Homestudy to Home.....

2012.... I can feel is going to be a good year!!

2012-01-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

Our family finished 2011 by playing Guitar Hero. I am not sure if I would call mine playing, more like torturing. For the first time in years we all saw the ball drop. I still remember last year, just as it turned midnight our local tv station changed to a commercial. I believe someone was in trouble after that. There was so much excitement had by my Reece's Rainbow Warriors as we all, through the miracle of the internet, watched the babies on the Angel Tree reach their goal of $1,000. No, there were not any large donations like last year. This year was through the dedication of many Warriors coming together to advocate for children that would not normally have a voice, orphans that continue to wait for their families to find them. I do not take a lot of credit for this. I advocated but did not have great fundraising ideas as many other warriors had. Many great things happened in 2011 such as Patricia Heaton's twittering and Dateline running a story about Mia and her family's journey to bring her home. I am praying that 2012 brings more great things for these children.

Last Day for the Angel Tree

2011-12-31T07:10:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day for the Angel Tree. My little angel has met her goal and more but there are others that need just a little boost to get to their goal. Please visit the Angel Tree and donate to help these children reach their goal as well. http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltreekids/. May I suggest Timothy. He is only $310 away from his goal.

BTW - He could really use a family for Christmas!! Please help spread the word about him. He is so adorable!!

Gabriella Met Her Goal!!

2011-12-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

My little Christmas Angel has met her goal of $1,000 due to a great many people that donated to her funds. An amazing person matched her fund yesterday, along with many other children's, to be sure that many children met their goals. Now to find Gabriella a family...

Roller Coaster

2011-12-21T17:04:00.000-08:00

I believe adoption is a roller coaster and you have to learn to take the twist, turns, and sometimes the flips as they come along. I have known for nearly a week but have been unsure how to put it into words. We are not adopting from Hong Kong. We are not adopting internationally. It is with sadness that I write this but I know deep in my heart that we will adopt internationally someday. The timing is not right for our family. It is for personal reasons that in no way hinders us from adopting in the future when the time is right. We are still completing our homestudy only it will be for a domestic baby or child from foster care with Down Syndrome. At this point in our life this is the right decision. I wanted to thank you for all the kind words and the warm feelings that everyone expressed. I look forward to following along with your adoption journeys.

Unexpected Surprise

2011-12-06T13:07:00.001-08:00

Last night I received a phone call to call my financial institution in the morning regarding my account. I belong to a credit union so for them to be automating a message in the evening, I was sure that it was a scam. Today I was trying to order Christmas presents online and I received a message that my card had been declined, to try a different. Nearly everyone that knows us knows that we do not have credit cards. No, I do not have another card to try. Okay, maybe that phone call was not a scam. I contact our financial institution. I was asked if I was trying to make a purchase from Madrid, Spain. Um, let me think about that, NO!!! Luckily they declined the charge but now my debit card has been cancelled. I am unsure how many of our bills are automatically deducted from it. This evening will be spent checking on that. Did I mention that my husband is out of town in New York? Thankfully it was only my card and that his is still working. Wouldn't he have been surprised?!?! Now it is going to take 7-10 business days for me to receive my replacement card and, if I need any money for the next couple days, I will need to go withdraw it as many places do not accept checks anymore. I am grateful that they were unable to withdraw money from our account. It will just make it a little difficult to make purchases for the holidays. There is always a bright side to everything.

Slight Detour

2011-12-02T11:43:00.001-08:00

For the past 1 1/2 weeks we took a slight detour in our adoption path. We were informed that two of our previous foster children were back in care. We felt that we needed to see that through before we continued on with our Hong Kong adoption. We now know that they can not come back to our home. We will continue to remain in contact with them in the future and be an extended family to them. Now we wait on formal application part 2. We have an adorable little guy that we are hoping to commit to but as all know that are adopting from Hong Kong, until our application and homestudy are complete and approved we cannot commit to a child.

Operation Orphan No More: Be Part of the Miracle - iPad 2 Give-Away

2011-11-25T06:10:00.000-08:00

Check out the Morris family's blog to enter their fundraiser to win an ipad2 and many other great gifts. This fundraiser is to help bring home their little girl home and out of the institution.

Operation Orphan No More: Be Part of the Miracle - iPad 2 Give-Away: Want to do something incredibly special this Christmas? Be part of a miracle! Christmas gifts are fun but what's better than the love...

