Why are we adopting again?

Why are we adopting again? God only made one Jenna, she is perfect, you won't get another little girl like her! These words came from the mouth of a family member! It never ceases to amaze me the things people think they can get away with saying to you and think they aren't going to offend you. Considering the source of the person who said this to me, I shouldn't be shocked, but like I said when it's family, you would think people would understand the reason. I've come to the conclusion when you adopt people think this gives them the right to say what ever ignorant thing pops into their small brains to you. I've never heard anyone say "Why are you getting pregnant again, your first child is perfect?"

We don't adopt to see how pretty of a child we can get, how smart of a child we can get or how perfect of a child we can get. We adopt because our hearts long to bring another child into our family, to give unconditional love and to share our world with them. Adoption is something that touches our souls and if we could we would adopt 100 children. So my answer back to your question would be, spend 5 minutes with my daughter and she will educate you on the meaning of adoption and what a family is.

Brooklyn

On August 3rd Brooklyn Diane Patterson made her way into this big world. She weighed in at 3 pounds 12 ounces. She was about 4 weeks early, but only had to stay an extra 6 days in the hospital. She is now 3 weeks old and weighing in at 4 pounds 2 ounces. She is so tiny and precious.

Crystal invited me to be in the delivery room with her and Rodney. It was a beautiful moment and I will never forget it. We are all very close, much more then just friends. They have been there for me when I've needed them and we have been there for them. Since we lived right next door to each other we see one another almost every day.
We love you guys and will always be here for you. We look forward to watching Brooklyn grow up. 

Our prayers were heard

Jenna does not have a tumor or cancer. She has a eye condition called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Her optic nerve does not connect to her brain. This means she is legally blind in her right eye. This is a condition she was born with, so she isn't aware she can't see out of the eye. With the information given to us about the eye condition and the information we have on her heart condition we were able to get some questions answered about her medical history. I'm not going to disclose this information as it's personal, but it is nice to finally have some answers.
She is a fighter, she has to fight for her life since the day she was born. Her strength and determination amazes us each and every day.
School has started back, we have a senior, 7th grader and kindergarten now. The first day of school was good for everyone, I hope we have a good year.

Please pray

We took Jenna for her kindergarten eye check this evening. It felt like we were kicked in the gut when he told us she could hardly see out of her right eye 20/400 vision which is legally blind. Her left eye appears fine for now. He has referred us to a specialist to see what is going on behind her eye that is causing this. Please pray there isn't any tumors or disease that is causing this. We are so worried and stressed out, not to mention we don't have vision insurance on her either. It's been a really rough week for us and I pray they can give her strong glasses and she be OK.

God's plan

Sorry for not updating lately but I've been pretty down and worried. I found out last Wednesday that I will be losing my job. They are closing our office after 17 years with the company. To say I had a panic attack is a understatement. I've never felt like that people and it really scared me. I've always had trouble with anxiety so hearing those words caused a complete breakdown for me. Where will I go making what I make an hour? Losing 6 weeks vacation. What will we do for health insurance? The fear of having to interview after 17 years with one company. Having to give up friendships and make new friends. Knowing I will never find a job with such a flexible and caring boss.
I took the next day off work and laid in bed and felt sorry for myself all day long. I've never laid in my pajamas all day before. My kids were worried about me, but I just needed some time to grieve and feel sorry for myself.
Friday I went back to work and talked with my boss. She states that it will be a long process to transfer our work over to the other sites that will be taking our jobs. She is hopeful that it will be 12 to 18 months before we are jobless.
I'm sure a lot of people don't agree with my plan, but I've come to terms with it and don't want to try to be talked into doing something different. I'm going to wait it out, hopefully it takes the full 12-18 months, then I will get a severance package that will pay 7 months of my salary and I can draw unemployment. Scott will be adding us to his insurance. This gives us time to pay off bills and YES start our adoption paper work. We are going through with the adoption of Leah Grace, we feel God has a plan for our family. This will allow me to be home with her for several months and be paid while doing it. Then I will start looking for jobs, hopefully I will find one closer to home.
We have had to listen to many people say I should start looking now, and I appreciate everyone caring about us, but we feel this is what we should do and that's our plan for the time being.
I'm trying to leave my anxiety behind and know that God has a plan for our family.
I'm going to add some of our family pictures we had made on June 29th. Thanks Melissa they turned out great. I look at my family and know it's all going to be OK.