Moving on Up

Our Thermometer that is...
So far we have made 350.00 with T-shirt sales, but I ordered extras and intend to make more than that.
We had some generous people donate in addition to buying T-shirts, or donating instead of buying T-shirts, adding 160.00!
AND we were able to save 500.00 out of our paychecks this month.

All that narrows the gap by .... $1010.00!!

Making the amount we still need

8,679.00

I'd like to add that the 350.00 in T-shirts sales, reflects the fact that I already paid the bill to the T-shirt company. My goal on the T-shirt sales is 1,000.00 So we only need to sell 26 more shirts to make that happen. Because from here on out the T-shirts are all profit, since I paid the bill out of our sales.

Disappointing News....challenging myself

Ugh, our dossier should be arriving today in country. However last night we recieved some dissappointing news. When we committed to Ella it was though that she was already cleared for adoption. Then we were told that it was not until sometime in October. Well, now they (the SDA in her country) is saying not until Jan. Her country closes down for submittals sometime in November until sometime in February.
We are heartbroken. We are ready for her to be home, why should she sit in an orphanage parentless, when we are ready. That's 4+ months of her legs getting tighter and tighter, her not getting the proper nutrition, her not learning to bond with other people, her not having therapy. We are heartbroken, but we know everything will work out how it is supposed to. Thankfully we were extended at our base until summer, we were supposed to have to move in the spring.
I was just telling some AWESOME friends last night, that we were ready to take on the debt of another adoption. We would just pay it off once she was home, like we are doing with Anastasia. Well, we are 9,000 something short so far, and I am challenging myself to not have to go into debt for this, we have been given more time, wether we like it or not, and I intend to use it wisely.
Adoption is not easy. When Anastasia came out of her room this morning, I felt so thankful. So thankful, that what seemed like impossible, was possible, to bring her into our family.
I've added an expense thermometer. The money on it so far represents, the 8,000 we have saved ourselves so far, the money committed to us by some close friends, donations, etc... And as donations come in and as we are able to save money from our paychecks I will add to that thermometer. I love a challenge!!

This Is For Real..please do something

There are orphans in need, around 147 million, way too many. You don't need to adopt to make a difference. To make a huge difference, I mean, isn't saving 1 child's life a huge difference? When people say they admire me, there is one thing that goes through my head, and that is "don't". When we adopted our Anastasia (www.1moremakes5.blogspot.com) we were not out to adopt a special needs child, or to even save a child, or even to adopt internationally. Step, by shaky step God lead us that way. And I can tell you, these orphanages do not have the resources over there, it is scary to say the least. It is not right for a 5  year old to weigh 17 lbs. And this is not a rare occurrence. Time after time you can read about real families, families I know online, that within weeks of meeting their 2-3 year old child, the child has learned to sit up, make eye contact, reach for a toy, roll over, etc... This is not an exaggeration. I myself used to think it was, even after Anastasia's adoption I was ignorant.
This week, the RR community got a huge reminder of how real this is, one of their "healthy" waiting children passed away. Several families have seen her recently while picking up their own children from the same orphanage. Ann Marie, was about to get sent to the institution. 4 is the age in Ella's country where these babies are sent to an institution for a life of little hope. Ann Marie was a household name for all RR families. We all knew who she was and many families advocated for her and loved her.
It is not know why she passed away, she is not the first Reeces Rainbow child to pass away while being on the waiting child listing, and unfortunately she will not be the last.
I want to share a poem that Meredith Cornish wrote : www.cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com

While we were...






While we were eating…
… they were hungry
While we were playing…
… they were restrained
While we were tucking our kids into bed…
… they were alone
While we turned up the heat…
… they laid in the icy cold
While we wrapped our children in blanket sleepers…
… they laid in their own excrement
While we sang songs and listened to music…
… they listened to the screams and cries of those around them
While we rocked our babies…
… they silently rocked themselves
While we hugged our kids…
… they scratched at their own faces and pulled their own hair for stimulation
While we cried over scraped knees…
… they moaned in their loneliness
While we brushed our daughters’ beautiful hair…
… they had their heads shaven to stave off the lice
While we fought off the flu with love and nourishment…
… they got the flu and went Home.
No longer suffering… but so many more still are.
In memory of those that have never felt the love of a family, but have passed away alone.

