What happened?

I have been able to talk to some people about what happened but I have been mostly quiet on social media. Now that it’s been a month I wanted to share exactly what happened with our “disrupted” adoption.
Throughout the match with this Birthmom, she only “talked” to me through text. This bothered me but I was assured that in the last year and a half, younger birthmoms would prefer to text over talking over the phone. During the match the Birthmother stayed in contact with me but didn’t with the adoption coordinator or attoenys. Again they were not overly worried because she would continue to text me. About 2 weeks before he was born she did not answer any of my texts. I began to worry and thought she was going to change her mind. After a week and a half she responded and said she was sorry she just had to get away because she wasn’t used to the noisey house she was living in with her mom, dad, and brother. We moved on and she still seemed committed although I wonder if this is where her doubt began to set in.

May 7-9:51- I hear my cell phone alert me that I had a text message. I was in the middle of teaching so I waiting until I was done and went and checked it about 10 minutes later. The text said, “I’m having the baby today.”  My first words were “Oh my gosh!!!” I asked the birthmom, “what’s the plan? Have you talked to the attorney?” She said, “I’m giving him to you.”  I said, “ no are you in labor or having a c-section?” She said she was about to have a c-section. I was so excited I couldn’t think straight!! I told the ladies in my room and got my friend from down the hall. I called the attorney’s office and we determined that I needed to get there as soon as possible. I left school and frantically went home to pack for everyone. I called Chris and told him to come home so he and Sadie could start the drive to Texas.

We had many sweet friends offer us airplane miles when we thought we were going to Colorado, so I called one of them and asked if they could get me a last minute ticket to Texas. She and her husband worked on that while I went to pack. Thankfully, my friend Sarah, went home with me and helped me get everyone packed. I was so excited I couldn’t think straight!! My mom went and got Sadie out of school and we went to Chick Fil A for our last lunch together as an only child.

I was supposed to be on a flight from GSP to Texas at 2. The friends that were working on my ticket called, as we were getting ready to leave to go to the airport, and said they couldn’t get me on that flight so now I needed to be at the airport by 3. Sarah dropped me off at the airport and I nervously made my way to the desk. Thankfully when I arrived, one of my former students mom was working the airline desk. She said that all the flights had been delayed to Charlotte and they couldn't get me there until in the morning. I told her what was going on and she said if I can leave and get to Charlotte by 4 then I could get to Texas that night, so that’s what we did. I called Sarah back and asked if she could come back and drive me to Charlotte, she of course said yes. A few minutes later she called and said she had a flat tire but her husband was going to come get us and drive us there. Well it turned out that it wasn’t a flat tire, an industrial strap had flown underneath her car and punctured some important parts, rendering her car undrivable. It was 3:00 by then and I really needed to leave in 10 minutes. My sister in law teaches in district 5 so she was the closest person to me. I called her explained what was going on and she drove to GSP to get me and took me to Charlotte.

I had not flown in 17 years so I was very apprehensive. Was I going to know where to go? Were people going to be there to help me get to the right place? What if I don’t get there in time? I was thinking about all of that and my sweet baby who was waiting on me to get to the hospital. I made it through the Charlotte airport and got on the plane. I had taken a book to read but just couldn’t get into it so I pulled out the Bible app and of all things decided to read Exodus.

I know most people wouldn’t start reading in Exodus but the story of Moses really interests me. Maybe it’s because we’ve watched the movie, “Prince of Egypt” a few hundred times at home. Maybe it’s because he was adopted. Maybe it’s because he just seems so real. God wanted to use him in a mighty way but he felt so inadequate. He pleaded with God to use someone else. He said he wasn’t a good speaker, he wasn’t qualified to do what God wanted him to do, people wouldn’t listen to him, and he didn’t have all the answers. How many times are we like Moses? One of the things we are teaching Sadie not to say is, “ But I...” or “But mom...” or “But...” When we ask her to do something we want her to say “yes ma’am” or “yes sir” with no questions asked. We refer to it as immediate obedience in our house. Chris and I are never going ask her to do something that is unsafe or unhealthy for her and we expect her obey no questions asked. How many times are like Moses or Sadie? But God... I can’t. But God...that’s too hard. But God... someone else can do it better. But God...  Little did I know in less than 24 hours I was going to have to decide if I was going to trust God and His perfect provision or was I going to say But God...

