Well, we have the crib, I'm still on the lookout for a dresser/changing table, we need to decide on a bedding set and we've gotten lots of stuff already from friends and family for the new baby.
I have the bedding narrowed down to about 7 options at this point, once we pick on we can get it ordered and decide if we are going to paint the room or not. I'm thinking we probably will. I also have picked out the car seat/travel system that I like and am still on the fence about a pack-n-play of some sort. I think we'll probably want one for when we travel and for when she is more mobile and need to confine her... but it's not at the top of my list. Oh, and we were at the new Wal-Mart the other day and saw the best thing! Instead of a normal high-chair, we're going to go with something like this...
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fisher-Price-Space-Saver-High-Chair-and-Booster-My-Little-Eye-Collection/12960801
We don't have the largest kitchen so this will be perfect and a huge space saver for us.
Our garage sale went great! We had tons of help from friends and family again and I couldn't feel more blessed for all the support we have. We raised another $800!!! And just in time too... we have a lot of things to get to be ready for baby! I am going to try and add a count-down ticker to the side somewhere... if I can get it to work. It's hard to believe that in a little over two months we could be coming home from the hospital with a new bundle of joy!
For now, we are still waiting on the tribal things to get sorted out. My social worker keeps telling me it just takes time and there is no telling exactly when they will get the all clear. As soon as they do the next step is to set up a meeting with everyone and go over the cooperative agreement and also the birthplan for the big day. In the mean time, we have started getting to know Shantel more and more. We are so blessed to have someone in our lives that wants to share SO much of this journey with us. She actually came over with her boyfriend to help out with the garage sale set-up... how cool is that!!! And, Brian and I are having them over for dinner tomorrow night. We just really want to make sure that we are all on the same page, we want to get to know her better and most of all we want her to get to know us AND know in her heart that this is truly what she wants to do.
Keep those prayers coming... they are working so far and until we have that little girl home and in our arms we are still hoping and praying that this all comes together perfectly.
Showing posts with label Garage Sale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garage Sale. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Match...
Well... it's happened. We have matched with a birthmom and things couldn't be better! The last two weeks have been a whirlwind!
We met through my co-worker, her name is Shantel and she is 7 months pregnant, due November 23rd... SOON! It's a girl and everything so far is going really great! Our first meeting, while incredibly nerve-wracking was also the most joyous part of this entire experience. There we were, sitting across the booth from a wonderful young woman that wanted to help make our dreams of being a mom and a dad come true. I could cry just thinking about it.
Shantel has since met with her own counselor at our agency a few times, and the paperwork part of this whole process has been set in motion. At this point we need to wait to hear back on a couple of things, but then we actually sit down and go over things officially.
As far as we are all concerned... this is official. She likes us, or at least it seems that way! And we are already loving her and the little baby girl in her tummy. It's hard not to though. We are excited and going to slowly get started on getting the future nursery set up... heck if this all happens we only have about 9 more weeks until we bring a baby home! EEeeek!
I was able to go to her last ultrasound appointment... there are few words to describe the emotions I felt that day. It was amazing, Simply amazing! I have a pic to share... so here you go!
I couldn't have asked for a better person to have brought into our lives. I feel blessed to know Shantel and am so thankful for the experiences she has shared with me so far. I hope to have more good news to share with you all soon. For now, we are focusing on our second garage sale... lots to do and no time to do it all! Hopefully it will be even half as successful as the last one. With a baby on the way... we are saving every penny we have.
Please keep us all in your prayers. Shantel, the miracle baby girl in her tummy and Brian and I are going to need them!
We met through my co-worker, her name is Shantel and she is 7 months pregnant, due November 23rd... SOON! It's a girl and everything so far is going really great! Our first meeting, while incredibly nerve-wracking was also the most joyous part of this entire experience. There we were, sitting across the booth from a wonderful young woman that wanted to help make our dreams of being a mom and a dad come true. I could cry just thinking about it.
Shantel has since met with her own counselor at our agency a few times, and the paperwork part of this whole process has been set in motion. At this point we need to wait to hear back on a couple of things, but then we actually sit down and go over things officially.
