What No One Talks About During The Adoption Process

Two words: WEIGHT GAIN.

I know i'm not alone. I've seen it time and again. Maybe it starts while you're working on your homestudy because paperwork stresses you out. You've been matched, GREAT, STRESS. You've brought home this beautiful child, and you're exhausted and hungry ALL THE TIME. However and whenever it starts, it almost always starts. My husband and I have a running joke about the "adoptive mom uniform" it's stretchy skinny jeans, baggy T or sweater, infinty scarf, and knee high boots. Sometimes the skinny jeans are swapped for a maxi skirt or dress. Loose. Comfortable. Hides the extra 10 pounds I've packed on clothing.

What do I do about it? Well, when you find out let me know. What I've found that helps me is accountability. Having someone I can message or call in the middle of the night when the thought of my son being in an orphanage on the other side of the world keeps me up and the ice cream is calling my name. You can find other adopting families in your area and start a walking group. Two birds with one stone, community AND exercise! I've been doing a pushup every time I think of our son. I'm up to 3 in row, WOOHOO! Find some stress relief somewhere and somehow. Try essential oils, there are many kinds out there but I only suggest Young Living for many reasons! Find a hobby for the wait. I know paperwork feels like a hobby but it's not healthy to live and breathe mushed up trees with ink on them. I've found hiking to be INCREDIBLY relaxing and it's something I can do with my son just the two of us before adding his brother to the mix.

"I have this friend I know she's gaining weight and I think it's because of their adoption, what do I do?" Invite her over for coffee. Give her a chance to vent about all the stress. Be a friend. The adoption process can feel isolating and lonely, be there so it doesn't feel so. Suggest a hobby you can do together. Invite her to a Zumba class or something, although, try not to insinuate she's getting a little love in her handles cause that's a can you don't want to open. Ask her if there is anything you can help with and then SUGGEST things like, bring a meal over, help with laundry, watch the kids for a while so she can Target by herself (yes Targeting is a thing), invite her out for a girls night, ask to come help her clean her house (Are you getting the cleaning hint I'm throwing out there?), or just say "I love you, I'm here and I can help you anyway I can".

So. You adopting mom friend. You are not alone in this exhausting journey. I love you even though I've never met you. You are strong and beautiful. Your love for your future child pours out of you like a river running madly wild. Rely on your people. Don't have people? Find some. You'll need them, trust me.

Giving Tuesday 2015

Today is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. A day where many people will focus their money on a charity, or their time in helping others. It takes a village to bring a child home through adoption. I'm going to give you a few examples of how to be that village today!

1. We are accepting donations through PayPal. There's a nifty little button off to the right that is yellow and says "Donate" simply click it and you'll be given the opportunity to donate financially. Things your money will go to are: flight expenses, dog boarding fees, adoption fees, unexpected expenses in country etc... THANK YOU for partnering with us!

2. Give of your time. Love dogs? Have time to "house sit" for us while we're traveling? We would LOVE to not have to board our dogs this go around. They can't be around other dogs so you'll need to be just bringing yourself to our house and be ok walking them around our yard at 6am, 2pm, and 8:30pm (sometimes more cause they're needy, we can adjust schedule so you can manage it on a lunch break at work etc..)

3. Buy a t-shirt! Click here to purchase a super awesome T!!  

We receive about $10 from every shirt bought. We must sell 5 for them to print! Ends December 20th

 4. Buy an ornament! We're asking for a $5 (add $2 for shipping if needed) donation for these ornaments. We did these last year and they were a huge hit! We can make custom sizes and colors if you have a specific want too. Just donate to us via PayPal and add "ornament" in the comments of the donation! You'll need to email me your address when you are done at elizabeth.g.hoos@gmail.com

5. Pray for us. Give up a few minutes today sometime to pray for our journey. We have a long winding path ahead of us as a family and we appreciate your prayers more than you know! Simply comment on this post "Praying" when you pray so we know!

6. Interested in essential oils? Email me at elizabeth.g.hoos@gmail.com to learn more about Young Living Essential Oils OR follow this link to signup and change your life for the better today!! All the money I make in commissions is going directly into our adoption fund! Anytime you buy any essential oils you'll be helping us get closer to bring our son home!

