Creative, Giving Children!

This past weekend Laynie, along with our neighbors (BFFs) Lydia and Grace, decided they wanted to bake and sell some cookies. When I asked what they are going to do with the money they quickly said it was for our adoption fund! I was blown away by their willingness to help and give! They are all such beautiful children of God and we are so proud of their efforts! They made over $70 that day! Can you believe that?!
We are so excited to see the kids get involved and really get excited about adopting.

Lydia, Laynie and Grace making their poster!

Laynie getting the cookies ready. Pardon my messy kitchen, it's under construction!

Blake and Laynie showing off the poster... "Cookie Donations 4 Adoption".

All Wrapped Up in a Bow!

Today I am sending the first group of our paperwork (application included) to Gladney! Along with our first chunk of payment. I'm excited to have completed that first bit and am already moved on to the second group (much easier than the first)! We are really excited and I know those feelings will just get stronger!

We told the kids (Laynie who is 14 and Blake who is 10) on Tuesday night. They have always been such open and accepting kids. They don't mind change and LOVE kids, so they were excited. I'm not sure if they grasp that their little sister will be coming from Africa...but when we asked how they felt about it they said, "That's great with us". So cute.

Laynie and I have been talking about baby names and all Blake cares about is if he gets to go with us to get her. ;) He said, "well, ya know...I have never been on a plane before". I thought...oh gosh, not sure if a 16 hour flight would be good for a first time!! We'll see.

So on to group 2 of our paperwork....pictures of our house, of us, of the kids, etc.

I Love My Hair!

I have seen this video around blog land and thought it was so cute! I can't wait to share it with my little Ethiopian girl someday!

The Final Pieces

Running around town.

Reality at it’s finest!

Unfortunately we have to be realistic…face reality, day in and day out! I never expected my reality to involve bone density scans, talks about osteoporosis, hormone replacement therapy…all at the age of 31. But here I am, trying to make the best of it and laugh my way through it.

Today I went to the Womans Center at Mercy Hospital for a bone density scan. First of all, I was the only one under the age of 60 there. Those little old women just looked at me like, “oh that poor, poor girl”. I wish I had a t-shirt on that said, “Premature menopause – Ovarian Failure, that’s my story”. Oh well.

Each nurse that I came in contact with said, “Now why is a girl your age here today”? Again…wish I had the shirt.

I will know the results of the scan next week.

On the adoption front, we had a wonderful evening of chatting with the Andrews family last night…

They were so welcoming and sweet…and full of lots of great information! We were so happy that they invited us over to talk! It’s going to be great to get to know them more and more as we continue moving forward. Thank you Andrews family for having us!!!!!

I stopped by Barnes and Noble on my way back from the hospital. I thought I would be good to look at some adoption-related books. Wouldn’t ya know it….there are VERY few at good’ol B&N!? I was like, ”really, it’s 2010..and your selection of adoption books consists of 3?”! Get with it B&N!!!!!!

I did stumble upon this sweet “baby book”. I couldn’t resist!

So I guess I will leave it up to good’ol Amazon to provide me with some adoption reading material!

It’s Decided!

I believe it’s officially decided…we will be adopting a GIRL from Ethiopia. After a lot of thinking, we just decided that it would be the best fit for our family! I cannot tell you how excited I am. Bows and dresses and pink galore!!!!!!!! I am going to have to read up on how to fix her hair for sure!! I can’t wait though!!! So exciting.

Now to figure out a name. Clint doesn’t seem to like any of my suggestions. Maybe one of the ones I like will just “grow” on him. Unfortunately we have a while to decide

Busy, busy, busy!

Where have I been? Between paperwork and projects for fund raising…I have been writing a letter to send out to friends and family for donations.

Its hard, when you are not a person who asks for help with much of anything, to ask for something like money….to be able to bring home your baby! It just seems so hard for me, but I know that it’s something I have to do in order to see our family complete.

We are excited to be meeting up with another couple this Thursday to talk about their journey and have a little Q&A session! It was so sweet of them to open their home and invite us over! We are really looking forward to hearing their story.

Copier is working overtime!

Yes, this is a copier…. the copier at my office. The copier that is currently printing all 70 pages of our Gladney Adoption Application! Yippee!

Setting the Groundwork

I have been brainstorming like there is no tomorrow!!!!!!! Brainstorming why?….well let me just tell ya!

Clint and I have made the decision to adopt. I hope to sit down in the next few days and write about our journey thus far…but for now I’m going to hit the ground running with FUNDRAISING for our Ethiopian adoption! I can’t even believe it as I type it! A beautiful baby chosen by God to be OUR baby…a member of OUR family! WOW…what a blessing.

In order for us to avoid going into some serious debt….we will be raising funds for our adoption. We believe that God has placed it on our hearts to adopt, and He will continue to bless this journey we are on!

I have always thought of myself as “crafty”. I LOVE sewing, crafting, painting…the works! I have an Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftycreations2 and a website www.sewcuteandcrafty.com. ALL proceeds from any sells I make will go toward our adoption! I can’t wait to see how God will bless my little “business”!

Here are a few things that I have been working on to add to my website and Etsy store.

These sweet “lovie” blankets are 14×14 and SUPER cuddly.

I have made many of these crayon rolls. This is just a quick phone pic, but I have a few on my etsy shop. I even personalize them! Very popular!

I have made a few dresses for my precious friends little girl. This is just one of them. I am still working on getting some good pics of the others I have made!

And diaper cakes! I started my little “business” making these a few years ago. Little did I know then that one day the funds would be put to some amazing use!

Like I said I love to be crafty! This is a cute wooded sign I made for a friend of mine. I am working on more of these as well! Halloween, Christmas, Names, Birthday….etc!

So if you are interested in anything you have seen so far, just shoot me an email! kathleenellis79 @ gmail

Can’t wait to add some adoption t-shirts, necklaces and key chains to this list too!! More to come!!!!!

Our First Conference Call with Gladney.

Wednesday morning we had our first conference call with the Gladney Center for Adoption.
We went over the packet they sent us, ALL the paperwork needed, and the fee schedule. Pretty overwhelming.
Our next step will be to send in the request for the formal application to Gladney (along with our $300).
We are soaking it all in right now, and waiting for our appointment next Wednesday before we do anything.
I am excited and it feels right…..to be doing what I felt God has been asking me to do since Bruce left.

Time will tell.