Organizing My Life - An Adoption Fundraiser!

I love being organized.  It's kind of an obsession.  A friend of mine at work constantly comments on how clean my desk is.  I find comfort in the order.  In this time of waiting in my life, you can bet my house is cleeeeean!  One of my favorite tools for organizing my life is my hoard of Thirty-One bags!!!

I have a few of the Organizing Utility Totes - one for school, one for our dog Jax (yep, when we travel he gets his own bag!), and one for miscellaneous stuff (church bag, Jazzercise bag, weekend dash out of town bag).  I've got the Cindy Tote - which I LOVE for air travel.  It zips and holds a lot!  Great for a carry on!!  I've got a couple of purses - the Demi purse (no longer sold) and the skirt purse.  I love the skirt purse!  It's great for changing around to match what I'm wearing/doing that day.  Since I bought mine, they've come out with a bigger version (so jealous!).  I have a couple of the Thermal Totes, and let me tell you, I could not imagine life without them!  I use one daily to carry my lunch to school, and on those days I forget to bring it home (who me???), I can use the other one the next day (I just have to bring them both home or things get yucky!!).

The list could go on.  I'm a big fan of the brand.  They really tailor their gear towards being practical, and it is top quality.  And of course, they are based on Christian principles!  I was so excited to hear a friend of mine has become a Thirty-One Independent Consultant!  I went to Marcia's debut show, and she is FABULOUS!  If you need anything, she is the lady to go to!  And because Marcia is just so awesome, she has offered to do an adoption fundraiser for Baby I with Thirty-One!

So if you're like me and always on the look out for great products to make life a little easier, I totally recommend vising her site.  www.mythirtyone.com/marciasthirtyone  And for a limited time (2/17/14-2/24/14) you can click on Michelle's Adoption Fundraiser and when you shop you support our adoption!  Happy shopping/organizing!

Everyday is Valentine's Day

Hey ya'll!  Well, I don't want you to think we've fallen off the face of Earth.  Quite the contrary.  We have been so swamped, I feel we've hardly had a moment to sit and reflect, much less write a blog post.  But with "snowmageddon" going on outside, a few days of forced "do not go outside" has brought about the perfect opportunity to do just that.  So here we are again!

February marks the second month of our blog, and the sixth month of our adoption journey.  It's hard to express what I'm thinking and feeling.  I'm completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of love this has brought to our lives.  I must say: I am SO proud of our friends, family, co-workers, church folks, and friends of friends.  Every day, everywhere I turn, someone wants to give me a hug and celebrate this time in my life.  I could not be more proud to be surrounded by such open-minded and big-hearted people!!!  I've read a lot of stuff where other adoptive mommies have said basically, "You will not believe some of the dumb, hurtful things people will say, but you've got to ignore it."  Fortunately, no one I've encountered has said any of those things (at least not to my face!).  Rather, when I am so stressed out and wondering how I can hold myself together with this waiting game, I am offered the one thing I need most right now: a hug.  Thank you!

So again, with the wretched weather outdoors, we've been stranded indoors, and we actually did start on a nursery this week!  One day there will be a little Baby I to occupy said nursery, but until then, we've got a lot of work left to do.  I'm so lucky to have a bestie (who was my bestie before such a term even existed) who gifted me a COOOOOZY glider rocker and ottoman!  Annnd, my husband's dear grandparents gave me a birthday giftcard to the fabric store, where I purchased the softest fabric on Earth!!  So, with a mug of hot chocolate sitting near by, I was able to sew my heart away and create this beauty:

Don't you just want to curl up in that with a good book???  I may have to put in some time pre-baby!  And all for $0!!!  THANK YOU BELOVED ONES FOR THIS GIFT!!!

That's the start of the nursery.  I'm itching to put together our puzzle, too, and hang that on the wall.  We have quite a few pieces left still!  Several people have asked lately, "How can we help?"  Frankly, I would LOVE for your to sponsor one of our "Color of Love" puzzle pieces.  So our puzzle fundraiser is still on!!!  Please feel free to contribute: http://bringinghomebabyi.blogspot.com/2014/01/paypal-safer-easier-way-to-pay-online.html  Coming soon, we're also doing a Thirty-One fundraiser (Because who DOESN'T love Thirty-One bags?!?!? My closet could sooooo be an advertisement for them!) and a huge, multi-family yard sale.

There you have it.  We are waiting.  Sometimes, I'm just barely hanging on and keeping myself composed, but we continue to wait.  That's the good and the bad of it.  And this Valentine's Day, I couldn't pick a better man to have sitting next to me while I wait.  And I couldn't be more grateful for the amazing people who surround me each and every day.  Happy Valentine's Day!  I love you all!

