The story

This day has been such a huge whirlwind as you can imagine! So many phone calls, emails, etc. I apologize for not coming back here before now, but it's been crazy!

I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments and support and love. It truly means so much to us! There have been so many and I hope to respond soon!

Here's the story:

About a month ago we had inquired about 2 situations that were on the agency’s website: Situation B and L. Unfortunately, situation L was about $10,000 over budget so we requested not to have our profile submitted but we said we wanted to have our profile submitted to situation B.

Fast forward to yesterday and we get an email from our agency saying there is a situation where the birthmom is due 11/11/11 (yes, today!). We asked to have our profile submitted.

When I got back from gymnastics, I had an email saying that “L likes us” and gave us contact info. I was confused. I knew a month ago we had asked about an “L situation” but knew it was over budget and we declined it. I thought maybe perhaps this birthmom we had just submitted to had the same name.

When I called the agency, she told us she had good news and that L loved us and really wanted us. I asked if this was the one due 11/11/11 to which I was told no and that L was due the end of December.

I was literally dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say. Shocked is an understatement. My first thought was how in the world could this happen? We didn’t even submit. Then I started worrying about the money as I knew this was $10,000 over budget.

Then I was completely and totally amazed at the sincere power of God.

Only God could let this happen and only God knew this would.

We were told this “never happens” and it was a surprise. We’re still trying to figure out what happened and of course worried about where this $10,000 will come from but we also know this is our daughter. God has meant for this to be our daughter.

What are the chances?

WE GOT THE CALL!!!

Yes, THE CALL!

Last night we got a call saying we were matched for a little girl due 12/30/11.

I'll give more details very soon! I want to type it all out but couldn't wait another minute without updating! But, it's a FABULOUS story and I can't wait to spell it all out.

If you know me on FB, please don't say anything yet! We need to tell certain people before. :)

Holy cowzers!

Update

I have so many blog posts swimming in my head and so many pictures I want to share. They’ll be coming. I just don’t seem to have any time right now.

I wanted to give you all a little update on our adoption journey.

We’ve been officially “waiting” for 3 months now. That doesn’t even seem possible. We’ve submitted to a total of 7 situations so far. We’re still waiting to hear from 2 situations. I gotta tell ya though, I’m really getting used to the “I’m sorry” calls. I honestly don’t expect anything else. We check out situations every day on our agencies’ websites and we know every day brings new possibilities and new hope.

We are now up to about $8500 in our peanut fund which is very exciting for us! We couldn’t have done it without the help and support of all our family and friends, so thank you!! Our goal is $40,000 which is the cost of the adoption. We still haven’t been approved for any grants but we’re still hopeful and praying we’ll get one at least. It would help so much.

We’re raising lots of money ourselves and working extra hard. We’ve been doing toy/craft shows almost every weekend to earn more money for our peanut fund.

I’ve also been working about 15 hours of overtime a week and I’m coaching gymnastics 6 days (yes, 6) a week. I have to admit, I’m exhausted. And yes, I know, I’m getting prepared for motherhood. :) Right now, Mark and I would do anything for our peanut and we realize that this is what we have to do to bring our peanut home so we’re willing to do it. I’m basically working from 5 in the morning until 8 at night every day and 5 until 12 on Saturdays with shows on Sundays. I am glad I work from home and I’m home during the day or I’d really feel bad about not being around Mark.

But once that peanut comes home, I won’t be working any overtime and will be cutting down a lot on the gymnastics. The peanut time is the most important time and our #1 priority. That’s what keeps me going and gives me strength.

Thanks again for your support and love and hanging in there with us! We couldn’t be here without you guys!!

From the birthmother's perspective...

I know, there is no way I could even begin to understand what a birthmother goes through and I honestly can’t even begin to fathom what it’s like to give up your child.

But, I’ve been trying to get a glimpse of what they go through.