7. Have a direct sales or home business? We would love to be the recipient of a fundraiser on our behalf. We've had people donate a % of their profits from a day. Donate all the commissions from a home party to our fund. Last adoption someone let us put a change jar on their store counter to collect for us.

That's 7 ways to help us. Some tangible, some not. All equally amazing and powerful. Any questions about those ways feel free to email me at elizabeth.g.hoos@gmail.com!!

Obligatory Adorable Photo of our Family!

Anxiety is for the...Adopting Parents

I have never really been an anxious person. All my life I just took things as they came and dusted off after my inevitable falls. Often times not even noticing the parts of me that were really hurting. I was a goal keeper in my younger years. For the sake of this post, i'm gonna brag. I was a GOOD goal keeper. To get to be good I had to practice constantly to remove any bad habits that had formed. One particularly bad habit I had was diving into the goalposts. I knew the minute I launched for a ball I was gonna ring that bell like it was noon. One particular run in with the sticks I so lovingly referred to as my "boyfriend" I got back up quick after saving our team from going down a point (I mean obviously I was the savior to the team every game, I did mention I was good right?). I stood up like a soldier who'd just single handedly knocked down an entire army, chest puffed out and all. The whole world watching knew I'd rang that bell, and began to erupt into laughter when I was more concerned about the dirt in my sock than the growing knot on my forehead. So you see, even with physical wounds, I was often more concerned about the little things and ignored the headaches forming.

This adoption process has ROCKED MY WORLD. I worry about every step. Why? I have thought about this so hard. The only possible conclusion is this: my child needs me. I may not know where they are or who they are, but their birth parents have entrusted me with the ability to FIGHT for our babies. Right now, our son waits in his orphanage and I think about him 24/7. Sleep? Yeah right. My baby boy is sleeping in a crib on the other side of the world. In a region being rocked by terrorism and fear. I need to get to him. We need to protect him. I can't let it slip. I can't ignore the hurting in my head any longer. I gotta do this. If something were to go wrong and I was ignoring it, I could never forgive myself.

So that's where I'm at. I had to write it all out. It's been bouncing around in my head for a few months now. So yeah, I'm gonna continue to be a freakball of worry and emotions until I am walking down that hall at Dayton International Airport and I step outside the secure area. It's all gonna flow then. Be prepared for lots of red faced bawling photos and my kids looking at me like I have 6 heads. "Kids" that sounds so lovely.

Family is MORE than BLOOD!

How true is that though? Growing up I amassed a group of girls I call "sisters". They are at times more "family" than my own extended family (not knocking my family at all). Family is MORE than BLOOD!

We started a T-shirt fundraiser yesterday to help us pay for our homestudy. The homestudy update costs $700. The T-shirts will get us to $200 if we sell all 25.

They are super versatile. I made them that way so more people could buy them and wear them! You know you want one! Have a friend who is family? Buy them one too! Step parent? They need one too! Everyone needs one these walking advertisements that family is not just relegated to DNA. It is so much more. It is LOVE!

Get your shirts here: Hoos Family "Family is MORE than BLOOD" T-shirts!

It's Been A Long While...

Well. Here's an update. I guess I thought if I didn't blog about it I wouldn't have to bring all the emotions up to the surface.

In December I started pushing our agency for an update on Koraline. Because that's what we pay them for! Well, they kept saying "we emailed our in country representative and he hasn't responded, as soon as he does we'll forward it to you." After nearly a month of waiting I found the in country rep and emailed him myself. HE RESPONDED THE SAME DAY. Our daughters birth mother had heard rumors of American families adopting babies and harvesting their organs (NO children have been legally adopted internationally for this purpose, it was a scare tactic from the DRC media to get the country against international adoption during the suspension). So she did what any mother would do hearing that, she scooped her daughter up and brought her home.

Our hearts still ache at the loss of our baby girl. We pray everyday she is well taken care of, we know she is loved. This all went down before Christmas. I didn't have the heart to pack away any of her stuff until February. So obviously we couldn't handle starting another adoption right away.

