Thursday, March 29, 2012

Thank you all!

I don't have any new news or updates today but I wanted to say Thank You to all of my friends and family for all of the support they are giving to us.  We could not do this without you.  I want to thank God for continuing to lead us through this adoption because it is IMPOSSIBLE without Him!  We appreciate your continued prayers and support as we continue through this journey.  It is truly unbelievable how much you can love someone that you have never met before, and to feel such a strong bond already.  I know that she probably does not even know that her mommy and daddy are trying so hard to come get their little girl.  I just want to hug her and kiss her and let her know that she is loved.  I want her to know that she has so many supporters here that are waiting to meet her.  I know that this will not be an easy road but it is the road that has been chosen for us by Him.  I would not have it any other way. 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A look at Claudia's room

So, I finally decided to get some pictures of Claudia's room.  Yes it still needs work, organizing and decluttering of my stuff our of it, but for your viewing pleasure:

Here are the lovely wall decals of Butterflies and Flowers donated by Sam from LookSugar You can find the same ones HERE

Here is one of the beautiful curtains my mother made for me!  They are sooo cute!

I made this:)  I must say I am happy with how it turned out.  I wanted to have something to hang her bathrobe and such on.  Big priority right now I know. I have to admit that Jason had to cut the screws for me.  Thanks babe!  We still have to hang it.

Here is the lovely toddler bed donated by my awesome friend Cassie!  It can be a crib if we need it to me!  It is amazing that I got a picture that did not have the cats on the bed, they think it is theirs.

And here is the hald of the room that is the most finished.  Not much else to see but empty closets on the other side.

A note about the green... We purchased our house and I picked out most of the colors including this "Sage" Green (like that Toni?)  It really is a lovely color and I refused to repaint her room a girly color, hence the pink and purple butterflies and flowers. 

I can't wiat to see our little Claudia sleeping away on her bed and playing in her room.

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Husband Speaks!

So, now that Angie has finally allowed me to post on here, I figured the time was ripe for my first ever blog post.

First things first: A lot of people that I haven't been able to catch up with for a while probably think that this is really out of character for me. 

I completely agree.  This is a good thing, really.

My "character" is selfish, prideful, quick-tempered and lazy.  If something I'm doing now is out of character for who I've been for most of my life, I know I'm doing something that's heading me in the right direction.

The person that I want to be is not who I have been, so the more out of character I act, the better.

Second: The first thing that most people (outside of my Cross Creek family) ask me when I tell them that Angie and I are being called by God to adopt a soon to be 3 year old girl with special needs from Latin (/South) America is "Are you crazy!?" To which the answer is of course: "Yes, quite."

If you had tried to tell me a couple of years ago that I would ever be the kind of person who says stuff like "I know this is what God wants me to do right now" I would have laughed in your face and walked away. 

I do NOT cry.  Ever.  I make Chuck Norris look like a big softie.  But when I think about meeting our little girl for the first time - wondering if she'll hug me, or be afraid of me - I come close to tearing up.  We don't know if she can walk, or talk or what her level of independence is, or will ever be, but I love that little girl more than my own life. 

If the change that's taken place in me isn't proof that God is real, and working in people's hearts and lives, I don't know what is.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

God is so good!

God constantly proves to us that He is the one who will provide for us.  We just had to send in half of our agency fee last week.  It was so hard to do considering we don't know if we have passed our home study.  Each day we wonder how we will ever be able to pay for the adoption and every time something is due, God comes through.  Just last night Jason was able to sell his motorcycle which will cover the next bill.  It was a sad day for Jason to loose his bike but Claudia is worth SOOOOO much more than a motorcycle (right hun?!)  Please join us in praying for God to continue providing for us.

We are still working on completing our homestudy, that should be done soon and then on to UCIS paperwork.  We are also completing our online parenting classes.  I like being able to take them at home instead of driving somewhere to take them.  We are using Adoption Learning Partners.  They have a Hague package that includes 5 classes for $149.  It is a bit expensive, but it is worth it to be able to take the class in my pj's! 

