God is so good!

Sometimes God just knocks your socks off! Today we got a check from our church treasurer. We had received a few checks in our fundraiser bottles last week that were made out to the church, not us. So, she took them and then wrote one check to us. Added together, the checks totaled $500, half of the total amount we raised.

Well, when we opened the envelope and saw the check we about fell over. Apparently a few more checks trickled in for the fundraiser. With the addition of these new donations, our new total is......get ready for it......drumroll please.......

$2,200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am shock. Thank you so much everyone. I was so excited to have enough money to pay the USCIS fee. Now we also actually have a "nest egg" started toward the BIG fee that will come at the time of our baby's referral. It's great to know that we are another $1,000 closer toward being able to pay that huge invoice without taking out a ridiculously large loan. God knows what we can and can't handle and God is GOOD!

In the name of Jesus!

A few months ago, Kaden started waking up several times at night because he'd had a bad dream. We taught him that when he was scared, he could call on Jesus to make the scary things go away. It definitely helped, because we'd hear him call out to Jesus in the middle of the night, and then he'd go right back to sleep.

Lately, Kaden has been "scared" of everything. I don't know if it's because of the Halloween season or what, but he's become quite the scaredy cat. He also uses it as a convenient excuse. If we need to go change his diaper he says, "We can't go upstairs to change my diaper. There are monsters in my closet." If I ask him to go get his shoes so we can go somehwere, "I can't get them by myself. I'm too scared."

Well, the other day we were at my parent's house. My mom asked Kaden to go into their office to get something. Kaden replied, "I can't. There's an alligator in the office. I'm scared of alligators." Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

T: There is no alligator in the office Kaden.
K: Yes, there is.
T: No, there's not. Now get in there.
K: But, I'm scared.

At this point, I started to tell mom about how he's scared of everything these days. While talking, I saw him inching closer and closer to the closet door. Then all of a sudden, he put his hand out in front of him and said in his most evangelistic voice:

"In the name of JESUS alligator!"

Then he walked right into the office. It was sooooooooo funny!

This past week was a lot of fun because Ryan's parents were here from Indiana. Kaden had a great time with Mam Maw and Pap Paw. He was very sad when it was time for them to leave and told them he wanted to go to Farmland too! I think we convinced him that he should stay here with Mommy & Daddy. But, we promised him that we are going to go to Indiana after his birthday sometime in May.

So, later that day, after they had left, Kaden and I had the following conversation.

K: I'm 3
T: No, you're 2
K: I'm 3
T: Kaden, you're 2. You haven't had your birthday yet.
K: But I want to be 3 so we can go to Indiana.

How he put all that together himself is beyond me! I am constantly amazed at my little guy's intelligence.

Harvest Farms & Adoption Update

Saturday we took Kaden to Harvest Farms to pick a pumpkin. It was so much fun! They had a great play area, a petting zoo, a hayride, and lots of other fun activites. Of course, there was pumpkin picking as well. Here is a scrapbook page of the festivities. I'm blaming Ye-In for the top photo! He had just taken his other hand down off his face when I snapped the shot.



After the pumpkin patch, we went out to eat to celebrate Ryan's 32nd birthday. He is now as old as me! Sometimes I really hate being the "older" woman. I had to turn 30 first, will turn 40 first, will turn 50 first, etc.!

In adoption news, we haven't heard anything yet since our last update. I am really hoping that our social worker was able to get our homestudy typed up this past weekend as planned. If she did, then she should be calling or e-mailing soon to let us know that it's done. Then she will fax it to us to proofread. Once that is done, it must be approved by the main agency office. Once it's approved, she will make the official signed, stamped copies and we will be "officially" waiting!

After we receive our official signed, stamped copy of the homestudy, we submit it along with a form called the I-600A, official copies of our birth certificates and marriage liscence, and a hefty to check to the immigration department. We already paid out twice as much for the homestudy itself. So, we decided to do a fundraiser through our church to raise the money for the immigration paperwork fee and to recoup the cost of the homestudy.

We handed out baby bottles and prayer cards two weeks ago and asked everyone to fill them up with change and return them in two weeks, which was yesterday. During Kaden's afternoon nap, Ryan counted and sorted all the change. There was over $200 just in coins! When you add in the checks and cash that were received as well, the grand total came to $918!!! Do we have an awesome church body, or what? Since the immigration fee is $965, this is perfect. We can't thank everyone enough for their support.

When Kaden woke up, came downstairs, and saw all the money laying on our coffee table, his eyes got really big and he said, "Whoa. Is that money for me? I'm gonna need a bigger piggy bank!" Ryan did his best to explain that the money was not for him and what it was going to be used toward. So then Kaden said, "Oh. It's my sister's money." He understands much more than we give him credit for sometimes.

