End of the school year!

I hardly ever do a post about anything other than the adoption but I wanted to document this mostly for myself so I will always have it!  Last week was Jaxon's last day of 5th grade.  Anyone that knows me well, knows what I'm doing as I type this:)  It's been very emotional for me but I did pretty good.  Jaxon's only request when we came to his honors assembly and his "moving up" ceremony was for me  NOT to cry!!  And guess what... I did it!!  I was pretty proud of myself.  Now don't get me wrong, I cried before and after the program and many other times but not  AT the program.  Go me!!!  We are very proud of Jaxon of the young man he is becoming!  He is a smart boy and I have no doubt he is ready for middle school.  I'm the one that isn't ready but we all have to go through it and we are looking forward to a fun summer and a great year next year.  Here are some pics from his last day.

               His last time walking into elementary school

Mr. Monell

                                             Mrs. Milner

          Jaxon receiving his "Certificate of Completion"

Camden had a great year as well and is now officially a "2nd grader"  He's pretty excited about that except he LOVED his teacher and is a little nervous about having to start over with a different one.  However, I'm not worried at all because for some reason Camden is a different child at school and NEVER gets in trouble and ALWAYS does the right thing the first time he's asked.  Yeah, I wonder how things can be so different at home and at school.  I'm glad though because he can be quite the handful for us:)  I guess the saying is true "If they are going to misbehave, I'd rather it be at home"  No seriously Camden is a sweet boy and really is a people pleaser.  He tries real hard to make the right decisions.  This will be his last year at the primary school before moving on to the elementary school for 3rd-5th grade.  Here are a few pics of his last day of school picnic with his friends.  I rounded the corner and found him her with some of his "friends that are girls":)  He seemed to be hanging around the little blond right next to him quite a bit.  Ladies man maybe???

Libby, Hope, Madison, Maggie, Faith and Camden

                                                       
                                  Mrs. Bramlett and Camden

Moving right along!!

We wanted to update everyone on the progress of our puzzle fundraiser.  Right now we have "sold" 73 pieces!!  That's $730.00 that is going toward the adoption.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who have helped us out with this so far!!  We appreciate it so much.  If your name is not on a puzzle piece, donate today and it will be put on there right away!   The first pic is from a couple of weeks ago and the next 3 are current!

There are still plenty of pieces left (427) to be exact and we could still use the help if you are willing.  I'm dying to get the puzzle complete and framed and see how it looks when it's all done!


We finally got our t-shirt proof in and we will be selling t-shirts for anyone who is interested!!  Who couldn't use a new t-shirt, and the money that you spend on the t-shirt will be helping us along the way.  The shirts will be $20 each and 2xl or larger will be $22.  We said at the beginning that we would love to sell a good many shirts and then at some point maybe do a BBQ cookout and have everyone wear their shirts and get some pictures:)  We are taking orders for the t-shirts now so if you'd like one and haven't already let me know, please do as soon as you can.  Here is a preview of the shirt!

                                                       Front

                                                       Back

Also, I spoke with our agency a couple of days ago and just asked her a few questions.  She said that she had 4 birthmoms that were already matched but are due any day now!!  I couldn't help but be super excited for those 4 families that will soon be getting their sweet little addition to their family.  One day that will be us!!!  She said that she's working with 7 birthmoms right now and they all have been matched.  I will be honest and say that to hear that, it made me a little disappointed:(  She also said not to be discouraged because she could have 5 more walk in tomorrow that are looking for adoptive parents.  She said that alot of moms will find a family by looking at the adoptive parent profiles on the adoption agency's website, and come in with a family already in mind just from reading the profile online.  I know things can change from day to day so we just continue to wait.  I have this verse as the background on my phone:

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."  Psalm 27:14 KJV

Sometimes I find myself getting a little impatient and when I read that verse, it really helps!!  I've said before and I know it's true that God's timing is ALWAYS PERFECT!!  So as I continue to wait, we continue to pray.

We also will be doing a HUGE (hopefully with your help) yard sale sometime in the next couple of months!!  We are asking everyone to go through all of your extra junk and donate it to our yard sale. What a great way to help out without even having to spend any money!  I know lots of people have things sitting around that they would be happy to get rid of but don't like doing yard sales themselves:)    Everything we make will go to the adoption fund!  We will be accepting anything that you are willing to donate.  You can start getting things together anytime.. we don't have a specific date yet but we can go ahead and start getting the things ready if we have them.   If you can't get the items to us, we will come to you!!

 Thanks again for your support and for following our journey!!!