Last January when we chose our embryos, we were given a total of 14 profiles of embryos to choose from. We were told we had 2 weeks to decide our top 3, from there we would be given our top choice depending on which sets were still available. At first I thought 2 weeks was a long time and I didn’t think too much of that.

But when those 14 profiles came in the mail and we started looking through them, I thought 2 weeks was waaaay too short of a time to choose. I didn’t know how in the world we were going to choose at all, let alone in 2 weeks. I mean, these embryos were children. How could you choose between 1 child and another? It didn’t seem possible.

I remember telling Mark that I just couldn’t do it. So, we took all the emotion out of it (or as much as we could) and decided that we would take away the “most risk” embryos, the ones that would have the most risk of giving the child a serious illness. We didn’t know how we would deal with that. Of course if it happened, we would do anything for our child, but we didn’t want to purposely put ourselves in that situation given Mark's history and the situation we were already in.

We took out 2 profiles...two.

So then we were down to 12 profiles. All of them really were fine. Of course, they weren’t perfect but all of them had good qualities and I didn’t want to take out any of them.

We gave the profiles to our RE so he could give us his best medical advice as to the ones with the best chances. In the meantime, after sooooo much thought and consideration, stress, praying, etc., we chose our top 5 and waited to hear from our RE.

4 of his top 5 were our bottom 5...seriously???? I wanted to cry.

At the end of the 2 weeks, we did submit our “top 3” but it was one of the hardest decisions of our lives. It was hard to pick a set of children above another set. After all, a child is a child.

When I think about what these birthmothers go through, I often think about when we had to choose our embryos. From what I’ve been told, these birthmothers are given 4-5 profiles of parents. These are parents they have to choose from to raise their child. I can’t imagine there are too many birthmothers who think these parents are “horrible”. I’m sure they look at all or most of them and think these are good people....people who deserve to have a child and no one is more deserving than the other.

I’m sure they have some of the same thoughts as I do....how in the world do I choose?

In so many ways, I feel so much for these birthmothers....I really do. They have such a tough decision and in many situations, they don’t have much time to choose at all. In a couple situations, we were told the next day that the birthmother had chosen another family....that’s 24 hours. I was stressing out when we had 2 WEEKS to choose.

I’m not saying we’re a “perfect” couple by any means. I’m sure there are a few birthmothers who look at our profile and toss it out right away and don’t look at us twice...but I’m also sure there have been a few who have seriously thought of us as the parents of their child and it was a really tough decision.

I just honestly can’t fathom what a big decision they have to make and in so many ways, I’m grateful I’m on this end of it and not their end. After the decision we had to make with the embryos, I can’t imagine making that kind of a decision again.

So, please keep the birthmothers in your thoughts and prayers. They go through so much.

Shhh!!

Don't say anything. :)

We submitted our profile to a situation today in which the birthmother is due in 2 weeks. She'll be looking at it tomorrow.

I don't want to say anything on FB as it's soooo hard to let people know it didn't work out and then see them on the streets or church and have them say something....that's tough. So, I'm keeping quiet on FB but wanted to mention it here. :)

Please keep us in your prayers!!! I'll update when we know.

What has really surprised me...

Since starting our adoption journey, I have been surprised by how different this journey is than our IUI/IVF/FET journey. Both have their definite ups and downs and emotions but they are completely different and yet have the same outcomes.

It’s very hard to explain unless you’ve been there.

But what has really surprised me has been the emotions I feel for the birthmother.

In our agencies we have applied to, we are able to look at situations and decide whether or not to submit our profile. We’re given as much information about the situation as they are able to give including the birthmother’s reason for placing the child up for adoption and how committed they are to adoption.

Some situations are heartbreaking and make me cry. These are situations that the birthmother is smoking and/or drinking and there has been no prenatal care. It’s so sad.

However, most, and a lot, of the situations, the birthmother is just too young, wants to go to school or financially cannot support their child and those are the reasons for giving their child up for adoption.

These situations are also heartbreaking and make me cry. These are the birthmothers who love their child so much and want to make sure they have the best life possible. It makes me sad as I know adoption is a decision they made out of love and they are grieving.

