Home Study...piece of cake!

We had our first home study a week ago! I've had many people ask how it went.  I had planned to get a blog written sooner but the day after the home study we went camping with family. So you're getting an update a week later! ;-)

Going into the home study I was not as nervous as I thought I would be once the day finally arrived. That's probably because I've been able to talk with others who have or are going through the adoption process and have researched about home studies.  A friend sent me a list of general things to have prepared.... list of emergency contact numbers  on fridge, fire extinguisher under kitchen sink, outlet plug covers, all cleaning supplies and medicine to be put on a high shelf.  The only thing the lady from the agency commented on was "do you have fire extinguisher". She didn't check the rest of the stuff that we worked hard on lol....like me scrubbing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees! lol but at least my friend Beth noticed! :-)

Our home study only lasted an hour. We had to answer a lot of questions when we filled out our adoption papers that we mailed to the agency.  She asked a lot of the same questions that we had already answered on paper. She asked about our jobs, how we met, if our families supported our adoption, what Daniel and I like to do, how we resolve fights and who we hang out with. She confirmed what we are willing to accept... gender, race, age, health, how or if we wanted to communicate with the birth family.  I'm sure there were more questions but I don't remember. All the questions were pretty easy, especially since we had already answered them on paper.

After we answered questions she asked for a tour of our home, which was very quick! She was looking to make sure we had plenty of space in our home. Good thing we moved from our one bedroom house or we would not have passed the test! lol  

After the tour we scheduled our next visit with her. It will be July 3rd. We will travel to the agency to be interviewed separately. This will be where they will ask about our childhood and possibly about each other. Again, we've already given the answers to those questions so hopefully it will be painless. Once the interviews are over she will write up her report for the approval process.   

 

Puzzle Fundraiser:

Normally I only update on the puzzle fundraiser once a month in my blog but since I'm updating you on the adoption process I figured I would update you on the puzzle while I'm here ;-)

 

Week 23- 13 pieces sold!

Week 24- 2 pieces sold!

Week 25- still in progress but have already sold 10 pieces!! :-)

 

That brings the total to 494!! Only 6 pieces away from being at the half way mark with this fundraiser! My uncle Jamiel is still doing his challenge. Every payday he and his wife are going to buy two puzzle pieces. He challenged his family and anyone else who wants to participate to do the same.  I cannot wait to get the puzzle finished and hang in the nursery. We already have a spot picked out for it. I post weekly puzzle updates on our gofundme account.

 

We cannot say thank you enough for everyone who is helping us! We are beyond blessed and are not taking it for granted! Please continue to pray for us and share our story! Thank you thank you!!!

Daniel and Tanner hanging out by the camp fire

Watching the Lego movie

Tanner playing games

Love him!

Love of my life!

Still learning to cook on grill...I burnt the hamburgers!

 

Our view for the weekend!

 

 

 

 

One Step Closer...

The month of May and beginning of June was very busy for us. I spent most of May testing all my kiddos, packing my room to move to a larger room and preparing for the end of the school year. We had the mascarathon fundraiser going on during May. We were gathering items for the garage sale. Organizing details for the Canvas Party Fundraiser. We also went to Nebraska for a family wedding. We turned in our adoption papers to the agency and waited exactly three weeks before we heard back from them. They called last week to schedule our first home study. It is scheduled for next Tuesday, so please say a prayer for us!

This cutie has been my pre-k hubby this year!
Everyday he would tell me I was beautiful and was going to marry me.
He sure brought a smile to my face everyday!

This is baby Jacob. He liked visiting our classroom to see big brother.

Nebraska Family wedding

Finally found out who my secret pal was at work.
These were my two favorite pieces!

Mailing all our hopes and dreams!

 

Paige delivering our diaper bag! She can't wait for us to have a baby!

 

Puzzle Fundraiser update:

Total pieces sold 469!!! Bringing in $4,690.00!!

Week 18- 61 pieces!