Serendipity

I am amazed at all of the serendipitous aspects of our adoption process so far.  Money has, of course, been the big question mark in the process all along.  And yet at every turn, there have been little exclamation points to answer that question mark.  People we haven’t seen or talked to in ages have given toward our adoption. People we’ve never even met have contributed.  Everything we read about adoption funding said, “you’ll be surprised and humbled by who God uses to help you bring your child home.”  We knew to expect those surprises, but we have still been overjoyed and overwhelmed by the vastness of our little village.  To you all who have helped make our adoption possible and to those who will continue to surprise and humble us, thank you!

Not only have we been able to continue to save toward the adoption (with a little help from our friends and from beautiful strangers alike), we’ve just recently encountered what I would call a helping hand from God.  Some might call it a series of coincidences or a stroke of good luck, but regardless it is a great story.  To make a long story short, we managed to stumble into a situation that actually meets our needs and desires, but also will save us at least $10,000 on the adoption!

It started when one of Michelle’s coworkers referred us to a social worker to do our home study.  For those of you who don’t know, every family trying to adopt has to have a home study completed by a certified professional, so we knew we’d have to find someone to do the home study.  Michelle’s coworker, who is an adoptive parent, recommended a person from our home town to do the home study.  The fact that this person came highly recommended was great, but the fact that she works and lives in our home town seals the deal. 

A bit later in our home study process we found out that my parents have known our home study provider for almost as long as I’ve been alive!  We had no idea about this connection prior to the home study.  In our conversations with our social worker, she suggested that we should, in addition to considering our national agency, consider a couple of local attorneys in the Upstate who are well-respected and experienced.  Michelle talked a bit about the family fair we attended in the post below.  We found out we have a number of personal connections with the attorneys.  Again, another little “coincidence.”

Still, we had a lot of questions for these lawyers.  The agency we were working with offers services to birthmothers, advertising services, and nationwide placements.  One of the attorneys we met with offers all of this, as well.  The agency has a low disruption rate (low incidences of the adoption not going through once placement is made)—the attorney we met with has a slightly lower rate.  The agency does a large number of placements per year (300 or so, with a large nationwide pool of potential adoptive parents)—the attorney we met with does 60-80 placements per year and actually has a shortage of potential adoptive parents right now. The agency offers limited financial risk should an adoption disrupt; the attorney offers a very comparable level of financial protection.

The attorney and agency compare favorably in all the areas that are important to us.  Of course, we know the attorney personally now and feel like we would have someone working for us and someone close to home instead of halfway across the country.  It also helps that he is a passionate adoption advocate and an adoptive parent of two children—he’s not in it for the money and he is comfortable talking about adoption as a calling. So we had a good feeling about all of this and we were beginning to lean toward changing to work with the attorney instead of the agency.

But what really sealed the deal is that the attorney costs will be $30,000 (or maybe even a bit less) instead of $40,000.  That’s a huge difference!  It boils down to several things—lower overhead, lower cost for the profile (no video to make and have edited), lower advertising costs and fees, and less inflated legal fees since we’re cutting out the middle man, so to speak, and working directly with the attorney.  

As an added benefit, since we’re working with a local attorney, he can handle most out-of-state adoptions under our state's jurisdiction which can be helpful when working in states that have very persnickety or archaic laws.

Needless to say, we’re excited about this series of fortuitous events!  We’re even more excited that we have less money to save up.  That means that we should be able to get our child even more quickly!  It also means that any gift you give makes an even bigger impact and helps us toward our goal that much faster!  Continue to celebrate with us, ask us questions, give us words of encouragement, and if you feel called to do so, donate today!

-Andrew

Connecting the Dots

Wow!  Has it really been over a week since the last post?  Time moves so fast sometimes!  This past weekend we ventured out to an adoption conference at the urging of our social worker.  We had a ball!  It was great to hear from others who are as excited about the subject of adoption as we are! 

Some major connections were made while at this conference.  For one, we met the lawyer we likely want to handle our adoption.  We also met a CPA who specializes in adoption tax credits, etc.   Even these professionals are passionate about adoption, evidenced by the fact that they were all adoptive parents! 

The whole experience was very rewarding.  We’re excited to continue forward!

Baby Steps

I can’t begin to explain how happy I am to almost be done with the home study phase of this adoption process.  This past week we had our home visit from our social worker.  It was a whirlwind, but our social worker did a great job!  I still feel so “new” to this, and I often feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.  Isn’t that the case with so much in life though?  You just keep on going; in this case you keep filling out forms.  I will be GLAD to pass off those forms.  I’m grateful to my sweet hubby who has spent many an evening with me pouring over these pages.  So in case you’re wondering, here are the next steps in our process:

1. Finish home study – Almost there!!

2. Complete the print profile – We have to collect and label almost 100 recent pictures of ourselves (this has actually been pretty fun, to relive some of our adventures and make new ones thanks to sweet family who tolerate me shoving a camera in their hands as of late) and write multiple pages describing ourselves, our home, etc.

