Where we're at, take two ...

today's BIG news:

we got our I800A approval!!!

(just as a little reminder what this is about, I found this info:  "The I-800A allows the USCIS to make a preliminary determination of the prospective parents' fitness to bring an orphan into the United States. The USCIS looks at the application, the attached homestudy report, and the other requested documents in making the determination.")  So, in simple terms, this is the US government saying we meet the criteria and have approval to adopt a child from a Hague country!

and ...

how about some fundraiser updates!

TEE SHIRT CAMPAIGN

we launched our first tee shirt campaign in the wee hours of the morning!

a little about that ...

Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, a feeling of trust.  Having hope has bee a huge part of this journey for me.  My hope began the moment I saw her precious face!

Saying yes to this girl was easy, knowing we are meant to be hers ... but also scary, not knowing where the needed finances would come from.  It was without a doubt the biggest leap of faith we've ever taken!

There are so many things in life that require that stepping out, taking that leap - holding on to the hope that it will all work out!  This is what inspired our tee design!

Please click here to check it out!

We must meet a minimum for these to print, plus the more we sell the more we make - so please also feel free to share!

Our Puzzle Fundraiser

last week we lowered the price to sponsor a puzzle piece,

this week was our second largest yet - with sixteen new pieces sponsored!

We now have 95 puzzle pieces sponsored - and 157 left!!!

I am so enjoying seeing the puzzle come together!

I can't wait for it to be complete so I can frame it and hang it on our wall!

would you like to sponsor a piece of our puzzle?

it's $10 a piece, simple click here to donate and we will add your name to a piece!

this puzzle is going to be such a treasure for us to have and for Ruby to see so 

many names of amazing people who helped to bring her home!

Nana's Yardsale

can we talk about the many amazing people who have come along side us on this journey, so eager to help in whatever ways they possibly can.

the outpouring of love & support is stunning, it takes my breath away.

when we said yes, we did so knowing we needed an army behind us ... 

but also knowing that having any expectations could be crushing.

again, a leap of faith!

we have been surprised to see so much support coming from strangers and people we only know through social media, such a testament to the power of community ... but we also have some friends and family that have gone above and beyond anything we could have dreamed!

this weekend my mom, aka: Nana, had a big yardsale fundraiser.

to the many people who pitched in - donating items, helping set up, helping during the sale, helping clean up, praying for success ... thank you!

our fundraising efforts will continue until we hit our fully funded goal.

I excitedly anticipate that day, not just because of the huge impact for us - to be at the top of this gigantic financial mountain ... but also because once we've met our goal and no longer need to put every extra penny towards our own adoption, we can pay it forward - I can't wait!!!

and ...

we've been offered another matching grant!!!

what's a matching grant?
it's when someone offers to match a certain dollar amount of donations!
for instance, if someone offers a $100 dollar matching grant:
that means that you now need to hustle to get $100 in new donations (often there's a time limit in which to meet this), and then they will match that - adding another $100 donation!
sometimes the numbers are confusing, it's just because we calculate the fees (so, for instance, $100 in donations would be a raise of $97 in our FSP)

our Reece's Rainbow FSP currently reads $2,828.74 ...

we were offered a $500 matching grant!!!

our FSP needs to read $3,313.74 by May 13

*EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS & MAKE A DIFFERENCE*

if you feel led to help us meet this matching grant, please click here:

Angel for the Job Family

prayers & shares are always welcome!!!

AND ...

how about we end this post with an updated fund-o-meter!!!

I couldn't believe it when I worked all the figures and saw we were at a little over $26,000 ...
so I'm sending in $1000 to bump it to over $27,000!!!

not quite $8,000 to go and we are there - at the top of the mountain, fully funded!

 keep up the prayers & shares, friends!
we can feel your love & support!
THANK YOU!!!

we are yours ...

oh sweet girl, we still have a ways to go until it is official ...

but you know I knew from that moment I saw you, that I was yours.

