Another Orphan

Found another kitten yesterday. She is absolutely adorable and is drinking well from a bottle. I think she is approximately 4 weeks old. I think I will just be able to keep her as a foster kitty since Smudge goes into hiding every time she hears the slightest Meow. :) Anyone looking for a kitty??

Miscellaneous update!

Wow! it's been over a month since my last post. It's definitely been busy. I have been working many hours on Mother's Day frames. A BIG thank you to those of you who ordered.
We've been fingerprinted for our immigration / adoption approval, got photos for passports (finally) and received Mike's birth certificates. My little sister Lyndi got engaged and is getting married June 7th. June 7th - yikes! that is not too far away. I am also trying to work on the flowers and the reception decorations in my spare time! :) Smudge had surgery on Friday and is recuperating nicely. I believe we will have a much calmer kitty as a result. We also had company in the last month! That's a rare and welcome thing in these parts. We don't live close to any of our family so rarely see them, but Mike's mom and dad came for a few days following their spring church convention. It was great to have them here.

Mother's Day Gift Anyone?

These frames are another of my adoption fundraiser ideas. They are 5"x5" with the center opening being 2.5"x 2.5". They are $5.00 each plus shipping and handling. The center saying can be replaced with a photo if desired. If your church would be interested in buying these for Mother's Day, I would need to know by the end of March. To order, email me @ heidijoann@juno.com. They will come in a variety of colors. If ordering only one or two you may specify colors and I will do my best to comply.

On Hold!

We are currently in a holding pattern in our adoption process. This is for financial reasons. Not the way I really want it to be, but Mike and I have discussed it and decided it would be for the best for a few months while we try to pay some things off and perhaps have an adoption fundraiser or two. While waiting there are still quite a few things we can do, like apply for passports, finish our pre-adoptive training, collect some of our paperwork, write our autobiographies for our homestudy, and work and save like crazy. I have been following the adoptions of several families and while I am very happy for them, I so want this to move faster. But God knows what He is doing and sees the big picture that I don't see. If you have any fundraising ideas, money-saving tips, etc. let me know!

Eating an Elephant!

I know I don't post daily, but it has been very busy around here. Mike has been sick with a nasty virus most of the week, which required me trying to fill in for him as well as do my job at work. We are also working on a new inventory control system and it is a hairpulling experience to say the least. When it is complete, it will be great, but until then...... ADOPTION UPDATE: We have turned in our contract and fee, our application for USCIS approval and fee, and have started our pre-adoptive training. We have been officially accepted into the Colombia program and received our Dossier instructions on Friday. It looks quite overwhelming at first, but as my mother always says, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." I think I have been trying to do too many things at once, running the risk of choking :) I have received all 5 copies of my birth certificates, requested our marriage certificates and am finally finishing up the request for Mike's birth certificates, now that I think I have all the correct info. That has taken a few chunks out of the elephant, but believe me, there's a lot left!!! This week, we should apply for passports, complete 2 or 3 more hours of training and fill out some more paperwork. I have also turned in my rough draft of our Letter of Intent to Adopt and am waiting to hear feedback from the agency. I have also talked to two different families who have adopted through La Vida and they can't say enough good things about the agency. That really made me happy with our choice!

Adoption Update

We have been accepted with the new agency to adopt from Colombia, South America! We are both very excited about this and have to decided to request a sibling group of two or three as they often are the children that wait the longest. Colombia tries to keep siblings together as much as possible, and not many people wish to adopt more than one at a time. The scary part is that this could really reduce our waiting time, which means we have to come up with the financing a little quicker. We have stacks of paperwork to get started on, birth certificates and marriage certificates to order. I have already ordered 5 copies of my birth certificate and should have them in about a week to a week and a half. Mike's is a bit more complicated as he was born in Guatemala (also a lot more expensive) and could take up to 8 weeks to receive. We hope to get the first round of papers and money turned in this week. It's a big step, but we are trusting God to work it all out!

Valentine's Weekend!

Since we both work long hours, doing something fun on Valentine's day wasn't really an option, so we went to our favorite place in Lancaster for the weekend. The second photo is my Valentine gift! Looks great in my Living Room. I love it! Before we left Mike was starting to get sick, so I told him we could just stay home, but he insisted on going anyway. He was rather miserable most of the time, but he really tried to act like he wasn't! Poor guy. He's so sweet!