3. Complete the video profile – If you know me, you know I dread this.  I’m an introvert.   Being in a video is not my idea of fun.  I’m grateful for the dear friends who have encouraged me in this.  It is so worth setting aside my comfort!!!

4. Fundraising – We cannot even get on the wait list until we have our financing secured.  You see why this is my biggest worry??  Andrew’s been great to help me celebrate small goals.  We recently reached the 10% mark!  (THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!!!!) 

The whole process is very daunting.  It makes you doubt yourself.  It’s stressful.  But it’s also incredibly rewarding.  I am so blessed by time spent with Andrew and how close our conversations have brought us.  I am blessed by the time spent in prayer and relying on God when I’m just so unable to keep going on my own.  I am blessed by my beloved family who have not just supported this decision but enthusiastically participated in the process with us!  I am blessed by friends and strangers who have surrounded us with uplifting comments and even financial support. 

When the going gets tough, these blessings help me persevere.  Everyday we’re just a little bit closer to bringing home Baby I.

The Color of Love

I have known that adoption was the right choice for our family.  During a recent phone interview with our agency, our case worker stated “This will happen.  I don’t know when, but it will happen.”  I agree.  The only thing that has been a concern for me was money.  I told Andrew when we started the process that I trust that things will come together as they are supposed to.  But I have always been worried about the money.

So I decided to be proactive.  I wanted to think of truly meaningful fundraisers to use for our adoption.  We have a few big fundraisers planned out.  This might be my favorite: we are “selling” the pieces of a puzzle called The Color of Love.  I chose this puzzle because of the look of it and the name of it (so symbolic because, among other reasons, we have applied to adopt a child of any race).  With a $10 donation, we’ll write the donor’s name on the back of a piece of the puzzle.  Once all pieces are spoken for, we’ll assemble it and have it framed to put in the nursery.  This puzzle is actually the focal point of our nursery design.  I know a lot of people are hesitant to give money because they think that just $5 or $10 won’t do much.  But if everyone on our Facebook friends lists gave $10, we’d have a full quarter of our fees right there!!  We’re excited to have a reminder of the village that helps bring our baby home.  We’re excited to tell our child of the many generous people who loved them and hoped for them before they were even born.  Each piece of the puzzle will tell a story.  We could not imagine a more perfect fundraiser for our situation than that.  I hope you will join us in reaching our goal.  If you can spare $10, please consider giving to our adoption fund.  Here’s a link to donate:

http://bringinghomebabyi.blogspot.com/2014/01/paypal-safer-easier-way-to-pay-online.html

I know I will be surprised at how things come together.  That’s a cool thing about how God works.  Even recently, people I have never met have stepped forward to help bring my baby home to me.  How incredible to see God at work as we have stepped out in faith to follow our call to adopt.  Please continue to pray for us, for our baby, and for our baby’s birth parents.  We are beyond grateful for your kind words, hugs, and “likes” on Facebook.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support!!

Miracles Do Happen

My little brother and his amazing bride are currently expecting their first child.  Since Andrew and I are not taking the traditional route to expanding our family, I knew I’d be missing out on all those mommy-to-be moments that one typically experiences when pregnant.  Recently, my brother and sister-in-law invited me to sit in on the next ultrasound appointment, which was today.  And let me say, WOW!!!

How incredible it was to sit and watch the tech snap picture after picture of a tiny leg, little fingers, the profile of the head, etc.  At this point, they said the baby is about 3 inches long.  We SAW its heart beating.  We HEARD its heart beat.  I was completely choked up.  What an incredible miracle.  This tiny 3 inch long human has a heart that beats like ours.  It has tiny fingers that kept covering its face to hide from the camera.  It has legs that kick and wiggle like any squirming child.  And it’s inside my beautiful sister-in-law.  How does God do it!?  Sitting in that room and listening to the heartbeat, I just truly had a hard time wrapping my head around it.  And I could not help but think that somewhere, maybe even at this very moment, there’s another woman who’s growing a little human in her that will one day be my sweet baby.  What a great thing that God has called us to adopt, and He knows when and where our baby will be already.  Please join me in praying for the strong woman who will experience the “happiest sad” as she trusts me with the life she bears in her.  She is as much a part of our adoption story as we ourselves are.  I can’t wait to get the phone call that she has picked us for her child.  I can’t wait to hold our own little miracle.