On mothers day Kevin gave me a gift. It was a coupon gift with coupons like free night without baby duty (Jack's STILL not sleeping all night), or a back rub. The last coupon brought me to shock and then tears. "I'm ready, let's adopt again."

So we started the process.

That's where we're at, starting the process. Homestudy update is underway and we're exploring our options. There's an opportunity right now we are exploring and I'll be able to share more once we have a solid answer on some things!

Be praying for us. I'm so scared we'll get a match and then the country will suspend exit letters.

We are also accepting donations to help us with the fees of getting our homestudy updated, once that's done we can apply for grants.

Stay tuned for some fundraising opportunities coming up!

Jack's First Birthday Picture

Pictures are worth a thousand...

When you are adopting a child internationally all you have to go on during the court process are pictures. You get to watch your child grow through the lens of a camera. Unfortunately we have not had even that. Our agency has only gotten us one picture. There are all kinds of excuses and reasons but the reality is that it is killing this mama's heart to not be able to see my Koraline grow up. I want so bad to see more than the one picture. In almost 10 months so much can change with a toddler. I wish I could just see one more picture.

There is a man that can make this happen. However he needs a large chunk of $ to travel from Kinshasa to southern DR Congo where our girl is. It's heart breaking to know we may not ever see her picture. We have to raise the funds to send the man to take pictures and love on our girl. 1 in 7 kids die before reaching age 5 in the DRC. There's a chance that we may never see her face if this exit permit suspension continues. Part of me wants to hop in a plane and go there myself. But I'd have to rob a bank or something to get the $ to do that.

So here I sit asking for prayer, support, anything. Know a missionary in the DRC? Have an extra $2500 sitting around? Have something you can sell that might help us get to our goal? We're having an auction the first week of August. Buy something from that to help us out!

I lay awake at night watching our son sleep dreaming about the day when I can watch him and his sister run around in the backyard, take them to all the cool places, go swimming in a creek... This mama just needs a picture.

Jack's Finalization Hearing on 5/23/2014, which he slept through...

Letter to "L" on Mother's Day

When we were preparing to adopt I read all kinds of posts around each mothers day. Blogs about being so happy to have the gift of motherhood and blogs about how to celebrate the adopted child's first family. The one that had the most impact for me was a blog written by an adoptive mother to her children's birth mother. 

Our adoption with Jack is a closed adoption. So we have no contact with his first mommy. There is not a day go by that I don't think about her and the amazing love she showed our Jack. Everytime I tell him I love him I am telling him for her too. Every kiss is a kiss from her too. Every night when I cuddle up to my little snuggle bug I cuddle him for her too. So here's my letter to Jack's first mother, "L". 

Dear L,

You've never met me, or even seen my face. However we share in a miracle that is so amazing and perfect. When you chose to place your baby boy in an adoptive home you made the hardest decision you ever could! You are far braver than I ever could be. Everyday when I look at our son I see your courage and strength. His eyes reflect your love, his smiles reflect the happiness you gave him, he is above average on every milestone and I know he got that determination from you. 

This holiday was so very hard for me for so many years. The pain of empty arms is a deep one. I know now that your gift to me has resulted in you feeling this now. I want you to know that Jack will always know you how deep you love him. There are no words that can make this day hurt any less for you and I know that. 

The only thing I can do on this day is thank you. Not just a "hey, thanks" but a sincere thank you. You gave Jack life, you wanted and cherished him, you loved him. Now we can teach him how to live his life, we want and cherish him, and because of your love for him our family is fuller. You will be forever a part of our family even though we have never met you or even seen your face. 

From one mother to another, thank you from the depths of my heart for loving our son enough to give him life and thank you for making me a mother. Those words just don't seem enough. I don't think words can really say what I want to say. The gratitude is in the everyday, it's in the boo boos I kiss, in the way he explodes into grins and giggles when his daddy comes home from work, it's in the middle of the night when he wakes us up giggling. My thanks for you grows along with our boy. 

He is so handsome!

and cheesy

and a heartbreaker!

Detour: part 2

It's so hard to find the time and mental ware-with-all to type out blog posts now! So here goes nothin!

