Frankie & Jenn's Adoption Adventure

Adoption Finalization, Baptism, and Moving!

Jenn Munoz — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 20:13:28 +0000

7/25/2024

It’s officially official!! We are the Munoz family of 5!

Adoption day went as smoothly as could be! We had several friends and family members join us on our special day both in person and on Zoom. We were both nervous as all heck, but knew that with so much support and love, this hearing was more to legalize the process of adoption and grant the children their legal new names. My parents even made statements to the judge on our behalf. (Remind me to get copies of those!) It was such an emotional day filled with happy tears! I cannot thank everyone enough for all the love, support, paperwork, time, energy, faith, trust, etc. The list is endless.

The next day, again surrounded by friends and family members, these three were brought into the Catholic Church through the Sacrament of Baptism. Original Sin has been washed away, and they are made new through Christ. Lord, please guide these children and give them Your strength to follow in Your footsteps. Please also guide us as parents to set an example for them to follow and help us to lead them home to You. Amen.

Next up…. Moving day! With the quick expansion of our family, we have decided to purchase a home in Grand Forks and will be selling our home in Reynolds. There is a lot to be done in the next few weeks, but hoping we can relax soon. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.

Adoption Date Set!

Jenn Munoz — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 15:55:24 +0000

7/10/2024

We finally have an adoption date!! Please keep us in your prayers on 7/19 and 7/20, as we will officially be welcoming these three children into our family and into the Catholic Church!

Adoption Update

Jenn Munoz — Wed, 15 May 2024 16:02:48 +0000

5/15/2024

I realize I have not posted an update in a while. Thank you for hanging in there with us!

I feel as though everything is happening so fast and slow as molasses all at the same time. After our home study was completed, all our paperwork needed to be compiled and individual child assessments also needed to be completed. Our adoption case worker worked hard on this for us, and once everything was complete, the final application was sent through the appropriate approval levels including the state. It took a few months of waiting for that to happen. In the meantime, we took a family vacation to Ohio and Indiana for the solar eclipse. Traveling with three young kids in a car for so long is… challenging! But it was Oh So Worth It. I loved spending time with our family, and we were able to reconnect with some family members that we hadn’t seen in a very long time. All the adventures we had will not be forgotten! Especially the visit to the fire station and getting to sit in each of the fire trucks and ambulances available! Memories of the fire station and the sun “getting smaller and smaller” are still talked about!

Late April, we received word that our paperwork had been approved! The next steps waiting for us would be to schedule adoptive placement, and then submit a request for a court date. Typically, when the adoptive family/child(ren) finally get to the adoptive placement date, this would start the 6-month period of the child(ren) being in the home. Since we have had these three in our home through fostering, the time they have already spent with us counts towards that 6-month period. We have had these kids in our home for 11 months! Can you believe it?!

We had an adoptive placement date scheduled for the beginning of May. However, this is when things got tricky. Some feelings surfaced on whether or not it was right for us to adopt all three kids. Feelings that maybe it would be better for the kids (and us) if we only adopted two, or not adopt them at all. In addition to us providing them with a good home, we also needed to ensure that we prioritize our health. This was incredibly hard for us both as we struggled to make sense of these feelings. With the immense reward that has come with this adventure, there has also come trying times. Suddenly going from zero kids to three is crazy, and to have them so close in age is even crazier. I am grateful that God has given us the grace and perseverance to go through this process. I also know that without God, our marriage would not have been this strong, and would have been nearly impossible to take all this on.

As much as I wanted to fight against it, I knew that we had to trust ourselves to explore these feelings and trust that everything would work out. I was not happy about it one bit, but it was what was needed for our relationship and our family. After expressing these concerns, we were notified that adoptive placement would be put on hold. Rightfully so, the case worker wanted to ensure that we were going to be dedicated to all three of these kids for the rest of their lives. And since they had been through so much trauma in the past, it was extremely important that they stay together as a group.

So. Many. Emotions….