One birthmother even wrote for her reason for placing her child for adoption was “I may have all the love in the world, but it takes more than love to raise a child”, and continued on to say that she couldn’t financially support a child.

It is so sad to me.

One agency once said that in every situation, someone is grieving. I think that says it best and says it all.

I honestly didn’t think going into this that I would feel as much for the birthmothers as I do. I’m floored at how much grief I feel for these birthmothers, something I never felt I would feel but I certainly do.

It’s amazing what this journey teaches us and shows us.

Registering

The other day Mark, Peyton and I went to do some registering. We had so much fun! Peyton sure knew what a baby needed and kept telling us what we needed to get.


Here are Mark and Peyton in front of the store. Yes, I actually took a picture in front of the store :)


Peyton scanning for us. She loved that scanner!


And of course we had to celebrate by having a little ice cream. :)

It was fun and so great to be able to do it with Peyton. These are the times I cherish so much.

Our first situation...

just wasn't meant to be. :(

For those who follow me on FB know a little bit but I wanted to explain it more here.

Yesterday morning while we were having our Wondra Adoption Event, Part 2, we got a call from our consultant saying there was a situation that sounded perfect for us. There already was a family picked out but there were possible issues with that family. There was also a possible issue with the baby so if we were interested, it was recommended we contact our pediatrician to check it out.

Were we interested? Oh, but, OF COURSE!!

I immediately was on the phone while Mark did his best to take care of the sale (bless his heart, he tried his best :)).

After finding out our pediatrician (who happens to also be Mark's doctor and his wife is my therapist) was the hospitalist and was working, I kind of panicked. I work for that hospital and I knew getting to talk to him would be a challenge. I knew my therapist was in CA this week and was praying I could get a hold of her which I was able to. She told me to call the hospital and just try to talk to him. If I couldn't, she would do what she could to find him...whatever it took (she was so happy for us!).

So, while people are at our house, I'm making phone calls, answering Mark's questions as to what prices are, helping bag items and telling the receptionist when she said I couldn't talk to the doctor that it was an emergent situation and if I couldn't talk to him, his wife would talk to him.....I did finally get to talk to him (he was so nice, so excited for us and so awesome) and we talked about the situation and decided everything was low risk and we wanted to submit our profile.

So, in between customers, I'm running into the house to email our profile to this agency. Long story short, I'm having a lot of trouble submitting it. For some reason it's taking forever to attach. While dealing with that, customers are coming, Mark has chest pain and has to take a nitro inside the house, then his blood sugar drops to 43, Doogie gets sick and is throwing up and more and more customers are coming.

After a few hours, the profile FINALLY goes through. It was a very stressful few hours.

Then I can't get a hold of the agency. I'm calling every 15 min to see if they got the profile. Finally at 5 last night I'm able to get through only to find out the situation was matched an hour ago.

We were so disappointed.

I know at the same time, though, it wasn't meant to be. God had the chances to just "work it out" and things kept coming up. As "perfect" as it sounded, it seems it wasn't meant to be.

It doesn't make it any easier, though. For a day, it seems we had a daughter....a daughter.

On a positive note, I do think God was teaching me something. Just last week, I had emailed my consultant saying that although I knew it was way early, it was hard and discouraging when situations just weren't coming up. She told me that yes it was early but that things can change day to day and that every day brings new hope.

So, we talked about it yesterday and she said that at least I know now that indeed things can change from day to day. It was like she was telling me "I told you so!".

I hate hearing that. :)

And I also know that chances are, this is the first situation of quite a few disappointments.

But again, doesn't make it any easier.

Thanks again for your prayers and support! They are sooooo appreciated. We feel them so thank you!

Adoption is not a substitute for pregnancy

My consultant told me that once and I couldn't agree more.

Something that really bothers me is when people hear we are adopting, sometimes people will make comments like "At least you get to keep your womanly figure", "You won't have the morning sickness!", "You won't have to endure months of being uncomfortable", "You get to skip labor!", "You're so lucky!".

