One Week Down

We have been approved now for about 1.5 weeks. I know it's a little silly, but we keep checking the stats page on our agency profile to see how many people have looked at us. I know that most of the hits are from friends and family, but we've had 145 people check out our page since July 15. I'm glad to see that people are looking ao we can cast as large a net as possible. Adopting is all about who knows you're adopting. There is a chance that someone will come hear something and pass our profile link along to them. There is a chance that a birthmom from LDSFS might look at our profile and choose us, but chances are that we'll be put in contact with a birthmom from someone we know. So, we know that can be a long wait and we're prepared, but it's fun knowing that people are looking. We are in the process of getting a profile up on www.parentprofiles.com right now. We've heard a lot of good things about them, so we anticipate that will much more traffic to our profile. We'll keep everyone up to date on what's happening. Thanks for your support.

We're Approved

Finally got approved by LDSFS today. Check out our profile. Please forward the link to anyone you may know that's exploring adoption.

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/23077794/ourMessage.jsf

Any adoption related questions can be sent to: paulanderinadoption@gmail.com

Our letter to Birth Parents:

Dear Birth Parents and Family,

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. We're sure that you have a lot going on in your life and you have some tough decisions to make. We appreciate all the thought and prayer you have put into exploring your options. We applaud you for even considering adoption. We wish you the best as you search for answers.

What we're all about:

I grew up in San Diego and come from a family of eight. Most of my family is still in Southern California so it's rough when we HAVE to go visit! I am obsessed with sports and played volleyball, waterpolo, baseball, football, wrestling & lacrosse at some point in my early years. My childhood is littered with memories of scouting trips, sporting achievements, church, snowboarding trips and late nights with friends.

Erin grew up in Boise and comes from a family of four. She had such a great childhood. She was involved in all sorts of sports activities but narrowed her love down to cross country in high school. She is in her high school cross country hall of fame. As good as she was in sports, Erin excelled in the classroom and went to college with a full ride academic scholarship.

We met over Christmas break through my sister in Boise, but we nearly met several years before that. I was playing lacrosse against Boise State and my sister invited Erin to my game to meet me. As luck would have it, it rained during the game and she left early without meeting me. But as fate would have it, we met a couple of years later. Our first date was on the ski mountain. I went nice and slow on the snowboard so she could keep up! I'm kidding, Erin grew up on the slopes and raced with competitive ski teams as a youngster. She can more than hold her own on the slopes. It was a great date because I only had to come up with new things to talk about during the time on the chair lift! It didn't take long to know that this was different. We had such a good time together and I was sad to return to Utah. Needless to say, we burned up the cell phone minutes talking into the wee hours of the night. We are evidence that long distance dating can actually work.

I proposed to Erin on national TV at halftime of a BYU Lacrosse game. I was coaching at the time and worked out the plan with the TV crew. She was in the stands and didn't see it coming. Both sides of our family were able to watch the proposal live from Boise and San Diego. We were married the following Summer in the Boise Temple.

I served a mission to Rio de Janiero, Brazil. I received a degree from BYU and have been working in the financial field for several years now. I am currently obtaining a Masters degree in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon. I was accepted into a special program where I'm able to continue working and attend school at the same time.

Erin received a degree in dental hygiene from Idaho State. She moved to Boise and worked as a hygienist for two years before we met. I was able to convince her to move to Utah after we got married. She is currently a dental hygienist but can't wait to be a mom and raise a family.

We live a very healthy and active lifestyle. We workout nearly every day and we love to spend time together during long runs on the weekends. We have both competed in several half marathons and Erin has completed multiple marathons. I played lacrosse in college and I'm still very involved with the team. I recently took up road biking and I'm looking forward to my first triathlon this fall. I can't wait to coach my kids in sports and have Erin be the crazy mom yelling on the sidelines!

We have so many of the same interests and love being together. No matter what is happening during the week, Friday night is date night. We love to just talk about the week and discuss politics. Oh, and we probably have the most spoiled cat (Jasmin) on this planet. We both love animals and can't wait to get a puppy.

Paul's thoughts on Erin:

I feel very lucky to have met Erin. Erin is wicked smart and very witty. She never fails to remind me that she was her high school valedictorian and I need to bow down. That is what really attracted me to her (well, that and she is really good looking). When we first met, we had so much fun teasing each other and I loved that she could keep up with my humor. She is the most disciplined person I've ever met. She works out religiously and sets lofty goals for herself to achieve. Erin loves to shop and that just isn't going to change anytime soon. Her idea of a great Saturday is dragging me around to three different malls to find the perfect "whatever." Honestly, who needs 60 pairs of shoes? Although she has become much better about not buying everything she sees on "sale" since we've been married, it's just a reality that I deal with! But it's these little quirks that make me love her so much. I couldn't imagine my life without her.

Erin's thoughts on Paul:

Paul is the most honest person I know. He has so much integrity. He will be the most fantastic father. He loves sports and there is no doubt in my mind that our children will be involved in athletics. He is a fantastic uncle. Everyone likes Paul and he makes friends easily. He is so considerate of others. His gentleness and love for life is why I love him so much. He loves his family and has a unique relationship with each one of his five siblings. He has sacrificed so much time to prepare himself to be a great provider for our family. He is very driven and sets and achieves incredible goals for himself. He is my best friend and I am so blessed to be sealed to him for time and all eternity.

We are so excited to become parents. We know that the Lord has a plan for us and we feel so good about adoption. We know that it's the best option for us to raise a family. We hope that this is just the beginning of you getting to know us.

With Love,

Paul & Erin

Good Adoption Article - New Media

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/10/adoption.internet.advertise/index.html

I already had all this lined up to do for our adoption search so I'm glad to hear that it actually works.

Forgot to mention in my first post that I will probably be posting some old photos to catch up for lost time. Enjoy.

Adoption Blog - Day 1

Today is day one of the adoption blog. I thought father's day would be as good as any other day to start the blog. We have been through so much paperwork and so many interviews that it seems like we started the adoption process so long ago. We started the process in March 2009 - Today is June 21, 2009. We still have a few last items to complete and we'll be approved for adoption. We're getting really excited because now it becomes reality. Like any other couple, we hope to be selected soon, but understand that this could take a long time. I will try and keep all posts related to adoption, but I just might have something funny to post or a crazy photo, so please forgive me now! Wish us luck in this journey - who knows what is going to happen. I'll let you all know when we're officially approved and post the link to our profile.