Need Coffee??

2011-11-22T20:16:00.001-08:00

Some of you may have read my post on the Reece's Rainbow Prayer Ministry blog about the Jenks. If not, let me tell you about them. The Jenks have committed to a little girl, Sydney, on Reece's Rainbow. They have begun their first fundraiser to raise money for their adoption. Please head on over to their blog https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/jenks/ and enter to win some coffee. I mean really, who doesn't need coffee? While you are on their blog check out the cool painting and beautiful nursery that they have been working on for Sydney and follow along with their adoption journey.

If you are not interested in winning some coffee consider donating to their family sponsorship page at http://reecesrainbow.org/27586/sponsorjenks. Look at that beautiful face waiting for her family.

Formal Application Part 1 - Check

2011-11-22T15:24:00.001-08:00

In 3 days we had 4 wonderful people agree to be our references to complete our application. Sometimes I forget how many wonderful people we have in our lives. It is definitely something to be thankful for. With this, I was able to complete our formal application part 1 and submit it today. That was such an exciting step for us. We are one step closer to bringing a little one home.

References and Formal Application

2011-11-21T06:24:00.001-08:00

Over the next couple weeks we we will be asking people if they would be willing to be our references. I didn't realize this would be somewhat of a challenge. We are at a church that is fairly new to us so we don't feel comfortable asking people there. Most of our outings are are with our children, or should I say without other adults. Dave's coworkers know him personally but not me. I have not been in the workforce for over 12 years, so I have problems finding references just for volunteer positions. We have a few ideas and will be exploring those around the holidays.

Once we have our references we will have our formal application complete. We will then be submitting that to our agency the beginning of December (after payday). After Christmas and New Year's we will then be able to begin our homestudy. After waiting 4 years (or my entire life), I am so excited every time we near or complete another stepping stone.

Informational Meeting - Check!!

2011-11-17T07:30:00.001-08:00

Last night Dave and I attended our required informational meeting 3 1/2 hours away from home. I am so happy to have that part of the process taken care of. What many don't know is that we have went back and forth for nearly 2 years whether we wanted to adopt from Hong Kong. We would make the reservation for the meeting and then not attend. Yes, we finally made it to the meeting. Everyone was so nice and it was great to meet one of the women face-to-face that I had only known by email. Next step, formal application and then we begin our homestudy.

Money Saving Mom

2011-11-16T04:57:00.001-08:00

Today I would like to blog about a new book that is coming out. No, I did not write it. If you know me at all, you know that I need a book like this. Keeping to a budget has never been my strength. This book is title "The Money Saving Mom's Budget." You can preorder this book through Amazon through the link below.

You can also visit Money Saving Mom's blog to find out more ways to save for your family.

Passports

2011-11-12T11:13:00.001-08:00

Our passports came today in the mail less than 2 weeks after we ordered them. I am so excited!! It feels like we are accomplishing something.

Paperwork

2011-11-11T06:36:00.001-08:00

As some of you may have noticed I removed the post regarding hurdles and switching to domestic adoption. We have begun the necessary paperwork to begin an international adoption. I was reminded by my husband that we cannot give up on what we want because things "seem" to be in the way. How do we ever accomplish what we truly want? There will be many hurdles to overcome throughout this journey as I have seen from others that have traveled this path before us. I am prepared to overcome each and every one of them. This has been a dream of mine for so long it seems surreal. Now, we need to begin to fill out the paperwork, attend the online workshops, have a new family photo taken, save the necessary funds and this is just the beginning.

Zero to Zeros!!!

2011-11-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

There is a special woman named Jenny, author of http://www.zerothezeros.blogspot.com/, that is raising awareness for the older children listed on Reece's Rainbow. Jenny's goal is that none of the older children have zeros in their grant fund. I have volunteered to post about a little guy that is dear to my heart. His name is Marty. He is 9 years old, the same as one of my sons. Marty has been overlooked for far too long. He has already been transferred to an institution along with several other older boys. This little guy needs some help in his grant fund. Marty is one of the zeros that Jenny has been posting about.