As far as we are all concerned... this is official. She likes us, or at least it seems that way! And we are already loving her and the little baby girl in her tummy. It's hard not to though. We are excited and going to slowly get started on getting the future nursery set up... heck if this all happens we only have about 9 more weeks until we bring a baby home! EEeeek!
I was able to go to her last ultrasound appointment... there are few words to describe the emotions I felt that day. It was amazing, Simply amazing! I have a pic to share... so here you go!
I couldn't have asked for a better person to have brought into our lives. I feel blessed to know Shantel and am so thankful for the experiences she has shared with me so far. I hope to have more good news to share with you all soon. For now, we are focusing on our second garage sale... lots to do and no time to do it all! Hopefully it will be even half as successful as the last one. With a baby on the way... we are saving every penny we have.
Please keep us all in your prayers. Shantel, the miracle baby girl in her tummy and Brian and I are going to need them!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Getting there!
Our profile is in the process of being put together, thanks in HUGE part to my good friend JoAnn. She is using her digital scrap booking expertise to help us create a stand-out profile that will no doubt bring us that much closer to our match. I'm excited to see what she comes up with. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on how things turn out.
Brian and I have also discussed our second garage sale some more. We have decided to have this one at our house. While the offer still stands at a couple of our friends houses, I think overall it will be less stressful for me this time around. The date is still up in the air. We are leaning towards waiting until September. Our August is pretty busy and with working on the profile so much I just really don't think it's a good idea to put too much on our plate. In the mean time, we are still looking for items to add to our growing pile. We could really use some more kids stuff this time around, but really any and all donations will be greatly appreciated.
Also, I just want to remind everyone that while we are very excited about entering the book and increasing our chances that much more of find our match, we are still actively looking for our own match. You can all help by spreading the word and keeping us in your thoughts. We will be ordering more of our adoption cards soon, and if you are interested I can definitely get you some to have on hand.
Brian and I have also discussed our second garage sale some more. We have decided to have this one at our house. While the offer still stands at a couple of our friends houses, I think overall it will be less stressful for me this time around. The date is still up in the air. We are leaning towards waiting until September. Our August is pretty busy and with working on the profile so much I just really don't think it's a good idea to put too much on our plate. In the mean time, we are still looking for items to add to our growing pile. We could really use some more kids stuff this time around, but really any and all donations will be greatly appreciated.
Also, I just want to remind everyone that while we are very excited about entering the book and increasing our chances that much more of find our match, we are still actively looking for our own match. You can all help by spreading the word and keeping us in your thoughts. We will be ordering more of our adoption cards soon, and if you are interested I can definitely get you some to have on hand.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Garage Sale Update... FINALLY!
Well, it sure did take me long enough! My life feels like a whirl-wind. I finished up the garage sale, jumped right back into work, continued sorting out garage sale stuff, was pet-sitting for a friend, then had a volunteer commitment last weekend, and NOW.... I'm finally relaxing. Almost forced to actually. Apparently, at some point while working on the garage sale I re-injured my back. I have been seeing a chiropractor since last Friday and we are still trying to sort things out. I am very sore and after about 30 minutes of any kind of activity, it really starts flaring up.
Anyway, back to business! The garage sale went great! The week before was filled with errands, set up and pricing. Then Thursday morning rolled around (after two hours of sleep!) and we were open for business. We had a great big banner hanging up explaining what the sale was for, we handed out about 300 of our business cards to people, and sold lots of stuff/food too! All in all, people were very receptive to what we were there for. At the checkout we'd hand people our card with their change and explain more about what we were trying to do, and 9 times out a 10 the person would wish us luck or tell us an adoption story that they knew of. It was very cool to see people in our own community wanting to help out and wishing us the best on our journey.
What absolutely amazed me most were the little kids. We had some of the cutest neighborhood kids coming over and getting lunch and shopping our toys area. Each time they'd make a donation on top of what they paid for their new treasure. We even had a couple of young boys, probably around 10, that stopped by to shop the "free box" at the end of the driveway. They found some items and then both walked up to one of the donation jars we had out and shoved a couple of crumpled up ones in there and took one of our cards. Amazing!
