It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

   Well Christmas is here again. This year has had so many ups and downs and gone by so fast! We have been officially "waiting" for a little over two months now, but it really feels more like six! This is definitely harder than filling out paperwork. I have decided to start working on the nursery to help pass the time and be more prepared. I want to have everything moved out that won't be in there when the baby comes and have everything ready to move in as we get it. I have turned out to be a lot more organized and against clutter than I ever thought I would be (and definitely more than my mom ever thought I would be). We have a small pile of diapers and wipes collected but I plan to build it up a lot more each month. Maybe all this "nesting" will get the ball rolling :) I can't even explain how ready we are to have a baby! I am not sure he/she will even need a crib cause they will probably outgrow it before we get tired of holding them! 
    Just wanted to update everyone and let you know there have not been any changes, we are still waiting. No news. But the way it works we won't hear anything and then it will happen all at once :) So there is still time for a wonderful Christmas present! As always keep praying for us.

We're Approved!!

  

This is not our picture but it is so appropriate :)                                          

  Finally, after months of continual paperwork, home study visits, and fundraisers we are APPROVED! So this means we are now eligible for a birth mother to pick us to adopt her child. We could be waiting for a short period or years, but we are just excited to be to this point. As I mentioned before, there is just something about knowing we could get a phone call at anytime that is really exciting :) So please continue to keep us, our child, and their birth mother in your prayers. 

It's ALL In!!!

    We finally did it! We have all our paperwork, certifications, autobiographies, photo albums, etc. submitted to our agency!! I mailed the last of it off yesterday :) Our home study has been finished and reviewed by us and sent to our TX agency for review. Once they review it the study will be finalized and sent to them in hard copy. Then our file can be reviewed and approved for adoption. Then..... we will be placed out there as an adoptive couple to be picked by a birth mother! We are so excited to be at this point. It seems like the last few months have been a whirlwind!! We have been so blessed by all our friends and family and we can't help but say thank you all again. Your help has allowed us to go through these stages quickly, because we weren't having to wait on the money.
   Even though we can't be picked yet please start praying for us. Obviously we would be happy with fast :) but mostly we want you to pray for the right match for us, the birth mother, and our child. It is so exciting and a little scary to think that we could be picked in the near future:) I know we could have to wait awhile too, but there is just no way to know. Jonathan has said for a long time I'm the queen of "this could be the last time we ever...." but I really am thinking it a lot lately (in a good way) and I think he is too.
    As a side note, I bought our first diapers and wipes :) They keep forever right? I couldn't resist a good coupon deal. I went to rite aid three days in a row:) But I got three jumbo packs for about $5.60 a piece! It wasn't free like you see on TV but still a good bargain. I am gonna try to pace myself but couponing is a little addicting so we'll see.
   Anyways, I just wanted to share the good news, and I hope to be sharing more in the next week or so :)

ALMOST through with the paperwork!!

  Well we have now finished our in-home home study visits and only have one more visit to complete our home study completely! We are quickly approaching the end of this approval phase :) We almost have our paperwork done too!!! Yay!!!!!!!! I mean YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about feeling accomplished. Before long we might actually have time to spend an evening relaxing in front of the TV :) We will be ending our t-shirt fundraiser soon so if anyone wants a shirt you better go ahead and order it. If anyone wants a large of the brown faith, hope, & love shirt I have a friend that ordered an extra one (or two) accidentally that I am sure would be glad to sell it to ya:) Just let me know and I'll get you in touch with her. Also, We really, really need to sell these Titans tickets for Sept 29th! It will be here before we know it and I don't want to hold on to them too long. We do not have any big fundraisers left, and this will probably be the last one. Several people have said they heard we had all our money, but that's not true yet. However, we are getting really close. If anyone still has change jars that they want to return you can give them to Mindy at the bank. Thank you all so much for your support whatever if may be! Please continue to pray for us as we enter the next phase, waiting. 

Still Truckin' Along

  I told you I was not good at this blog thing :) A lot has happened since my last post. We had a great yard sale! People said it was more like a flea market! We have sold all our big items. The only fundraiser we have now is some Titans tickets we are trying to sale. The game is Sept. 29th against the Jets. So if you know anyone interested send them my way. We have started our home study process and have our first in home visit next week! This will be our second of four visits. As far as paperwork goes we are coming along pretty good there too. A few more weeks and we should have it all done:) So hopefully sometime in September we will be eligible to be selected by a birth mother! Yay!! We may have to wait a while to be selected but we may not. It's pretty exciting! We won't know what to do with our time when all we have to do is wait. We hope everyone will continue to pray for us through this journey. It has been so wonderful this far. God has blessed us in all our efforts to raise money and through so many friends and family members. We have meet some great people who have been where we are now and it's great to see how things ended up for them. Both of our agencies (for placement and home study) have been absolutely great! They are so good at what they do and wonderful to work with! Well it may not sound like a lot but we have been some busy people. A few more weeks of this craziness and then things will start to slow down.

