Mayhew adoption #2!

We are officially a family of four! 

We finalized our adoption this week in front of a judge. We are so thankful for Caleb and are thrilled to have him officially a Mayhew! As we finalized we thought back to sitting in the waiting room in the hospital on the day he was born. He changed our lives the moment we met him. So much has happened in the past 6 months of his life and we are amazed that God chose our family for this precious baby boy. He is a joy to all of us. 

We are still here with no end in sight. It’s hard to be hopefully when it is taking longer than we expected. We all just want to go home! We are thankful to everyone who has supported us financially. That extra money will help pay for our hotel stay and everything we need while we are here in Alabama. Please pray that we will be home this week before Mark has to go back to work. 

Emma is making friends with everyone she meets. We have been enjoying finding parks and places to ride her bike. She is a very helpful big sister and wants to be in the middle of anything to do with baby brother. 

Caleb is already outgrowing newborn clothes. He is very happy and content as long as he isn’t hungry. 

We have moved to Birmingham, Al to wait out the rest of ICPC. This allows us to be closer to home for when we get cleared to leave. We have a nice hotel and have already found a wonderful park for Emma. 

Being in a hotel room with a toddler and a newborn feels like a lot of work, but we know that anything worth doing is hard. 

We have seen so many answered prayers last week and are overwhelmed by the amount of people who have reached out and prayed for us. Last week was a difficult week of unknowns, emotional stress, and what seemed like road blocks. But God was with us through it all.   

It would be difficult to explain all the feelings at the hospital when Caleb was born and the joy when he was discharged into our care. He had some jaundice, but his body thankfully took care of it on its own. Tirzah’s dad was with us all last week to help watch Emma. We couldn’t have done it without him! Emma had so much fun with her Pa. And she made friends everywhere. 

As soon as we arrived at our hotel in Birmingham we felt a weight off of our shoulders. We can finally relax and try to settle in and enjoy some family time while we wait to go home. 

Please pray that we would be able to go home soon and that we can enjoy our time here. If you have any suggestions about things to do in Birmingham let us know! 

We are excited to announce the birth of our son, Caleb. He is a wonderful, healthy baby boy. We are so in love with him and love being a family of four. His sister is over the moon about her new baby brother! 

We will be in Alabama for ICPC for another two to three weeks. Please pray that the paperwork goes smoothly between the States and we can return home soon. Follow along as we post updates on our time in Alabama. 

We are so thankful to everyone who has been praying and reaching out! 

If you would like to support our adoption, we still need $3400 to fill our matching grant! 

As the due date comes closer we are making plans for traveling and meeting with the expectant mom and baby. We will be traveling to her State and will have to stay there until ICPC is completed ( Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children). This legal process between States ensures the safety of the child. It could take anywhere from two to three weeks or longer. We will plan to stay at a hotel or rental with Emma and the baby during this time. 

This adoption placement will be more expensive than we had planned on.  We are so thankful for everyone who has financially supported us and helped match our grant from Lifesong. Our matching grant is for $7500 and we have raised over half already! We still need $3,500 to meet our match. We would appreciate you considering to partner with us in this adoption. 

We are excited to announce that we have been matched with an expectant mom who has a baby boy due in May. We are thankful that she chose our family. God has amazing plans for this child and we are so thankful that He has chosen us to be a part of that plan.

We would appreciate your prayers for the expectant mom and for us. Please pray that she would have peace and feel God’s presence. And please pray for us as we get ready to welcome a new baby into our family.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

The emotional roller coaster of being an active waiting family is complicated. When you ask how our adoption is doing we don’t know what to say. We could tell you about all the maybes and nos and neverminds. We could tell you of the stress of planning how we will make ICPC work in another state only to hear that we were not chosen. Will we have support when we need it? Will we make it to the finish line? Will we have to renew our homestudy? We should start scheduling doctors appointments and background checks in case we need to renew everything.

As Emma closes her eyes and folds her hands and prays that God would be with her brother or sister, my heart melts. She has faith that God will give her a brother or sister one day.

What we can do during this time is pray. Pray for the Birth Moms making difficult decisions. Pray that they find God’s peace in what they choose. Praying that God will protect their babies. Praying that God will reach them where they are and that they would feel His presence.

Thank you for praying with us and supporting us!

Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”