What if everything fell apart right in that moment? What if it was determined that we were not a good fit for them, and they would be removed from our lives forever? But, also, what would happen if we felt pressured into adopting? Would we be left with resentment towards each other or the kids? Would we still be in good health to be able to live full, long, healthy lives?

This was time that we needed to take for ourselves. Time with no pressure, time to just think. I was utterly heart broken, but put all my trust in Frankie and in God that everything would work out the way that God had planned.

After a few days of feeling the pressure dissipate and reflecting on the situation, we were able to take the time, clear our heads, and come back more refreshed. Trusting in God, we came to the conclusion that God put these kids in our lives for a reason, and that God would always provide. We have since notified the appropriate team members and today we signed paperwork for adoptive placement!!

Next steps…. Setting a court date for finalization, and hopefully soon after, we can have the kids baptized.

Adoption Home Study

Jenn Munoz — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 17:31:25 +0000

2/1/2024

Woohoo! We are making progress! Our Adoption Home Study is finally completed and approved! We are SO close! There is one more part to the adoption paperwork. The case worker will need to complete a personal development assessment for each child. She will complete this based on what she observes of the children monthly. It will include what their needs are and what needs she might see them developing in the future. She has mentioned to us that she sees our bond with the children developing, and we are growing as a family. It is important to keep in mind that through the adoption process, the workers are not only looking at our home as a safe place for the children, but they are also looking to see how the family functions as a unit. The adoptive placement needs to prove beneficial for the parents as well as the children. We thank you all for your prayers and support. You are all so special to us and your support is so meaningful! More to come soon! God Bless!

Several Updates! (It’s a long one!)

Jenn Munoz — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 21:23:56 +0000

10/20/2023

Well… It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update!

As you can probably imagine, we are busy!
Over the last few months, a lot has happened, so I will try to remember it all and provide updates where I can.

I was able to take 3 months of leave from work when the kids came into our home, and we worked on getting into a routine. My dad came to visit to help us get established. We wanted the transition of when I would go back to work as seamless as possible. Therefore, we started the kids with daycare, and tried to anticipate what the usual drop off and pick up times would be once I would go back to work so that we could implement them right away.

The kids had a ton of appointments. We wanted to get them situated with a new doctor, and see what therapy services they might need. There were about 6 weeks or so where we had at least one appointment a day. I suppose that happens with 3 little kids.
In addition, I was clothes shopping, food shopping, cooking, and trying to keep up with the heaps of laundry. I am so grateful my dad was able to stay with us and help!

The daycare situation was hard to implement. But by God’s grace and ultimate plan, it worked out better than I could have imagined. I first had them enrolled at a new daycare in town because there were no other openings. I had their names on several wait lists hoping something else would open up. Since this daycare was so new, they didn’t have therapy services set up. I would have had to take a lot of time off of work to get the kids to and from their sessions – not to mention it was a bit of a further drive. I was desperately calling around and took a chance at touring a daycare that didn’t have any openings. The director was so nice and listened to all of my concerns as well as offered recommendations to set us in the right direction and set us up for success. She took time to review the daycare’s availability, and sure enough, she actually had 2 temporary openings and offered to have our 2 older kiddos there for 2 weeks. She was unable to offer an infant opening, but I took advantage of the bonding time with baby.
She also reached out to other directors (now knowing the full situation), and a few days later, I received a call from one of those daycares. They had 2 openings and would conveniently be able to take our 2 older kiddos right after their 2 weeks ended with the other daycare. This was amazing news! This daycare would be able to provide therapy services at the daycare, so there would not be any transportation needed to get them to and from those appointments. So, I immediately set up an appointment to tour the facility, which was scheduled for a week later. At my visit, they informed me that they just had an infant spot open up that day and the start date would be the same as the 2 other kiddos. God clearly had His hand in this!