Puzzle Fundraiser

Well...sorry it's been so long since I posted.  I have almost done it several times, but there just isn't much going on right now.  We are now just in the waiting period!!  Here is where we stand... The homestudy is complete and our agency officially has all of our information for the homestudy. We have completed the info for our profile to go on our adoption agency's website.  She should have it on the website by next Friday.  I will do a post then and let everyone know how to view that if you'd like.    We have paid our first large amount due to our agency which was $5,500.  That was due upon completion of homestudy.  The next large amount will be $6,500 and that will be due upon match.  Which means as soon as a family chooses us and we are "matched" then we will pay that amount.  This could happen at any time and we have no idea when that will be.  Hopefully soon:) We have decided to go with an original idea that we had but haven't followed through with it yet.  It's a PUZZLE FUNDRAISER!!  
   

  Here is how it works:

---  We have purchased a 500 piece puzzle; each piece symbolizing someone that will be helping bring our baby home.

---  Each piece will be a donation of $10.00

--- You may choose to be one piece or several pieces of the puzzle. 

--- YOUR name will be written on each piece that you represent. 

After the puzzle is completed, we will frame the puzzle between 2 pieces of glass and hang it in the child's room.  This will be a great keepsake and we can't wait to be able to sit down and tell him/her the story of all of the people that helped them become a part of our family:)

 You can make your donation by clicking on the "DONATE" button to the right or if you would rather mail a check that will be fine too.. just email me for our address at ray0287@bellsouth.net   If you click the DONATE BUTTON (PAYPAL ACCT) , it will send us an email that we have received a donation and then we personally go on there and transfer the money into our adoption account that we have set up.  


Here is a picture of the puzzle we have chosen

                                                                     

We both fell in love with the picture but when I saw the "name" of the print,  I know it was the one.  It's called " Forever and Ever!"  We can't wait for this child to become a part of our family Forever and Ever!!!

 We think this sounds like so much fun and we are really excited about this fundraiser.  Thank you all in advance for your help!  It is appreciated more than you know!!!! 

We also have a t-shirt fundraiser coming up soon.  I know I mentioned it several months ago but we have come up with some ideas and the printing shop is working on a digital proof for us right now with the design we finally decided on.   We look forward to this fundraiser as well.  I mean who can't use a new t-shirt?  Especially when it's going towards a great cause:)

Moving forward one step at a time!!!

     It's been a couple of weeks since I posted so I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!  We had a great 2013!  I have no doubt that 2014 will be just as good if not better.
     I'm not sure if anyone noticed or not but I added a link to our adoption Facebook page.  Some of you just follow the blog and may not have known that we have a Facebook page as well.  Sometimes I will put something on Facebook that I don't post on here, so be sure to check them both out from time to time.
     I'm hoping to hear from our social worker sometime next week that she has our homestudy completed and sent to our agency.  Once that is done, we will be able to apply for some different grants to hopefully help out with some of the expenses.  Thank you to each one of you that has made a donation so far.  It's always exciting to watch our fundraising thermometer rise each time one is made!!
     I was able to get all of the corrections made on our profile book, reordered, and got them all back in the mail a couple of days ago.  I took the package to the post office earlier today and sent the books to our agency!!

This is a HUGE step for us!!!!!!  We are so excited to be moving forward.   This whole process is all about WAITING!  It's hard but I am learning to be patient and trust God's timing!  It just blows my mind when I think that God is unfolding his perfect plan day by day.  Sometimes I find myself trying to plan the perfect time for it all to happen.  Then I quickly have to remind myself that GOD is in control, NOT me!!  He already knows our needs before we even ask... For your father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him  Matthew 6:8 KJV   Please continue to pray that we will have the patience and faith that we must have during this waiting period!   Our strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord!

Just another update!!

     Well we finally have our last homestudy visit tomorrow! Bobby will be meeting with our social worker for his individual interview.  She says after this, it will take about 3 weeks to get everything typed up and sent to our agency.  YAY!!
     I finally finished our profile book and ordered them.  When I got them in the mail a few days ago, I immediately noticed a couple of spelling mistakes:(   I was so frustrated because I have worked so hard to get this done and really thought that I hadn't missed anything.  On the page that I had to work with, the writing was so small and it was really hard to see any mistakes.  When I spoke with our adoption agency, she recommended that we correct the mistakes and have another book printed.  We printed 3 books... one for us, one for the agency to keep and mail out if need be, and one for them to show birthmoms.  I knew then, that would mean that I would have to pay for the 3 books to be reprinted again.  I really didn't want to have to do that since I had just 5 days before paid for 3 books!!!  I decided to call Snapfish.com and ask tell them the situation and see what they could do.  My moms motto is "It never hurts to ask", and I'm so glad I did! The nice lady said that she would credit me the amount I originally paid and I could make the changes and order the new ones at no additional cost.  What a blessing!!!  So, hopefully tomorrow I will get those new ones ordered and as soon as we get them, I can send that to our agency.  I just found out that once they receive that, if they have a birthmom and we meet her criteria and vice versa, they will start to show it!!!  If someone happened to be interested in us before they receive our completed homestudy, they would still be able to contact our social worker and get the approval.  I can't believe we are getting so close to being able to have our profile shown!!  It's hard because we are all ready NOW but we know God's timing is perfect and this will all fall into place when HE is ready.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers.
     Also, we are trying to figure out the last few details about selling t-shirts.  Hopefully sometime in January we will be able to get that fundraiser going.  Bobby is hoping that we can sell a good many and then he would like to have another fundraiser where we sell BBQ plates and everyone that has a t-shirt can wear it to the BBQ!! Sounds fun huh:)  We have a design in mind for the shirt and it will have a bible verse about adoption on it.  We will try and post pics of the design sometime after Christmas.