 

Sending off the "Beast"

Haha, this is what RR families call our dossier (our official set of documents that get submitted to the country we are adopting from) Let me tell you the dossier for this country is nothing near as "beastly" as the one for Russia was. I drove to Atlanta this morning to get everything apostilled, then headed to FedEx to ship it off.
Feeling paper pregnant now!
What now?
We wait. Basically.
1. To see if she clear for international adoption yet
2. If she is our dossier will be submitted to the proper people over there
3. If not then we wait some more
4. If we are submitted then we wait to get a travel date, best case scenario would be late November, but it could be as late as February.

Fundraiser Time!!

I don't like fundraising, I don't like asking for money, most people don't. I love to give, really I do, it's one of my favorite things, ask my husband, even if we weren't adopting again we wouldn't have any money because I'd be giving it all away. So I will full force fundraise in the next month for our adoption. I feel lead to do this. Fundraising for our adoption not only gives others the opportunity to take part in our journey and to help us (thank you) but it spreads the word for orphans everywhere. I have chosen fundraisers that I believe will not only benefit us, but others. Click on the tabs above to read about our T-shirts and our Upcoming Gold Party.

I have kind of kept my heart guarded during this process, not quite letting myself enjoy the possibilites yet. Adoption is emotionally straining, as is pregnancy don't get me wrong.
We have all of our paperwork ready!! Praise the Lord, and thank you to those who have helped to make it happen. We got our Golden Ticket this past Saturday!! (immigration approval) and we are getting the last documents notarized and approved today. I may be able to get this mailed by the end of the week, if not, then the beginning of next.
Where do we go from there? Only time will tell. I will keep you updated!

Building to bring my baby home

I have always wanted to learn to build. Someone told me about an awesome website with great knock off furniture plans. I have been wanting this bookrack since I saw it years ago, and I especially wanted the above the bed bookrack for each of my kids. But I was too cheap. So when I saw the plans for this, I got busy!
Gary helped me with the first one. I was scared of the table saw, then an awesome friend lent me her husband's miter saw, and I love it, not scary at all.
So, for our first fundraiser I will be creating a custom made bookrack for a lucky someone.
I have chosen not to do a "raffle" These take a lot of work to make, and the purpose of my hard work is to make money for our adoption. So for the first bookrack, it will be wider version pictures below. I fit at least 130-140 books on the skinny verson so 150-175 books should fit easily on the wider version, as it has a little more book space than the skinny version.
You will get to pick your paint color!! And it will come with hardware to secure  it to your wall.
I am asking for a minimum donation of 85.00

       The one in this picture was made for a friend who hired me to made the wide version, love it!

I make them so that they fit snug against the wall with no gaps.

This was my first one, it is the tall skinny version. I kept it for my kids.

If you want a matching small bookrack you can add that for 25.00

I made these for myself and a friend hired me to make them for her 4 boys. They go above the bed to store nighttime reading books. I have not hung mine yet, as we are due to move this spring, but I am so excited about them!!

Our Cost Breakdown

I have not felt lead to post this till now. We will be fundraising in a more proactive way soon.
This is our projected cost breakdown:

What is the cost breakdown?

UP TO $24k for one child

Breakdown: (ROUGH estimates)

$700 homestudy update PAID

8/17           $100   mailing 1^st set of docs PAID

8/28           $830 USCIS,i-600a and fingerprinting PAID

$3000 flights first trip

$3000 flights second trip

$8600 facilitator fees

$1700 first trip lodging ($80/nt 3 weeks)

$1100 second trip lodging ($80/nt 2 weeks)

$450 first trip food/other supplies ($20/day 3 weeks)

$250 second trip food/other supplies ($20/day 2 weeks)

$600 passport

$550 Visa and Medical

$2000 transportation (in country)

$1000 orphanage donation/dossier preparation costs

Still need to pay 22,250

By keeping a tight budget we have been able to pay for our costs so far out of hubby's paychecks. That is something that God has always gifted me with, I can save money when needed. I drive my husband crazy with it too I think. There is no Starbucks, no hair appointments, no pedicures, etc...

We have been blessed with some very generous donations. Our FSP account with Reece's Rainbow has 531.00 in it, wahoo!!

Stay tuned for some upcoming fundraisers. And if your willing to skip a Starbuck, a lunch out, etc... to help bring Ella home, then click on our Ella Button to the right and you can make a tax deductible donation to Reeces Rainbow into our account!!