Christmas Wishes

I know y'all are waiting for me to go on about how I wish little Lina was here for Christmas, but while of course that is true, that's not what this post is about.  It's about all the precious angels waiting on Reece's Rainbow's Angel Tree.

My first wish already came true- we reached Jessa's Angel Tree goal of $1,000!!! I can't express how THRILLED I am that this was accomplished- I was so worried with working on our own adoption that I wouldn't be able to give enough time and energy to sweet Jessa who of course is so deserving.  But she made it.  Some very very VERY generous donor bumped her up almost $500 so she could reach her goal.  Now we just have to get that family of hers to claim her, wherever they may be!!

This next sweetie pie just received an even bigger donation- bumping her up over $16,000!!! Can you believe it??  Megan is described as active, assertive, social, and smart.  She is healthy too- no heart defects! I pray Megan's family finds her soon!  

Whenever I visit the Angel Tree page (which is about once a day to check on my Jessa), it warms my heart to scroll down to the bottom and see all the little ones who have been claimed during the Angel Tree program- now 14 precious little ones have families working to bring them home!!  I keep checking to see if more have been added.

If you're looking for an extra little stocking stuffer and an opportunity to give another loved one the chance to give this holiday season- please consider the Angel Tree Dollars!

There are three designs to choose from- you simply choose a dollar amount to donate, and the certificate is e-mailed to you to print off and place in a card or stocking.  The recipient gets to go online and choose which precious angel will receive their Angel Tree Dollars!  If you wish to give to several recipients- simply make one total donation and then print as many certificates as you'd like, include your AT number given to you, and write the amounts you wish to give on each certificate- just be sure they all add up to the total amount you donated.  Kids love this!  And what a powerful message we send our children by giving to others in need... helping them understand how truly blessed we are to have a family and each other... helping them understand that even though they are small, they still have the ability to help and make a difference in the life of another child.

I wish the very best for you and your family this Christmas season! Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

******UPDATE!!!******
I JUST found this in my e-mail and had to share!! What an opportunity!! TODAY ONLY (Dec. 22) UNTIL MIDNIGHT!!

A generous donor has offered to bump our waiting children tor each their 2011 Angel Tree goal of $1000.   For each child who gets "bumped over the hump" of their halfway ($500) mark, this donor will BUMP a child who is next in line to reach their Angel Tree goal!

For example:  Currently, Garrett 26HA is "next in line" to reach the $500 mark.  Right now he has $455 in his Angel Tree fund.  So if Garrett raises $45 or more by the end of the day today, then this matching donor will give enough for Anastasia 3G (who is currently at $735) to reach her $1000 Angel Tree goal. 

SO, go to our Angel Tree page, choose one child from the $100-$499 level,give enough for themto get them over their $500 mark, and the next child in line in the $500-$999 level will get bumped over their goal! 

ONLY UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!!!  

And photo ornaments are still available, so although we can't get them to you before Christmas Day, they will make wonderful decorations for next year and hopefully your sponsored child will be HOME with their forever family next Christmas!

So share this email with your friends/family/colleagues/churches/Facebook/Twitter, and let's BUMP all of our kids for a Christmas Miracle!

Reality sets in...

I had been convincing myself that it could be possible to have Lina home in February for Kaylin's birthday.  How awesome it would be to give my first born a little sister for her birthday!  Sadly, I don't think that is very realistic anymore.

We had some delays with a couple court documents and were told we most likely won't hear anything until after January 10th.  Lina's country closes down from January 1-10 for the New Year.  And usually about 6 weeks notice is given for the court date- so I am praying we can receive a court date by the end of February, but realistically it could be March.  Add a new law her country recently put into place changing the 10 day wait to 30 days (this is a grace period after court until the adoption becomes official, leaving time for any appeals), and we could be looking at April for bringing Lina home.

I had already bought a snow suit to bring her home in since her country is so cold and snowy, but if we are looking at March or April, she more than likely won't need it.  I returned it to the store today.... secretly hoping that since I returned it, I will end up needing it.  Good ole Murphy's Law. ;)

Our family has been making more preparations for the holidays- Kaylin participated in our church's live nativity:

 My adorable burlap shepherd :)

Kaylin and I baked cookies yesterday.  We took the long way home from her Girl Scout meeting tonight to check out more Christmas lights through the neighborhood.  Participating in all these holiday traditions makes me long to have Lina home even more.  Being an orphan all her life she has never had the opportunity to participate in any of these activities or enjoy any kind of traditions.  I can't wait to see the look on her sweet face when she comes downstairs next year on Christmas morning and gets to experience all the magic this holiday brings.  We love you little girl!!

