Most Unique Fundraiser Ever!

I just stumbled across the neatest adoption fundraiser. This precious family, (who has 5 little ones 5 and under!) is selling homemade laundry detergent to help fund their adoption from Uganda! I love all things natural and homemade....so this fundraiser really has me excited. Click on the image below to check it out:

Lotsa, Lotsa New Fabrics Are In!

A big box of fabrics arrived this week...with a few more to come in today! I am looking forward to making some special Flitterbugs with these lovely prints:) (Click on my fabrics page to see them.)

I still have a few skirts and initial shirts for sale ....scroll down to yesterday's post to see them!

SALE! SALE!

Jump into Spring with a Scrap Happy Skirt and Initial Shirt!

The cost is $32 for the set, plus $3 shipping!

The skirts are all ready to ship....I will applique the initial you choose on the shirt, and ship them out first thing in the morning. (Click on the "home" page to see examples of initial shirts!)

First come first serve, just email me if you want to purchase one of the below sets!

(From left to right)

Size 3- Disco Daisy-SOLD!!

Size 4- Spring Fling

Size 5- Little Red Riding Hood

Size 6- Lily Ponds

Size 7/8- Baroque Pink

Trade for a Flitterbug!

E in her favorite ruffle sundress!

If you are like us and in the process of adoption fundraising, it's probably not the best time to buy...anything! Over the past few weeks, I have been doing a bit of bartering. Fun :) I heart me some adoption tees, and I want to be your walking billboard! So, here's the offer:

* If you have a fundraising tee shirt (or another great fundraiser I'll probably love!) and would like to trade for a Flitterbug, just email me!

* Choose a short sleeve Flitterbug Dress, or Ruffle sundress or Initial Shirt, any size and fabric or your choice

* I'll send you the Flitterbug, you send me your tee, and once I get the shirt, I'll post it here and so a bit of advertising for you!

Each time I wear an adoption shirt (or especially a WIPHAN shirt!) I am surprised at how many people ask where it came from. I am loving sending them to your site...advocating for adoption!

A Chance to Rack up on Adoption Tees!

A few months ago, when I was in "the pit" of discouragement about our adoption, a fellow AGCI momma, Kim, emailed me the most encouraging letter. I printed it out, and it has a special spot in my adoption journal. Kim and her family are in the process of bringing home a little girl from Ethiopia, and have an awesome fundraiser going on this week. You have the chance to win hoards of great tee shirts! Head on over to:

http://embracingtheleastofthese.blogspot.com/2010/03/covered-in-hope.html

and check out how you can win, and help to bring this little one home!

Just a few of the great shirts you can win!

Second Homestudy and Fingerprints!

Yesterday, we had our second homestudy visit. It was great...I really enjoy visiting with our caseworker. Some days it feels like we have been trudging through the adoption process for months with no end in site.....but today I finally had the sense that we are almost there. All that is left now is the home visit. After the homestudy we went to have our GBI/FBI fingerprints and background checks done. There has been much confusion and frustration in our state and with our agency in recent months concerning who does the fingerprints. I don't really understand it all, but I do know there are many families who cannot be homestudy approved and have their profiles shown until the mess gets cleared up. We were very fortunate in that our county did run the checks and fingerprints for us! It involved a 2 hour will goose hunt all over the place......we finally ended up in jail (quite literally..just outside the cells!) to have our prints run. The kis thought it was a great adventure. I had planned on taking pictures for the adoption video we hope to make, but forgot my camera! Agh. As it turned out, I don't think the lady who took the prints would have been too excited about have the moment documented :) We received a lot of perplexed looks as we approached each office we had to venture to. The kids had been playing outside all day and looked like they had been outside all day...we piled them up in the van and hauled them around with us. Each time we told someone the fingerprints were for an adoption, they looked wide eyed at us and the kids like, "WHY?" :) It was fun.

We are soooo close to being profile ready. I am trying to not count out the days and weeks on the calender, hoping and praying we have a short wait. B.U.T. it is so hard to not try and speed that day up! (As if I can!)

New Designs and a Sale are Coming!

I have been sewing like a crazy lady lately! I have had quite a few requests for various skirt and dress options for older girls, and am working on a few patterns. I am trying to keep with clean, simple, frugal and "grow with me", easy to fit styles. I love smocking and handwork, but at this stage of life, simple is best! Look for lots of new fabrics, a few new summer styles and a BIG SALE coming soon! Landis and Evangeline enjoying the warm weather in their initial tees, shorts and skirt!