So lucky....really?

Now I understand people mean well. I know that they don't mean anything by it so I never say anything to them or let them know that those types of comments hurt. I know they are just trying to be helpful.

Sometimes I feel like people think I'm "skipping the hard part and going right to the easy part".

Obviously these people have never adopted.

I admit, the decision to adopt was a hard one for us. I've dreamed forever of carrying my baby. I wanted to have morning sickness, be uncomfortable, go through hours of painful labor......to feel my baby kick, to hear the heartbeat, to feel the miracle inside me.

When we lost the babies this spring, I also grieved that I wouldn't experience pregnancy...something I had prayed and prayed for. But I've gotten to the point where it is more important to me to be a mom than to carry and be a mom....but it took awhile.

I admit, I'm still grieving not carrying and I don't think I'll ever fully be "okay" with not carrying. People have told me that when I hold my baby, I'll know that everything was worth it, that this baby is mine and that I wouldn't give up my baby for anything. And I believe that with all my heart.

I also believe it when others who have adopted and never carried and wanted to tell me that it will always sting a little, even if you know with all your heart that this road was the road God laid out for you.

It does bother me when people say I won't go "through labor". They don't understand the endless paperwork you have to do, the hours upon hours of interviews and talking to social workers, constant searching on agencies' websites at available situations, the constant excitement/anxiousness when the phone rings and it's an agency or a number you don't recognize on caller ID (maybe this is "the call!"), the disappointment of another week gone by and no call, the endless somewhat embarrassment of having to do fund raising and the guilt of accepting money from people and having to ask, etc.

Although adoption and pregnany bring the same ending result, they are completely different journeys and although different, both have very rewarding and very hard points during the journey.

I wish everyone understood that.

Approved to another agency!

I first want to thank all of you so much for your sweet comments on the anniversary of Eddie’s death. It was such a hard day for us, really hard. I know to some people pets are pets and “just a dog” but to a lot of people they are definitely members of the family and especially to us, Eddie was like our baby boy in so many ways. Oh, he was the best dog. I can’t tell you how many times I cried to him and held him after yet another failed IUI and he helped comfort me. So, losing Eddie was very, very hard. We appreciate so much your love and support.

We have found out we were approved to another agency! What’s really special is how we found out.

We got the call at 7:30 Wednesday night saying we were approved and they went over the procedures and everything. It may not seem too significant with the timing but a year ago Wednesday night, we had brought Eddie up to the vet at about 7:10 and he died at 8:10. So, it was during the hardest hour relived Wednesday night that we got the call, a sense of hope.

We like to think of it as Eddie helping us out and giving us that hope.

You're such a wonderful dog. Thanks buddy.

Questions

We’re pretty much caught up applying for agencies and grants. Now we’re concentrating on getting the nursery ready.

(Did I really just type that??)

We have blankets and outfits, etc. that we are washing and getting ready and we have a travel list that we got from Christian Adoption Consultants that we need for the baby so we’ll be getting those things ready.

What we aren’t sure about is what we really need otherwise. We’ve wanted this baby for 8 years and now I realize we have no idea what we really need, other than of course the obvious, diapers, wipes, outfits, onesies, etc.

Should we be registering now? Should we wait a little while longer? This baby literally could come overnight so I want to be prepared.

On the flip side, we could get some notice so we might have some time.

(Did I really just type about registering?)

Anybody have a list of things we need based on experience or just what you know we’ll need?

Thanks bunches. :)

We're officially waiting!

We were approved by an agency and we can start submitting our profile now!

We even inquired about a situation which we found out had already been matched but it was so real to actually ask about a situation.

Wowzers!

Pictures of the sale

At last, long awaited pictures of the sale!


Tyler made Rice Krispie treats the night before. One of my friends, Chocodaisy, donated the ingredients to make them. Thank you Choco! They were VERY popular...we sold out right away!