Waiting for court

Yesterday I finally got the last of our documents we need for court and mailed them off to our agency. WHEW!  Now we sit back and wait for a court date.  Praying we are issued a date before Lina's country closes for New Year's- they close from January 1-10.  I don't anticipate going to court before then, but hoping our file is read and we are placed on the schedule before they close.  There are some changes going on with legal proceedings in Lina's country, which may delay our final trip to bring her home.  Please continue praying we are able to bring her home in a timely manner.  Thank you! <3

Our Scentsy fundraiser is going well- we are close to reaching $100 for Lina! YAY!! Thank you to all who have ordered!  If you hurry and order before the 12th you should be able to receive your products before the holidays for those last minute gifts. :) I'm definitely ordering a warmer for myself, but still contemplating which one to get.  There's time though- the fundraiser will run through the end of the month.

Miss you already, little girl. <3 Mommy and Daddy love you SO much and can't wait to bring you home!! 

I can't help but think of all we are doing to prepare for the holidays- we all went out and cut down our Christmas tree today.... and I think of how much fun Lina would have if she were here.  Can't wait to share these special moments with her, especially for the first time in her life.  I have been SO tempted to buy her Christmas stocking and have it ready, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.  But I can't make any promises when everything goes on clearance after Christmas! ;)  I did go ahead and buy a really cute crib sheet and soft plush blanket for her bed. Still looking for the perfect curtain for her bedroom window. :)

USCIS Approval! YAY!!

Just received our USCIS approval from the Department of Homeland Security- we now have official permission from the US government to bring a child into the country through adoption!! :)) YAY!!  One big step closer to bringing you home, precious girl!!

Lina's room is coming together nicely also- Mike painted it last week, we moved lots of pretty furniture inside, and now it just needs some organization! :) We need to anchor the armoire and dresser to the wall before I start putting things away, and I also need to find a cute curtain for the window as well as some toddler bedding to match her pretty purple room.  So exciting! :) I will post pics when it's all put together. :)

Please don't forget our Scentsy fundraiser going on right NOW- 25% of all purchases go right to Lina's grant!  Please check it out and consider doing some of your holiday shopping to help our little girl.  We've already had our first order come in- Thank you thank you!! :))

Thank you! And a new fundraiser! :)

Thank you to everyone who ordered from our Vintage Honey Shop fundraiser!!  With your purchases along with a donation from the shop themselves, we have $160 added to Lina's adoption grant!! Thank you, Jenna and Melissa, for your generosity!!  I just placed an order myself for some teacher gifts- can't wait to get them! :)

On to our next fundraiser- my super sweet friend Christie recently became a Scentsy consultant, strictly for the purpose of helping adoptive families.  How awesome is she??  Christie just recently brought home her precious little peanut, Jadon, from Eastern Europe, and now she is on a mission to help other families bring home their cherubs also.  So now she is helping our Lina!!  Thank you, Christie!! <3

What in the world is Scentsy, anyway?

I am pretty new to Scentsy myself, but I can't wait to get a warmer and learn about all the fabulous scents for myself!  I love the whole concept of it since I haven't burned candles in years due to the little ones in the house as well as our cat.  There's just too much hazard in keeping a candle lit around here.  But I love the aroma!

Scentsy warmers plug into the wall and have a low watt bulb that heats the scented wax safely- no flames!  They also have ADORABLE Scentsy Buddies- soft and cuddly stuffed animals that you pop a scent pak in the back so the animal smells soooo good!  We brought Lenny the Lamb to Lina and you can tell from the blurry pics that she loved him lots. :)

 I had gotten the Newborn Nursery scent pak that smells like baby powder to put inside Lenny.  Smelled so good!

Think holiday shopping- the Scentsy Buddies would make a wonderful baby present, and the warmers would make a fabulous present for any couple, especially those who have pets or young children at home.  Order before December 9th to be sure you receive your order by Christmas without having to pay for expedited shipping. ;)  Love these adorable holiday warmers!!

There are many more!

Lots of other fun products like Scentsy fragrance foam- antibacterial hand foam to sanitize your hands when there isn't water nearby for handwashing.  Also other cute travel items too!  Heck, there's even a Men's line of scents!!  

Please consider doing some of your holiday or other gift shopping through our fundraiser to help bring Lina home. <3 Thank you so much!

