Humbled

I am blown away at the response we have received so far for the wreath fundraiser. After we fill all of the orders we will have raised something like $300 already. I had a little chat with God in the car the day that Nicole started this fundraiser for us and it started something like this: "So. God. How are we gonna do this?" A little later, I got a text about this fundraiser and half a week later, this is what has happened. The orders just keep coming in every day. I have posted it everywhere and people I don't even KNOW are ordering specifically to give toward our adoption. I am completely humbled by everyone's generosity of spirit and a little embarrassed that I've doubted God's ability to provide the money we need. We are a long way off from having all of our money but I feel like God is just giving us a taste of His capability to fulfill this need. We are so excited to see what God does and how He provides during this journey. He has already carved it out and already knows who we will bring into our family and how we're going to do it. He is good, all the time.

Another blessing we are so thankful for is both sets of our parents. The Husband and I were able to go away for the weekend to celebrate our FIFTH wedding anniversary thanks to our four parents. My mom and dad took the kids Saturday-Sunday morning and The Husband's parents had them all day Sunday till we picked them up in the evening. We were able to get some relaxation and restoration for our spirits and were able to reflect on where we've come the past five years and where we'll be in five more. We have experienced some heartache over five years but, oh the blessings! A little breakdown on our 5 years of blessings:

2008: Got married














2009: Bought and moved into our new home
















2010: Had Bubba
















2011: Had Sissy




















2012: I began working toward my Master's degree
2013: God-willing, we will bring our third child into our family through adoption!

Praise God for His endless blessings and faithfulness.

Update

My fab friend, Nicole has started another fundraiser for us! She is selling handmade spring wreaths just in time for Easter. Currently there are four designs to choose from. Here is the website on Facebook:

Facebook wreath fundraiser

Prices range from $30-$50 and all the proceeds go toward our adoption!

Holy debt, Batman!

We went through our first consultation yesterday at the adoption agency so the next step is completing our homestudy. The person we are working with calmed a lot of the fears we have about open adoption, support, and risks (I'll blog about these later) but really rubbed some salt in the money wound. Because we would love a child of any race and we are fairly open to physical special needs and birthmother drug use, we were told that we could end up in a situation where the adoption process moves VERY quickly. This isn't the norm and probably will NOT happen but we were told that we need to be prepared financially in case it does happen.

Um, yikes?

So in true Lindsey-fashion, I was up texting with a good friend and researching fundraising options long after The Husband had gone to bed last night. I set up one fundraiser last night through Just Love Coffee. I have a link to it on my Facebook page as well as on the right side of our blog. Basically, you click through our link and it'll take you to our family page on the Just Love Coffee site. From our page you begin shopping and we will earn a fixed amount back from each item you purchase. It's super easy for everyone and it's fair trade, direct trade coffee and products.

My next step is to set up a t-shirt fundraiser. I think I will do this through a website called Chrome Buffalo. Basically, they have 4 t-shirt designs to choose from (in all sizes) and you buy as many as you want! We will let everyone know when the fundraiser opens and it will run for 10 days only. For every shirt purchased through our family page, we will earn $11. Again, super easy. I really like this fundraiser because we don't have to design our own shirts (time-consuming) nor do we have to put any money into it ourselves. I think many times adoptive families will design and buy their own shirts and then try to sell them which can end up LOSING them money if they don't sell all the shirts!

That same sweet friend I mentioned before is going to be helping me make some super cute button bracelets that I'll sell here and on my Facebook page as well. I'll hopefully be starting to sell these within the next week and a half.

I tried to set up an Amazon affiliate link on our blog so we can start earning money when you purchase items on Amazon through our link but apparently if you live in Illinois you cannot do this?? If anyone knows differently please let me know!

I have to give a shout out to my super awesome friend down the street who has been SO supportive and helpful! ALL of my fundraising ideas have come from her :)

More to come...

FUNdraising!!!

So I know it may be a little early to be worrying about fundraising for our adoption, but when you're looking at a big picture of around $25,000...well, you start thinking about it pretty early!