I hope I never forget how I felt that night ...

it was like nothing I've ever experienced before.  to see your little face and suddenly feel a

 connection that can only be expressed as knowing I was your mama.  suddenly I felt so sad 

and so scared, that I had a piece of my heart so far away ... that is when the hope began.

we have come SO far in just three and a half months.  I pray I never let myself forget how amazing it is to see God's mighty hand in this journey, and how touching it is to see the true beauty of so many good people reaching out to help us.  God is so, so good!

and now sweet girl, we have a name for you ...

it felt important to me not to take anything away from you, but equally as 

important that we give you a name just as we have the four children before you.

you are so precious to us,

Ruby ********* Sonya

We all agree, she is Ruby!  We are keeping her Chinese name as her first middle name and are giving her my mom's, her new Nana's, name as her second middle name!!!

... we are coming for you precious Ruby, just as fast as we possibly can!

so many things ...

a long over due update.
clearly regular blogging escapes me these days.

so let's see, where did I leave off ...

my last post was a lot about the aspects of financing an adoption, a huge undertaking for sure.  we continue to climb that financial mountain and we're a little over half way now.  so amazing!

where we're at right now ...

our home study is complete, woohoo!!!  our I800A has been sent in (this is the application for determination of suitability to adopt a child from a convention country) and we just got our official letter that it was received on March 22!  now we wait for our letter with fingerprint appointment.  once that's all done and we have our I800A approval, we can send our dossier to China - a big, huge piece of this journey!!!

and little sister ...

well, we were able to get an update (this came on the perfect day, 3/21 - world down syndrome day) through our agency.  this included a few photos, a new video, and answers to some questions we had.  we found out her favorite snacks are: milk, cookies, french fries, and candy.  the more we find out about her, the more we see that she's bound to fit right in around here!

then a few nights ago I received an email from the lady of the courier we used to send little sister's care package (we weren't allowed to send ourselves, we had to use a third party courier).  it was answers to the questions we asked as part of our letter to little sister and her caregivers.  so now I have two sets of answers to our questions, and though they are fairly short & sweet answers - I still adore a little insight.  so I was able to confirm that she did indeed get her care package.  my heart was so happy to know this!

and some super fun news - we've finally settled on a name for "little sister"!  we aren't ready to reveal it quite yet, but stay tuned because we're going to make the reveal extra fun.

please continue to keep us in your prayers.  specifically, please continue to pray for the funding.  also of utmost importance is to pray for the adjustment when she is finally home!  please pray for our sweet little one.  she needs to be with her forever family, but for her this will be so confusing and scary.  please pray peace and comfort for her when the transition arrives!

thank you all, many blessings

Where we're at ...

It has continued to be a bit of a whirlwind around here ... there has been homeschool, Zoey's therapies & school services, gymnastics (paid for by the school), the "little kids" started back at swim lessons (also paid for by the school), AWANA, Annicka decided to switch schools and will be homeschooling ... oh and yes, adoption, adoption, adoption!

We've gathered documents, we've filled out forms, we've been to the doctor - and the lab, we've met with the social worker (9 & a half hours so far - one more visit to go), we've worked on our education hours (reading & online courses so far, going to a workshop this weekend) ... and, indeed, we have been working on fundraising - hoping and praying that finances won't slow us down at any point in this process!

When we said yes, we truly were stepping out in faith.  We chose to recognize this as God's timing and so after a lot of prayer, we took that step!  We absolutely know we are this sweet girl's family, but I'd be lying if I said that meant saying "yes" to her didn't come with worries and reservations.  Those worries & reservations all had to do with paying for the adoption!  We knew that the financial aspect was going to be the hardest part, as far as the initial adoption process goes (we are aware of the many potential challenges once we have her in our arms, but first we tackle the challenge of getting to her!).  We kicked off the fundraising immediately.  We were off with a bang - lots of enthusiastic folks joining in along side us, helping us raise money in whatever way they could ... at this point, that has all slowed down greatly!

I wanted to talk about that a little bit today.  I wanted to make it clear that we have a lot going on, as far as fundraisers, because there is a lot of money needed to complete the adoption.  There are points we will hit where finances could not only slow us down, but stop us in our tracks - stuck until we could cover whatever expense was needed at the time.  And no matter what, I will not be allowed to travel until everything -everything- is paid in full!

With that said, I wanted to say that I believe sharing our story is a powerful tool.  I am trying hard to keep everyone up to date on how things are progressing, I feel as though that is one small thing I can do as a thank you to the many who have donated money toward bringing our sweet girl home, as well as poured out so much love on us!

