Join Angela, Axel, Abel, Amos, Audrey and Asher as they welcome their new sibling home.
Showing posts with label international adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label international adoption. Show all posts

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Fundraising

If you're coming here from reader, I have some widgets added to the sidebars.

On the left side is a list showing where we're at in the actual adoption process, another list showing what's been paid so far, and a thermometer showing where we're at with the financial side of the adoption. On the right sidebar is a chip-in button. (THANK YOU to those who have been so generous so far!)

A friend of mine, a fellow adoptive mom, recently posted something about adoption fundraising that I really liked. A lot of people did, really.

When a family seeks help in raising funds for an adoption, it's not like asking people to pitch in toward a new boat, or help pay for a vacation. What they are doing is committing to heal, with God's help, a child who has suffered the profound damage of being unwanted and unloved. They are obediently living out the command given in James 1:27 to care for the orphan, clothing the gospel of Christ's redemption in flesh and blood and now. When they ask for the body of Christ to come alongside them financially and prayerfully, they are giving us the opportunity to be a part of the miracles God works through obedience. ~ Ashley Paradis Moreno
I don't think people who aren't involved with the adoption community realize what it takes to adopt. A family may be fully financially capable of supporting another family member in the house, (We certainly can!) and they have to pass the US income requirements to adopt, but coming up with a huge chunk of change to pay for the expenses of an adoption is a very different thing. Like Ashley stated above, we're not going out and buying a boat to play with. We're not taking a fancy vacation or buying a big screen T.V. Once we were matched with our son in December, all the luxuries came to a screeching halt.

Many of the families I know have had to raise tens of thousands of dollars. I can't even imagine having to do that when we're swallowing hard at an adoption under $13,000!

Which brings us to where we are today. We have to raise approximately $4,000 before we can travel to bring B home. Although we don't have an exact date yet, ( we won't set a date until we get our final approvals) we do know we have approximately 8 weeks to raise the last of our funds.  I have a very unique fundraiser coming up very soon! If you know anyone who uses ASL (American Sign Language) in their home - families who are deaf, or with kids who are deaf, or kids with other disabilities who are lacking in verbal language so they're signing instead, anyone using ASL - they will love this fundraiser!

I'm hoping to have it up in the next week. I'll need help spreading the word when I finally post it! I'm not one of those BNB's (Big Name Bloggers) with a huge following who can raise thousands of dollars with a single post. We're not a popular name in the adoption community and most don't have a clue who we are. We don't have some big crisis surrounding our adoption which gets everyone screaming from the mountaintops.  We're just a family trying to get our son home. But we do know that God has this. He knows every penny we need and he'll make sure we have it. He did for both Axel and Asher's adoptions.

Now, just because I can hardly stand it,  here's a bit of a teaser for you. This is the picture we received on Christmas Eve. I wish I could show you his face. He's incredible!




Thursday, January 31, 2013

Wanna know what I'm doing tonight?

Tonight I'm filling out my I-600A!!!

For those who are familiar with this form, you understand why I'm excited!

But I have many readers who are not familiar with adoption. The I-600A is a significant step in the international adoption process! Once the homestudy is complete it, along with this form and a check for $890, is sent to the US Department of Homeland Security Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It is the petition to adopt a child from a foreign, non-Hague country.

Once the petition is received in the USCIS office, an immigration officer is assigned who will review the homestudy then either a) request further information or b) issue an appointment for fingerprints. This appointment is usually about 2 weeks out. Fortunately our nearest immigration office allows for walk-in appointments as long as you bring your appointment notice with you.

After USCIS receives our fingerprints it takes around two weeks to receive paper approval. This paper is called the I-171H, and is THE golden ticket that allows us to travel to bring B home!


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

You know you're adopting when...

I'm sure some of you reading have things you can add to this. Please join in!

You know you're adopting internationally when:

Your car dies. Completely.
The hot water heater (or any other expensive appliance) dies and is beyond repair.
Your work hours are cut back (temporarily reducing your income enough to put you into panic mode)
You loose your passport.


Please add your own things you've dealt with while in process!


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Vanity Plates

Almost 9 months ago when I brought Asher home, Dean, Angela and Axel met us at the airport. We shared hugs and laughs with some of our extended family then headed to the parking ramp.

As I opened the back door of the car reality hit me. For months we debated about adopting again. We had gone through all the scenarios. What we hadn't considered at all was our transportation needs. In other words, did we have enough room in the car for three kids? Technically we did, since there are three seat belts in the back seat. Yeah, well just because there are seat belts does not mean there is room for everyone, especially with Asher in a full-size carseat.

Back to the airport parking ramp....

I opened the back door and put Asher in the car seat, buckling him in. I went to the other side and Axel got in first, then Angela. Only Angela wasn't able to buckle her belt with Axel sitting on top of it and Axel wasn't able to figure out his either. I had Angela and Axel get out then had Angela get in first. Climbing around the back of the car I was sweating and getting crabby. Ok, it's possible I was tired with ZERO sleep in the previous 30 hours and since I was hungry my blood sugar was dropping. Tired, hungry, sweating while wrestling seat belts is the recipe for a mommy meltdown in the airport parking ramp. I made it clear the very next day we'd be buying a van.

Fast forward 6 months, and I was still doing the same wrestling match every time the whole family wanted to go somewhere. Fortunately we just didn't do a lot of that so Angela could sit in the front seat.

In July the kids and I were taking a road trip to D.C. for the NDSC conference. I was dreading making this trip in the car. And then something happened: Dean's car died on the side of the freeway. That would mean he'd get my car and I'd buy a van. I really tried hard to hide my excitement as he called me from the side of the road. Really, I did.

So now we have this awesome new van. I love it. I'm IN LOVE with my van. One week after the purchase we took our trip, which was phenomenal. We realized just how much space we have now.

And then I decided I wanted to do something totally frivolous and put vanity plates on it. Here is what I decided.

ADOPT3