On Saturday Jared and I had our first visit with our social worker (Emma) for our homestudy and it went great! It was so much more laid back then I thought it was going to be...whew! Right before Emma came over I was super nervous and within tem minutes after she arrived the nerves were gone. It wasn't formal at all and didn't even feel like much of an interview. Jared and I basically talked and shared our hearts about the adoption as well as our goals for the future with Nahla once she is home. The one serious question she did ask was if we had guns in the house, which we then said, "no." Then Jared flexed his bicep and said..."except for these guns." Thankfully she laughed :) We were just really ourselves and it went so smoothly! She will be back this Friday to talk with me and then on Saturday to talk with Jared and then we are done! Our homestudy will probably be written up and ready in the next two weeks! It really feels like things are moving along quickly! Our goal is to hopefully have our side of things done by January (the dossier) and then the wait for a referral will begin!! In the meantime we are taking one step at a time and praying for our daughter daily.
We have also been encouraged by some generous friends and their financial donations towards our adoption. We are hoping to have some really neat shirts made within the month to also help us raise money.
Thank you for your prayers and we would so appreciate any donations you might be able to give us to help us bring Nahla home!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Support letters sent and Homestudy Saturday!!
We feel very excited that we have finally mailed out our support letters for our adoption! It was so fun to write them and announce our adoption to our close friends and family! If you are reading this and you have not recieved one and would like one let me know! We are hoping and praying that people will get excited with us and support us in bringing Nahla home.
Well the day is almost here! Saturday we have our first Homestudy appointment with our social worker. I feel a little nervous but mostly excited that this process is moving along. It feels like things are moving quickly and each day we are a step closer to our little one. For those who don't know this already, we have decided to name our daughter Nahla. We aren't sure of her middle name yet. I would like to use her Ethiopia name or a part of it, as her middle name I think. Now that we have named her it feels even more real. It also makes me feel closer to her and more connected. Every night as I am falling asleep I pray for her and her mom. I think about her often now and wonder if she has been concieved yet or how many months along she is in her mothers womb. I can't wait for the day that I finally meet her and hold her in my arms!
Well the day is almost here! Saturday we have our first Homestudy appointment with our social worker. I feel a little nervous but mostly excited that this process is moving along. It feels like things are moving quickly and each day we are a step closer to our little one. For those who don't know this already, we have decided to name our daughter Nahla. We aren't sure of her middle name yet. I would like to use her Ethiopia name or a part of it, as her middle name I think. Now that we have named her it feels even more real. It also makes me feel closer to her and more connected. Every night as I am falling asleep I pray for her and her mom. I think about her often now and wonder if she has been concieved yet or how many months along she is in her mothers womb. I can't wait for the day that I finally meet her and hold her in my arms!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Homestudy to begin in TWO weeks and our first donation!!!
During this process so far I have read on many blogs about the insane amount of paperwork that is involved in adopting. I have been preparing myself fo it and it has come. I have officially been sent everything I will need to fill out or have others fill out and it truely is crazy! I am trying to take it one baby step at a time knowing that it will all get done in time. It is at the same time so exciting because we are getting closer each day to bringing our little one home! Only 2 more weeks until our homestudy begins!!
Last night some dear friends of ours gave us our very first donation check for $500!! We feel so loved and blessed. It really was so exciting to recieve that first donation and be encouraged that we are loved and supported through this. Jared and I have used $4500 of our own money from savings so now we have raised $5000 off of the total cost of our adoption! Soon we will be designing some really neat adoption shirts and hats to sell so we will keep you posted when those come out!
We hope you will get excited with us and think about helping by donating towards our adoption. You will be helping to bring an orphan home to a loving family! When you meet her you will know that you personally played an important part in bringing her home to us!! Isn't that amazing?? I think so!
You can support us by paying securely through paypal on our blog or by sending us a check in the mail. 100% of your donation will go to funding our adoption!! Thank you for your support and love!! We can't do this with out your help!
Last night some dear friends of ours gave us our very first donation check for $500!! We feel so loved and blessed. It really was so exciting to recieve that first donation and be encouraged that we are loved and supported through this. Jared and I have used $4500 of our own money from savings so now we have raised $5000 off of the total cost of our adoption! Soon we will be designing some really neat adoption shirts and hats to sell so we will keep you posted when those come out!
