Sunday, August 24, 2014

Origami Owl

If I've said it before, I've said it a thousand times - the community of fellow adoptive mamas has been the biggest support system that continues to blow me away.  I "met" Sara through the Congo adoption group.  I had the privilege of watching Sara bring home from the Congo her beautiful daughter Emily a few months before I was finally on a plane to meet Munni Bird for the first time.  Sara has been such an incredible supporter in both of my adoptions.  So when she approached me a few weeks ago and asked if I would like her to throw me a fundraising party, I couldn't scream YES loud enough!!!!  Sara has such a beautiful heart for adoption and has been involved in many projects that help orphans.  Recently, she became a Designer for Origami Owl Jewelry.  She wants the business to help families raise money for their adoptions.  Isn't that amazing??!!!!!  So here's the deal:  This online "Party" will be open until Saturday, August 30th at 8 p.m. - short and sweet :)   20% of anything you purchase will go directly towards the last part of Baby R's adoption- THE TRAVEL PART!!!!  But here's where it gets even better.  If you purchase ANY part of one of the two Signature Pieces, I will receive 30%!!!!  Isn't that incredible?  Origami Owl has so many beautiful pieces and the possibilities and combinations are endless :)

I am going to get the girls matching "Gotcha Day" necklaces with charms of the elephant and their birthstones.  If you are in the process of adoption and haven't figured out your Gotcha Day gifts, maybe you could create something meaningful  here!  Just please be sure to use this link when purchasing or else I won't get the credit :(

Here are the two Signature Pieces:

Or this one:


In case you were wondering what these pieces mean and why they are important to me :
Elephant- for those of you who know me well, you know that I've been crazy about elephants ever since I can remember. It probably sounds corny, but I have this strange connection to them  Anyway, India is known as "The Land of Elephants"
The Heart- Spread More Love  Last spring when I was praying about adopting again from India, God put that phrase on my heart one morning while I was in the basement taking clothes out of the dryer. God uses the most spectacular moments to speak  It was a moment where I knew it was from him. I went and googled "Spread more love" and immediately popped up Mother Teresa's famous quote, "Spread more love wherever you go" Obviously, Mother Teresa had a huge connection to India serving and loving the orphans there 
Milagro ~ One of my favorite words in Spanish. It means "Miracle." I started speaking Spanish when I was 26 and taught Spanish for 14 years. These two girls have been the biggest miracles to ever happen to me! 
There it is!!!  Thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given to me throughout this journey.  It means more than I will ever be able to express in words!
~ Love to all of you!!!!!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Featured!

The community of fellow adoptive mamas that I've met through this whole process has been a HUGE blessing in my life.  They have been extremely supportive and beyond encouraging.  I love how we rally around each other, holding each other up and at times, dragging each other through the deepest, darkest of pits.  We do whatever we can to have each other's backs and that is a beautiful thing to witness!

I was so honored when one these amazing mamas asked if she could interview me for her blog.  It was a great experience for me.  I was able to pause and reflect on all that I have experienced and learned throughout Munni and Baby R's adoptions.  I hope that my story will encourage others ~ wherever they are in the process.

Please check out the interview on Lucy's blog and also see how God has been writing their beautiful story!  You can see it all HERE!!

Monday, August 11, 2014

One Step Closer!!!!

LOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE starting the week off with good news!

My cw called me to tell me that I have the state level clearance!!!  WOOOHOOOOOO!!!

She said to expect the federal clearance in about 2 weeks.  After that, my case goes to court and passport.  This step could be anywhere from 3-6 months.  So…. travel could be anywhere from December to March.  But again,  as I've learned from the past, all things are subject to change :)

For today, Munni and I are going to celebrate that we just passed another huge hurdle and are one step closer to bringing her baby sister home!

Thank you for the prayers!!!!

Thursday, August 7, 2014

The Land of the Never Ending Wait

One year ago today I was officially matched on the C*RINGS website with Sweet Baby R.
One month ago, my cw verified in person that the committee who is responsible for issuing the state level clearance had everything they needed for my case.
I need the state level clearance to move forward to the federal level clearance and I need the federal level clearance to move on to court and I need court to get the written orders and I need the written orders to get Baby R's passport and I need Baby R's passport so I can make travel plans.
That run on sentence is exactly what my wait feels like right now.
Still no news.

Please don't tell me about God's perfect timing.  I wrote a whole post about that here.
There is nothing more frustrating than have everything regarding your child be in someone else's hands.  And I think every adoptive parent will agree that those "someone else's hands" don't move anywhere near the speed we would like :)

So I continue to pray.  I pray that people will feel moved to address my case and get us through the next step.  I pray that I won't get discouraged.  I pray that I will be present in each and every day with Munni Bird.  This summer has been sooooo good for us.  I know this is the last summer we will have together, just MommyMunni, so I've been losing myself in our time together.  That's the beautiful thing about having a child while you are in process of adopting another.  I love every moment of our time together because I know I will never get it back.  And at the same time, I imagine what next summer will be like with the three of us :)  


I admit that I am sad and disappointed because I really thought she would be home by her 3rd birthday. Instead, it will be another birthday that Munni and I will celebrate without her.  We will take pictures so that one day, she will see the two birthdays we celebrated with her in our hearts.

In the meantime, I've been taking a ton of pictures of Munni.  It never fails to amaze me the amount with which she has and continues to change.  I can't wait to photograph her with her sister :)
But for now, I will continue to wait on the Lord and pray.








…and photograph my beautiful Princess!