As we progressed through the months, the kids became more comfortable with us and our routine. They started eating more food that they weren’t used to eating, their skills were advancing, and they started trusting us more. As expected with any new daycare and cold season, our immune systems were challenged. On top of that, baby seemed to be sick once a month and she was very uncomfortable. As we started approaching September, I was planning our first birthday party together and I was planning for the upcoming transition of me going back to work. At this point, I realized that not only was I going back to work at the busiest time of the year, but Frankie was going to be in his last term of school, and we still needed to figure out how to make time for cooking meals and taking care of the kids through it all.
We were exhausted and stressed. I knew we were going to need help.

My mom and Godmother were already planning on visiting us mid-Sept. To make this even better, my mom was able to extend her stay with us, and she has been a huge help as we worked through the tight deadlines. Thank you both for visiting and helping!

Frankie is doing well in school and is anticipating the completion of his master’s degree by the end of this weekend!

There are several legal processes that happened over the course of the summer. For the sake of all involved, I am unable to discuss these matters. However, I am pleased and so incredibly excited to share that we have officially been identified as the adoptive parents of all three kiddos! We are working on completing a 3rd home study due to all agencies and processes being separate and are anticipating adoption within the first few months of the new year!!

Licensing Updates

Jenn Munoz — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 01:28:58 +0000

6/12/2023

It’s official! We are licensed for foster care! We had our third and final home study visit on Friday and received the official licensing notice today!

It feels so real! The official transition weekend is coming up so fast! 4 sleeps!

Things have felt hectic around the house with trying to get their room organized, laundry finished, paperwork completed, and this week, preparing my coworkers for my leave. We have several appointments next week for them and for me, so it will take a lot of coordinating. But this is what we have been waiting for! We are excited, nervous, and all of the feelings wrapped into one.

We are grateful that my dad is able to come out for a few weeks to help us transition to new daycares, new services, appointments, meal prepping, etc. Love you mom! See you soon!

Thank you to all who have offered their help!! We appreciate every little thing you say or do for us! This process is overwhelming, not just with paperwork, but from going from 0 kids to 3. It will take some adjusting, so if we are quiet for a while, know that we are still reading your emails, replies, texts, etc.

For all that have sent gifts, cards, prayers, helped out at church or at home, etc, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! It helps us to focus on the bigger picture and worry less.

God has a wonderful plan, and we are so glad we said “yes”!

Home Study

Jenn Munoz — Sat, 27 May 2023 18:51:30 +0000

5/27/2023

Taking some time while all three duckies nap to write a few updates.

The next step in all that is happening is to get our home study completed so that we can get our foster care licensing. Wait… home study? Didn’t we just complete one of those in March? The answer is yes. So with all of the agencies being separate, we will need to do a home study for foster care licensing and another home study for adoption. Each of these home studies are a minimum of 3 visits, and lots of paperwork.

We should have had our first home study visit on May 16^th, but due to us being sick, we postponed it until the 22^nd. On the 22^nd, the foster care licensing agent came to our home and asked us several questions that we have answered through our previous home study. I know they are just doing their job and trying to get to know us. But its frustrating to have to go through the same process over again with another person. Oh well. Anything for these little ones!

Next up for us: Purchasing fire extinguishers and making sure each room has a working smoke alarm, and replacing any that are expired. We also need to draw up a fire escape plan for our house. Other than that, most of the paperwork has been completed, and we are waiting for the next 2 home visits. Next one coming up on the 30^th. We will also be needing to start paperwork with the adoption agency and get background checks and fingerprinting completed (for the fourth time in less than a year). We will get there!

All things being considered, I am grateful that things are progressing towards us having these kiddos in our home. We are praying that it will be less than a month away! Thank you for all of your generosity and prayers! Your immense support means the world to us!

We are so overwhelmed with joy, love, and grace! We honestly cannot thank everyone enough! God is working through us and each one of you to provide an amazing life for these kiddos. THANK YOU! Please let us know how we can pray for you!

Several Updates

Jenn Munoz — Wed, 10 May 2023 01:12:24 +0000

5/09/2023

Goodness! Where do I start?!

So much has happened in the last month. It has been a whirlwind.