Researching all of our options is not a problem--I love to research this stuff. My biggest issue (and I THINK The Husband's too) is openly asking for financial assistance. We're working from this idea in the back of our heads that it's our family and if we want to add to our family then, financially, it's our issue to work out. It's difficult to break free from that line of thinking. The funny thing is, we were totally happy to contribute financially to friends' adoptions because we truly see it as biblical and something the church needs to take part of and support. But when it comes to us, it's almost embarrassing to say, "Hey, we can't do this............can you help? For me personally, I see myself taking charge of this area of the adoption in the most candy-coated, roundabout way possible because I'm just not comfortable asking for help!! There's this little brat inside of me stomping her foot and saying, "Don't even post this, I can do it mySELF!"

The idea of fundraising for adoption, I think, is kind of new age-y. I mean, when we talked with family members about how much it cost them to adopt 30 years ago, they told us it cost them something like $2,000. Generally now, it IS much less expensive if you foster first and then adopt or adopt a waiting child in foster care (which we looked at). But adopting a newborn from someone you don't know...well, is just much more expensive now. Also, I think fundraising for adoption is accepted by the Christian community because we see taking care of the "orphan" as something God commands us to do.

But it's still out of my comfort zone.

Anyway, here are some ideas I've found so far (and I'm also wondering if the grants I'm finding on the internet are actually worth my while to apply for):

1) Grants
2) Sell tshirts (Adoptionbug.com is what we're looking at because there is no upfront cost to us)
3) Garage/Bake/Jewelry Sale
4) Asking people outright for some dough (not gonna happen with me!)

So...ideas for fundraising are welcomed. Also, I could use some help wading through all the grant stuff. I don't want to waste my time filling out grant applications if they're not worth it. :(

Oh, I also don't want to leave you with nothing fun from my day so:
Bubba didn't nap today. Instead, he pooped on the floor and then REALLY tried hard to clean it up...with lotion, cream, and a cd.

Revamp

There are some new things going on in our life so The Husband and I have decided to revamp our blog to keep our friends and family updated on our growing and transforming family. The biggest two changes are:
1) I am currently in school to get my master's degree in social work. When I am finished my goal is to fight for "the least of these," the kids in the adoption and foster care world. I have my first (unpaid-boo!) internship this summer with a foster care agency. I'm so excited-the agency and people there seem so great, working toward a better life for the kids.
2) We have decided that 2013 is our year to adopt! We are starting the process now! We have our first consultation with our agency this Thursday. We are incredibly excited, determined, and scared. But we are ready.......we think. :). Oh, there's that little matter of it costing more than double what we paid for our car...

A large portion of this blog is going to be dedicated to our process of adopting. We believe that the process of adopting is not just about the child we will be bringing into our home; it is about every member of our family. It is a life change that affects our family as a whole which is why this "revamp" is not to change our blog to be about the adoption only. We would like this blog to be an updated account of what's happening in our family, how God is working in us and how we are just trying our best to be a loving example of God's devotion in this broken world. Also, we cannot accomplish this adoption without the love, support and encouragement of our family and friends. So we want to keep everyone informed!

You will also be hearing a lot about The Husband's adventures as a stay at home dad this summer while I intern and go to school!

And the adventure of our family continues on...

So I thought it would be fun to document everything I do in a day as a Mom.  At 1:30 PM, I gave up.  Here it is:

7:12 AM: My morning begins. I am startled awake by a door slamming and my 10 month old letting out a cry. My 2 ½ year old has learned how to open doors. He lets himself out of his room and nonchalantly waltzes into his sister's room to say good morning. If he's awake, she MUST be awake too, right?? I roll out of bed. The day begins.

Tell Bubba not to wake up his sister anymore.

Give good morning kisses.

Ask Sean to bring me up wipes—there are 0 upstairs.

Change Sissy's poopy diaper.

Change Sissy's clothes.

Switch the laundry.