We hope you will get excited with us and think about helping by donating towards our adoption. You will be helping to bring an orphan home to a loving family! When you meet her you will know that you personally played an important part in bringing her home to us!! Isn't that amazing?? I think so!
You can support us by paying securely through paypal on our blog or by sending us a check in the mail. 100% of your donation will go to funding our adoption!! Thank you for your support and love!! We can't do this with out your help!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Official Approval by our Adoption Agency!!!
I feel so excited right now it's hard to type!! I just got off of the phone with our adoption agency and we are approved to move forward in our adoption!! Even though I knew deep down we would be approved it feels so amazing and official now! It feels like I just found out I am pregnant! Of course we have quite a journey ahead of us and we have only just begun but I can be patient with God's help! Our next step is to sign more agreement forms and send in our first program fee of $1500. This is really happeneing and now it is time to begin our fundraising! In the next 4-6 months we will need to raise about $5700 to cover our initial costs before our referral to Ethiopia is sent out. God is so much bigger than money so I know we can make it happen! Our total adoption fees from start to bringing our child home is between $25-35,000. That sure sounds like a lot of money but for some reason it doesn't scare me. I know we will raise it and feel very excited to watch God at work through this process. Jared and I are brainstorming about fundraising ideas and we welcome your ideas too! We need all the help we can get!
We're thinking our first fundraiser is going to be a marathon right here in Sacramento on December 5th. We will keep you updated as we organize this event! We hope you will join us in running, getting people to sponser you or Jared for the run, or just donating to our cause!
We also plan to do a huge rummage sale fundraiser in the early Spring of next year so stay tuned for that!
I have figured out how to add a donation button through Paypal on here so you can donate anytime right through our blog! When you see the email address as Bellabargain5 it is me, it is just my Ebay email that is linked through Paypal but it will go directly into our account which will help us bring our child home!!
I hope you will get involved and get excited! You will have a direct connection with our future child and know that with your help she will be an orphan no more!
Thank you and keep checking back to see new posts! We would love if you would become a follower of our blog and send it out to anyone you might think would want to help!
We're thinking our first fundraiser is going to be a marathon right here in Sacramento on December 5th. We will keep you updated as we organize this event! We hope you will join us in running, getting people to sponser you or Jared for the run, or just donating to our cause!
We also plan to do a huge rummage sale fundraiser in the early Spring of next year so stay tuned for that!
I have figured out how to add a donation button through Paypal on here so you can donate anytime right through our blog! When you see the email address as Bellabargain5 it is me, it is just my Ebay email that is linked through Paypal but it will go directly into our account which will help us bring our child home!!
I hope you will get involved and get excited! You will have a direct connection with our future child and know that with your help she will be an orphan no more!
Thank you and keep checking back to see new posts! We would love if you would become a follower of our blog and send it out to anyone you might think would want to help!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Why Adopt Internationally?
This is the question I am frequently asked so I thought I might explain.
Since Jared and I have been married we have had many conversations about possibly adopting someday. It has just always been there even when we have gone back and forth with the idea. Presently it feels like the right timing in our life and the right place. Ultimately we believe OUR child is in Ethiopia. Here are many of the reasons why we feel called to adopt from Ethiopia specifically.
This is the question I am frequently asked so I thought I might explain.
Since Jared and I have been married we have had many conversations about possibly adopting someday. It has just always been there even when we have gone back and forth with the idea. Presently it feels like the right timing in our life and the right place. Ultimately we believe OUR child is in Ethiopia. Here are many of the reasons why we feel called to adopt from Ethiopia specifically.
There are 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia
1 in 4 women dies in pregnancy or childbirth
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
Average life expectancy is 37 years
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Application has been sent!!
Well after many days of gathering information and a few computer glitches along the way, I was able to send out our application to the adoption agency today!! I feel very excited and can't wait for the next step! I also can't wait to officially announce our "paper pregnancy" news to everyone but am still waiting to share with some family before we do. It's hard to guard my heart but am trying to because you never know what could happen through this process. I really do feel such a peace about our decision and not as nervous as I thought I might be. We will continue to pray and would love if you would join us in prayer as we trust in God to make this dream become a reality!
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