Catch the Blog Train!

We're having a great party over at All Things Visual. Come join the fun! There's games, challenges, freebies, prizes, and a chance to win a $20 gift certificate. Plus, check out Kelley's new products including hybrid albums. Ride our blog train and collect enough quickpages to fill a Maya Road 5-ring album. You can snag my contributions (pictured below) by clicking HERE. Then go on to Lynette's blog to pick up two more great pages and the next blog link!


Speaking of hybrid Maya Road albums, I recently completed one! I took all of the layouts I have created using Kelley's products and resized them to fit onto these cute cards. I decorated the box using "Cowgirl's Dream". I'm really happy with how it turned out. To see the full-size versions of each of the layouts, just go to my gallery. The card box and cards are available HERE.

Join the Party!

Yours truly is hosting a template challenge on Saturday, October 18 at 1:00 p.m. in the All Things Visual party forum. One lucky winner will receive a $5 gift certificate to the store!

Also, check back here on Friday. We are having a blog train and will be giving pieces to complete a full 5-ring tab album by Maya Road. Kelley now has these available at All Things Visual. You can see the album here. You don't want to miss the beautiful quickpages we've created for it!

Quick Update

It turns out we don't need the Indiana background check after all. Yay! The State of Kansas only requires that you go back 5 years and Ryan has lived here for 11 now, so no problem.

Also, I have updated the subscription section of my blog. Apparently the one I was using before went out of business. So, to subscribe, simply enter your e-mail in the field to the right. Then you can have my blog entries sent directly to your e-mail, and you don't have to remember to check the blog. It's much easier to keep up that way. I subscribe to several blogs and would be lost without FeedBlitz!

We had our homestudy today!

We had our homestudy visit today. It went really well, but we found out that we need to have another background check done for Ryan. Because of the Adam Walsh act, you have to have clearance from every state you have lived in since age 18 in order to adopt. We didn't know this before, so now I'm going crazy trying to figure out how to get the appropriate forms. Those of you in Indiana, I'd appreciate your help in acquring these!

Anyway, once the background check has cleared, our social worker will type up the homestudy report and fax it to us to proofread. She'll then make any necessary corrections and send it to the main Holt office. They will approve it or ask her to make changes. Once it's approved, she will make 6 official, notarized copies and send them back to the main office. Then we'll get a copy to submit with our USCIS paperwork and we will OFFICIALLY be on the waiting list for our little girl! Yeah!

We are doing a fundraiser through our church to help offset the cost of the homestudy and USCIS fees. We have also asked for prayer for patience, provision, perfect timing, paperwork, and peace. Right now, paperwork is the really big one!

Here's a picture of our family taken today. I can't wait until there is a 4th member!

It's a Boy!

My sister delivered a beautiful baby boy today.  He was born at 4:48 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs., 14 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.  Emily had been scheduled to be induced this morning, but went into labor on her own while getting ready to go to the hospital!  She was in labor for 10 hours before the doctor ultimately ended up taking Isaiah via C-section.  Emily had invited me to witness the birth, so I was disappointed to miss out that experience, but just wanted what was best for my sister and nephew.  Her labor never progressed to where it needed to go, even after receiving patonin (sp?), and with Isaiah's size, the doctor felt a C-section was in Emily's best interest.

Here are some pictures of the big day.  It is now way past time for me to be in bed!

Is it really October?

Where did September go? Man time seems to be flying by these days. Ryan is busy harvesting, but should be done this week. Yeah! Before we know it, he'll be full time with the phone company. We are looking forward to having him home in the evenings.

This past weekend, we went to a picnic for families who have adopted through Holt International. It was so fun to connect with other adoptive families. Kaden had a great time. He still doesn't do very well playing with other kids. He prefers to be with adults. But, he did pretty well about waiting his turn, not pushing and shoving, etc. so I think we are headed in the right direction. They had a really fun playground at the picnic and he didn't want to leave.



I was able to speak with our social worker at the picnic. She will be coming to do our homestudy either October 11 or 12. Hurray! I am so glad to finally have this scheduled. Now I just need to work, work, work on getting the house ready.

I went to the sack sales today to get some great deals on new clothes. I was able to fill two sacks full and pay only $10 for a bunch of clothing for myself, Kaden, and our future daughter. They never have much in the men's department, so Ryan missed out! But, I was in desperate need of some clothing that actually fits since I lost 15 pounds since July 15. I am planning on losing even more (need to start exercising now and not just dieting), so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothing that will, hopefully, not fit in a few months. That's why I love sack sales!