Adoption Update

The day our lives were blessed by God with our beautiful Cadence Faith

Hello all! Just wanted to put up a quick post and let yall know how things are looking for adoption. Ryan and I had a phone conference with Lifetime about a week or two ago and had a lot of our questions answered by one of their staff members. They kept mentioning a small Lifetime fee so we were finally able to find out exactly what the cost would look like. Unfortunately, the cost is waaaaayyyyyyy out of our league. Lifetime wants $16,997 and that isn't including the costs we will have to pay for a home study which could run between $1,000-$3,000 and then legal fees for an attorney which could be between $4,000-$6,000. Basically it would cost us about $20,000-$25,000 to do a domestic infant adoption.

Ryan and I are in prayer as to which way the Lord is leading us. I have looked for more agencies and haven't had any luck yet. I do have one that I am going to call tomorrow to check and see how their program is ran and what the costs are to adopt with them. It is the last hope basically here in Nevada. Guess we will see what they say.

All this to say please continue to pray for us during this difficult time. I am confused and frustrated with all of this news. I see the dollar signs and panic. Please pray, yes, I am going to say it, please pray for PATIENCE for me. I want to rush this whole system and get a baby fast. I don't want to have to wait another year. I am being selfish and seeing we have tried for a year and a half on our own and I can't imagine waiting any longer. That is my biggest struggle right now. Please pray that I will have patience and open ears so the Lord can lead us to where He needs us in this process. I am having a hard time turning it over to the Lord because of my selfish controlling nature and I just ask for prayer that I will let it all go and stop trying to manage everything in my life. He is the manager and I am just the follower.

Thank you all for the prayers and support during this time. We love you all!

Adoption

We are excited to say we have begun the process of adoption. Ryan and I have been in prayer about having a baby and feel that God is taking us down the adoption path. We have chosen a facility rather than an agency. I first found one I was interested in through the Texas agencies page. They had locations in southern California. Thinking since we were only 2-3 hours away we would be able to get one from them but they responded to my request for info with a "no" to both domestic and international adoption since we don't live in California. They were nice enough though to send a few websites that might help us out. I looked but didn't find anything.

Which led me to doing a search for agencies in Nevada. Going through the 5 or 6 Nevada had wasn't fantastic. Two of them were immediately shot down due to the religious affiliations they worked under. :( I found one that led to another and another, when I came upon Lifetime Adoption Facility. They have been offered by larger agencies to become a part of them but they refuse. They don't want to become an agency because then an agency can only help a certain state that they are located in. They remain a facility so they can serve people all over the US. To top things off they are a Christian based facility. I truly feel that God has led us to where we need to be. There are many birthparents that are waiting for adoptive families. The only thing is we have to match their criteria. Hopefully we will get some news soon. We have submitted our application last night with a picture and the lady already emailed me today saying she was taking our application to the committee this week. We should hear back from her within 3-10 days.

Please be in prayer for our family as we prepare our hearts for this journey God is walking with us. We are excited and hopeful that God has a perfect baby sister (Cadence's preference) or baby brother out there that will complete our beautiful family. Thank you all for your prayers and we are excited about possibly becoming parents again!!!! :)

Our 4th Anniversary

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Campise

Our first dance to "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts

Cutting Ryan's Baylor cake :) SIC 'EM!

On our honeymoon in Jacksonhole, Wyoming

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! I can't believe that time has flown by so fast! It seems like yesterday I was having my hair done and getting ready to run by the hotel to check if everything was okay for the reception. There just wasn't enough time in my day that day for everything to get done. HAHAAAA! It was such a beautiful wedding and I am sooo thankful that God placed Ryan into my life. I am now married to my best friend and we have the most beautiful daughter in the world.

Honey, thank you for making me so happy. You make me smile inside and out every day with your love and affection. I look forward to being your wife for the next 50+ years to come. If they are anything like the last four then my life is absolutely perfect! Thank you for making me so happy! I love you more than words can express! Happy anniversary my love! :)

Peacock Park with Nana

My little friend who stood behind me waiting for crackers. So pretty!

Such beautiful birds

Nana and Cadence feeding the peacocks

Our cute baby peacocks. We finally got to feed them and their Mommy. Cadence was sooo excited!

Nana and her girl, as she calls Cadence. We love you Nana and miss you bunches!