Every prayer makes a difference.  

Every dollar makes a difference.  

Every share makes a difference.

Please, please feel free to share our story and help us spread the word.  We need the continued prayers and support - it's awesome to know we are not marching alone on this journey!

and if you would like to help financially, here are our fundraisers:

Reeces Rainbow FSP

this is the perfect place to donate, as your donations are tax deductible!

ReecesRainbowBringHomeLittleSister

GoFundMe

*we have now closed our GoFundMe*

it's more than a place to donate money!  we use our GoFundMe page to track all fund-raised monies, as well as post updates on how things are going as we move along!

GoFundMeBringingHomeLittleSister

Heart of Hope Designs

this is a little shop I put together to sell things I make, all proceeds go towards our adoption!

HeartofHopeDesigns

Be a Piece of Our Puzzle

This idea was one I loved the moment I learned of it, I knew that I would do a puzzle fundraiser - this one means a lot to me and I hope many will be able to join in and be a piece of our puzzle!

How it works:

I created a very special puzzle, 252 pieces!  As pieces are "purchased" (sponsored) we will write the sponsor's name/names on the back.  Then, once a week we will work on putting those pieces together, revealing the puzzle as we go!  (I share puzzle progress each week on our instagram page: bringinghomelittlesister as well as sharing each sponsored piece in instagram stories on all our instagram pages ( ItsaBellaZoey & cathartic513 ) and on our facebook page: BringingHomeLittleSister!

Each puzzle piece is $20!  

You can sponsor 1, 2, 3 - no limits!  You can even split it - maybe you & a friend want to each give $10!

Donate to our paypal link: paypal.me/littlesisterhome

*be sure to leave us a note stating your name/names - or we'll just use what paypal shows us!

Once all the pieces are sponsored and the puzzle is complete, we will put it in a floating frame - so we can see the back as well as the front!  We will hang it on our wall and cherish the visual reminder of the many people who helped us bring little sister home, the people who are a piece of our puzzle!

Dollar Campaign

This campaign was born out of the requests for something that more people could participate in!  We're putting hearts on our living room wall, with the names of sponsors!  Each heart is just one dollar!!  donate here paypal.me/littlesisterhome and leave us a note with what name you'd like us to put on the heart!  We also share this on instagram!

the best Nana

if you know my mom, feel free to reach out to her regarding her fundraisers!

she's doing a quilt, similar to our puzzle fundraiser - you sponsor a square on a quilt being made for sweet little sister (what a treasure!)!

she's also in the process of planning a yard sale!

she's currently taking donations for the yard sale, so if you have stuff that needs a new home - let her know!  I believe the sale will be late April and she's also looking for a few people to help out with the sale as well as help to advertise!

we are super excited that we have now turned in everything necessary for the homestudy!  now we get to begin the dossier paperwork - yay!

from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

we honestly can't do this alone and as I said before everything helps!

Moving forward ...

It's been a whirlwind of gathering documents & filling out forms to send to our agency.  On monday we were able to go do our livescans (fingerprints), so now our backgrounds checks are underway.  There are letters to be written, forms to have notarized, my follow up doctor appointment (doc said he'd lose the paperwork - so had me schedule a follow up to finish it after my lab results come in ... he wanted to do ALL the suggested tests - I think 11 vials of blood may be my record - and they only had to stick me twice to get it, woohoo!!!)

We're expecting to hear from our social worker this week and finally officially begin the homestudy!  I've been reading The Connected Child and researching other ways to cover our education requirements (and learn as much as I possibly can), since the classes at our agency would be quite a drive!  Every day I try to accomplish something (or remind someone that they have something to accomplish, haha)!

Meanwhile, little sister never leaves my thoughts or prayers.

Every day, I say out loud "we're coming for you sweetheart" ...

and I hope and pray that she can feel the love of her family - 

so far away, but longing to bring her home!

every thing accomplished, checked off on the done list, is a step closer to her!

continue to pray friends, we have some big mountains to climb in the next few weeks!

How this journey began ...

Before I delve into this, I want to preface by saying our journey began long before we even knew it!  What do I mean?  I mean, God has been working on this for a long time ... but I only now see all those pieces!  I can now see that His hand was guiding this for over a year before He brought our little girl to our attention!