My mom and Tyler had a sleepover the night before the sale

Pictures of all the stuff for sale before the sale started:















The signs we posted at the sale:






My mom and dad


Helping a customer


Mark and Peyton


Tyler, Peyton and Jamie's parents, Matt and Danielle, had just gotten a new puppy, Millie...isn't she so cute??


Jamie...look at that sweet chocolate face!


Me and Draven


We had a downpour on Saturday that lasted for about an hour. :( We lost a canopy during it.


Tyler and Peyton emptying out the glassware after the downpour.


My brother from Chicago was able to come! And Tyler looking at books. He bought about 35 books....he's a reader!

Remember me???

Hi, my name is Tammy. I am a blogger.

I know, it’s been f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I hate when I get behind on blogging. I miss hearing what is going on in everyone’s lives. This weekend I’m excited to go through and get caught up on some blogs.

Lots has been happening here:

Our adoption event/yard sale: We had an amazing turnout! We were so amazed by the amount of support and love we received. We were able to raise just over $2500 and we received $500 in big donations from family so we were very blessed. We have so much left over that we’ll be having one more sale before donating it to a couple struggling with infertility for their own sale. We are soooo blessed. I’ll be posting pictures soon! I took quite a bit.

I have to send a special shout-out to a couple blogger friends for their bake sale donations. To Grace and her cake pops! They were delicious and quite the hit!! Thank you so much sweetie for the wonderful donation!! I had a couple ask for the recipe even, so if you get a chance, I’d love the recipe! ((HUGS)) And also to my friend, C, for the donation of the ingredients for Rice Krispie treats. Tyler LOVED making them. Thanks sweetie!!

For those who don’t follow me on FB, Mark ended up getting sick on Monday, the week of the sale. He was vomiting and was so sick. Whenever his stomach starts bothering him, he usually ends up in the hospital for about a week. We were so scared that he would end up in the hospital. I posted on FB that we needed prayer and that we wanted Mark here for the sale to see all the love and support. The prayers worked as the next day he was no longer vomiting and was feeling better! It truly was a miracle and if you know Mark’s history, you know just how MUCH of a miracle this is! It was so amazing to us and we want to thank all who did pray when we needed it.

Applying to agencies: We excited to say that we’ve applied to 2 adoption agencies this week! We are so excited! It’s an amazing feeling. We’re told it will take a couple weeks to get our applications processed. We’re also applying for grants so we’ll see how that goes.

I also wanted to mention that as I was going through the pictures of the sale earlier this week, I watched the video of one I had the positive pregnancy test. I thought I was ready and I was wrong. For the rest of the day, I had trouble stopping the tears. Even mailing out the applications brought tears. But I know it’s normal. It’s not that I’m not excited or happy about the adoption as I am very excited and happy. I just miss what I “could have had” with our babies and it was a reminder that the babies who were inside of me are no longer inside and it does make me sad. That video was a reminder of that and it was very, very hard. I’m doing better now but man, it was tough. I know now it will be a very l-o-n-g time before I watch it again, if I ever can.

I wanted to mention that so others in a similar situation will know that it’s completely normal. I felt horrible about feeling sad on such a happy occasion but after talking to someone about it, I realize it’s completely normal. It’s hard to believe that I’m normal, I know.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers and all your support. It truly means so much!

The feeling of failure

I’ve always prided myself on being honest on my blog. Sometimes it’s come to haunt me but for the most part, I believe it’s helped others and helped myself to get my feelings out.

Since we’ve gone full blown into our domestic infant adoption journey, it’s been a flood of emotions. It’s been exciting, overwhelming, scary, anxious, etc. I can honestly say that I’m excited that we have a great opportunity of finally being parents and it brings tears to my eyes. Oh, I’m so excited and anxious for that day. One thing I’ve realized that I can be a mother, even if it means not carrying. There is a special baby out there for each parent that God chooses.

However, at the same time, the word “adoption” comes to my mind as “failure” sometimes.

Before I get a bunch of hate mail, I’ll explain.

