Success!

As I've mentioned, this adoption has been a super big step of faith - particularly on the financial side. So, I planned something I said I would never do again...a garage sale. We gathered donations with lots of help from some very dear friends and with some fear and trepidation launched our sale this week. I felt like it would be worth it and would be successful if we made $1,500 but I also knew that might be a lofty goal given my previous non-success ($12). Day 1 ended and to our complete surprise, we made $1,000. Day 2 & 3 followed and our total at the end was around $2,220. We are simply in awe and praising God. We couldn't have done it without help and we are so thankful for the love poured out on our family.

While it might be crazy, I decided that I will have a garage sale at our house later in June (just 1 or 2 days). We sent A LOT to Goodwill but kept a lot of the nicer things and summery kids clothes. Since most of the work is done, I think it will be pretty "easy." It will be much lower key but we are happy to take non-clothes items if you are looking to get rid of things (we are not planning to add any clothing items to this sale).

Thanks so much for the prayers, encouragement, and help! Our next large amount is due around the end of July.

I'm getting so excited to see the little face that will be joining our family! Oh and we haven't really mentioned this but in the end, we decided to specify a girl. So, we are thinking pink around here. There is still a chance we might find a little boy on the waiting child list that would be the perfect fit for our family but we are 80%+ sure that we will be welcoming our first DAUGHTER! We are all thrilled.

News

Today has been a great day! After a really tough week, I was struggling to think straight much less organize and run the fundraising sale. Thanks to some super amazing friends, we got the sale kicked off today! We had an awesome (IMO) first day - we sold things I never expected to sell. What a blessing!

To top it all off, we have a copy of our written homestudy in our hands for review which means our agency is also getting it for review! Hooray! One step closer. I think the review will take about 2 weeks and then we will hopefully be able to send in our 1-800a application. Very exciting and the timing couldn't have been more perfect - I think we have the funds for this next step as of today! Thank you, Lord.

I'm hoping to sleep well tonight. I think I managed less than 3 hours last night - too much on my mind. :) Come out and see us at the sale - we still have a TON of stuff and we love visiting with our friends! And thank you for the prayers and support - we can definitely feel them. We also really appreciate the love and support through the loss of my grandfather - it has been the hardest part of this month.

YAY FOR TODAY!

Sale Update

Pressing on and getting ready for our big sale - praying God provides in a big way! We have some BIG fees coming up and we are trusting Him for them!

Here are a few things:

1) We are STILL accepting donations! We are happy to pick them up!
2) We are desperately in need of some people to help the days of the sale: May 24-26. The time for the sale is 7:30-2 each day and it's being held in Avon. Let me know if you can volunteer!
3) You can shop the sale! We will be setting up all week - if you want to shop early, we might be able to arrange a Wednesday evening pre-sale shopping time for friends. Let me know!
4) We have TONS of baby and kids' clothes in all sizes and both genders (many name brands!), baby items (including a sling and boppy!), housewares, a few home school items, books, toys, home decor, kitchen stuff, antiques...lots of things! Something for everyone!
5) Spread the word! We would love for you to spread the word to your friends and family about the sale via fb, e-mail etc. (if you need the location, message me and I will send it to you!)

Thanks everyone! We are working hard to have an organized and successful sale to BRING HOME #4!!!!

It's Been a Really Hard Week

I'm struggling with saying goodbye to my wonderful Grandpa. Really, all else pales in comparison at the moment as I take some time to grieve one of the greatest men I have ever met. So proud to be his granddaughter. So happy he knew we were adopting again.
http://andrew-alaina.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-goodbye.html

Homestudy - Check!

Today we finished our portion of the home study. Now we just wait for it to be written and approved and then we file our I-800A form to be fingerprinted (yes, again!) and approved for international adoption by the government. I'm feeling a huge sense of relief to have this portion of paperwork (which is more than our Dossier) completed as well as our 9 courses (12 credits) of Hague education done. The final step was the home visit today which went great. We love our home study agency (we used them as our only agency for all of the boys) - they make an intrusive and sometimes overwhelming process as nice and friendly and un-intrusive as possible.  I'm now thoroughly enjoying the very clean house and giving myself a little bit of a break this afternoon. :)

We've started on our Dossier and I hope to have that wrapped up fairly quickly. My goal is to have our Dossier to China by the end of July and then we wait to be matched if we have not already found #4 on a waiting child list. Exciting!

Yes, relieved today. So, so glad to be moving forward!

We have our coffee shop up and running - $5 from every bag goes towards our adoption! Pampered Chef is available and most all of my income from that is going towards our adoption (you can place an order and have it shipped directly to you - no host/hostess name needed!). We are also still collecting items for our giant garage sale that will be held at the end of this month - we are happy to come pick things up!

Am I really going to be a mama to FOUR kids?! Hard to believe.

The Trust Thing

Today, I feel the weight of this journey. We are at the beginning and we have many months to go. Today, I am worried. Worried about affording this, worried about whether I can handle the medical condition, just worried and stressed about pretty much all of it. It's not healthy, right, or good and so I'm working on that trust thing. I desperately want to see the whole plan and be on the other side of this journey and yet the journey is part of the story. And it's definitely faith building.

We have been incredibly blessed to receive a few gifts towards our adoption and we are truly thankful. While we are working very hard, we know that we will not be able to make all the money just through work so we are so grateful for God's blessing through others. It's a beautiful part of the journey. So, thank you to those of who have blessed us that way!

Other than that, I don't have much to report. We postponed our final home study until next week due to a very challenging beginning of this week. Pampered Chef is going pretty well and we are thankful for the little bit extra that will generate for the adoption fund. We are starting to prepare for our big sale! I think the kids will sell cookies and Popsicles and water. They will think it's fun!

I'm perhaps most excited about the names we have discussed but those will remain secret for now. :)