A little about Marty: Boy, June 27, 2002Marty has Down syndrome and at the age of 5 months old was given a diagnosis of CP based on his delayed motor development and horizontal nystagmus (both of these things are common in children with Down syndrome). He is described as a quiet and even-tempered child who has adapted quickly to the routine and daily schedule at the institution. He is able to walk independently. He assists with dressing and undressing himself and is learning to feed himself as well. He goes to the toilet when reminded to do so by the staff. He is not yet speaking but demonstrates understanding and follows basic requests.He plays with other children and interacts well with adults. He responds to his name and loves attention from the caregivers. He has a special bond with one specific care giver. He loves to play with toys and shows a preference for stuffed animals.Please pray for Marty's grant and for his family to find him.

Angel Tree is Live!!

2011-11-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

You may remember a little while back I had posted about a beautiful girl name Gabriella. Gabriella is a little girl with Down Syndrome that is in need of a family. It is a proven fact that children with grants are more likely to have a family commit to them than children without grants. International adoption can be costly for any family and every little bit helps. I am Gabriella's Christmas Warrior this year. I am praying her family finds her this Christmas season.

How can you help? Most importantly, pray for a family for Gabriella. Other ways you can help are to be advocating for Gabriella on your Facebook, on your blog, Tweet about her, donate to her grant. Even $5.00 will help. However, if you donate $35.00 to Gabriella's grant fund through the Angel Tree you will receive a beautiful Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree ornament with Gabriella's picture on it to hang on your tree or to give to someone as a gift. I have also set up a box to donate through. This box goes directly to Reece's Rainbow. It is to the right of this post. The box will reflect how much Gabriella has towards the cost of her adoption. My goal for this season is $1000. Remember all donations are tax-deductible. This is great for those of you looking for those last minute deductions. Thank you in advance for your prayers and generosity towards this sweet girl.

Meeting, passports and more

2011-10-31T06:09:00.000-07:00

Dave and I submitted our pre-application to Bethany Christian Services earlier this month to see which countries we could adopt from. After receiving a list of possibilities, we are praying that we are able to adopt from Hong Kong. There is someone that we are particularly interested in. Once we received that information back we scheduled our informational meeting. The most convenient meeting is in December. I would have liked to have gone to the one in November but with schedules and children that was not going to work for us. That meeting was an extra 1 1/2 hours away and began later than the other meeting. We did go and apply for passports yesterday. We even told the children of our intention. We took a lot of steps this month. I am feeling good about our decision.

Choosing a Country.....

2011-10-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

I believe the hardest part about an international adoption is choosing the country. There are so many!!! They all have their own requirements such as age of parents, fees, length of travel, how many children you can have, and more. How to choose?!?! I have asked so many questions of so many people. I would love to hear from people that have adopted how they chose their country and their child/children. Thanks in advance for sharing.

UPDATE on Advocating

2011-09-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

I had left messages at our daughter's school for both her teacher and her therapist, one at the administration building for the director of special needs, and spoken with the head dispatcher at the bus garage. Friday, I guess while I was out, 2 bus drivers came to the house and deemed that our road is in fact too narrow to be considered a road. Therefore, a bus does not have enough room. It is considered more of a driveway. They have me there. The road is private and was never intended for regular car traffic. I spoke with her therapist this morning who explained that our daughter will have to be picked up at the stop sign. Okay, I tried. Our road is what it is. Just a few hours after this the director of special needs called me to let me know that they have a van that will begin to pick her up but not until Thursday. Great!! Although she will not be riding a bus. She was very excited to be riding the bus this year like the rest of her siblings. An hour or so after this call I received a call from the dispatcher. They managed to arrange pick up for her starting tomorrow. Really Great!! Her ride time is considerably shortened as well. I hope that she will not be too disappointed by riding in a van. I am excited to know that there were many people working for our daughter to ensure that she receive the services that she is supposed to.

Meet Gabriella...

2011-09-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

Gabriella is my little Christmas Angel this year for Reece's Rainbow's Angel Tree. Beginning November 1st I will be hosting fundraisers along with showing you how you can help raise Gabriella's grant until her family finds her. Her grant is only $5.00. Let's raise that to help a family bring her home. I am praying that Gabriella will have a family committed to her for the holidays.

Girl, born November 2009 This little dolly is said to be a happy and affectionate girl. Single parents may adopt No family size restrictionsBoth parents must travel to the country and stay until completion of adoption — approx 5-7 weeks (one parent may leave after a week or two)Estimated total cost $21,000-24,500Multiple unrelated children may be adopted together.