I also can't say enough about the help we had. It was definitely a LONG few days and I couldn't have imagined doing it without the support of the family and friends that jumped right in. We had TONS of stuff... and TONS is not an exaggeration. We even had stuff still sitting inside not priced because there was no room to put it out. We eventually were able to price stuff throughout the day and get it out on the tables... but seriously, it was a LOT of stuff. By the time Saturday rolled around we started looking like what a "normal" garage sale would look like.
When it was all said in done, Saturday night we were able to sort through everything that was left, figure out what we wanted to hold onto for our next sale (yes we're doing it all again!), and brought a few truck loads of stuff to a local charity. We already have a small pile of things for the next sale started in our basement. So, if you didn't get a chance to go through your closets or attic, start sorting. I'm hoping that by the end of August, beginning of September we'll be able to do it all again and hopefully raise some more money and awareness to our mission.
Oh and I guess you'd like to know the money stuff too! Well it was a great turn out and when it was all done we had raised a little over $1,700!!!!! While it's a fraction of what we will need, it's definitely not bad for a week of work.
Other than garage sale stuff, there is not much else to report. We are working on trying to get a facebook page up and getting our profile ready for THE BOOK. We're still on the waiting list to get in it, but hope to get a call in the coming months. Better yet, we hope to get a call and a match long before we have to enter into the book!
Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If you are interested, let me know and I'll get you some of our cards. We are very open to many different situations so please keep us in mind if you hear of anything. And of course, thank you all again for reading the blog, for supporting our efforts and for helping us get one step closer to parenthood!
Anyway, back to business! The garage sale went great! The week before was filled with errands, set up and pricing. Then Thursday morning rolled around (after two hours of sleep!) and we were open for business. We had a great big banner hanging up explaining what the sale was for, we handed out about 300 of our business cards to people, and sold lots of stuff/food too! All in all, people were very receptive to what we were there for. At the checkout we'd hand people our card with their change and explain more about what we were trying to do, and 9 times out a 10 the person would wish us luck or tell us an adoption story that they knew of. It was very cool to see people in our own community wanting to help out and wishing us the best on our journey.
What absolutely amazed me most were the little kids. We had some of the cutest neighborhood kids coming over and getting lunch and shopping our toys area. Each time they'd make a donation on top of what they paid for their new treasure. We even had a couple of young boys, probably around 10, that stopped by to shop the "free box" at the end of the driveway. They found some items and then both walked up to one of the donation jars we had out and shoved a couple of crumpled up ones in there and took one of our cards. Amazing!
I also can't say enough about the help we had. It was definitely a LONG few days and I couldn't have imagined doing it without the support of the family and friends that jumped right in. We had TONS of stuff... and TONS is not an exaggeration. We even had stuff still sitting inside not priced because there was no room to put it out. We eventually were able to price stuff throughout the day and get it out on the tables... but seriously, it was a LOT of stuff. By the time Saturday rolled around we started looking like what a "normal" garage sale would look like.
When it was all said in done, Saturday night we were able to sort through everything that was left, figure out what we wanted to hold onto for our next sale (yes we're doing it all again!), and brought a few truck loads of stuff to a local charity. We already have a small pile of things for the next sale started in our basement. So, if you didn't get a chance to go through your closets or attic, start sorting. I'm hoping that by the end of August, beginning of September we'll be able to do it all again and hopefully raise some more money and awareness to our mission.
Oh and I guess you'd like to know the money stuff too! Well it was a great turn out and when it was all done we had raised a little over $1,700!!!!! While it's a fraction of what we will need, it's definitely not bad for a week of work.
Other than garage sale stuff, there is not much else to report. We are working on trying to get a facebook page up and getting our profile ready for THE BOOK. We're still on the waiting list to get in it, but hope to get a call in the coming months. Better yet, we hope to get a call and a match long before we have to enter into the book!
Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If you are interested, let me know and I'll get you some of our cards. We are very open to many different situations so please keep us in mind if you hear of anything. And of course, thank you all again for reading the blog, for supporting our efforts and for helping us get one step closer to parenthood!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Family and Food!