Fundraisers

Here are our upcoming fundraisers

Fuddruckers on Woodruff Road March 22 5-8

Breakfast at Longhorn March 24 8-10 tickets are presold adults are $10 and kids $6

Pizza Inn Duncan- March 31 5-8


We still need at least $6,600 to be fully funded for our adoption as long as there are no surprises. We have taken out loans for $22,000 and need to raise the other $7,800. All the money that we had previously raised was paid to the company we originally started with. The attorney we used with Sadie contacted them and told them about our birthmom and they presented her to us and we chose to move forward. Due to this, the adoption in total is will end up costing about $37,000.

Our birthmom has moved to another state which we knew was a possibility but didn't think it would happen. This is actually a good thing because it is closer to us and we are able to use our state's law. We will also be driving instead of flying. We have been blessed to be able to have a place to stay so any extra money will be for gas and food while we are there.

I will be honest as I look at the fact that we have roughly 9 weeks until little man is here I am nervous. I keep trying to remind myself of how God provided for Sadie's adoption (hers was $23,100) and we didn't have to take out any loans. I know that God can do abundantly more than I ever dreamed but being the control freak I am it is scary to not know how He's going to do it. Continue to pray with us that our fundraisers will go well and God will lead us to whatever he wants us to do next. 

It's a......

BOY!!!!!!

It's official we have been matched!! The baby is due at the beginning of May and is going to be born in Colorado. This situation came about very much as a surprise and is happening very quickly. I can't share a lot of details on line but he is healthy and is going to be born by c-section.

We have had to take a loan out for a large portion of the fees but still have a lot more to go. We need another large amount right now but are trying to postpone it a little bit longer.

We have some fundraisers scheduled in March and are working on some more in May. These are the ones scheduled as of right now:

March 1st Chick Fil A at Duncan from 5:30-8:30
You HAVE to tell them that you are there for our adoption fundraiser or we will not get credit for the sale.


March 22nd Fuddruckers on Woodruff Road from  5-8
At this one we get a percentage of all sales during this time


March 31st  Pizza Inn in Duncan from 5-8
We also get a portion of all sales during this time period


One of our needs, besides funds, are air miles that we can use for plane tickets there and back. IF you would have any that you would like to donate we would greatly appreciate it.

 Remember to check out our you caring page and donate if you can. There is also a link to a Paypal account if you would rather do that. WE believe that God has called us to adopt this baby and if I can be honest, I don't know how we are going to get enough money to do it in just 2 months. I do know that my God can do anything and He is asking us to take a leap of faith so that He can be glorified through it all.

Youcaring page
https://www.youcaring.com/hopepoteat-1033623

Baby number 2

I haven't used our blog since right before we brought Sadie home. I inundated everyone with pictures and updates through Facebook. So our baby girl that I wrote about has gone from this:

                            


To this:

It is unreal how fast that happened. She took my breath the moment she was born. I never realized that my heart could love someone so incredibly much. We had actually discussed adopting our second child when Sadie was two but felt too overwhelmed financially. Honestly we don't feel less overwhelmed but can't stop but feel that God has laid this time on our heart to start growing our family.
Here are some of the thoughts that go through my mind as we start:

*How are we going to raise that much money again?!?!?
*We have a child, how am I going to be able to devote as much time as I did with Sadie to fundraising?
*Will people feel led to donate like they did with Sadie since we already have a child?
*What if people think that we should be happy with the child we have??