For years and years, I wanted to carry so bad. So much that we tried extra, extra hard to make my dream a reality. And now that we are looking into adoption, I feel like I “failed” at trying to carry.

I’m a failure.

It seems so easy to some people and I don’t get why it's so hard for me. And I had 2 “perfect”, proven set of embryos that other couples had twins with and I couldn’t even have one live baby.

I’m a failure.

I often think what is wrong with me. Why can’t I carry? Why am I so defective? Why do I kill babies?

I know the answer is simple: It’s just not in God’s plan, at least right now.

Some days I have no problem accepting that. Other days, not so much.

I’ve always been the type of person that can succeed, even through hardships. When I was in high school, I had a bad back injury. It slowed my career down, but I was still able to make it to state and place 2 years. In college, I had a hard time trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I went to one college, decided it wasn’t for me and took a year and a half off, but then went to another college and finally got my Bachelor’s degree and I was so proud of myself. Then, with Mark’s transplant, we had setback after setback and yet we were determined to get that kidney transplant which we did and Mark’s doing amazing.

I’ve always succeeded, even if it was a long road. And yet, I wanted to carry my baby and I wasn’t able to.

Some days, I tell myself that yes, in fact, I DID carry my baby. Yes, I was pregnant and I have the stick and betas to prove it! I just didn’t carry as long as I thought I would. But, God did allow me to carry and I’m soooo grateful for that.

And I know that pregnancy doesn’t make someone a mother. A baby makes someone a mother. Adoption is just another way of making that possible.

And the thing that gives me comfort is that one day, I will hold my baby with tears in my eyes, knowing that baby is mine and that every IUI, IVF, FET, shot, test, dollar spent, heartache, etc. brought me to that moment. I can whisper “I love you my sweet baby” and look into my baby’s eyes and know we were meant to be together. And everything will be worth it.

That’s when I’ll know I’m not a failure, I’m a mother.

Our adoption fundraising letter

This is the letter we sent out to our family and friends. I also wanted to post it here. It has some good adoption fundraising ideas so I thought it might give others ideas, too. You guys are welcome to check them out too! Thank you so much!

Here it is:


As you know, Mark and I have struggled with infertility for years. To give you a little history, we tried 12 IUIs (intrauterine inseminations), all negative, and then IVF (in vitro fertilization) where we found out I have a possible genetic disorder. After finding out I will most likely never have a genetic child, we turned to adopted embryos. We adopted 3 precious embryos from a blogger friend in April 2010 and underwent a FET (frozen embryo transfer). We found out on my birthday that the transfer did not work. We then adopted anonymous embryos from a list at our clinic and underwent a FET (frozen embryo transfer) in April 2011. We were so overjoyed when we found out on my birthday that I was pregnant! However, the joy was short-lived as we found out 2 days later that I was miscarrying our babies. It has always been my dream to carry my baby and we praise God so much that He gave me that opportunity.

God has turned our hearts toward adoption. We are pleased to announce that we have been approved! Our next steps will be to build our profile and pray for a match. We are close to having our baby home, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Mark and I are working very hard to raise the funds.Adoption can cost up to $30,000 and possibly more. I've been putting in about 15 hours a week of overtime plus coaching gymnastics 2 nights a week. Mark is working on building toys he can sell.

Many people have asked how they can help and we are so grateful. It means so much to us that people care so much. We are asking for prayers as our primary method of support.

This is a tough journey. We are able to continue mainly because we receive so much love and kindness. However, at the encouragement of our adoption agency and the request of our loved ones, we've thought of a few ways to provide opportunities for those who wish to offer financial support as well.

Wondra Adoption Event: The weekend of July 28-31 we will hold a huge bake and yard sale at our home to coincide with the Polk County Fair. My family will collect all of the baked goods, sweets, and gently used items you wish to donate to our sale. We would love to borrow tables and canopies. Bring the family and join us as inventory managers, volunteers, and shoppers. We anticipate a large turnout! After the sale, anything left over will be donated to a couple struggling with infertilty for a sale.