We took our time coming home from Texas. Baby Jack is the most perfect road trip baby! We usually had to stop before he needed to! I was never more happy to see the Cincinnati skyline! With being in a car for two days straight we really needed a quiet day of bonding with our boy.

It was tough transitioning from road trip to normal everyday life. Jack was sleeping 5 hour blocks in Texas and then he got his schedules flipped from sleeping in the car all day for 2 days. Since then he hasn't quite figured out his sleep schedule again. So that's been tough! Good thing Jack's grandma comes everyday to hold him so I can get some stuff done! We had some incredible people bring us meals and just love on us!

Then my parents came to visit for 2 weeks!

The past 9 weeks have been a whirlwind of crazy times. Little Jack has grown so fast! He's doubled his birth weight already!

Now every time I hold Jack I can't stop thinking about how we'll not have this time with Kora. Our bonding with her will be much different. Instead of having people over to meet her right away we'll have to go into our cocoon for a while and bond as a family.

While I'm writing about Kora I should also add that because of our "detour" we need to start over again with fundraising for our girl. We believe God knows who our children are and where they will be born. He called us to adopt Kora and we will fight to bring her home. He called us to adopt Jack and He made it happen. He will make a way for Kora to come home, I am confident in that. I'll have more details about how you can help us with Kora's adoption (and the loan we took out for Jack) soon.

Well that's about all I have to say right now....

DETOUR!

When we first switched countries and agencies from Ethiopia we were researching all our options and I had contacted an agency about domestic adoption. I had completely forgot about them until December 28th when the social worker with Adoption Covenant emailed me about a birth mom that they only had one profile to show! We prayed about it and decided that we would send a profile. If we got chosen that meant we had found one of the children God has set aside for our family! Well, on January 3rd, 2014 we got "the call" that we had BEEN CHOSEN! Baby boy was due on January 23rd. We had just 20 days to prepare our home for a newborn! So we ran around like crazy people for 2 weeks prepping and planning. Then we got word that birth mom's due date was moved up to the 14th! The 14th passed, no baby. So they naturally induced her by scraping her membranes on January 20th.

We did some research and chose to drive down to Lubbock, TX (where baby was born) on January 18th. We stopped for the night in Purdy, MO with friends and then the next day made the trek to Lubbock. We waited, and waited, and waited. Then on January 23rd (the original due date) at 2:30 am his first mommy's water broke! Then we waited, and waited, and waited some more until we got a call at 12:28 pm CST that she was pushing! We were on the other side of town so we drove as fast as we could! His first mommy wanted us to be the first to see and hold little J so we got our own delivery room! We rushed in the hospital (forgetting our good camera). We sat down in labor and delivery room #8 and as soon as we sat down we heard the most beautiful sound in labor and delivery room #10, our son's first cry! It sent my heart through the top of my head! So very beautiful and long awaited! Then, the moment our world changed forever, the nurse ran in the room with a blue tinted baby boy! We got to hold his hand as they did all the measurements and tests. I got to wash all the ooey gooey gunk off of him and hold him skin to skin. When they placed him on my chest for the first time it all became real, I became a mother! In that moment all the world stopped and the only thing that mattered was this tiny, squirming human in my arms. John "Jack" Malcolm Hoos had made his debut!

Jack's first weigh in! He was born at 1:21 pm CST, weighed 6 lbs and was 18.5" long!

Kevin rolling Jack to the nursery for a blood test

Our sweet little Jack!

We wanted to breastfeed Jack and his first feed was using a supplemental nursing system. It was the most beautiful experience I have ever had. I'll be writing a post on that once I get some time.

We had to wait 48 hours for his first mommy to sign the papers to make Jack ours. We had our own hospital room and barely let Jack out of our sight! We then had to stay in Texas for 7-14 days for paperwork to clear us to cross state lines with our new handsome little man. We stayed with friends in Houston and enjoyed it so much! We didn't have to cook or clean or anything, just cuddle with our sweet boy. Had some yummy food and good company! My parents were able to fly to Texas and visit with us and meet Jack too! It was a great time to get to know our boy before we got thrown back into life back home!

In the car to Houston! #receiveexperiement

To Be Continued...

