Making lots of Progress

Looking through pictures to put on our profile on itsaboutlove.org and i ran across this one. I had to share. This is so typical of the pictures we take. Justin loves to make silly faces in our pictures. Hopefully this will give the birth moms looking at our profile a good idea of who we are. : )

We have made a lot of progress on our adoption paperwork. All we have left on Phase 2 is our training. We have completed 3 classes, and had we have 4 more to do. We are doing our 4th class tonight. We are practically done with phase three as well! Justin needs to write a paragraph about me for our letter to our birth mother and we need a few more pictures for the photo album. That is about it. If I want to create a blog for birth mothers to learn more about us I can do that as well. The really intimidates me though. I wouldn't know where to begin or how to make it stand apart from all the other blogs out there.

I am really excited that we are getting so close to having our part done. Soon we will be starting the interview process. We need to get our home ready for the home study. We have A LOT to do in that department. Anyone want to come help us? : )

Recap

I have had a request to write a post on how the puzzle fundraiser works. I would love to!

How the Puzzle Fundraiser Works:

In order to raise the necessary funds for our adoption (Domestic Newborn Adoptions range from approximately $20,000 to $40,000 and International Adoption ranges approximately from $30,000 to $40,000), we are starting a Puzzle Fundraiser. People who donate to our Adoption Fund will purchase puzzle piece/s. The puzzle piece/s purchased will have the name of the person/family donating written on the back. As people/families purchase puzzle pieces, the Adoption Puzzle will be assembled. I will be updating my blog with the progress of the puzzle as it is formed.

After the puzzle is completed, we will frame the puzzle between two pieces of glass and hang it in our baby's nursery. This will be a wonderful keepsake for our child to see all of the people who were part of bringing him/her home. 

 

Cost of 1 Puzzle Piece = $20

 

You may choose to purchase a single piece, or if you want to donate a larger amount, you may purchase as many pieces as you desire.

 

We would love for you to hand us your donations so that we can thank you in person, but we know that isn't always possible. You can sponsor a piece by clicking the paypal donate button on the right side of the page or also mailing to our PO Box. That address in on the puzzle fundraiser page.

 

Also, I am making a flyer to promote our fundraiser so if you would like a few to hang up some where please let me know! Thank you!

It's Here!!!

When I got home from work today there was a package waiting! Our puzzle is here! I am so excited to start putting it together as the pieces are sponsored.

I was contemplating whether to show what the puzzle is, or wait until all the pieces are sponsored to show the whole puzzle.

However, I can't wait. This puzzle turned out so cute!

 As I said before, we were only able to get my family picture on the puzzle due to circumstances with Justin's family.

 Once things are more under control and we are able to get all the pictures I will put a collage together of all Justin's family that is excited to welcome a little one into our family as well.

With Justin getting layed off at the end of the month we are praying that we will be able to raise the funds needed to add the missing piece to our family puzzle.

 We can't wait until we are selected and then able to bring a little one home. We hope that you like this puzzle my dad worked so hard to help me get put together and ordered. Please help us create this memento for our nursery. Feel free to share on your Facebook page and let all your friends know about our fundraiser. We can't go this without you. Thank you so much. We love you all.

There it is! Keep watching the puzzle fundraiser page to see the progress of the puzzle being put back together as the pieces are sponsored.

Thank you Karen!

We have another donation, and I feel so loved. Karen Weight had donated $100 which sponsors 5 puzzle pieces. I have served with Karen in the nursery and really grown to love her. Thank you so much! Your generous contribution will help so much.

Ready To Go

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I was waiting to hear back on our Bishop's Recommendation, and then I had a really busy weekend.

First off I want to send a giant shout out to Patricia Feenstra for sponsoring a puzzle piece! All the donors so far have been from my wonderful friends on babyandbump.com. Over the past year I have gotten to know these wonderful ladies as we struggle through infertility and trying to start a family. I have been so blessed to have found them and I am amazed at the love and generosity they have show me even though we have never met face to face. Thank you so much!