I will post more about Gabriella in the upcoming weeks. If you would like more information about adopting or to view other waiting children please visit www.reecesrainbow.org.

Advocating....

2011-09-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

My 3 year old daughter began school on Tuesday. The bus driver refused to pick her up at our home. He waited at the end of our road and demanded that she be brought down there. First, you are probably wondering why a 3yo is getting on the bus. The second, you are probably wondering why he is supposed to pick her up at our home. Our daughter has special needs. She is cognitively delayed, has speech delays, and sensory issues. Therefore she has an IEP. The IEP clearly states that by law she is to be picked up at our home, not at the nearest crossroads. Today, Thursday, the bus driver again refused to pick her up at our home. I contacted the "head dispatcher" as she was called. She did not believe me that it is a law. I offered to get her a copy of the laws and of the IEP. The dispatcher stated that it may not be the easiest to turn around on our road and it may not be safe. They had heard that our road gets "congested." We are the only ones with children to live in this house, actually the only permanent family to live in this house down this private road. How would they know what the road is like? BTW, there is a driveway on the other side of the road and our driveway that could be used if necessary. Our landlord has assured us that all this will be kept clear in the winter time. Nor is there any other traffic to compete with. It is clearly safer to pick her up at our home than waiting on the road for her. We even offered the driver if the road is not cleared in the winter time he would not need to concern himself with coming down to our house. We would bring her to him. No, still not picking her up at our home. After much discussion the people from the bus garage will be coming to take a look at the situation. We will see how that goes.If you are still with me, my point of this blog post was the need to advocate for your children that cannot speak up for themselves. I wonder how many of the children's parents do not speak up for their children. How many parents do not know the laws for their children with special needs and just "go along" with what is told to them. Our daughter is our second child with special needs. We advocated for our son many times in the past and will now be advocating for our daughter. If you have a child with special needs please be sure to speak for them and be sure that they are receiving the necessary services. You may be advocating for another child whose parents do not know the law or are not advocating for them simply by speaking up for your own child.

Finally!!! We have done it!!!

2011-08-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

We have an Etsy store!! My daughter Grace and I have been having a lot of fun working with beads this summer while my enthusiastic 3 yo daughter Alina has been very "helpful". lol We have finished several different jewelry pieces. I am very excited to announce that Gah Gah Girls (Grace, Alina, and Heather) have 2 listings in our store!! Yes, I know. Only 2 listings but everyone has to start some where. Both listings are necklace/earring sets. I am hoping that they do not get lost on the site as so many others were listing items at the same time that I was. To find us go to GahGahGirls.etsy.com. Remember there are only 2 listings but I would love for you to check back often as we add our inventory. We will be adding girl/doll sets, scarves, rings, bracelets, and more. Please spread the word as we will be choosing an orphan from Reece's Rainbow's Christmas Tree once that is up and running to donate a percentage of the profits to. Another percentage of the profits will be added into our own adoption fund. No, we are not adopting right now but are planning on it in the future. If you have any questions or suggestions, even comments please feel free to contact me.

When I grow up.....

2011-08-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

Many have asked what I planned on doing with my life once my children began to grow up. I had never really thought of it. I had always planned on being a stay at home. That has been my life for the past 13 years. I would work seasonal or take classes at the local technical college to stay busy. I would add in the occasional volunteer work and sometimes foster care. I began to think about this more and more now that Alina was starting school 2 days a week this year. What was I going to do? I have a heart for the orphans. I would adopt them all if I could. Well, I can't but I can become a social worker and help other families to adopt them. As of today I am officially enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County to begin my journey of becoming a licensed social worker. I have finally decided what I want to be when I grow up. It is a big relief now that I have found out I am not only a mother but soon to become a grandmother as well.