If you have known me for awhile, and live near by, then you have probably had some of my mom's chocolates that she makes every year around Christmas. And if you haven't had them... you are missing out!!!
Well, she decided that one way she could help raise some money was to sell her chocolates! She made a bunch up and was going to bring them down for our garage sale. Her co-workers caught wind of this and asked if she'd bring some into work for them to buy. She did... and the result was fabulous! She sold nearly all the chocolates and raised $275 towards our adoption fund!!!! And we have some left over to sell at the garage sale as well.
My dad, who still lives out in Maui, also wanted to help out. He has sent me a mini-Maui farmers market. We will have Maui Pineapples, papaya's, Maui onions and some Hawaiian Host chocolates to sell at the sale too! I've already gotten a couple of the pineapples sold and I think there will be a war over who gets the rest.
Also, my Aunt is visiting for the whole week and is helping out with the sale. I'm so thrilled to see her and hang out with her AND it's another helping hand to get things done for the big event this week. We did tons of running around today. We will start hauling stuff over the the sale location tomorrow and then Wednesday is set up and pricing... it's gonna be a long one!
Now all we need is good weather and lots of people... start praying people!
Well, she decided that one way she could help raise some money was to sell her chocolates! She made a bunch up and was going to bring them down for our garage sale. Her co-workers caught wind of this and asked if she'd bring some into work for them to buy. She did... and the result was fabulous! She sold nearly all the chocolates and raised $275 towards our adoption fund!!!! And we have some left over to sell at the garage sale as well.
My dad, who still lives out in Maui, also wanted to help out. He has sent me a mini-Maui farmers market. We will have Maui Pineapples, papaya's, Maui onions and some Hawaiian Host chocolates to sell at the sale too! I've already gotten a couple of the pineapples sold and I think there will be a war over who gets the rest.
Also, my Aunt is visiting for the whole week and is helping out with the sale. I'm so thrilled to see her and hang out with her AND it's another helping hand to get things done for the big event this week. We did tons of running around today. We will start hauling stuff over the the sale location tomorrow and then Wednesday is set up and pricing... it's gonna be a long one!
Now all we need is good weather and lots of people... start praying people!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Contact Information
We set up a couple of new ways for potential birth parents to contact us. We now have an adoption email address (KariBrianAdopt@gmail.com) and a Toll Free number (1-888-770-0083)! We also created our business cards to hand out at the garage sale, and also for our friends and family to have on hand. If you are interested in having a few cards, let me know... the more people handing them out or at least having them on hand in case you hear of a potential situation the better!
Garage sale stuff is coming along, as much as it can I suppose. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. I just can't wait for two weeks from now.... maybe then I'll get some decent sleep! Oh well, good practice for when our baby comes home right!?!
Oh! And I haven't set up a ticker to keep track of the money we have raised so far but I should update you on the Creative Memories Fundraiser. Thank you again to all of you who ordered... you helped raise over $80 for our adoption fund!!! I'm continuallly amazed by the people around me that are so incredibly generous!
I can't say it enough, THANK YOU!
Garage sale stuff is coming along, as much as it can I suppose. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. I just can't wait for two weeks from now.... maybe then I'll get some decent sleep! Oh well, good practice for when our baby comes home right!?!
Oh! And I haven't set up a ticker to keep track of the money we have raised so far but I should update you on the Creative Memories Fundraiser. Thank you again to all of you who ordered... you helped raise over $80 for our adoption fund!!! I'm continuallly amazed by the people around me that are so incredibly generous!
I can't say it enough, THANK YOU!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Dates!
We have some dates to share with you all!
Our friends have offered for us to have our garage sale at their house. Their neighborhood is much more established than our new one and they also have a nice neighborhood sale that we are going to join in on. So, that means our garage sale will be Thursday, June 17th and Friday, June 18th (with Saturday being a possibility). We don't have times set up quite yet, but I'll be sure to keep you all posted.