This weekend was an eventful one. It was so nice to make progress in our adoption paperwork. Our caseworker got back from vacation on Thursday so I thought I was going to hear about our bishop's recommendation then because it was emailed on Saturday July 27th. However, when I spoke with our caseworker he couldn't find the email. After emails and phone calls back and forth between all three parties around 4:30 pm Friday Joe told us that he got the paperwork from our Bishop and he did recommend us! Yay! That was the first huddle! Now this morning I am paying the $1000 application/homestudy fee and then we will get the phase 2 paperwork in the mail. Also, that means we can start our online training this week. That will be $350. I can't believe all the money we have fundraised will be gone, just like that! It still amazes me how much everything costs. I know it is so worth it and I am excited to keep moving down this path.

For those of you that don't know, Justin has gotten notice at work that he is getting layed off. His last day will be the 30th of this month. That has been tough on him. He isn't looking forward to saying good bye to all the friends he has made at work, and it will be really tough with only my paycheck. However, we are really excited that he is going to have the opportunity to go to school full time. He is hoping to finish his degree in two years. If this adoption really takes two years it will be really good timing. Of course we would be more than happy for it to take less time, and we will work it all out. We know God has a plan for us, and he is looking out for us. As long as we are trying to do our best, everything will work. out.

Also, I have another piece of exciting news, I ordered the puzzle! The puzzle for our puzzle fundraiser will be here in about 10 days! I can't wait to take a picture for you all to see, and I will be updating pics of the progress as pieces are sponsored. I will update a picture for every 100 pieces. I am so excited for this wonderful piece of art and history and love to hang in the nursery. 

Leafty Family Reunion

This weekend was my mom's family reunion. We had it at Glenadan Beach. I had so much fun! I was in heaven spending all that time with so much family. This is the view from our condo. It was so beautiful. I love going to the coast and seeing the beautiful things God created. It is humbling.

 Justin loves hats, and he loves this boy. One of our nephews took Justin's hat and put it on. He totally posed and was like, "Justin, are you going to take my picture?" He didn't actually say that, but his face did. It was so cute.

 We had so much fun playing with all three of our nephews this weekend. Aren't they so cute?!? I love seeing my dad with them as well.

One of my favorite things to see are little fingers poking under doors. One night this week as my siblings and I were playing games two of my nephews were supposed to be sleeping. We heard them playing and went to investigate. We saw them both sticking their little fingers under the door. Soon there were five of us adults around the door taking pictures and playing with them. : ) Someday there will be another hand added from our little one joining the cousins.

 The newest addition to the family was starting to crawl this weekend. It was so fun to see him learning and figuring it all out.

Of course D didn't want to be left our so when he saw L crawling to me he joined in on the fun! My mom got some fun pictures of all of us playing together, swimming in the pool, and just having fun being together. All this family together time really makes me think about what it will be like when we are able to bring our little one home and have our family grow.

We are moving along in the adoption process. Right now we are waiting on our Bishop's Recommendation. He should have had it for a week now. I am going to call this afternoon and make sure that he did get it. After that is turned in, we will be plowing ahead preparing for our home study and taking our training classes! I am excited for our journey ahead of us.

Orientation

Thursday I got a text that we got mail at our PO Box. I was so excited to get our first donation there! However, when we got there it was junk mail. Ugh! That was a little bit of a let down. It was nice to have a little outing together though.

Yesterday was our Orientation Interview at LDS Family Services! I was so nervous. Justin kept telling me there is no need to be nervous. I still don't know that there is nothing to be nervous about, but I am excited to get started on the paperwork and the process. We did get the phase one paperwork. I already have most of it done. Once I do the person we are working with will send our references their letters to fill out. Then we pay our application fee and get started on our home study. Also, we have online training we have to do before our home study. That will take about 14 hours so we want to get started on that as well.

We do know the time it is going to take to adopt varies a lot from couple to couple, however we did ask what the average time is. He said he would say two years. However they do have a couple that had been waiting for going on five years. What this all means is that we really need your help. The best way for us to find our baby is with your help. Please keep you eyes and ear peeled for anyone that might be looking into placing their baby. Spread the word around so others know you know someone who is hoping to adopt. I know we have great friends out there and you guys will be great!

Off to work on our paperwork! Have a great Saturday.