Please help my friend Natalie bring her daughter home.  Natalie is adopting a little girl about a year older than our Claudia from the same country.  She also had Down syndrome.  I hope that someday they can have a play date!  Right now Natalie is doing a give-away on her blog and her father has donated a half a pig valued at approx. $200!  Go to her blog and enter for your chance to win. Natalie's Blog.

God is so good!  Lets bring these girls home :)

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Home Visit... Check

One more thing is DONE!  We had our home visit with our awesome intern from the HS agency.  As far as we know it went well, although I don't know how much they would say if it didn't.  We got Claudia's room looking soooo cute.  It is not finished yet but it is coming along nicely!  My friend Cassie was nice enough to donate her daughters crib/toddler bed.  For now the cats think it is theirs though.  They are just keeping it warm for Claudia!  We have a bit more paperwork to do, finish our autobiographies and wait on our background checks to come back.  Hopefully the homestudy will be behind us soon!  I will post pictures of her room as soon as it is a bit more complete.  Stay tuned... :)

Monday, March 12, 2012

BIG WEEK!

Sorry I have not posted in a little while. We have our home visit this Thursday and have been busy working on the house. We purchased our home 2 years ago and it was in desperate need of help. We fixed it up enough to move in but since then progress on the finishing work has been slow. This week we have been installing trim and baseboard, painting closets and getting shelving ready to put in the closets in Claudia's room. My mom made some absolutely adorable purple butterfly curtains for the room and Sam from Looksugar sent me beautiful purple and pink flower and butterfly wall decals for the room! Click on the name to be taken to the Etsy shop, they have some really nice wall decals and they look like paint! My mom is going to come over soon and help me put them on the walls.  I love having my parents and my in laws living so close.  I am truly blessed, they are all awesome! 

As for our home visit, we have an intern coming to do it.  She is nice and I am sure she will be thorough.  I just hope that we can meet the standards.  I don't think we will have any problems but you never know...  any tips?

Thank you, thank you HANK YOU to those of you who have donated money for our adoption.  We are so grateful for every single dollar.  I was doing some research for traveling and found out that in country flights alone (not including travel from the US) are going to be almost $2000 for Jason, Claudia and myself.  WOW!  I hope we can find a travel agent to help us find a better deal than that.

Please join us in praying for our home visit, adoption funding and for a quick, smooth adoption process (is there such a thing?).

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Introuducing...

Ok everybody here she is, our beautiful, soon to be daughter.  Those of you from Reeces Rainbow already know who she is but for the others, meet "Marguerite."  This is her RR name, given to keep her identity safe until a family commits to her.  Her real name is Claudia.  Yes, we will be keeping her name as it means a LOT to us.

About 18 or so years ago, God brought another little girl into my life through adoption, I was only 9 years old back then but it opened my eyes to adoption and I knew that someday I too would welcome a child into my home through adoption.  That girl is my cousin Claudia!  She was adopted from Guatemala all those years ago and has been a blessing to our family ever since. 

Jason and I did not know (our daughter Claudia's) name until after we began the adoption process.  We simply knew her as "Marguerite."  The day that we were told her real name was a day of reaffirmation from God.  I was on the phone with my adoption agency and we were discussing the letter that Jason and I had to write for the government of her country.  For the letter, we needed her real name and my agency told me it was Claudia.  I was dumbfounded.  WOW, thatnk you God for that!!  Later, I found out that I actually needed the rest of her name for the letter and it came in an email.  Her middle name is Angelica.  God is good!  My whole first name is Angeline.  I don't know how God could be any more clear than to send us a child named Claudia Angelica. 

We are proud to be able to share her with our friends, family and other supporters.  You will see that we now have our family sponsorship donation button u pon the right.  This is a tax deductible way to help us finance her adoption.  The money will stay with her in the event that we are unable to adopt her so that she will find another home quickly. 

We thank you for your prayers and support.