Put a new load in the washer.

Finish putting Sissy's skirt on.

Fold the 2 loads of laundry I have been ignoring.

Skip shower---wash my face and spray some dry shapmoo on my hair while Sean gets Bubba milk and puts on Dinosaur Train

Remember that Bubba is downstairs alone and sprint to the front door to lock the chain lock.

Sprint back upstairs before Bubba realizes I'm down there.

Clean the sink and toilet—decide to leave the shower for another day.

Pick up a crying Sissy—bring her downstairs

Pick up our mess from last night

Give Sissy a bottle on the floor while I...

Put Bubba on the Potty

Get Bubba more milk

Put Bubba on the potty again.

He has already had 2 M&M's. It's 7:59 AM.

Dinosaur Train is over—must stop ignoring my kids and get them breakfast.

Put toast in the toaster

Put Bubba on the potty

Tell Bubba he cannot, in fact, have another M&M because he didn't go potty

Put toast on the table. Bubba  doesn't want it now.

Put Bubba in time out for telling me no

Get myself some toast—undercook the first piece, burn the second piece

Feed breakfast to the kids

Go upstairs to switch laundry

Get Bubba's shoes on

Get Sissy in her carseat

Go upstairs to get Bubba's trunks

Put Sissy in the car

Put Bubba in the car

Have play date

Interfere 37 times over hitting, pushing or screaming

Fight with Bubba to put his clothes on

Fight with Bubba to get in the car

Make sure there is money in the checking account

Pay utility bill

Fight with Bubba about which way to turn the car on the way home

Fight with Bubba about taking a nap

Put Sissy down for her nap while Bubba screams at the bottom of the stairs

Make up with Bubba

Put Bubba down for a nap

Realize my work hard drive does not work

Try to scan some paper work—realize my printer also does not work

Do some other work.

Give up and paint my side tables that have been in the garage for about 4 months.

It's 1:30 PM.

Well don't I just suck at updating our blog?  I promise (though I don't know who really cares!) that I am going to update this blog more over the summer.  Today is The Husband's last day at JTHS for the year.  This year has flown by--when he started the school year we only had 1 child.  Now Sissy is almost 9 months old!  I cannot believe how quickly she has grown and that we are going to be celebrating her first birthday soon!  I also cannot believe how much my little boy has grown up.  He is physically so much bigger, he talks in full sentences (we can actually have conversations now...weird!!!), and he has blossomed into such an AWESOME big brother.  He is so protective of Sissy and loves to give her kisses.  The three of us were dancing in Bubba's room the other day and Sissy was smiling and giggling and I thought it was because Mommy was holding her, dancing with her.  Then I looked closely at her.  Her eyes were LOCKED on Bubba and she was finding so much joy in watching HIM dance.  Mommy had nothing to do with it!  It actually gave me great joy :)

Bubba's newest accomplishments:
1) Talking in full sentences!
2) Going pee pee on the potty (not regularly)--go ahead.  Ask me how I feel about bribing your child to pee on the potty.  Hint: I FULLY support it!!!
3) Really getting those temper tantrums in full swing

Sissy's newest accomplishments:
1) Rolling from her belly to her back (finally!)
2) Saying "mama" and "dada" and other various babbles :)
3) Being even cuter now than a couple months ago--I know, I know!  You must be asking how that's possible!  See pictures for detail :)

In May, I started my Social Work Master's program (sort of).  I have 1 prerequisite course that I never took in undergrad (Human Biology) so I'm getting that out of the way this summer and I'll start my Master's classes in late August.  I'll be taking 2 classes at a time so it's going to take me a while to finish but I'm in no real hurry.  I'm very excited to begin this journey!

The Husband is still teaching at Joliet West and loves it.  He is also still teaching as an adjunct professor at Joliet Junior College one night a week and it really loving that as well.  We are going to be visiting my brother, Nick, in Seattle in a couple of weeks without the kids so we are a little nervous but very excited to have some time away from the kids.  Will write again soon!