We have had a lot of response from people wanting to donate some things to the sale. We are so thrilled that so many people are able to help us out. So far we have a fair amount of clothing. If you have any other things to help us bring variety to our sale, we'd really appreciate it. Let us know if you have something large that will need to be hauled with a truck. We'll have to make arrangements with some family or friends to help us out with that.
AND.... we have our home study dates set!!!!!
May 5th and May 14th, the social worker will be coming to the house to interview us and check things out. I'm so excited!!!!! After the first meeting we will know for sure if a third is necessary, so keep your fingers crossed that we won't need to set up another date. If all goes well, and we are approved, then we will officially be WAITING FOR THE CALL in 24 days!!!!!!!!!!
I'll let you know how things go, I'm not too worried about the house, more so if they will like us or not. But I'm a worry-wort... it's what I do best :)
Our friends have offered for us to have our garage sale at their house. Their neighborhood is much more established than our new one and they also have a nice neighborhood sale that we are going to join in on. So, that means our garage sale will be Thursday, June 17th and Friday, June 18th (with Saturday being a possibility). We don't have times set up quite yet, but I'll be sure to keep you all posted.
We have had a lot of response from people wanting to donate some things to the sale. We are so thrilled that so many people are able to help us out. So far we have a fair amount of clothing. If you have any other things to help us bring variety to our sale, we'd really appreciate it. Let us know if you have something large that will need to be hauled with a truck. We'll have to make arrangements with some family or friends to help us out with that.
AND.... we have our home study dates set!!!!!
May 5th and May 14th, the social worker will be coming to the house to interview us and check things out. I'm so excited!!!!! After the first meeting we will know for sure if a third is necessary, so keep your fingers crossed that we won't need to set up another date. If all goes well, and we are approved, then we will officially be WAITING FOR THE CALL in 24 days!!!!!!!!!!
I'll let you know how things go, I'm not too worried about the house, more so if they will like us or not. But I'm a worry-wort... it's what I do best :)
Friday, March 19, 2010
Pending Approval
We got it done! Actually, I'm a bit behind on updating. I got all my questions answers a little over a week ago, and Brian had been working on his over last weekend. We both got them done and we were able to mail out our entire application on Tuesday! Minus my physical, which isn't scheduled until the end of this month. Funny that I have been to see a DR at least twice a month for the last 2 1/2 years and yet they still need to see me for an actual physical.
So now we wait. I still have this sinking feeling that something will come up and we won't get approved. I know it's probably silly. What more could they be looking for in adoptive parents, but still, the fear won't leave me. I keep praying that our paperwork gets processed quickly, our back ground checks go through without a hitch and we get matched with our social worker before we know it. But nothing in the category of "starting my family" has ever gone off without a hitch, so why would this?
We are scheduled for our adoption classes on April 15-16th, so that's the next step at this point.
I am still planning on having a garage sale and really appreciate everyone that has already volunteered some items for our sale. I haven't nailed down a date yet, I'm hoping to do that in the next week or two so I can recruit some help for pricing things, and help the weekend of. I really can't thank everyone enough for your support. It means the world to us!
We are always looking for new and fun ways to try and scrape together the money that we'll need to bring our baby home. So, if you have any other fund raising type ideas, please feel free to share them with us!
So now we wait. I still have this sinking feeling that something will come up and we won't get approved. I know it's probably silly. What more could they be looking for in adoptive parents, but still, the fear won't leave me. I keep praying that our paperwork gets processed quickly, our back ground checks go through without a hitch and we get matched with our social worker before we know it. But nothing in the category of "starting my family" has ever gone off without a hitch, so why would this?
We are scheduled for our adoption classes on April 15-16th, so that's the next step at this point.
I am still planning on having a garage sale and really appreciate everyone that has already volunteered some items for our sale. I haven't nailed down a date yet, I'm hoping to do that in the next week or two so I can recruit some help for pricing things, and help the weekend of. I really can't thank everyone enough for your support. It means the world to us!
We are always looking for new and fun ways to try and scrape together the money that we'll need to bring our baby home. So, if you have any other fund raising type ideas, please feel free to share them with us!
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