GIVEAWAY !!!!

Donate now for the JUNE GIVEAWAY!!!
Donate for your chance at a brand new
  AUTHENTIC ***COACH POPPY SIGNATURE HANDBAG***

Go to the "JUNE GIVEAWAY" tab at the top of this blog to Donate and be entered to win!!! 

CANDLES

I just put together a fundraiser for the adoption. I make and sell soy candles and have put up a website where you can order  a few of my best sellers with ALL proceeds going toward Milana's adoption. THANK SO MUCH!!!

                                          http://www.farmhousefragrances.com

Everyday Humbled

When something out of the ordinary happens in our lives, often unexpected, sometimes "bad" it tends to humble us.  When we are humbled I believe that we are a little more in tune with what is really important. We can feel promptings a little easier and understand things a little better. Unfortunately the humility that we in our minds and hearts promise to not forget, slowly and quietly sneaks away leaving room for other feelings to take it's place. Sometimes pride, sometimes "knowledge" of things, or thinking YOU know what is best for you or others. It's sometimes hard to remember, almost impossible at times, the "humility" that we once felt, until it is handed to us again.
I am not always humble in every aspect of my life . No one is. However, I am so grateful for the birth of my daughter Hope. Her birth AND life is an everyday humbling experience. It has taught me to love so much more and so much deeper than I was capable of "before." It is amazing that our Heavenly Father blesses us with little miracle throughout our lives. I am so thankful that I recognize and appreciate the miracle that so blessed our family's life. My family and my heart and my capabilities have grown in ways that only those that have experienced the gift of DS first hand can understand.
 I feel indebted to my Heavenly Father for such an extraordinary love. I feel blessed that I get to feel humbled everyday of my life. This Earthly life is so short, though sometimes may feel long. The everyday challenges that seem so big, will one day be so very minute.  The worldly things and feelings will no longer matter. We take 2 things with us, our family and our knowledge. I am thankful for the new knowledge and experiences I get the opportunity to be a part of.  Im thankful for my Eternal Family which is ever expanding.  There is a little girl who we get to make a part of our forever family. One who sits alone, temporarily, waiting. She is so loved, even though I've never physically met her.
I don't think we were put on this Earth to always take the "easy" route. I have been blessed with patience and capability within the past year. There is no room for laziness, or idleness in our short journey here. That is a HARD one to remember and live by. I have been working on that one alot in the past year. It has blessed me. It has blessed my family. Hope has taught me to notice the little things in life. My eyes have been open to all sorts of new ventures I never thought possible. ALL this due to the gift of being Everyday Humbled.

Getting Ready

   So we have our home study visit this evening. I should have been cleaning and getting ready yesterday, but instead I started working on the girls' room. (It was way more fun than cleaning.) I was going to do pink and black, but when I hit hobby lobby everything pink and black was really modern and my house is a hundred year old farmhouse, and they just didn't seem to go. Soooo, I went with pink and cream. I want their beds to coordinate, but not match. I bought a new crib for Milana, and painted it pink...well it looked pink until I got it inside and see that it's more of a purple shade. So tomorrow I have to repaint it more of a pale pink color.
I did Milana's pink with cream tulle bedskirt and cream sheets and Hope's just the opposite, hers is cream with pink bedskirt and sheets. Anyway, here is what I have so far.

Thank You

I just wanted to thank everyone that has donated so far. It is so generous and thoughtful and we appreciate it more than you know. Thanks

Help us get Milana home!

Okay, so International adoption can be quite pricey. There are not too many people who can afford to hand  over $20,000-$40,000 cash upfront.  Those who make a commitment to adopt internationally find ways to fund/raise $ to aide with their adoption. There is a donation fund set up in our name via Reece's Rainbow that will help contribute to bringing our new baby home. All donations are 100% non-profit/charitable. (tax deductible)
Sometimes $20,000 seems so overwhelming,but... if you break it down, Its really not that impossible. If......

300 people donated $100.00 = $30,000

200 people donated $100.00 = $20,000

250 people donated $ 80.00  = Goal!

300 people donated $ 65.00 = Goal!

350 people donated $ 58.00 = Goal!

400 people donated $ 50.00 = Goal

500 people donated $ 40.00 = Goal!

 Milana's adoption could range anywhere from $ 20-30,000 dollars. Any money that is donated that goes OVER her final cost will go directly to the Reece's Rainbow Angel Fund to help another Down Syndrome / special needs child find a loving home.
Any donation helps bring our little one home to her new family. We have already contributed several thousand dollars, and will continue to contribute as much as we possibly can-until we make enough money to bring her home. I am currently working on another fundraiser and will let you know when I get it ready to go. We will keep this blog updated so you can track our progress and ask us any questions or comments you may have.
Thanks so much!!! We'll keep ya updated! Please check out http://reecesrainbow.org/ to find out more information on these children. Our family thanks you!

R****a

          We are really happy to be adopting from R****a. We are also REALLY lucky to live in the United States. IF we lived in R****a, I would have given birth to what THEY consider a "defective" child (Hope.)  They would have pushed me into putting the baby up for adoption, where her only hope for ever having a family would come from America or possibly Western Europe. That is IF a family can come up with the $30,000+ price tag they put on her. She would live in a crowded poor orphanage until she turned 4-6 years old, when they would take her away from the only home shes ever known (not that it was all that great) and put her in insane asylum/ mental institution. So many of these children are chained to there beds, and are forced to live scared and hopeless until they eventually die. Often they don't make it past the 1st year after being "institutionalized."
          I cannot wait to bring this little girl home and give her all the love and laughter that EVERY human being deserves-FOREVER! Im also very grateful for Reece's Rainbow http://reecesrainbow.org/  for helping these children find loving homes. My family is very blessed.

This picture is the LEAST heartbreaking of all the pictures I've seen. The orphanage has wrapped this sweet Down's baby up tightly so he/she can't move their arms. The institution pictures WILL break your heart. I try not to look at them. I wish I could help more.


I CANNOT imagine my sweet little girl EVER being treated less than a human. It breaks my heart!!!