Just When You Think You Have it ALLLLLLL figured out! :)

Well I'm sure you're all wondering why we have not shared who we have been matched with.... and that is because we have not been matched.

One week they are calling and telling us we have 2-3 options of kids to be matched with. The next week they are calling to tell us that EVERYTHING is changing in how they match kids in Haiti (and probably a few other adoption processes will be changing as well)..... and we'll have to just wait and see what this means for us. So we are back to the wait game. It was a  blow to us and our hopes of having an idea of who our child is. There isn't much we can do, but wait and see what will happen next. I can imagine this just means that our process will be longer than what we were hoping.

Our son continues to wait for his brother or sister to come home. He asks lots of questions as to when that will be. I wish I had more answers to tell him. Good thing he is a good sport about it, and more patient than I am! The other day his teacher brought her baby to class for the kids to meet her. Asher told the teacher: "Your baby is cute. My mom and dad are bringing me a baby from Haiti" :) Makes me smile. He also asked me today if the baby from Haiti was in my belly.... So I don't think he understand this whole concept completely... :) But as much as he can understand is perfect.


Also this past week we have picked up a new fundraiser. Other people have posted that this is their FAVORITE fundraiser... and I must say it is mine too! We are selling bracelets, earrings, and necklaces that are made in Haiti by women and families trying to keep their kids from becoming orphans. You can read more about thier awesome program here: http://www.apparentproject.org/page/4572387330

If you are interested in buying something from us please email me with your order. It is awesome because they help both us and families in Haiti. 


I pray that this finds you well.
We always appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and encouraging words!

News on the Adoption front!

I got a couple emails from our country rep today!

ONE:
We are signing with an orphanage called Chances for Children. We filled out an application and they have accepted it. So we received our contract from them. We are working on signing the contract. As soon as we get that all signed and in... I THINK we will get matched with our child! So hopefully all goes quickly and easily!


TWO:
Our dossier was sent to Haiti today. Our country rep said it should be there in the next few days and then we can start the first step in legalizing it there! So things are on the move.


Few things we would LOVE from you:
ONE:
Please pray that things go well and QUICKLY there in Haiti...

TWO:
Pray that we find out our child's name soon and that things with Chances for Children go well!

THREE:
Pray for our orphanage Chance for Children. YOu can look at their site here: http://www.chances4children.org/


FOUR:
We look at needing a LOT of cash coming up REALLY QUICKLY... if you are interested in helping with that please look at some fundraisers we are planing:
 - I'll be doing a premiere jewelry party in October (great gifts for Christmas),
- We will be doing a parents night out (where parents can drop your kids off with us and some youth and have the night out. Free will donation).
- I sell advocare and any time you buy from my site I make some money off of that. So if you are looking to lose weight, gain health, or get better fitness please contact me about that!

 If you just want to donate to our adoption you can write a check to Lifeline Children's Services with our name in the notes and mail it to them at 2104 Rocky Ridge Road, Birmingham, AL 35216. (this is a way you can take it off your taxes!)

Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement through this LONG process.

HOOOORAY!!!!!

HEY ALL! It has been a long time, and that is because we've been patiently (trying to be patient) waiting for our dossier to get translated....


Well folks... it's translated, being sent to get legalized in the US, and then submitted to the Hatian government to be approved.

On top of that, we are looking to get matched with our child as well! Which means their dossier will get submitted at the same time as ours (making the process a bit faster). It also means that we will soon find out who our child will be. They have 2 kids they are looking at for us and will talk to the orphanage and match us up here in the next WEEK! I cannot wait to see/ learn/ and pray SPECIFICALLY for our child!

Can you tell I'm pumped?!?!!

Jump up and down with us as we celebrate a victory in this process. It feels so exciting for things to get moving. I will introduce you to our new family member as soon as I can! Until then.... please pray that this continues to move and groove as it is planned to!

Blessings

I have two really fun blessings that have happened in this past week, and I wanted to share them with you!

Here is my swap box I sent!

First, yesterday I mailed off my first adoption swap box. Now you are probably thinking the same thing I was... what is a "swap box"? Well, I was on pinterest and that is where I first saw it. It took me to this link: http://www.adoptionmamablog.com/what-is-an-adoption-swap-box/  It is an adoptive mama of 2 kids and she has an awesome blog. She had decided to organize an adoption swap box for anyone that is waiting to adopt, or who has adopted. You sign-up, she matches you up with someone (can be anywhere around the US), and emails you their address and some information about them. From there you can email and contact them. So, the past few weeks the lady that I got matched up with and I have been emailing and getting to know each other. Then yesterday we mailed a box full of goodies and encouragement to each other. It's a great way to meet some other people who have/are adopting. It is also going to be fun getting a package in the mail from someone! :) A surprise gift of fun!

You should check out her blog if you want to find out more about it.



Second thing I want to share with you happened on Sunday. Sunday when we got home from church The Man handed me an envelope with our names typed on it. He didn't say a word, he just handed it to me. So I thought: this is either really good or really bad. I opened it and inside was a typed letter from an anonymous person. I want to share the letter with you and PRAY that this person, if they are reading, does not get offended at my openness. The letter said:

Paul and Andrea,
The mother of a good friend of mine passed away from cancer some time ago. From all the wonderful stories my friend has told me about her mom I know that she loved both family and especially children deeply. She would have delighted in knowing that your family is working to support the life of, and bring joy to, a child through adoption. So it is in her honor and through what God has blessed me with that I am able to enclose a donation to help towards reaching your goal of raising money to cover adoption costs.