Photos from our third and final visit from our first trip

I apologize for the delay in posting- Thanksgiving came so fast, and then we had some sickie bugs go through our house- Justin still isn't quite up to par yet.  Crossing fingers he will be fine tomorrow for school- he seems to have a rough start with a headache and feeling crummy... then goes back to bed for a couple hours and wakes up "All better, Mommy!"  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Before I get started in picture overload- I want to remind you that our current fundraiser is wrapping up- just a couple short days left to order from the Vintage Honey Shop and give 20% of your order to Lina's grant!  This ends Nov 30th- this Wednesday!!  Please check them out and consider doing some of your holiday shopping at their site while helping Lina at the same time!  Be sure to enter "BUTTERFLY" in the note to seller at check out to give Lina the donation.  Thanks so much! <3

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Our time with Lina went by entirely too fast.  We only had three visits over three days- the first only being about a half hour with her in a room full of people, and the last two were only an hour and a half.  Not nearly as much time as we would have liked, but you take what you can get!

On our last visit (Wednesday, Nov. 16th) we arrived a couple hours earlier than the previous two days- leaving our hotel at 8:00 am instead of 10:00.  At 8:00 am in Lina's region- it is still VERY dark outside!  We saw parents walking their children to school as we left the city to journey into the VERY rural area in which the orphanage is located.  By 9:30 when we pulled up to the orphanage, it was just getting light- the sun didn't start to rise until after 9:00.  We walked into Lina's groupa and she came right with us to walk up to the psychologist's office.

Several of these pics turned out blurry because the camera was switched to the wrong setting by accident-  I asked the psychologist to snap a few pics with my camera since she was taking a few of her own. :)

Look at the camera, Lina! :)

Oh you people are always taking pictures of me!

We gave Lina a Scentsy Buddy- stuffed animal with a scent bar inside- the scent I chose was baby powder. :)  Really really wish I had realized the camera was on the wrong setting- these would have been SO cute!!

Especially THIS one!! <3

Lina colored more with the crayons, putting them back in the box herself and then putting the book back in my backpack when she was finished.  She did NOT want help, either! :)  She then handed me my jacket and was trying to carry the backpack herself- it was very heavy.  I was worried she wanted us to leave!

Tracing Mommy's hand

And now giving Mommy her coat and trying to carry the heavy backpack!

I later realized that since we were visiting earlier today- she was missing her "light breakfast" meal, or snack. She was always finishing up when we came the previous days, so she was most likely hungry and wanting to get back downstairs to eat.  So sorry, babygirl! <3

The psychologist peeked in and distracted her by plopping her back into the ball pit. ;)

awwwww taking care of the little flamingo

She then crawled out and we looked through her little photo album again- she loved pointing to Kaylin, Justin, and Evan, and listening to me name them. :)

 She had no problem making herself comfortable. :)

Pointing to Mama in the picture

 Back to lacing cards- she has wonderful concentration and fine motor skills.

I didn't want to smother her during our first two visits, but on this last visit I started showing her some more affection- gently rubbing her back from time to time, and toward the end of our visit- gently kissing her forehead.  She didn't seem bothered by it at all. :)

Such a doll baby!

Back to coloring...

 Passing crayons back and forth to the crayon man who keeps them safe ;)

 And putting the crayons back when she was finished.

Back to the pictures!

Our 90 minutes went by wayyyyy too fast. :(  We gathered our things and Lina went right out to get her shoes back on, but noticed an older child working with the psychologist just outside the room we were in.  The psychologist was giving the older girl directions to follow- to hold up her arms, lay down on the couch... Lina laid right beside her on the couch and began following the directions also!  It was SO cute.  We finally convinced her to come walk with us back down to her groupa- she insisted on walking by herself this time, down the hall as well as down the stairs.  Such a big girl! :)  She sat right at the table when she entered the room- I am sure she was very hungry for her snack.  We said our goodbyes, she waved as we went to the door and said "paka" or goodbye. :) *sighhhhhhhhh* 

Back to the car and our long, bumpy journey resumed back to the hotel.  We met with our facilitator and translator there to go over next steps, and then continued on to a notary public to sign official documents stating we wish to adopt Lina- one goes to an administrator and one goes to the judge in her region.  We now anxiously await a court date while we gather documents for court.  We are crossing our fingers for a date in January- hoping to get her home by February.  We are grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers that this process continues in the smooth and timely manner that it has been thus far!