We have an amazing opportunity to share our story and our plans to travel to the DRC to spread God's Word and bring home our baby boy. We are humbled that James has included us in this opportunity and pray that God will be glorified through our testimony. We are so excited to share our journey and hope to educate others about adoption and the opportunities we have as Christians to ease the suffering of the sad and broken, whether in our hometown or on the other side of the world. Hope to see you all there!