Week 19- 4 pieces!

Week 20- 11 pieces!
Week 21- 17 pieces!
Week 22- 22 pieces!!

We have 531 pieces left to be purchased!! My uncle Jamiel has just sent out a challenge to his family and anyone else who wants to participate. He is challenging you to donate $20.00 every payday to go towards our adoption puzzle fundraiser. He is starting this Friday. You can pay with check, cash, on our gofundme account or through our PayPal account. For each piece you buy we will write your name on the back of the piece. When the puzzle is complete we will hang in the nursery for the baby to see who all helped to bring them home. Who wants to accept his challenge?

The top pic is week one and the bottom is week 18, 415 pieces sold.
We've added 54 pieces since this picture.

 

Mascarathon update:

My good friend Neely Turner did a Mascarathon for the month of May. For every mascara she sold during the month of May she donated her profits. She ended up selling 17 mascaras and donating $127.00 to our adoption. She also had a high school friend who didn't wear mascara but he wanted to donate to our adoption so he mailed us check this week! God is blessing us with amazing people!

 

Painting Canvas Party Fundraiser:

We had our painting fundraiser this past weekend. Kayla Kohout did a Painting Frenzy fundraiser for us. She did an amazing job. I'm very grateful that she helped us raise some money for our adoption. We had 16 people come to the party. Most of them were our friends and family but we had 5 people we didn't know which is great! It was so much fun. We ended up raising $320.00 to go towards the adoption. Checkout her Facebook page, Kayla's Crafty Creations!

My mother in law, my mom, Carla, Carol, Kristi, Delinda, Alline, Melissa, and I.
Plus some other ladies that came.

Kelli, Beth and I

 

Garage Sale for Adoption:

We have been so busy the past two weeks getting everything ready for our adoption garage sale. We spent many nights at the old house till after 9pm working on pricing, tagging and sorting. We had donations from over 15 families!! We ended up having the sale inside the house because it was suppose to rain and did rain. So we were very fortunate to be able to have an empty house to store everything. We had a packed house! You could barely walk through we had so much stuff. We had the sale this past weekend. Both our moms, my aunt and friend helped with the garage sale.  People were very generous with donations. They would give more than what was marked for things or tell us to keep the change. One lady came back in after leaving, she handed Daniel a $20.00 and said "I didn't find anything I needed but wanted to give  this for your adoption".  We were totally blessed with the sale. Before the sale even started we had made $490.75 throughout the week! Day one of the garage sale we made $567 and day two we made $478! This fundraiser total brought in $1,535.75!!! That totally blows my mind!! We are hoping to have another sale this coming fall.

 

Paige and Tanner helping with garage sale stuff or should I say playing.
 Lol they are too cute!

A month ago in my last blog I updated you on the phases of our adoption with the agency. We have paid for phases one and two which totaled $3,900.00 that included our background checks as well. Phase three is due when we are matched with a birth mother/family $7,000.00. A month ago we were just shy about $4,000.00 to complete the phase three. As of today we only need $812 to complete phase three!!! WOW!!!! That is so awesome!! Then on to phase four, $10,275.00. We will get there :-)

 

 

Back in December I had started pinning adoption photo ideas on pinterest. I pinned a lady's photo that lives in Canada. She soon found me on Facebook and we have talked a few times about our journeys with adoption. She also teaches! ;-) It's neat to see other peoples journey with adoption and create a bond with them even though I've never met them. This week she mailed me a special gift with a letter that brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you Amy!! Love it!!

At this time the only fundraiser we have going is the Puzzle Fundraiser. We won't do another fundraiser till the end of July. We are taking a break from them to enjoy some time together and get things done around our new home to prepare for a baby. We have been going going since the beginning of the year with fundraisers and have been blessed with every one's generosity. Please continue to share our story and pray with us. Thank you all!

My first time cooking on the grill.

Daniel supervising lol

We love spending time outside with our fur baby.