Last I wrote, we had officially been identified as the adoptive home of one of the three children. All three of the children are at different points in their paperwork and this can often take quite some time. In order to officially adopt, the children need to be in our home for at least 6 months. Our goal is to keep the siblings together while their paperwork continues, so we are required to go through foster care licensing. Then as the paperwork for the others advance, the time they will have spent with us through that point will count towards the 6 months. Most recently, we received our background checks (yes, new ones) back and are ready to start the home study (yes, another one).

In addition, we are required to do several training courses for foster care licensing. Some of these include but are not limited to fire safety, furnace inspection, unity training, and training to understand children with trauma.

While all of this is going on, I am looking at what daycare we would be able to have them in and where they would receive their services. Please pray that we get at least 2 daycare openings by the time they come into our home.

I was planning on going on bonding leave, but now I am receiving conflicting information, so I am not sure if this will be possible right away, or if I would need to wait until the adoption is finalized to take my leave. If I am unable to take leave when they are placed with us, this will make things more difficult as daycare is still hard to find and I would still need to work.

Frank and I are still working full time, and he is still in school. He is working on his Masters and is planning to be finished this December.

We were able to start visits with the children, and last weekend, we had them for our first overnight! They had a little bit of a hard time getting to sleep, but I can’t blame them. New home, new beds, new people… It will all take some getting used to. With all that being said, they were all asleep by 9p and aside from one baby feeding, slept until 7a. Going forward, we will have them on the weekends, so we will need to coordinate between work and picking them up on Fridays as well as dropping them off on Sunday.

Now, you might think, how will they get 3 car seats in their Equinox? The answer is… we can’t. So, car shopping we went. With the help of our cousin, we were able to purchase a Traverse! It is in need of a few repairs, so for the time being we have a lifted Yukon XL (basically a bus) for a rental.

If we have been on the quiet end and aren’t in contact as much as we usually are, please know that it is nothing personal. Honestly, this is all overwhelming. It is a transition for all of us, and we are trying to make everything work well and get everything we need in a small timeframe. God bless!

God is Good!

Jenn Munoz — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 03:18:09 +0000

4/17/2023

Praise be to God!

We have been waiting for what seems like forever. Two months ago, we were informed about a sibling group that was looking for adoptive parents. It has been three weeks since the first custodial hearing. Waiting… waiting… waiting. Sometimes patiently, sometimes impatiently. Having this all happen during Lent was perfect timing, and gave us time to reflect. The thing that always came to the top of our minds was that God’s Will be done. God has His hand in each step of our lives. And if this was meant to be, He would make it happen, whether that means with these kids or other kids.

This morning, we were notified that we have been identified as the future adoptive parents of this sibling group! It has been a whirlwind of a day to say the least! Only a few of the siblings are eligible at this time, and the others are still going through the process.

What is next?? More paperwork, believe it or not. It is our goal to not separate the siblings from each other. Therefore, we have decided to go through the process of foster care certification so the siblings can stay together as we go through this transition. One of the more challenging parts about the North Dakota system is that all the agencies are separate. Foster care is separate from adoption, separate from infant adoption, and separate from adopting kids with special needs. This means that we need to do another application, another set of background checks and fingerprints, and other foster care training.

Things will be moving quickly! We are excited to share the news with everyone! Please keep in mind that everything is still confidential. Keep sending your support and kind words. We love hearing from you!

Puzzle Update #6

Jenn Munoz — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:00:26 +0000

3/9/2023

We are three quarters of the way to our goal!

We continue to be blessed with an immense amount of support from our family and friends. Each one of your blessings touch our hearts! All of your prayers are greatly appreciated, and please know that we are praying for all of you!

This next month will be a month of waiting. We know God’s timing is perfect, but we also sometimes struggle with letting Him be in control. This time of waiting has been perfectly placed within the season of Lent. Lent is a time of waiting, fasting, praying, and drawing ourselves closer to God. Through this, we have the opportunity to prepare our hearts and our home for these children. We can see all of the good works that God is revealing in our lives, and we are overjoyed for what He has in store for our future.

Please pray for us as we prepare and please let us know how we can pray for you!