AUCTION TIME!!!

You can browse the auction here: Bring Kora Home Auction Facebook

If you do not have Facebook and see something you love you can contact me via email at elizabeth.g.hoos@gmail.com and I'll get your bid in.

We are trying to reach $3,000 to pay off our Dossier payment so we can get the court process started!

Share with friends :)

My favorite pieces are:

Greatest Gifts day #1

I'm going to do a 5 day post about the gifts we've been given.

Day #1: The Gift of infertility

Say what? How can I say this has been a blessing??? When I was a kid everyone always asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I always replied, a mom. I've wanted to be a mom since I was a little girl... It's literally the only true ambition I had outside of being a professional goalkeeper. When I was young, the dream of being a soccer player inspired me to be a better person. I wouldn't trade the hours and hours of pressure training and broken bones, ambulance rides, and tears cried over tough losses. They've made me who I am today, fearless. Now the dream of being a mom is shaping me even more. Sanding down the imperfections and building in me the ability to love our kids unconditionally because we've had to fight so hard just to bring them home.

So, when infertility struck I took it by the horns and fought. Until I realized one thing: I would rather parent a child who needs parents, then spend years trying to bring one into the world. I have come to believe God knew we would find our children through adoption and we were too stubborn to realize it so he had to slap us with a 2x4 for us to get the picture. Now that we have a face and a promise of bringing our girl home I am more confident in this then ever before. Kora was born to be our daughter and we were created to be her parents. God sets the lonely in families.

My message to all you who experience infertility is simple. Listen. Listen to that voice in you that says you have the room in your heart to love a child not of your flesh. Listen to the support you have in any decision you make. Listen to that small voice at night when you are crying yourself to sleep that there is another way! Listen, and take action. Fight for a child who needs to know what love and a family is.

So that's my blessing for today. The gift of Infertility. Without the diagnosis we would never have started our journey to Kora. We would never have seen her sweet face. We would never be able to physically experience the overwhelming feeling of God adopting us into his family. Such beauty from ashes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHJ6-YhSYQ This is the video that I saw that truly changed my mind... I hope it impacts you in a deep way.

Blessings

Our Facebook auction is almost all prepared for. We've got people donating things from A-Z and it's beautiful the way God's providing a great sale. I have noticed in our adoption journey there are times of great happiness and times of serious frustration, but all through there intertwined with everything is the blessing we are about to receive.

Holidays are a tough time in our house, but for me especially. I long for the day when the person waking me up before dawn to open presents and eat Mercer County Grits is under the age of 18 (Kevin....). Some moments I hold it together and am truly happy, some moments I'm a complete wreck. I think this Christmas will be more moments of me holding it together than of me losing it. This Christmas I am reminded in a tangible way of just how blessed we are, by our church, friends, and family. This Christmas there is only HOPE in the future! We don't know how long it will be until Kora is home. We don't know how many Christmases it will take to have her home and waking us up before dawn. But we have hope that it WILL happen!

This Christmas as you tuck your babies in on Christmas Eve and pray with them, pray for our baby who goes to bed without knowing her mommy and daddy are here just waiting to bring her home. Pray that God will hold her close and let her know she is being loved by hundreds of people half way around the world just waiting to meet that really adorable face (have I mentioned she is crazy adorable?!?!)! Pray that the time will come QUICKLY when we get to tuck her in on Christmas Eve.

Here's how you can bless our family this Christmas:

• Donate an item for our Facebook auction (needed by December 30th)
• Take a look at the preview album of our auction HERE and see something you can't live without ;)
• Pray for us (and let us know you are, it's one of the most encouraging and uplifting things you can say)
• Consider ways YOU can help children without families this Christmas. A quick google search brings up THOUSANDS (that may be a bit of an over exaggeration) of ways to help orphans here in the USA and all over the world!

Thank you to all you who have blessed us IMMEASURABLY! There is no better way for us to thank you than for us to fight to bring our daughter home! So fight we will!

How can we bless you?

My kitchen table

This has been the state of our kitchen table for about 2 years now... I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel! It truly has been easier the third time around... All those forms are completed! Now we are just waiting on the money to submit them! We are so thrilled to finally be done with this part of the paperwork (yes, there's still more...)!!!

