LOVEraiser #3: Adoption Yard Sale & Bake Sale

Tags

adoption, family, friends, fundraising, infertility, seek the positive

I have been realllllyyyyy slacking when it comes to posting on the blog. So sorry!! Between working night shift, filling out grant applications, scanning documents to FAC, and keeping up with the Can the Tailgate fundraiser (more info HERE), I’ve been spread really thin. And honestly, there isn’t much to post about. We are approaching becoming active. I finished our portion of our adoption profile book and sent it to our praise bamd/worship leader, Tim, who is a graphic designer and he’s putting the creative spin to it that we need. I’ve been completing grant applications and the few agency applications FAC requires us to fill out along with scanning them everything they need for when we become matched and when our baby is placed with us ( items such as our home study, background checks, medical clearances, references, etc. Essentially everything our home study people needed)!

So, in the midst of all of the stuff we’ve been trying to get done, we’ve decided to do another LOVEraiser… an adoption yard sale and bake sale! I’ve always loved yard sales, having them and going to them. It’s an easy way to clean out clutter and things no longer used. Plus, you get LOTS of face time with people in the community! I figured this is the perfect way for us to share what Christ has done for us through this adoption journey and share our story with others in our community.

I have some stuff that I’ve been needing to take to Goodwill for some time now and I still have plenty of clothes and other things to get rid of. I’ve had a couple of friends periodically dropping off stuff that I could sell. But we are always willing to accept more!! 

We ARE still looking for and accepting donations!! We are willing to accept any clean items still of good use to sell at the yard sale. We are needing the following items:

LOVEraiser #2 : Can the Tailgate (A football season long aluminum can drive)

Tags

adoption, faith, friends, fundraising, seek the positive

Okay, folks. We live in Athens. Home of the DAWGS! Starting in August and going through November, Saturdays are all about football and tailgating. The streets are packed with tents, grills, and tons of people. Tons of people that are eating awesome food and drinking gallons of drinks. It is really so much fun to be a part of the sea of red and black. Seriously, if you’ve never been, you’ve gotta go.

I read “How to Adopt Without Debt” when we first decided to adopt to get ideas on fundraising. One family had a HUGE aluminum can drive that they advertised over a 4-6 week period. They advertised everywhere and called the fundraiser “Can the Yard”. They told everyone to drive by for that one weekend and toss all their aluminum cans in this family’s yard. The family raised SEVERAL thousand dollars from just cans. So, I started thinking…. We live in Athens, football season is approaching, I have TONS of friends that tailgate every single Saturday, college kids are back in town… What if WE held an aluminum can drive?? 

Take Me Deeper Than My Feet Could Ever Wander

Tags

adoption, faith, seek the positive

I feel like I need to apologize. I’ve been absent. I’ve been distracted. I’ve been tired, grumpy, ill mannered. Even when I’ve been present physically, I haven’t been there mentally. And I’m sorry.

I know everyone understands. I know everyone says “Don’t apologize! You have a lot on your plate!” or “Of course your distracted! I can’t imagine going through what you’re going through”. But I feel like all I say is “No” or “I’m sorry, I just can’t do [blank]” or “I have so much paperwork/house work/adoption stuff to do I can’t go anywhere”. It has felt like all I do these days is work, sleep, adoption. I have felt so disconnected from Carey, from my family, from my friends.. And I have felt so guilty for that.

I read countless adoption blogs/articles/stories. I talked with lots of adoptive families and asked TONS of questions. I knew the paperwork would be a lot. I knew this process would be demanding. I knew it would be draining physically, mentally, emotionally, financially. Believe me, after all I have endured throughout my life, I knew I could handle this. And I can. BUT, I never read a single post about how EASILY you can get bogged down. How easily it is to be overcome with things to do. How hard it is to juggle your current life with planning and preparing for the next phase of your life. How your present life is constantly moving forward and, while you are moving forward, you are moving in what feels like is a complete opposite direction of everyone else in your life.

That Awkward Conversation.. Pt.2

Tags

adoption, Christ, Christianity, faith, friends, fundraising, loved ones, seek the positive

So, in the previous post, I went over the different options we hope to utilize to fund our adoption. In this post, I just want to cover more about where our hearts are with this. When we invite the world to participate financially in our journey, I fully believe we should be as transparent as possible. We need to be open and honest about what WE are doing to contribute as well as where your hard earned money is going.

First, I just want to say that at this point, our gofundme has been open for almost 24 hours and we have raised approximately $435. That does not include any money made by the Mommy’s Making It fundraiser. I am completely blown away at the kindness of former classmates, family friends, and total strangers. There are not enough words to express how incredibly THANKFUL we are for your donations, for your generosity, for your thoughtfulness. My heart is truly humbled. Again, THANK YOU!

I mentioned working overtime and taking on additional jobs. Carey and I both have decided that we need to work as much as we can for as long as we can. I am working an additional 12 hours a week and he has just taken on a PRN therapy position working Saturdays at a local nursing home. Between the two of us now, we are working 100+ hours a week.