Yard Sale Extravaganza !!

  Well as many of you know we are back to work on our fundraisers! That Saturday afternoon off really was nice :) We have added another storage building to hold our yard sale goodies! So we currently have our garage and two storage buildings full of stuff (and I mean FULL). Not to mention several friends and family members are holding stuff for us at their houses. So please spread the word. It will be just off Manchester's square on August 3rd. We need shoppers! We have such a variety of stuff and items from probably over 40 families! All the way to the bathroom sink (no kitchen sink yet) Yeah I know that was corny, but hey :) Tons of things will be $2.00 or less! All sizes of clothes too. I will give you more info as it nears but start saving the date! 

It was a SUCCESS!

   Well we have had our first big fundraiser, and it was a big success. I was a little worried the rain and flooding might deter people from getting out but it didn't stop our sweet friends and family! Our little hometown of Woodbury really put it's arms around us in support of this breakfast/auction. We had over 90 items in our silent auction from local businesses, friends, and family (and family of friends). Not only did our little town make a big showing but our Manchester crew really rallied behind us too. It was so great to see friends we had not seen in such a long time. Our "workers" did an amazing job at cooking, serving, cleaning, collecting money, delivering take out orders, and a lot of other jobs that made this breakfast/auction flow. It was so hot in the kitchen and very busy at times but they never complained. Even when I asked them to get there at 5:30 on a Saturday morning! We were not able to keep up with the number of people that came because it got so busy, but it was well over 200. The silent auction also went great! We are so overwhelmed by everyone's generousity and support, and we want to say THANK YOU to everyone to participated in any way!!

Pancake Fundraiser Breakfast

Who loves pancakes!!!! We are having our Pancake fundraiser on Saturday July, 6th from 6 AM to 10 AM. The breakfast will be held at the Woodbury Church of Christ fellowship hall which is located at the back of the building in the basement. One of the most exciting parts of the breakfast is the silent auction consisting of over 85 entries donated from local craftsmen and businesses. There has been an amazing outpouring of support for this fundraiser and we hope for a great turn out. Thank you so much to those that have donated  items to help make this breakfast a success. All we need now is a big hungry crowd on the morning of the 6th so save room for pancakes and bring some friends. Also check out our Christian Homes and Family Services display at the breakfast, it may help answer some of the questions you may have about "open" adoption process. 

Just a little closer....

  

  
  We are slowly getting a little closer to bringing a child into our home. We have completed about 3/4 of the paperwork for our agency! Now we are down to the harder things like our autobiographies, financial records, and the letter & scrapbook that will be shown to our prospective birth mother. I think if we put our minds to it we can complete these things in the next two weeks. We have also been looking for a Tennessee agency to do our home study, and I think we have found the one we are going to use. So hopefully we will be starting our home study soon too. (Which means more paperwork:)) But I know it will be worth it in the end! 
   As far as fundraisers go, we are nearing our first one. The pancake breakfast and silent auction is about a week and a half away! We are going to end up having around 60 silent auction items! I never dreamed people would have donated this much when I set out to do this. It has been amazing to see! We are really planning for a large number of people to come so I cannot wait to see how it all turns out :) We have stopped accepting donations for our yard sale because our garage and storage building are at full capacity! We are a little overwhelmed by all the pricing that has to be done too. But we have some great friends who are willing to help us with this once the breakfast has passed.  Hope to see you all on July 6th at the breakfast and August 3rd at the yard sale!!

Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction July 6th

  Two weeks from today on July 6th we will be having our pancake breakfast and silent auction! It will be at Woodbury Church of Christ in the Fellowship Hall from 6am till 10am. We hope many of you will stop by and have breakfast with us. Please tell everyone you know about it. We are hoping for a big crowd and have planned accordingly. We have donations from over forty businesses and individuals that will be in our silent auction. There are some really great items! Some of our auction items include: 31 thermal bags and purses, pet spay/neuter certificate, antiques, theater tickets, hair products and gift certificates, quilts, gas gift certificate, certificate to have custom bleach trays made for teeth whitening, scarves, gift certificate for pet grooming, free pizza, homemade desserts, stampin' up scrapbooking basket, car cleaning buckets, barbecue set, and more! We hope you will mark your calendars and show up to support us. 
Here are a few pics

      Yard Sale Pricing round one.....DONE!  We have some good stuff. Great clothes in all sizes. Especially little girls clothes and dress up clothes. If anyone has a little girl who wears size 2T with the initial R, we have some AWESOME stuff for you! We have an over the stove mounting microwave, bedding sets, wooden bench, ATV mounting cargo box, meat smoker, filing cabinet, purses, tons of toys, clothes, shoes, home decor, and tons more! And lots more to come.......Mark you calendars for August 3rd :)

Interested in making a donation?

     We finally have our donation link set up! If you are interested in helping us raise money and would like to make a donation towards our adoption expenses, we have set up a link for you. The link is in the side bar to the right of the blog. This link will take you to a pdf file that you should print off, complete, and mail in with your donation. Please do not send cash. 100% of your donation will be applied towards our adoption expenses. Our church congregation is the steward of this memorial fund and will send you a donation receipt that you may use for an itemized tax deduction. Thank you again for all your prayers and support!!!

Our T-shirts Are Here!!

     We finally got our t-shirts! They feel so soft. I love them! Many of you text me that you got your shirts in today too :) Thank you all who have ordered. I get excited every time I get an e-mail saying we sold one! I hope you all like them and wear them with pride. We will continue to sell them for a while, so if you want one you're not gonna miss out.

Let the stress begin :)

   Well the fundraisers are up and running! And the stress begins.... Planning these fundraisers is a little overwhelming starting off. However, my wonderful family is helping so much and calming me down:) My sister is wonderful! She is already a great aunt :) Thank you so much to the people who have purchased shirts! Mine have been shipped and I cannot wait to get them. I want one of all of them. I hope to sell one everyday, but I have not sold any today....yet. So if you want to be that one person that makes my day you have a few hours left :) We have submitted a lot of paperwork this week and now we are to the harder forms and things that must be done. But we are several steps closer than we were last week. I think Matthew 6:34 may be my verse of the day for the next several months! "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Thanks again for everyone's support and I will be posting some updates on the pancake breakfast soon.

Let the Fundraising Begin!!

    Well the news is officially public :) We are planning to adopt! As most of you know, the cost associated with adoption is no small amount. So, we have to big plans to do several fundraisers this summer. However, we are going to need a lot of support from our friends and family. So this is the first of many requests for your assistance. For our first fundraiser, we are selling shirts through adoptionbug.com. The link to the right will take you directly to our online store or just click HERE. We have selected six t-shirts to sell, and we will receive a portion of the profits from all the shirts sold. Also, if you buy one of the shirts that say show hope a dollar is donated  to their organization to help care for orphans. 
     We also plan to have a pancake breakfast and silent auction on July 6th, so save the date! This will be held in Woodbury. If anyone would like to donate a single items or make a basket to be sold at the silent auction that would be great! Just let me know what theme you plan to do if you choose to do a basket (so far we have a dental theme, movie theme, and scrapbooking theme baskets). Also, if there is anyone who would like to donate their services to be sold like a haircut, massage, mani/pedi, photo session, etc. that would be awesome too. Anyone who sells pampered chef, 31, scentsy, etc. and would like to donate items we can auction them off alone or use them in a themed basket. If you can't donate but have some good ideas for auction items please pass those on too. 
     The last request is for yard sale items. We are planning to have a yard sale in Manchester on August 3rd just off the town square. So, we need some good stuff! We can come pick it up or you can drop it off at our house or my parents house. Just shoot me an email and we will arrange something. 
      Whew! I think that is all for now :) Keep checking back on our blog for updates on our fundraisers and our progress towards adopting. Thanks for your help and encouragement. Please pass on the info to your friends and family. 

The Journey Begins

    We are about to embark on a new journey. As many of you know, we have been considering adoption for quite some time, and we have decided that the time is now. I plan to use this blog to keep everyone posted on our progress through the process. Right now we are still in the very early stages of the paperwork and planning phase. I should probably warn you, I know nothing about blogging! Normally, I  don't put my private information out there for all the world to see, but I figure this is for a good reason. We hope that you will encourage us and pray for us as we start this new venture to grow our family.