I can go back as far as my own childhood, we had several families within our church that adopted (both domestically and internationally) and I believe seeing those families was the first stirring in my heart that adoption was a good, good thing.  My trip to Australia in 2015,  without that trip I would not have had a passport - something required to put in a letter of intent to adopt. (I might add, my cousin paid for my plane tickets AND accommodations, otherwise I could not have gone)  Though I have always had a heart to adopt, without personally knowing other families who have adopted (and all of us being able to spend some time with them) - the rest of my family may have had a harder time with the idea.  If I had not decided (I truly believe it was God prompting, He knew) to get serious about weight loss, my bmi would have exceeded China's requirement - an even bigger deal now as waivers are not being granted and people who had waivers at PA (pre-approval) are not getting their LOA (official approval after all documents are in).  These are just a few examples, there's so many more pieces ... but number one, to me:  if we had not had our little girl, Zoey, and known the absolute joy of parenting a child with down syndrome - we may not have had such open hearts.  It is not highly likely we would have even been aware of children with special needs needing forever families.  I am so thankful for each of my children and the lessons their lives have and continue to teach me ...  and I am so thankful for that extra chromosome of Zoey's and how having a child with down syndrome has changed our lives in such beautiful and amazing ways!

and now, how this journey began ...

On November 8, 2016 I decided to look at Reece's Rainbow (an online advocacy site for waiting children).  This is something I do often, seeing those sweet faces touches my heart and I always pray they will find their forever families!  I had started with the list of kiddos in the Miracle of Christmas Campaign (definitely look that up later this year, November 1) looking for a child we could donate to.   You get an ornament to hang on your tree and I thought that was so neat ... and sometimes that sweet face hanging on your tree ends up being a child you add to your family.  I felt a stir in my heart and had the thought ... what if that happened for us?  I quickly pushed the thought aside and remembered the point was to donate to help a child get home to their family, this wasn't the time for our family.  I got a little distracted (or so I thought) and eventually ended up in the section of little ones with down syndrome, imagine that ... I had scrolled through the "babies", ages 0-2.  I thought to myself "oh, I'll come back in the morning and look more at the MACC list to find a child to sponsor" ... then I clicked into the kids ages 3-5 with down syndrome, I couldn't resist I guess.  Face after face of adorableness - as usual, I'm always "in love" with every single sweetie!

and then it happened ...

~first glimpse of our girl~

I came to "Angel", as she's called on RR.

I honestly can't explain it, but I couldn't look away.

I read her bio, not a whole lot of information ...

but I felt an immediate connection to this little girl!  

I took some screen shots, I just felt like I needed to hold onto her a little bit - then I went to bed.  Over the next week, I couldn't stop thinking about little "Angel".  I kept returning to her RR page to see her and read her bio - over and over.  She was growing so strongly in my heart.  I knew there had to be a reason, maybe God was telling me she needs prayer?  

... so, November 15th I printed her photo, wrote a "pray for Angel" note and tacked both to our wall.  That would be my reminder to not just waste this connection, but to lift up prayers for her each time she came to my mind.  I was sure of one thing:  there was definitely some reason she was so heavily on my heart.

The next day we ended up donating to her RR fund.  It was actually G's (that's my hubby) idea.  When he saw the RR page on the computer (I had forgotten to close it) he asked if I had donated, I hadn't yet and he suggested we do.  "Angel" wasn't part of the MACC program - but I knew she was who I wanted to donate to, and so we did.

I want to pause for a moment to talk about some things that happened that first week of having this precious girl's photo on our wall ... to put it simply, we all fell in love with her.  I don't want to name names, but I had two children that had never been real open to the idea of adoption - but here they were asking if we could adopt her, talking about names we could give her, I was witnessing transformation right before my very eyes and it was astounding!  Again, God's hand.

... November 18th I was talking with the boys and they shared some thoughts - and it was confirmed, the three older kiddos were completely on board with having a new sister.  Zoey was even making mention of being a big sister!  ... and I will say, I had felt like her mama since the moment I first saw her.  I never told anyone this, I mean - I didn't want sound like a crazy person!  But, it's the reality ... the connection I felt that very first night was like nothing I've ever experienced before.  By now I had reached out to a few friends for prayer, I didn't want to take control and especially in such a huge decision, adoption, I wanted to know this was absolutely from God.  