That Awkward Conversation.. Pt.1

Tags

adoption, Christ, Christianity, fundraising, seek the positive

It is no secret that adoption is expensive. The cost can vary quite a bit depending on which path in adoption you take. Private, domestic adoption can cost around $25,000-$50,000. International adoptions can range (on average) from around $30,000-$50,000. Foster care adoption is significantly cheaper than the rest, costing roughly $3,000-$7,000(ish). Each have their own pros and cons. Its basically all dependent on where your heart is.

We understand that there are many children in foster care and the DFCS system that need loving homes. We also understand that it is tremendously cheaper to adopt through DFCS than through a private or international agency. However, with DFCS, you have a MUCH longer wait time and the risk is so much greater. Adopting through DFCS, you have additional red tape to go through in order to adopt. If anyone has ever dealt with the government for anything personal (we got a federal loan when we purchased our house. Needless to say, the process was twice as long, twice as aggravating, and twice as slow), you know what a pain it can be. Children in the DFCS system may have also been exposed to drugs/alcohol/abuse that can require tremendous amounts of therapy and extra attention. You run the risk of caring for the child for months or years and have a biological family member show up and get the child back. There are also not many newborns in the system either. You hear of stories occasionally of foster families picking up babies from the hospital but after talking with case workers, it’s not as common as you think.

Please don’t take any of that the wrong way.

Frequently Asked Questions..

Tags

adoption, faith, fundraising, home study, infertility, seek the positive

There are so many questions that go along with adoption. People (at least from the area we live in) are not really familiar with a private, domestic adoption. Since announcing our adoption, people really seem to be interested in how the whole process works, how the baby and birth family comes into the picture, how to pay for the adoption, and what “step” we are currently working on in this process. We do not mind answering questions one bit, but, I definitely wanted to put together a list of the most frequently asked questions and have the answers here. Maybe you are on the fence about adoption and need some questions answered. Maybe the only information you have on adoption is what you’ve seen on a Lifetime movie. Or, maybe, you just want to know how we are doing but haven’t wanted to “annoy us” with questions. I’m just touching on the main ones we’ve been asked consistently. If you have questions that I haven’t covered

Mommy’s Making It Magnet Fundraiser

Tags

adoption, friends, fundraising, seek the positive

Gooooood morning everyone! Just a quick post to update y’all on the first LOVEraiser [fundraiser] to help bring Baby Crowe home!

Check out these precious magnets! (It may not be the best quality picture

She’s Pregnant AGAIN?! (and other thoughts of an infertile woman)

Tags

adoption, faith, find joy, infertility, loss, pcos, seek the positive

**WARNING!! LONG POST AHEAD!!**

Writing this post has really been on my heart lately. Since the “debut” of this blog, I’ve had several women reach out to me all saying the same thing, “I suffer from infertility, too.” Or, “I’ve been trying for a long time with no result.” Or “I may have a hard time having kids because of [blank]. Can you tell me about what lead you to here?” I have found so many women (more than I realized) suffer from some type of infertility. But they suffer quietly and alone. Its not up for discussion so you (an infertile woman) feel like you are the only one in the world that is going through this.

You get a call or text from your best friend, your sister, your cousin announcing they are pregnant. You log into Facebook or you check Instagram and there is the announcement again. Or there is an announcement of someone else who is pregnant. It floods your newsfeed for at least 24 hours. Don’t get me wrong at all. I am SO happy for my friends and family

Preparing Our Home for the Home Visit

Tags

adoption, family, friends, home study, loved ones

When Melissa told us that our caseworker, John, would be coming out two and a half weeks after our initial phone call, I was panicking. Everything I had read online said the home visit was the last step of a [minimum] 3 month process!! I wanted to get the nursery painted, the front yard prettied up, the garage cleaned out, the dogs trained. I wanted everything to be PERFECT for when our caseworker got here.

So I went into nesting mode instantly. I scheduled a visit with our vet to discuss Bruiser’s anxiety with strangers. I could just picture John walking into our home and Bruiser having a stroke because there was a strange man poking around our house. I started making lists on things to be done to make our house seem more “home-y”. I started collecting copies of all of the need documents.. I don’t want this whole process taking ANY longer than necessary!

The Home Study (insert “Jaws” theme song here)

Tags

adoption, home study

Ahh… The home study process. It is the entrance to adoption and the introduction to ALL the paperwork you’ll have to complete throughout the adoption process.

There are many ways to get started with a home study. Typically, if you have applied to an agency first, they will be the ones conducting your home study. If you do not plan on working with an agency for an adoption, you can still use a local agency to conduct your home study. You can also contact an attorney and ask who they recommend for a home study.

Because we are not currently working with an agency at the moment (more on that later), I did some research and found a company in Atlanta that handles home studies as well as child placement. The home study price varies from $900-$2000