Stigma about Stay at Home Moms

2010-04-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have had many comments recently about being a stay at home mom. Such comments include "Are you actively seeking a job?", "It must be nice not to do anything all day.", "I wish I had such an easy life." and more.... I get very frustrated by these comments by others that "go off" to their job. As a stay at home mom I do not have the option to do "nothing". In our house 3 of our children are off to school by 8:15. My husband goes to work after he drops off 2 of the children. Sometimes it requires a couple trips to the school when Grace has safety patrol. She is required to be there early. Then our 2yo will get up and want her breakfast. Hopefully she will have kept her diaper on or this will require a bath for her and washing her bedding. I have been getting our dinner in the crockpot, sometimes making fresh bed to go with it. I do this by hand. Electronics hate me. I make sure that there is a snack for the children after school and that they have a snack to take to school the next morning. Today also included making a dessert for dinner knowing that Sean may throw a drag over beef veg soup. Dessert always makes dinner go down quicker. Some days include in-home therapy for Alina, a day at the gym for her, the occasional library story-time, and more. I have begun to workout during the day then it is lunch time. Time to make lunch for 3. If I am lucky Alina will take a nap after lunch. This is typically my shower time before I need to pick up Grace and Sean. Monday through Wednesday include Martial Arts and Dance classes soon to have Gymnastics added in. There is also after school program requiring two pick ups from the elementary school. There is still homework to do, showers to take in the evening, dinner to serve, and bedtime. This does not include the bill paying, cleaning the house, changing diapers, phone calls, completing projects such as sewing a dress last minute for my daughter, and running errands. Much of this work is required 7 days a week 12-15 hours a day...... And who says that we don't do anything throughout the day???

Blessings...

2010-03-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

I have discovered that blessings can be found in the most unexpected places. We had a sibling set at our home for 2 weeks. Everyone warned us against taking in these children, if only for a short period of time. We knew how difficult they could be from the many respite weekends they had spent here. The brother would chase my 2 year old throughout the house trying to play tag. If she was playing on her own he would repeatedly call her name. This would drive me crazy!!! I was used to a quiet, content, non-verbal little girl who, for the most part, played on her own. I began to notice a change in my 2 year old. She began to initiate tag with her siblings, to speak words, and forming the most wonderful outgoing personality. I quickly realized that the things that drove me crazy did more for my little girl than any therapist had done for her in the last 9 months. I will be forever greatful for what that little boy brought out in our daughter. All her therapists have remarked on her accomplishments in the past several weeks. Please learn from us, blessings are not always visible. They may be found in unexpected places.

Are you Involved but not Committed?

2010-02-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

I was listening to our local Christian station on the way home last night. They were talking about how many people may be involved but are they truly committed. This reminded of the song "The Motions" by Matthew West. This really made me think about my life and others I have met recently. I realized that I may be involved in many things but am I truly committed? NO!! I have decided to make a list of things that I would like to change and become committed to.

1. God
2. My Family
3. Housework
4. Getting back in shape
5. International Adoption

These are my committments. I have shortened this from a long list of things that I was involved in but had spread myself out too thin to be truly committed to any of them. The things that I had been truly committed to turned out to be a wonderful experience. I challenge you to look at your life and decide whether you are merely involved or are you truly commmitted?

Why I do it....

2009-04-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

We have a new little family member for awhile. We received a little girl through foster care. While I can not go into details she was soon admitted to the hospital. After two days of clinics, doctors, nurses, and social workers I was rocking her wondering why do I do this to myself. We already have 4 other children at home that need me and an 18yo that needs me more than he realizes. I am emotionally and physically exhausted. This little girl that I have only known for 3 days has completely drained me. Then came the announcement that she was cleared for release. I took the clothes that I had brought for her and laid her out to dress her. I was talking to her and telling her we were going home. There came the biggest smile I had seen from her since I had received her. While we were walking out of the hospital she continued to watch me and smile at me. That is when I realized that it was all worth it. It is the most wonderful feeling when the smallest of children can show you how much they appreciate the commitment of time and love that you give them. They feel a sense of safety that they may not have known for awhile if ever. While foster care may not always feel rewarding and may seem like a lot of work it is so worth it. The change that you can bring to any child's like melts everything else away. That is why I do it.......

A New Talent

2009-04-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

At breakfast this morning my son asked if we would like to see what he had learned to do. I was unsure what to expect but as we are all gathered around the table I said sure. It certainly was not what I had expected!! Sean got a big grin on his face and burped the word hi. He was very proud of himself and said that he had been practicing. "Isn't that cool?!?!?" asked Sean. I was trying to explain to him that it was not really appropriate but it was quite hard through laughter along with Dad and sister Grace laughing as well. He is our third boy and it still amazes me the hidden talents that boys possess.