Baby Bottle Bonanza: Fill a baby bottle with your spare change! We'll give you a baby bottle, then collect it when it's full. Super easy!

Just Love Coffee: Purchase a bag of coffee online from this adoption supportive website and $5 will be donated to our Peanut Fund. Here is the link: Coffee

Scentsy: Our friend, Jamie, is donating proceeds from her online Scentsy Store for the month of July. Please check it out! Scentsy

We Can Do It! We'd love to collect your aluminum beverage cans for recycling as they become available and we will pick up. Thank you!

Parents Night Out: For your donation to our Peanut Fund, Mark and I will entertain your kids so you can have a night out! Please arrange this with us in advance.

Found in Translation: Need documents translated from English to Spanish or vice versa? A friend will do this and donate the proceeds. Contact me for more information.

Precious Puzzle Pieces: We have a Precious Moments puzzle that we will be putting together and hanging up in the baby's room. Sponsor a piece of our Precious Moments puzzle for a buck! Write a message on the back for our adopted baby.

Good Wishes: If you would like to just make a donation, you can do so at our Wondra Peanut Fund Good Wishes website: Good Wishes Simply click on a box and follow the directions. You can also write a message for our baby.


Again, we thank you so much for all your support, whether it be financial, emotional or prayer support. It indeed takes a village to raise a child. Thank you for being part of our village! Your offers of love, prayer, compassion, and worldly goods mean more to us than words can convey. Please share your ideas on getting our Peanut home. We've created a Facebook page called "Wondra Peanut Fundraiser". Follow us there for updates, ideas, and more opportunities to support us as we follow God's path to building our family, however long it takes.

We love you all!


Mark and Tammy

I get the worst blogger award

I think this is the longest I’ve ever gone without blogging.

I can honestly say that it’s for a good cause. :) I do feel horrible that I’m not able to catch up on other people’s blogs as much as I would like but I try real hard.

I’ve been so busy with adoption stuff, getting our contracts and profile information done for CAC and trying to send out letters to friends and family for our sale coming up the end of this month. Plus, I’ve been working about 15 hours of overtime a week over my 40 and coaching gymnastics 2 nights a week.

It doesn’t leave much time for anything else. :(

The good news is that we finally have our profile information, pictures and contracts done for CAC and in the mail! This is a HUGE step in bringing home our peanut! We figured out our finances and we were able to go ahead with it! We thought we would have to wait until after the sale but because of all the OT I’ve been putting in and the fact that the credit card payment won’t be due until the beginning of August, we’ll have the funds to pay the CAC fees.

Can I get a WOOHOO? :)

What this means is that once they get the paperwork finished, CAC will start working on our profile and Mark and I can immediately start applying to agencies. The profile will only take a couple weeks to finish.

Things are moving so fast it seems!

I’ll get better! Things are just really busy right now. It seems that I’m either working, coaching, filling out paperwork, collecting items from people or working in the garage getting ready for the sale. We have been so blessed with how much support we’ve gotten. It’s an amazing feeling.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

I'm still alive!!

I want to thank you so much for all the great ideas! I've been sooo busy getting things organized and putting these ideas into action. I've also been very busy getting the paperwork done and pictures collected for our profile. Things are really starting to move along!

Sooooo much to do.

Last night, we had a dinner we had to go to and looked pretty good so we had a photo shoot to get some pictures for our profile with the help of Tyler and Peyton. Bless their hearts, they tried so hard to take good pictures. It took awhile but we finally did get some.

Here are some of Tyler's pictures:


First, he cut off our heads


Then we were a little blurry


Then a little off center


Then Mark's trying to tell him that his finger is over the lens...

And of course, Peyton had her turn:

She cut off our heads


Not just once, but twice...


And 3 times with my head...

But the kids did get some good pictures too. :)

Tyler's:



Peyton's:


And then one I took that I like:

I need some brainstorming ideas!!