We need $890 to submit the I-600A and get the USCIS side of things going (that's our immigration office).
Then we need $5,000 to get the dossier to the DRC and get it translated and started in the offices there!

So far we have $345. We just paid the big payment of $11,397.50 thanks to a bunch of you awesome people and all of our savings!!! YAY! So I know we can get this done!

We have lots of fundraising opportunities available and we've applied for about 15 grants. We're praying we can get this money raised up by my birthday on February 24th. We're really excited to get through the court process in the DRC as quickly as possible so if we get this raised up faster then YAY! So that's my update. I am currently compiling a blogpost with all our fundraisers in one place for a one stop shopping experience! I'll link it here when it's done :)

Thankfulness

Thankfulness is something it's easy to have on the inside for me but I rarely ever show it on the outside. So, today I am going to write down 28 things I am thankful for. (In no particular order)

1. Kevin. Tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary. We've grown up together and continue to grow each day. I am so thankful God had us cross paths!
2. Our daughter. Even though Kora is halfway around the world I am already so thankful for what our journey to her has taught me about myself and others. I wouldn't want to find parenthood any other way!
3. My house. Knowing people who don't have a home makes me appreciate mine that much more.
4. Honduras. My family there have taught me to be joyful in heart ache and ever encouraging. 
5. Jamaica. The laid back lifestyle is contagious and I still hold on to it a lot bit!
6. Haiti. Met my good buddy Nat Thomas through Haiti and I wouldn't be the same without him and his pretty wife Brenee :)
7. Good friends. There's nothing like an adoption that will show you who your friends are, and we are blessed with some great ones!
8. Food. Cause I love to eat. Our freezer is always full and our cabinets always stocked.
9. Pets. Nothing like a dog to cheer you up on a bad day!
10. My job. I LOVE caring for these kids, even if they drive me up a wall I love them each so very much!
11. Family. My family has been there for me through it all!
12. In Laws. I always say I have the best in laws, but you know what? It's so true! 
13. Engineering. Because without it we wouldn't know some of the best people in the world! (see #7)
14. My "sisters". Because blood may not connect us but inside we know we were meant to be! 
15. Lists. I am a list maker, in fact, I make lists of my lists (<- True fact)
16. Ice Cream. Whether its a liquid or a solid doesn't matter when you are enjoying its frozen goodness!
17. Clothing. Because I am cold all the time!
18. Cloth Diapers. They've helped me meet amazing people and are helping bring our daughter home!
19. Sewing. Without Serenity (and season 2) I would be an emotional mess! I sew to calm myself down.
20. Facebook. Because instead of talking to myself I can talk to stalking acquaintances! LOL
21. Journals. Because Facebook doesn't listen very well and my journals do.
22. Writing. I suck at punctuation but LOVE to write!
23. My relationship with my savior. Because I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the hope I have in Christ!
24. British Television. I may be a little obsessed with QI and Doctor Who. 
25. Firefly. Because Firefly.
26. My church family. They've helped my scars heal and gave me a place to feel at home again!
27. Soccer. The game that shaped my life and gave me purpose early in life. A passion that will never die. I'm still a goalkeeper at heart (and in my brain...)
28. YOU! You've read my blogs and been there for me when times were uncertain. Some days it felt like we'd never be parents and now that dream is coming real and you've been there to see it happen! So thank you! 

So there you have it, 28 things I am thankful for! That was easier than I thought it would be! I still have more! HAHA!

Have a great Thanksgiving! Praying we are a family of three by next Thanksgiving!

At Peace

You don't realize the weight of worry and anxiety you have in your life until it's gone. We sent our acceptance payment ($10,897.50) today to our agency. Such a huge weight has been lifted off my chest. When I saw that number standing in the way of us and our daughter the worry set in. I knew if we didn't come up with it quick we stood a good chance of losing our little Kora to another family. We did it, we payed it and she is ours officially officially, but not yet officially x 3 we have to pass court for that... The feeling of peace swept over me as I corralled the babysitting kids in the bank when I made the wire transfer to our agency. Peace in finally being able to put that payment behind us, and peace knowing that our daughter's paperwork is going to start to get gathered up and processed along with ours. We're a family in our hearts, soon on paper, and then in reality. Reality could not come soon enough!

