Monday, September 30, 2013

American Girl doll madness!

Christmas is coming quickly! Here's a great way to potentially win an amazing gift for the little girl (or adult- no judgement here) in your life and help our adoption.

I'm so excited for our American Girl doll giveaway! Here are the details:

Entries are limited. The giveaway will conclude once 1,000 entries are received!






















How to earn an entry:

Donate $5 to our Family Sponsorship Page (you can click here or use the donation box on the top right corner of the blog). And yes, you can donate more for multiple entries!

AND/OR 

Share our Reece's Rainbow FSP (this link) on your blog, Facebook page, or via e-mail. (Limit of one free entry/person)

You MUST let me know that you entered the giveaway! Please forward me your donation receipt or let me know you shared our FSP page. If you don't have my contact info, please use this e-mail address: petersadopt13(at)gmail(dot)com

Additional details:

The winner of the giveaway will receive their choice of any American Girl doll (value: $110) or their choice of Bitty Baby Twins (value: $115). The doll can be shipped anywhere in the US.

Are you new to this blog? Check out this page to find out more of our story!




Sunday, September 22, 2013

Another Sunday Update

As I write this, it is a little after 5pm in our daughter's country. Here in the States, our day is just beginning. I woke to the sounds of my alarm clock (i.e. EJ) and after her morning nursing session we are in the den playing. It's hard to think about the fact that in the first 45 minutes she was awake, EJ probably received more attention than our daughter in EE received ALL DAY. More on that later in this post.

Highlights of the week:

Homestudy
Our homestudy was finalized and arrived in our mailbox on Thursday. Friday morning I sent it off to USCIS! Please keep praying for speed and favor as we are matched with a USCIS officer and receive an appointment for our biometrics.

Baby girl
There was also another pretty noteworthy event on Thursday. Click here to see a beautiful photo!
In a few days I will write another post answering some questions that have come up since we've committed to Nadiya.

I know it's easy to see Nadiya's sweet photo and become overwhelmed with how cute she is, especially with those delicious cheeks and darling ears! And oh, how fun to have a sweet little baby!
But that's not why we are going to fly across the world to adopt this sweet little one. It isn't because she is so precious, or because I LOVE having a baby so much (although she is, and I do).
I don't specifically know Nadiya's condition or situation, but I am familiar with what I know to be true of many former-orphans from her country. I know that most likely, she is not receiving the nutrients she needs and probably is hungry a lot of the time. Her interaction with caretakers is probably very infrequent. She might have already learned not to cry after months of having no one respond.
I don't say this to depress anyone (or myself). I think it's important to remember WHY we are adopting and the conditions orphans with special needs face each day in EE.

Last day of work
Many of you know that I've had the wonderful opportunity to return to work on a part-time/contract employee basis. Wednesday was my last day, as the hotel was sold and my services were no longer needed. I'm not going to lie- it was a stressful 3 months of trying to balance EJ's therapy (four sessions/week), getting this adoption process underway, being a FT mommy/wife, and fitting in 2 days at work. The money I earned is going straight toward adoption costs which of course is a blessing.
We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped with babysitting EJ while I've worked. Justin and I know you all are busy and your sacrifice of time is so appreciated!! Auntie Arlene, Becky, Grandma Coco, Grandma Sheri, and Nana- thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Fundraising Update
Our garage sale is on Saturday. We have tons of neat things to sell, please pray that there will be a large turnout! We have a little less than 3 weeks to continue our shoe collection. As of yesterday, we have gathered 820 pairs! Please continue to spread the word.

-M

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Slow and steady progress

Here is a quick update of how things are going around here!

- We are very close to our homestudy being complete. (hopefully by Friday!) Once our homestudy is complete we can finish our application w/ USCIS- (US Citizenship and Immigration Services). USCIS will provide us with approval for the adoption and what is known as the golden ticket. This process can sometimes be very lengthy and could keep us from submitting our dossier before the winter cutoff. We are praying for favor and speed with USCIS.

- We are continually chipping away at our dossier. Our dossier is the collection of documents we will send to EE. This package contains some simple things (marriage certificates, copies of our passport) and some documents that are very complex and involved. As I mentioned above, if we are unable to submit our dossier before the cutoff date, it will add approximately two months to the process. This would mean that some of our documents would start to expire and we would need to redo things. More importantly, we don't want our child sitting in an orphanage a minute longer than she needs to and the thought of our precious daughter being stuck an extra two months in the dead of winter absolutely kills me. Please pray that all our documents and USCIS approval will come together beautifully and that we will be able to submit our dossier before the cutoff!

- Our garage sale is 2 weeks from yesterday. Justin spent time yesterday rearranging everything we have received and I am so thankful for all the boxes of donated items people have given us so far!

- I am happy to say that our house is filling up with bags of shoes! Please continue to share this fundraising opportunity. We are still very far away from our goal of 5,000 pairs.

Your love, support, prayers and encouragement mean so very much to our family. Thank you for coming alongside us!