"Must Reads" I Love!

"Are they twins?" is a question we have been fielding in reference to Evangeline and Landis for years. Now, we are becoming accustomed to a follow up favorite: "You have 3 kids/ You could have more/Don't you know how expensive it is to raise kids/ You are young/ You are white/You have a small house/ Why are you adopting?" (Not all is negative..... mostly we get lots of excitement and encouragement about our adoption!)

Apparently.... "We Did Not Get the Memo"

I think Dawn is my new kindred spirit. We are fine with a small house...but a larger one does hold special "family planning" appeal. I am blessed each time I read a post by this humble, loving momma of 7...who holds two more in her heart....and cannot wait to see the children yet to come!

The Wrights and Family Planning

Have you read "Adopted for Life" by Russel D. Moore? I love it! This post makes me think of much he has to say:

Jesus Took Transracial Adoption to the Cross

Because I cry each time I read this post (yeah, I've read it more than once):

I met an Orphan Today

And if you ever wonder if sponsoring a child really makes a difference....watch the video at the end of this post all the way through (have kleenex handy):

My Rescue

And because after all of this crying......you are going to need to laugh. Hard. Missy is always up for the task :)

The Marriage Bed

Some Important Information about Covenant Care Adoptions

A few weeks ago, when we announced that we were putting on hold our adoption from Ethiopia and pursuing a domestic adoption with Covenant Care... I not only blogged about the need for families....but also many of you also blogged about Covenant Care. This is a good thing.....any advertising for a wonderful agency is a great thing...however I did not realize the effect could have on the agency. They have been flooded with calls and inquiries...not necessarily a bad thing...however this does add quite a load on the staff! I feel like I need to go back and clarify some information about adoptions from Covenant Care. I do not want to discourage any one from contacting them, HOWEVER you may want to take note of the following information before you do! (And if you have blogged about Covenant Care..feel free to pass along this info!)

* Covenant Care is a liscensed adoption agencies that works with birthmother placements: this means the birthmother CHOOSES the adoptive family. There is no list or first come first serve....we realize it could be weeks, months or years before we will be chosen. We also realize we do not choose whether we will be adopting a boy or girl. Whichever our birthmother has is who will be our child!

* African American birthmothers PREFER to place their child in African American families, rather than Caucasian families.

* Birthmothers PREFER to place their child in a family which resides in the state of Georgia.

* Most Covenant Care adoptions are semi-open. This means there is a good possibility you will have contact with your birthmother...in many cases this means several visits a year for the first few years of the child's life. Obviously, if you do not live on the state of GA, these visits may be more difficult for you to commit to, which is one of the reasons a birthmother may not choose you.

* Covenant Care only places children in solid Christian homes.

* When you adopt transracially (meaning you and your child do not share the same skin color) you make a verbal commitment to CC that you will adopt another AA child in the future.

*The birthmothers that Covenant Care works with are not making a plan of adoption because they have to. This is not an extension of the foster care system. It is not because they are unfit to parent or are in jail. Theses ladies love their child sooo much that they are making a plan of adoption to ensure that their child is raised in a 2 parent, Christian home. The birthmother is in the drivers seat. If there is not a family on the list that they desire to choose, they do not have to choose one...they can decide to parent. This is one of the aspects that makes this process so different than the international process for us. We realize that this means a birthmother could choose us, and then change her mind. There is the possibility that a child could be placed in our home...and then for various reason, removed. We could technically have our profile shown to birthmothers for years...only to never be chosen. We realize this...yet trust the Lord, His guidance, and His comfort if we experience one of these losses!

I hope this information does not discourage you from contacting Covenant Care...yet hopefully it will help you to weigh out whether this agency is right for your family. I did compile a list of agencies a couple of weeks ago who are in need for families. (You can see that list here.) It seems that thought most agencies do place babies out of state, in general.....your chances of being chosen are much greater if you live within the State you adopt from.

I hope this information answers many of the questions which so many of you have emailed to me over the past few weeks. Some days I feel like the "risks" and potential heartache are greater with a domestic adoption than adopting internationally (thought I am sure many of you could argue otherwise)...yet I am confident of the journey He has called us on. In Hi time, and for His glory!

Blessings to each of you on your day, and please contact me if you have any other questions....I would love to help you and advocate for Covenant Care in any way that I can!