The Travelin' Texans to become 5?

Well, we have big news to share (with all 3 of my readers..lol). We are expecting to become a family of 5 this year. And no, I'm not pregnant. We have begun the adoption process to adopt a little boy from Kazakhstan. This might come as a shock to friends or family that just happen to be reading, but this has been in the works for a while.

Since I was a young girl, I have always been drawn toward adoption, in fact, I never wanted birth children...of course, that has changed. We have 2 wonderful, beautiful biological girls who are precious to us. So, why another? Why adoption?

I think both of us just felt we weren't finished growing our family. And I decided I was done being pregnant. We've had the sorrow of one lost pregnancy and the joy of giving birth to 2 wonderful daughters. Although I treasure the moments of my pregnancies in which I felt the babies kicking or seeing their ultrasound, I just knew I did not want the experience again. I knew there are children out there who need a loving home. They need to know what it's like to have a family and we have lots of love to go around as well as resources to handle the challenges that will inevitably surface.

We are hoping for a boy. To be honest, at first, I was drawn towards having another girl, I mean we have 2, we know what to expect. On the other hand, I knew my husband was missing having a boy to share his passion for sports and other 'manly' pursuits. My husband also rightly pointed out that it would probably be hard for the girls to accept another girl in the family. I agree with him, I think a boy would perfectly complete our family.

Why Kazakhstan? Well, about 2 years ago, I was talking to a mom who recently adopted a child from Russia and she mentioned Kazakhstan. So I started looking into adoption from Kazakhstan. I actually knew about Kazakhstan as I knew an international student from there when I was working at a university. Also, my husband's company has a presence there and he has talked to a colleague who worked there.

Before I started looking into Kazakhstan, I was researching all kinds of options, from domestic adoptions, to foster care and even thought about emergency foster care. I also had to think about our family and our daughters and how this would impact them. I just knew a child from Kazakhstan, hopefully a Kazak child or mixed Asian child, would fit in with our biracial family. (In case you didn't notice, I'm caucasian and my husband is asian.) I looked into China, but it seemed to be getting harder for adoptions there and most of the children available are girls.

So I just want to invite you along for the ride as we begin our adoption journey. Buckle up, it might be a bumpy ride!