Adoption Meeting and Fundraiser Updates

We had our first meeting with the adoption agency April 7th. Overall it went really well. She went over the process with us, allowed us to ask questions and we got all the initial paperwork. We had to get fingerprints, background checks, child abuse checks, health checks, immunization records for our fur babies, birth certificates, marriage license, employers letter verifying position and salary, insurance letter verifying coverage, residency history, preference questionnaire, religious background and beliefs, financial information, autobiographical sketches, three reference letters, family information form, fee agreement and agreement for adoption form....that's just the start to this whole process. We just have a couple more papers to fill out and then we will be ready to turn it in. Hopefully it will be mailed sometime this week!

On our way to our first adoption meeting!

There are four phases to be completed for the adoption. The first two phases are paid together; phase 1: Application $300.00 phase 2: Consultation, Recruitment and Home Study $3,500.00
total= $3,800.00

Once the first two phases are complete we will be put on a waiting list for a birth mother/family to pick us. She said the estimated time is one to two years.

As of May 4th we have $6,906.00 in our adoption savings account. That is enough to cover the first two phases. Phase 3 is due when we are matched with a birth mother/family $7,000.00. So we are just shy about $4,000.00 to complete the first three phases. The last phase will be due when the child is born $10,275.00. Phase 4 does not include lawyer fees, if the birth mother requests help, flight fees if the child is not close to us and we have to fly to pick them up, any extra medical fees that may come or any extra fees that may come up that is not planned for...

We are working on some different fundraisers right now.

Puzzle fundraiser:
We started January 1st and have sold 352 pieces, bringing in $3,520.00!

Week 14-24 pieces!
Week 15-13 pieces!
Week 16-7 pieces!
Week 17-62 pieces!

352 pieces later!

I got this at Women Walking With God Conference! 

We have 648 pieces left to be purchased! If you would like to help out with our puzzle fundraiser, each piece is $10.We will write your name on the back and once all pieces are bought we will frame the puzzle in a double sided glass frame and hang in the nursery. You can pay by cash, check, credit card, our gofundme account, or securely through the paypal link listed below or on the right hand side of the blog. Please be sure to include your name so that we can add it to the puzzle piece! This puzzle will show our child all the people who helped to bring them home to us! Thank you for buying puzzle pieces!!!!

Mary Kay Mascarathon Fundraiser by my friend Neely Turner:
We started this May 1st and it will run to May 31st. For every mascara Neely sells she will donate her profits. So far we have sold 5 mascaras. If you'd like to order a mascara you can order at her site www.marykay.com/nfortner1. Our goal is to sell 100 mascaras! If we sell 100 Neely will donated her profits of $750.00!

Painting Canvas Party Fundraiser:
Our next fundraiser we are working on is a painting party. These are very popular where we live. A local girl will supply the canvas, paint and instructions. We are hoping to do this June 6th. We are waiting to hear back from a local place to see if they have the date available for us to hold the event. This will be our theme.

Adoption Garage Sale Fundraiser:
We are in the process of collecting stuff for our garage sale. We are planning a garage sale for the first weekend in June. So far we have items from 8 families! We are going to have a ton of stuff. We plan to hold a garage at our old house and then have another one a couple months later at our new home.


I do have some friends that are consultants that have contacted me about doing some fundraisers. I feel very blessed for the people that GOD has put into our lives that are willing to help us any way they can. We are very thankful for each one of you. God has been so good to us over the past 4 months. He has helped us raise almost $7,000.00 in four months. There is no way we could have done that alone! Praises to him! I will continue to keep you updated along the way.

From my secret pal at work, love it!