May God Bless you on your journey,
A Fellow Believer in Christ


I couldn't believe it. The timing could not be more perfect and the encouragement could not have meant more. Thank you to whoever you may be for being the hands of Christ. Thank you for blessing our family with the donation and the encouragement.



Isn't God great?!?!


As we patiently wait for our dossier to get translated please continue to pray that all goes well and smoothly. The quicker things can get processed the sooner we can find out WHO our child is. :)

And.... We're on the Move again!

So to continue the story from this past week... We left off with not getting our documents authenticated because of some minor issues on Tuesday.

Wednesday I went BACK to the office with my friends and tried the process again. We were 100% successful getting them authenticated. BUT it wasn't without some tears and some frustration. There were some other minor things that had to be looked at and worked on before everything was a go. But, an hour later (and a HUGE thanks to my good friend who always knows how to step up and help when things get out of my control) we walked out of the office with the documents authenticated and ready to be sent.

That afternoon The Man sent our dossier in the mail. I hope they are almost at the lifeline offices and will be in our country rep's hands by early next week!


We're so excited!


Next steps:

The dossier will get translated and submitted to the country
We will get matched with an orphanage (where we will eventually get matched with our child)
It will probably take a few months for Haiti to process our dossier and approve us to adopt from their country.


So it is back to the waiting game. BUT, I feel a WHOLE lot better having our part done for now!

A step forward.... and a step back.....

Today was an exciting day! We had 2 tasks set before us as we left the house today:

1.) Get all our notarized documents authenticated so we can send in our dossier and get it sent to Haiti
2.) Get our Immigration fingerprints done


We got.... one of them done.... which isn't a great percentage...

The first stop was to get our dossier documents authenticated. Our dossier is a bunch of documents we had collect including: our bank saying we are in good standing, our employers saying we really work where we say we do, our sheriff saying we are in good standing in the community, letters to the Haitian government... It took awhile to get them all collected and notarized. Today all we had to do was walk in and get a gold stamp on all our documents saying they are legit. It was supposed to be easy, but of course... it was not! We had some things missing on some documents that needed to be there before we can get them authenticated. What was missing was so minor, so tiny, so annoyingly small that I think I about had a 3-year-old fit right there in the office. All it meant was we had to talk to a few people and have them change/add some minor things to our documents before we got them authenticated. It means making the drive there AGAIN... Just for something that I saw as super duper small... and silly.... BUT in the world of international adoptions.. you don't mess up a thing, because one little mistake can get your documents denied... and no one wants that. So,  I held back my frustration and tears and left the building sad. We were supposed to get it all done today, and they weren't going to.... BLAH! As we drove to the next stop  I started running through my head what we needed to do to get that all really done and back to them by tomorrow. So far, it's looking like I'm gonna get to return with everything ready tomorrow! Let's keep our prayers in that direction! :)

The second stop was actually to Legoland! We needed something fun to do with The Bash since he had yet another car trip this summer. We had a great time there building and playing.

The last stop was to get our fingerprints done (again). They were so friendly and helpful there it was actually not a bad trip. So for the 2nd time this process we got fingerprinted! We have accomplished that task! 





I know that 1 day is not going to really make or break this process. I know that this process is a LONG wait... but when things get delayed, even one day, my heart just sinks... Because I know one day can some times mean 4-5 days. I know that 4-5 days can mean months.... and months push us back years... and when you are ready for your child to come home NOW.... it is heartbreaking when even one day goes by.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and keep thinking about us! We are HOPEFULLY going to have our dossier done and sent to Haiti within the month. I'll keep you posted.

You are all amazing for caring about our process. You are all amazing for praying for us and our child. We feel your love and support daily. Thanks again!

May the Lord bless your days!

It's a Small World

Yesterday I got to sit with a new friend who JUST brought their child home from Haiti! They are originally from Nebraska so you know they are good people! :) Her family literally lives 15 miles away from us! What a blessing for our family for multiple reasons: 1. I got to hear all about her first hand experience. It was nice to talk to her since she has JUST finished the adoption, and was JUST over in Haiti. 2. She will be able to answer questions and help me with many things throughout the process. 3. Our kids will be able to have a friend who comes from the same cultural background. What a great blessing for our children! and 4. It's just nice to have a new friend! 

So yesterday I got to meet my new friend's daughter from Haiti. The girl is the sweetest thing you ever did see and she and The Bash played together like old friends for hours! While they played we talked all about how we arrived at adoption, how we chose Haiti, the process of adoption, and her trips to Haiti. Our stories are so similar, yet SO different.  There are so many new experiences that my family and I are going through, and it's very nice to have someone who fully understands that near by.The Lord always provides for all our needs! Sometimes we need to have some encouragement and excitement put back into our lives. My new friend did that for me yesterday.

Right now in our process we are...

- waiting to get our date so we can go and get our electronic fingerprints done.

- finishing up with our dossier. These documents will be sent to Haiti and they will read those to determine if we can adopt from their country. (this will take 3-4 months once it is sent over to their country). Then once we are approved we will get matched with a child!

Our needs/ help: 
- Please keep praying for our child,  for Haiti, and for our family. We appreciate it, and feel your love in so many ways!
- If you want to donate you can
- Share this with others! As this process has been going, and as people read this it has encouraged some to maybe consider adoption themselves!