We finally found our camera before going to Texas and so I had it for this trip to the peacock park. Mom had heard us talk about this park and she couldn't wait to see what all we were talking about. It is a fun park to take the kiddos to as long as you stay away from the mean geese as Cadence will tell you all about how mean they are and they bit her Daddy on the "BUTT!" HAHAHAAA! Here are some pics of the peacock park with Nana.

Mom, thank you so much for flying out here and driving back with us. You are such an amazing mom and I pray you know that. I am so blessed to have you in my life and I can't imagine not having you by my side through all our struggles lately. Thank you for listening to me and letting me cry on your shoulder. I love you so much and miss you more than you will ever know! I sure enjoyed the time I got to spend with you and can't wait for the next trip. Love ya Mom! Miss you!

Sic 'Em Bears!

Sweet kisses for Zachary! Cadence was in love!

KK and Zachary :)

Gorgeous eyes that melt your heart!

Swinging in circles with Mommy like her and Daddy used to do. :) WEEEE!

Already bleeding green and gold! SIC 'EM BEARS! :)

We took Cadence down to Baylor while on our drive to Kerrville. She got to see both Lady and Joy out playing in the new bear pit. She LOVED them! We went to the Bookstore and got her a new t-shirt and Grammy got her a Baylor hat. We decked her out in the green and gold and then headed to "OUR" swing. :) Ryan and I had a swing on campus that we always went to when wanting to talk or hang out. It wound up being labeled as our swing cause it was the only one we would go to. We spent hours there and he was so romantic and proposed to me at our swing. It was AMAZING! So of course Cadence had to sit on "our" swing and have pics taken. Here are a few to enjoy.

We finally got to meet Mr. Zachary as well. We went and saw Kim and Zachary once we got back from Kerrville and got our snuggles in with him. He is soooo precious! I will make sure to attach some sweet pics of him. He was such a good baby and HANDSOME! Cadence has a hottie on her hands. ;) HAHAHAA! Love yall Kim and miss you bunches! He is BEAUTIFUL!

AHHHHH Kerrville!

The view from the back porch. GORGEOUS!

Our first group of deer. :) YIPPEE!

Watering the plants with Grammy! What a blast they had (and a bath!) hehehee :)

Grammy and Pawpaw's "New" house according to Cadence

Our last gorgeous sky in Kerrville. Breath taking!

We went down to Kerrville with Grammy Tuesday-Thursday. We got down there Tuesday afternoon and immediately walked on the back porch to find 6 deer on the property beneath Grammy and Pawpaw's house. They were walking down to the tank to get some water. We decided that evening to head into town and eat at a Mexican restaurant and we passed by one house on the side of the road and it had at least 20 -30 deer standing in the front yard grazing. It was CRAZY! Cadence loved every minute of it! We got back home and relaxed and let Cadence play a bit before winding down for bed. She decided it was slumber party time with Grammy. I slept by myself and Cadence and Grammy snuggled in bed and watched Wall-E and Ratatouille. She had a blast! The next day we got up and went into town and bought Ryan's Father's Day present. New cowboy boots!!! :) Then we headed to the James Avery compound/factory. It was GORGEOUS! We got Cadence some charms for her bracelet and then headed into Fredricksburg. We walked a few blocks on one side of downtown and then stopped to enjoy some ice cream together. We headed back home and saw more deer that evening. We ordered pizza in so Cadence could relax since she had been in a car since Saturday when Mom and I pulled out of Vegas. She was a little tired of the car. :) She was such a trooper though. Ryan and I are sooooo lucky to have such an easy going kiddo. We love you Cadence!

Cadence climbed up in Grammy's lap at dinner and ate her pizza and then passed out in her arms. While she was sleeping Grammy looked outside and saw two fox walk right into their backyard. It was sooo neat! I tried to get a picture but it kinda messed up with the flash on the window. Oh well! We sure had a blast in the great outdoors of Kerrville! We can't wait for another trip down there. :) Thank you Grammy for spoiling us girls while we were in! We sure enjoyed our time with you! :) Pawpaw, wish you could've been with us. Next time it is a Pawpaw and Grammy trip. Love yall!

Texas and yes MORE TEXAS!

Our nephew Connor. We were so excited to get a day to see our Chicago cousins! Cadence had a great time with the boys!

Cadence and Carter, our other nephew, saying "Hi". A little shy from both kiddos can you tell?!?!?

Now they have warmed up to each other. The two year olds had a great time together!

Of course Cadence had to walk Tiki with Grammy. She sure loves that doggie!

Cadence with her boy cousins, Connor and Carter. Celebrating both of their birthdays together. :) Happy Birthday boys!