Down to four digits!!!

Our big sale is scheduled for May 16-18th so if you are nearby please plan to come by! Tell your friends and family too!! I will be printing flyers to post and hand out pretty soon. This will be our big push to get the last of the funds raised. We are only needing about $1900 still before we are FULLY FUNDED for just getting Jacob. To add the second child we will need another $7000, so we are trying to raise about $9,000 before July! Every bit helps too. No gift is too small. My kids find pennies and quarters in the couch and they all go in the donation jar! It adds up! It feels so good to finally get out of the five digit numbers!!

My youngest girls are so excited that they ask (every day) to see pictures and if I can print more out so they can take them to school and tell their teachers about them. What a precious thing. They are spreading the word about these kids and they don't even know it. Maybe someday those seeds will grow and more children will find their families because of it!

On the paperwork front, the last of our dossier will be in country this weekend! How exciting. We are still waiting on USCIS, but that will be a little while yet. We should get invitations to be fingerprinted (again) in about 2 weeks.

And about this nesting thing... I still want to paint the bedrooms upstairs but have not decided how I want it yet. Something fun and toddler-ish, but not overwhelming. I have the paint, I just need to decide where it's going (besides on the walls...). Anyone love to paint and want to come help me tackle that?? I like to paint paintings, but rooms are not my favorite. I also still deen to sit and SEW a bunch of blankets and things. I still have all of those yards of fabric to use up. Maybe I will get a chance before the big sale so I can sell them there after I decide which two I want to keep. I keep changing my mind on which fabric I like best. I know it won't really matter though, just one of those nesting things. Trying to make everything perfect. We have enough clothing for 2 children anywhere from 12 mos to 3t. The first car seat is being picked up tomorrow. I want to see how it fits in our vehicle before getting another. I still need to pick up the pack n play from my mom. There are a few things on our baby registry that we still need and a few more that are just wants.

We have heard some news about the little one we are hoping to adopt and he really needs to get home as soon as possible. Someone travelling recently saw him and he is only the size of an 18 month old  for length (at 26 mos) and very thin. This breaks my heart into pieces. Poor sweet boy. Please pray that he would be watched over by angels until we can get there. We may likely end up at the hospital when we get home so that he can be stabilized and checked out. Even being at a better orphanage in his home country is not anywhere near being in a family. They just do not have the resources. Diapers get reused (yes disposable ones), they eat a brothy mixture instead of formula (and only 2-3 times per day), and then even though they are out of a bed and put in a bouncer or swing, it is not the same as being held and allowed to develop like a child in a family could. We are thankful for the care he does get, as many are not even this privileged.

July cannot come soon enough!

Almost there!!!

Our background checks came in the mail today and our finalized Homestudy copies came yesterday! USCIS immigration application is in the mail now. We are almost done with the paperchase!!! AHHHH! So excited. Now I pray everything we have done so far is good and does not need redone. Most of our dossier is in country already just waiting on these last pieces! We will mail all but the USCIS this week!

WE ARE ALMOST THERE!

Can we get a little love in our grant in celebration??
http://reecesrainbow.org/52513/sponsorkroll

Now, for the most part, I can focus on the funding and getting the bedroom finished. We have a pretty good stash of clothes and toys. We have a portable highchair, and my mom has a full sized highchair and pack n play for us. She also procured a ton of Little Tykes outdoor stuff for us. A playhouse, a slide, a wagon, and a ride in car. We still need to get an umbrella stroller, car seats, disposable diapers (for when we get home and things are crazy), and a few more feeding supplies. I have the paint for the bedroom but have to figure out how I am going to paint it yet. It's a pretty unique lay out. I'd like to be creative and play off of that, but we will see.

I need to get sewing and make all of those quilts too, and bedding for the boy(s). Not enough hours in the day for the amount of nesting going on here. <grin>

Happy Birthday Kanani! Where is your family?

I have written about this girl before. Still no one has stepped up for her. She has already been transferred to a mental institution (where she does NOT belong). Her chances of survival there are not good. My friend is on a mission to find her a family and is writing lots of posts about her. She met her! Please share this info with others so she can get into a family where she belongs!

http://askingwithfaith.blogspot.ca/p/about-kanani.html

"Kanani"

Girl, born April 2008 Anophthalmos of the left eye, optic atrophy of the right eye, spastic tetraparesis

Kanani has been transferred!

Lovely Kanani needs a family to help her reach her full potential.

From a family who met her in May 2012:

Kanani is very sweet girl. She is well cared for in a good orphanage by caring nannies. She gets lots of outside time when it’s warm out but this time is spent lying down in the stroller as she can’t sit on her own. She can hold on to your fingers and seems to just love to have attention although with her eye troubles it is difficult for her to respond. She likes to have her cheek stroked and her hand held. She is quite stiff and in need of physiotherapy and most of all love and attention. We were told that she will be transferred to an institution very soon unless a family is found as children at this orphanage are typically transferred at age 4.

Large families welcome; travel required.

http://reecesrainbow.org/40592/kanani

Woooohoo here we go!

Things are going to really get rockin now. All of the paperwork we have done is apostilled and has been  overnighted to a family that is traveling this weekend and will get it in to the country next week! WOO.. The home study has been given the OK to be finalized so we are waiting to get that in the mail so it can be sent with our USCIS application for immigration approval. When that gets back and we get our background check and USCIS fingerprinting done we are SET! Then we send the last bit over and wait to be submitted and get travel dates! Now that said it will still be a few months for all of that to happen, but being nearly done with the paper chase is incredibly exciting!

Now I can turn my attention to the funding.  The weekend we have scheduled the big yard sale is the same weekend as a local charity run for group that helps people with developmental disabilities. The run is taking place just a mile away from our house so I hope to be able to send plenty of traffic up this way! We are just starting to get some donations and helpers lined up for the big sale. If you have anything you want to help with, let us know! Also if anyone is interested in running/walking and taking pledges to help raise money for us, we would be really thrilled!

Where the money still needs to go:
USCIS application is $890 (we should be paying this in the next week or so)
In country we need to have about $18,000 ($26,000 for two kids) This includes food, housing, travel, paperwork, and facilitation fees.
We have an estimate of about $4000 for our flights both ways.
Hubby is taking unpaid leave, so we will need money to cover the bills at home while we are gone. (Around $2000-3000)

This leaves us still needing I think around $10,000 by the end of June. It's big, but God is bigger!