I’ve been doing some research and googling and found a few ideas for raising funds for adoption. I’m hoping to send out an e-mail to friends and family soon to let them know our story and ways they can help. I don’t want it to sound like we're begging for money of course and only want them to help if they want to and to have it be fun for them as well.

I’m also planning on clarifying that we are doing everything we can to raise money ourselves so they know we’re not just asking for money. I’ve been putting in about 55 hours a week at work, plus coaching gymnastics during the week and that money is going into the peanut fund. Plus, the money from our toy shows also goes directly into our peanut fund.

Being some of you have been through this, I wanted to run some of the ideas I have with you guys and see if you have any other ideas:

Yard sale: If anyone has new or gently used items they would like to donate, we would greatly appreciate any donations and we would pick up

Bake sale: The same day as the yard sale. Anybody can bake things and donate for that day.

Facebook page: I made a Facebook page called “Wondra Peanut Fundraiser” to get the word out.

Scentsy fundraiser: A wonderful friend, Jamie, has offered to donate proceeds from her Scentsy for the month of June! I think that is sooooo nice of her! I’m planning on giving my family and friends the link for that.

Mother’s Love scratch cards: There is a website of a mother who adopted who does Mother’s Love scratch cards. It’s like Bingo cards. Someone picks a spot on the card, scratches it off and then donates to your adoption fund what it says under the scratched area (ranges from $0.50 to $3).

Parents Night Out: We’ll baby-sit people’s kids for a night for a donation of their choice so the parents can have a night out.

Baby bottle fundraiser: We give out baby bottles like a piggy bank and then people can give put in their spare change or whatever they want for an amount of time.

There is also a coffee website (Just Love Coffee) designed specifically for adoption where people can purchase coffee and then some of the proceeds goes directly to your adoption fund. But, when I checked out the site, I’m not sure how current it is.

I’ve thought of T-shirts, but not sure how they would sell and don’t want to order and then be “stuck” with them and actually lose money.

I don’t want it to seem like we’re begging for money or anything and again, want it to be fun or something that they can something out of it, too, and not just “handing money”.

Does anybody have any experience with some of these? Other ideas? Thanks!

So overwhelmed!

Seriously, you guys never cease to amaze me.

We are so overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received, especially from those who have suffered the pain of infertility. No matter what you’ve been through or are going through, you still are so supportive and want to help. You guys amaze me and I am so blessed to know you all.

THANK YOU!!

I’ve had a few people ask about a donation button. I have decided to put one on the side of my blog. Please don’t feel you have to donate by any means. I’m only doing this because people have asked and want to help. Please know that any support you give whether it is financial, emotional, prayer, etc. is soooo greatly appreciated and we love you all for your support.

One of my dear blogger friends from Australia asked how people from faraway can help. This means so much to me as this blogger is dealing with so much with her son and has already given me a bracelet and called me on the phone (yes, from Australia!). So for her to think of me means so much to me. For some reason I can’t comment on her blog or some other blogs (anyone else having trouble like that???) and I haven’t been able to thank her personally. But it means so very much to me.

Another blogger (ironically I can’t comment on her blog either :() offered to send cake pops or iced sugar cookies which is soooo nice! I think they would sell WONDERFUL! And those white chocolate cupcakes on her blog look d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! You gotta check them out!

It is so nice to have the amount of support we have and it gives us so much hope.

Anyway, I did have a suggestion from my consultant that people could have a sale at their house and donate the profits. Otherwise, I’m not sure, but again, just the thought means sooooo much to us!

On top of that, we had an amazing thing happen to us. I don't think I should mention it here. But, I do want to share how wonderful God has been. Everything is falling into place. I seriously can't explain it other than a miracle but a friend has helped us in an amazing way and it made my day this morning. My dear friend, if you're reading this, bless you! You're an angel.

We do have a peanut fund blog with handmade items for sale if anyone is interested.

Thank you again so much for your support. Thank you really just doesn’t cut it. We are so grateful for all your support!