I also think it's pretty cool how so many complete strangers can have impacts on our adoption and they don't even know it. That sweet girl at the bank who asked me about our adoption and got so excited to see a picture, the teller who gave the kids stickers so they would stop running around like wildebeests who also got really excited to see Kora's picture, the lady in the parking lot who smiled at me so compassionately as I dragged two toddlers kicking and screaming to the "magic school bus" at the bank, they all had an impact on this mama's heart and won't ever probably really know! So today I am thankful for the weight of 10k lifted from my shoulders, and the compassion of strangers that gives me the strength to keep fighting to bring our daughter home!

What To Expect When You're... Accepting?

Just wanting to keep everybody updated on the finances for our adoption of our little Kora. So many of you have donated to us in the past that we feel the need to keep you in the know of where we are with getting our sweet Kora home. In total her adoption will cost us $22,000 pre travel. The breakdown of that is as follows:

• 11,397.50 PAID on 11/27/2013!! WOO HOO!!!!
• 9,875 in fees to the agency and to the DRC
• 1,000 in a post placement agreement deposit
• 500 for registration fee (paid already)
• 22.50 for bank wiring to DRC
• 5,075 for dossier translation and submission
• 4,060 after adoption decree
• 3,000 in fees
• 1,000 in orphanage donation
• 60 bank wiring to DRC
• 4,162.50 when we get our travel date
• We're thinking $8,000 for travel, but that's a VERY fluid number. 

We are working on some fundraising still. Here's our plan (never seems to go as planned though...), we will be getting a low interest loan for the first two payments (referral acceptance and dossier) so that we can get the ball rolling on her case in the DRC. We will then be doing fundraising and grant writing to hopefully pay off the loan and then some before the adoption decree and travel fees are due. Then hopefully more fundraising and possibly a no interest adoption loan that can get us the remainder needed for travel!

Here's the fundraisers we have in the works:

• Diapers (plumberbums.storenvy.com)
• Craft Shows with all my handmade goodies
• An auction in the beginning of January (accepting items for this!)
• A Spring Fling here at our house, going to be a big party with games for the kids (and adults...), cornhole tournament, a doggie kissing booth, raffle, face painting, balloons, and more!
• Parent's Night Out's return monthly in January!!!
• I'm still babysitting and Kevin will be doing odd jobs on the weekends for a donation (when he has time)
•  Another (I KNOW) garage sale this spring (unless anyone knows of a free venue to do one indoors)
• Hoping to get approved to do a Both Hands Project with Lifesong For Orphans
• Christmas cards and ornaments

Things you can do to help:

• Donate items for us to sell at garage sales
• Collect items for our auction (new products, can be anything really!)
• Someone who can write to stores and ask for donations (gift cards or products etc...)
• Spread the word about our fundraisers, in particular the auction, spring fling, and parents night out. 
• Come over and help us clean our house (partially kidding here...)

With working about 80 hours a week, with a home daycare and a sewing business, things can get crazy. So if I don't answer/return calls please know it's not me ignoring you because i'm rude (although......). It's because I just don't have the time, text or email me instead as I can do that all the time pretty much (although it may take a day to respond sometimes). 

As always, pray for our little Kora. 

Sooooooo, here's an update on us!

Our Adoption Timeline So Far;

Starting trying to have kids naturally November 2008

Diagnosed with Male and Female factor infertility November 2011

February 2012- Took foster classes from Greene County

July 16^th, 2012- Contracted with AGCI Ethiopia

September 2013- Ended contract with AGCI, began exploring Taiwan

November 10^th, 2013- Chose to adopt a sweet one year old girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo!

That’s right, you read that right. We are VERY proud and happy to announce we're in the process of accepting a referral of a PRECIOUS angel from the DRC! Her first birthday was on Monday (if you want to send us birthday cards for her for her baby box feel free to do so!!!)!