Now I will say, my G is a man of few words.  I could tell though that he was falling in love (so to say) just as much as the rest of us.  Being a practical thinker his concern was how to come up with the funds to finance an adoption.  So there, we were stuck.

... what happened from November 19th to December 2nd was a LOT of prayer.

I had asked my closest friends to pray and I had shared with some of my friends who have adopted what was going on.  I prayed a lot and I will say God gave me so much peace, despite the fact that waiting for answers is not my strength.

By now I had also reached out to Reece's Rainbow for more information and they had put me in contact with an adoption agency that had "Angel's" file.  However, it turned out that she actually wasn't listed with them anymore.  Somehow or another I ended up in several adoption groups on facebook, I made mention of our sweet girl and someone pointed me in the direction of the agency she is listed with.  I had her file and a few photos and was in contact with a few ladies from the agency.  I now knew that "Angel" was four years old, the information on RR was a bit outdated.  Not too much else was new information.  We got to see a video from October 2016, sweet girl is so quiet ... and they had shaved her head - no one knows why.

December 3, 2016

A day I will never, ever forget.

At this point we were all on board, but G was still thinking about his final answer (those darn finances, I will say it's not to be taken lightly as it is truly a daunting figure).  I was sharing some new information with G, when he asked me "what's her name?".

I started saying "well, she's 'Angel' on Reeces Rainbow and 'S----' at the agency".  He said again, "but what's her name?".  "I'm not sure how to pronounce her Chinese name (we can't share that, either, fyi)" I said, and he replied "well, she has to have a name".  So we started having a conversation about names!  I shared the ones I liked, of course he didn't care for any of them - haha.  Then he shared one he liked, it was ok ... I told him "I like ----, but I'm not so sure about ---- (the nickname he mentioned)".  That's when it all shifted, as he replied ...

"come on, you know I always get the name"

I'll level with you, I was oblivious.  I was so confused.  "What do you mean you always get the name?" ... to which he answered ...

"I always name them"

(meaning, he always names our children)

Naturally, I questioned "what are you saying?" as my face failed to hide the joy about to erupt!  

... and he said, "ok".

That was it folks, the biggest yes I think we've ever said!

Of course I started crying tears of joy!

a special prayer ...

It didn't take me long to jump on my phone to start sharing the news with close family & friends.  I didn't want to just leave it in messenger and of course no one was around, but I managed to catch one of my closest friends online and told her!  Here's where things get pretty incredible, yet again!  Her and I had chatted earlier that day and I had shared that I was still (not so patiently) waiting for my hubby's decision.  (Again, his hang up was the giant leap of faith it would be financially - I don't want anyone thinking anything otherwise)  She asked if that decision had just been made, between when we had talked earlier and now ... she also asked "are you freakin kiding me?" haha!  I told her I was not kidding!  She went on to share that after we talked she had been praying.  She was specifically praying that we would have a clear path and that G would either "get on board" or "close the door" for me.  Talk about confirmation.  That right there folks gave me chills ... and more tears of joy!  It had seemed like his answer had come out of nowhere, but now I knew it was once again God's hand!

so, that's how this journey began. 

We sent in our agency application & pre-approval paper work that week.  It was difficult receiving PA during Christmas as everyone was closed, but now we've hit the ground running with ordering documents, filling out forms, and trying to get organized to get everything done as quickly as possible!

keep praying for us everyone, we can feel it - we've had so much support already!  

I can absolutely feel the love!

Our journey begins ...

Happy New Year, 2017 ~ and welcome to our new blog!!

Yes, it's a new year and a very exciting time for our family ... we're growing!  The most precious little girl will be joining our family some time this year (prayerfully).  

As many know, I used to blog regularly ... then instagram came along and the blog fell silent.  I miss blogging.  I find writing quite relaxing.  I love looking back at the photos and reading the stories of the memories we have made.  Documenting this time in our lives, this new journey of adoption ... well, I knew it had to happen!  So I'm back!  

our Zoey Grace is going to be a big sister!

My goal is that this blog will serve as a memory book ... as well as a place where I can keep all our family, friends, & followers up to date on what's happening to bring "little sister" home!

Thank you so much for your prayers, love, and support!

We are so blessed to have you be a part of our story!