Thankfulness & sweet boys!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! We all have so much to be thankful for.  At the beginning of November we decided when we do our nightly devotion with the kids that we would all name something we were thankful for and we have written it down each day.  We plan to read over them all today around the table and remember again just how blessed we are.  Our lists were very different between the kids and us but the kids even caught on after a couple of days and started looking deeper than just family and friends.  We have everything from our church, our pastor, friends, family, heat in the winter, a/c in the summer, shoes, a bed, food, salvation, the Bible, families that raised us in church, spouses, the opportunity to adopt,  God, children, health, xbox, electricity, our home, job schedule, good renters, dishwasher, different seasons, clean sheets, Friday paychecks, well you get the point... but I could go on and on!  It really made us think each day and try to come up with something different than what someone else had mentioned.  The boys both mentioned the adoption and the baby several times.  They can't hardly wait for all of this to really happen.
      I have to say that both of my boys have such sweet hearts.  They have been saying for the last few days that they wanted to give some money towards the adoption. We both told them that they didn't need to give their money for that.  They have both been saving for certain things and I like for them to know the value of money by saving and then actually seeing how it's spent ( and how fast it goes:)  Well a couple of days ago, Jaxon asked me if I had an empty jar anywhere.  I told him yes and where it was.  The next thing I know, this is what I see in my living room.

Camden made the sign on the left ( I love it) and Jaxon on the right.  They emptied their piggy banks and gave some of their cash.  We counted and it was $29.55.  They were so excited.  I told them again that they didn't have to do that and they both said "We WANT to do it mama, this is our baby too"  They absolutely melt my heart! I love that they thought this out and knew this is what they wanted to do.  Now they want all of our spare change will go in there so that's what we will be doing.  Great idea kids!
    I know it's a long waiting process for them. It is for us too but we are all waiting patiently and maybe it will happen sooner than we think.  Camden is so excited that when we finally get to take the baby home from the hospital, we will get to stay in a hotel with it.  HAHA!! I'm not sure why that's so exciting to him but he talks about it all the time!  We will have to stay in the state of South Carolina (that's the state we are going through) for 7-14 days until the ICPC is complete.  The Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children is something that controls the movement of a child from one state to another.  Both GA and SC will have to approve the child's movement in writing before you can take the child across state lines.  From what I understand, it can sometimes be closer to the 14 days.  Yikes!!!
After that though, we will be able to bring our sweet baby HOME!!

Long overdue post!

I have been meaning to write a post for the last couple of weeks and have just been so busy that when I think of it, it's so late that I'm just ready to crash.  We had our second home study visit a couple of weeks ago and it went well.  She gathered some more paperwork, made sure we had gotten the fire extinguisher, locks for cabinets, moved medicines out of reach, had working smoke alarms, etc....  Then she sat down with me for about 45 minutes and we just talked.  She asked me to go into a little more detail about some of the questions that I had on my autobiographical questionnaire.  We had a nice visit and the Lord actually allowed me an opportunity to tell her about when my Daddy got saved several years ago.  It's a long story how we got to that.. but it was perfect!! I think we both shed a few tears:)
She will meet with Bobby in the next week or so for their individual meeting and then we will be close to the end of the homestudy.  It will all be sent to our adoption agency to be approved after the meeting. I have been diligently working on our profile book.  No kidding, I bet I have put at least 15 or more hours into it.  There is so much more to it than I realized.  It's been alot of fun to do, just time consuming.  We know it will all be worth it in the end though and we can't hardly wait!!
     I've had a few people ask me about the donate button on the blog and how it works.  As you see, we have a fundraising thermometer there for you to see when we receive donations or raise money through a fundraiser.  If you click the "Donate" button, it goes to a paypal account that we have set up.  After a donation is made, it sends me an email letting me know and then I have to personally go to the account and move the money to a savings account that we have set up specifically for the adoption.  Then I will go in and update the thermometer each time a donation is made!  I have to say again that we are overwhelmed at the amount of people that have been so supportive of this adoption.  We have so many wonderful friends and family that we know are behind us 100% and pray for us daily.  Thank you so much!!!!!!!
     Also, we are trying to get a t-shirt fundraiser together soon.  We wish we were already doing it but these last couple of weeks have been so busy with the last bit of paperwork, the profile book and the education.  We each are required to have 12 hours of adoption education.  We are reading and listening to radio interviews on a website and then taking quizzes for a certificate.  It's all been very interesting and we have learned so much!