I know that the answer to most of those questions are God is in charge but my human nature brings serious doubt to the forefront of my mind. We do believe that God has called us to adopt again and very specially at this time. It doesn't make much sense but God just asks us to trust him. This is very hard for me (more so than Chris) but I am doing it.  We have already raised $7,000 but will need much more in order to adopt. We have an upcoming fundraiser at Pizza Inn, March 31. I am also working on some other fundraisers right now so I will keep you updated.

I also want to share our youcaring page for anyone would like to donate. Please share our blog post on Facebook also.

https://www.youcaring.com/hopepoteat-1033623

Less than a week!!!

As you can tell from the title of the blog we are less than a week from going to West Virginia to meet our baby girl. We will be leaving January 2 because our birth mother is supposed to be admitted into the hospital January 3 and induced January 4th in the morning and we don't want to miss anything!! Our birth mother had her last doctor's appointment today but we haven't been able to talk because something is wrong with her phone. She was able to call the attorney's office and let them know that. Hopefully I will be able to talk to her tomorrow!!

I am washing everything and packing it up to get ready to leave. Up until today our housing arrangement was up in the air while we were in West Virginia. We weren't sure if we were going to have to pay for a hotel room or what. God blessed us with a friend here that was able to contact a pastor who is going to let us stay with his family. They have a room above the garage that they are going to let us stay in. Praise the Lord!!!

Hopefully the next time I will post it will be after I am a mommy and I will be able to show everyone the sweet baby you have been praying for!!!

We are still $1700 away from the amount of money the attorney needs. He would really like to have it before we leave but I told him there was no way. If you would like to donate you can use PayPal or mail us a check. We are having checks go to my parents house. !28 Coldspring Drive Spartanburg, SC 29301.

Thank you again for all each of you have done whether by praying or donating or both. God has blessed us immensely in so many ways and we cant begin to express our gratitude to Him and each of you!

Last Fundraiser (I hope!!)

We are gift wrapping again for our final fundraiser. This is how we started our fundraising last year and hopefully this will be how we end it!! :) Here are the prices:

Holiday Gift Wrapping

Pricing Guide

                                 Simple/Kids:                       Elegant:

Small                            $1.00                                 $2.00

Medium                        $1.50                                 $3.00

Large                            $2.00                                 $4.00

Oversized                     $3.00+                               $5.00

Simply/Kid wrapped gifts include wrapping paper, small plastic bow, and gift tag.

Elegantly wrapped gifts include wrapping paper, bow made from tulle and raffia, and gift tag.

Your contribution is going directly to adoption costs!

For more information contact:

cdpoteat@bellsouth.net      or       864-431-9944

She's almost here!!!!!!!

Sorry for the delay in posts, our computer is on the fritz. Our visit to West Virginia went PERFECTLY!! Our plan was just to take out birth mother out to dinner talk for a little bit and take her back home. It went better than that!! She really enjoyed spending time with us and we enjoyed spending time with her. Every time we offered to take her back home she said, "No, I like spending time with you guys." We were able to share of story of where God has brought us to over the last 5 years and tell her how special she is and always will be to us because of the gift she is giving to us.

She has been going to the doctor like she is supposed to. She actually went today and sent me a text about how it went. She said YOUR DAUGHTER'S heart beat is 140. Oh that made this mama's heart so happy to see YOUR daughter. She has another appointment next Thursday with an ultrasound. Sadie is measuring big so the doctor's not sure if she's just big or they have her due date wrong. As it stand rights now, our birth mother will be admitted into the hospital January 3rd and be induced January 4th. So Sadie should make her arrival on January 4th, her daddy's birthday!!!! I think it will be so neat for them to share a birthday.

We are only 5 weeks away from getting the best present of our lives. We are so excited we can't stand it!!!!

We are only $2,150 away from raising all the money we need. I am planning on doing another gift wrap fundraiser like I did last year. Oh and also since the last time I wrote we had another fundraiser at Pizza Inn and raised $1,100!!! I can't believe how tremendously God has blessed us!!