Unfortunately the reality of adoption is WAITING. We will be waiting for about a year for all the government red tape to be cleared and to travel to get her. While she waits for us to bring her home we ask you pray for her and for us. Having half my heart in a country where making it to your 5^th birthday is a miracle is very scary! We will have lots of opportunities for financial help in the next year so keep your eyes peeled! We cannot share photos just yet so if you’re curious about how beautiful she is (trust me, she’s gorgeous) let me know and I’ll get with you about seeing her picture!

We're beyond excited, but cautious as well. Adoptions in the DRC are very fragile and fluid. We're putting our hope in the fact that God has brought us this far and He will see us through! 

Our next step is to get our Dossier and the payment that goes along with it to our agency! Then the massive wait game starts! 12 months is a long time in the life of a little girl!

Pack Pony Push, Pack Pony Pull

I wrote a big long blog post about pack ponies, and carts, and pulling and pushing. While I was writing it I get sidetracked like I usually do and came to this conclusion:

Some mom's have stretch marks on their bellies. Mine are on my heart and soul. Some dads have finger nail marks from moms in labor, Kevin's marks are inside where you can't see them.

Adoption is hard and we can't do it without the support of our friends, family, and church family. So please say a prayer for us regularly, share our fundraisers, and ask us how we're doing every once in a while (like legitimate "how are you's" not "how ru's"). Be prepared for legitimate answers too.

See how short that was!? My mind took about five pages typed to get to that conclusion! If you're curious about pack ponies the picture came to me when I was reading the kids this book:

Which, if you buy using the link above we get a portion of the sale directly to our adoption account! I smell Christmas coming :) (Amazon Affiliate Program- Hoos Adoption Fundraiser use this link to shop Amazon and we get a portion of your purchase! Feel free to share the link with your friends and family!)

Thank you to those who have been our "Pack Ponies"! (That's a legitimate "Thank you" not a "thx")

Red (well, ok, white...) Thread Fundraiser

In Chinese culture, adoptions specifically, there is a picture story of red thread. The red thread is tied to our hearts and to the hearts of a specific person. While some believe this to be reality I doubt it is, but when I have this ache in my heart I can't help but think of a red thread being tugged by an orphan who needs a family. I was reading about this this morning when I got an idea!

We've done all kinds of fundraising things, some successful, some not. This Holiday season I want to try something new. You all know I sew a TON for fundraising. Well sewing requires THREAD! So, I am asking you to donate thread! Here's the fun part, I have a amazon affiliate account now and if you buy the thread through that we get a portion of the cost straight into our adoption fund! Just use the link below, you can even have it shipped straight to us, just message me for the address! 

White and Black are the colors I use the most. If you have some just sitting around the house we will be more than willing to take that too! As long as it is polyester covered polyester! Half used up? I'll use the rest! 

Thanks for supporting us! You are all so amazing!

Parent's Night Out!

In the fundraising battle grounds of adoption it always feels like everyone is doing the same things... So I wanted to be able to do something different. We brainstormed and prayed and had very intense thinking sessions (don't try these at home lol). I remember doing a parent's night out at a church for a youth group fund raiser and it was a ton of fun for everyone involved! So it was settled. This way we were able to collect funds, give some really hard working parents a date night, and have a blast with a really great group of kids! Win, win, win!

We did a parent's night out in September but there was some sickness going around so we had just 2 munchkins.

This time around we had 5 kids, raised a total of $165, and had fun! We started the night by decorating pumpkins with stickers. This was a sort of ice breaker, it worked really well! Then we moved outside to eat donuts on a string, without using our hands, this proved to be really funny! The kids ran and chased each other around the yard for a bit and then we went inside and threw tape balls at a tape spider web, the boys especially enjoyed this. We had mummy hot dogs, mashed potato ghosts, and apple/peanut butter/marshmallow mouths for dinner. I was surprised when most of the kids ate everything! Then we cleaned up our messes and watched a movie and ate some popcorn.

It was a BLAST and I'm really thankful for a great group of families we have supporting us! We're taking a break and then picking back up with the monthly parents night out in February with a special Valentine's Date Night!

They stuck a eye ball sticker on my forehead! You can see the tape web behind me.