blogger mom

The Stetler's now own two homes.

First, just a piece of advice. I would never recommend purchasing a home during the third trimester of your pregnancy. Buying a home is an emotional process. When you add to that third trimester hormones...it might get a little ugly at times.

Last June we decided that we would eventually like to move back to Knox County. We both graduated from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and we still have a lot of connections in the area. We looked a little this summer, but decided we would wait a year or two. This fall we began to look again after we decided that we would like to be back in Gambier, OH (in Knox County) specifically. At this time we were only looking casually. In December we found a few houses on the internet that we felt like we had to go see. There's a lot more to this story, it involved a lot of emotions and many conversations between Eric and I, but we were on the same page and felt like now was the time to move. I have written a lot in the past about our time in Franklinton and I don't feel like elaborating right now on our time in this neighborhood. I'll summarize with this...we have learned a ton and have no regrets. It's part of our journey, our story as a family, but it's time for a new chapter.

We quickly narrowed our search down to two homes and through a somewhat frustrating process it became clear which house we were supposed to purchase. We now own a A frame in Gambier, about a mile from Kenyon College. This home sits on 8 acres, 7 of which are thickly wooded. We feel like it is a perfect fit for our family and I dream most nights about my boys running wild through those woods. Eric and I actually lived in Gambier for a year after we were married. We loved our time in this tiny village and always hoped to return. We still live in Franklinton and we will stay in this house until June so the boys can finish their school year at Westgate. The basement of our new home is being finished in April and then we'll have some painting to do before we move in. We plan on spending a lot of our weekends in Gambier this spring so we can get the garden started and get the house ready for our family. In July we have friends that are moving into this house in Franklinton. We plan on owning this home until they move out, then we'll try and sell it.

In other news...our adoption is beyond stalled at this point in time. There has been no progress in Liberia for over a year now. We have not received any communication from our agency since late summer. It became very clear that we had to make some decisions and that these decisions would not be easy. Our hearts have been so committed to this over the past 2 years, but at some point you have to start to let go a little. We have discontinued our financial commitment to our agency, but we have not yet heard what the consequences of that will be. We are hoping to hear more this week. My boys pray for their sister in Liberia each night, we've been explaining the importance of praying for her even if she never lives in our home. Evan is completely confused. Sometimes he thinks Nana is the baby in my belly. He can't decide who the pink nursery is for, Cora or Nana. This has all been hard for them as well. I haven't posted much on this blog about the adoption because I never wanted to jeopardize the adoptions of other families who are in process in Liberia. I felt more comfortable giving an update now that this blog is private.

Let's see...12 days and a baby girl is going to be part of our family. I never could have imagined this part of our story, but I'm so thankful for this blessing.