Quick Update

Blood Work-- CHECK!
TB Test-- CHECK!
Financial Statement- CHECK!
Employment Letters- Sent off to higher people to fill out- CHECK!
Physical Appointment- Soon this week?- Probably!!!

Blood Work ^

Ryan acting "hipster" and our final paper *we* have to fill out for our Home Study!!

iPhone iLove

 

I seriously love my iPhone. I can't imagine any other phone. I love it mainly for its picture taking and internet using capabilities. I recently found out that I can EASILY import all of my pictures from my phone onto my computer. So I am going to post all of my favorites since Easter.

Happy Easter 2011!

 

Day at the River w/ The Cellar

Happy Birthday baby Cannon!

.Congrats Colby and Missy Jones.

Jacks Graduation

Dance Party. Roll Tide. Tuscaloosa.

Summer Fun! Spending time with Mawmaw and Emma!

Second trip to AL!

Nursing Home BINGO w/The Cellar!

Double Wedding Day
Congrats Erik and Katelyn Morgan, and Josh and Allison Waite!

Cody and Kristin Deitz Wedding!

Jack and Jovie- a day at the vet.

 

That wraps up April to August!

Many more to come…

Defining Paper Pregnant or the Paper Chase

When I first started stalking reading adoption blogs I quickly learned that to adopt a baby  you had to compile something called the Dossier. I have seen lots of post about how it is hard to get together all the paper work. I have also even seen pictures of families turning in their dossier. I was THRILLED to get to start our dossier! Until I got the email with all the guidelines. There was probably at least a weekend full of dread at the pages, and pages, and pages, of pages explaining what to get, how to get it, and what to do after you get it. I was overwhelmed, but eventually I sat down actually read all the guidelines and started my To Do list. THENNN I got the Home Study paper work. Now this is something I hadn't really heard much about. I knew I had to have one, but I thought that was just the interviews. I didn't know the Home Study paperwork is actually the bulk of the dossier! So once again I got overwhelmed, then I got organized and NOW we are really close to having our Home Study paper work ready to submit!! We will submit this packet of paper work then we will have four interviews. Here are the documents we have to have to turn in our Home Study:

Home Study Application- about 30 pages
Home Study Questionnaires- 5 pages of single spaced questions, we had to separately fill out.
Criminal Background Check
Photo copies of our DL and SS cards
Guardianship Form
Residential History Form
Medical Exam Forms
Home Ownership Proof
Birth Certificate Copies- Less than 5 years old
Marriage License Copies- Less than 5 years old
Health Insurance Coverage Proof
Pet Vaccination Proof
1040 Tax Form
Financial Statement
Floor plan showing all dimensions and purposes of all rooms
Employment Verification Letters- each parent has to submit one
Reading Agreement- We each have to read a total of 7 books.
Three reference forms.

All that doesn't SEEM to be a whole lot, I know. However, all of those forms have lots of questions to be answered that are hard to track down. We had a hard time finding out specific details of some of those forms and that is what takes awhile. Also, Ryan is super busy with work, the cellar, and seminary, so I have been collecting all these documents. If you know us well, you probably know that Ryan takes care of ALL our important stuff. So, it has been a little hard for me to track down copies and proof and that kind of stuff!
We also have a tons of forms that just had to be signed and I didn't list. Now some of those forms also have to be notarized. Again, not a big deal, right? Well anyone who notarizes our forms have to have a license that doesn't expire until 2014.  Thankfully everyone I have talked to or made an appointment with have been in this 2014 window, so yahhh!! We actually haven't had any snags yet! God is really making this pretty smooth for us and I am soooo grateful!!

All we have left for our home study is:
Employment Verification Forms- We started working on those.
Financial Statement- Hopefully we will finish this today!
Our Medical Exam- Should be this week.

And that is iiiiiiiiiiiit!!! Woohoooooo!!!!! My goal is for the end of this week to have all of those underway!

So that is the Home Study paperwork...

Once we send all this in, then we will have 4 interviews and keep working on our Dossier paperwork...That is a post for another day!!!

Baby Names

*pic from here

Yahh! It is a post like this that makes me sooo excited!  I have been thinking and talking baby names since I was a little girl! I have gone through TONS of baby names that I just knew my baby would have. Let's take a trip down memory lane....

Girls
Summer
Sailor
Savannah
Samantha and Emily (only use either of those names IF they were twins)
Stacey
Valerie
Austin

Boys
Matthew
Tyson
Cannon
Van (I was obsessed with Reba!, Ryan prayed this one wouldn't stick!)

Now for some reason or another, none of those names are currently made the cut for our sweet baby boy.  We have decided on our baby's name, but I feel like if I announce it via blog it will become monogram official. I am not quite ready for that permanent commitment just yet. I honestly don't forsee us changing his name though so...here is a hint....it is a biblical name....and it starts with an I.

Since Ryan and I are pretty sure this is our baby's name, I have been obsessing with sibling names! We have a whole list of new names for our future babies that I am not quite ready to share. But, since our baby's name is new to the mix, I am having to rethink about what names go good with his name! It is fun and exciting and I found the perfect sister name. However, I am pretty sure Ryan has already crossed off this name a time or two though...Maybe it will grow on him! It goes really good with baby I's name!

Man how about a post full of suspense! Haha. If you really want to know our baby's probably name then just message me! It isn't really a secret to my friends!

 I plan to do a post soon explaining the "paper chase"! Stay tuned....

Our First Order

I will be placing our first order with 147 Millions Orphans on Monday! Let me know if you want anything! Check out the merchandise on their website or on my previous blog post.

*Remember that only the items under Adoption Fundraising Gear will go towards Baby Thompson :)

* Under each item there are descriptions and details listed!

We are sooo grateful for everyone who has already placed an order! We really appreciate it more than you know!!

100.

I saw today on Facebook that there are 100 days until Christmas!! I looooove Christmas!! I have already starting thinking of things I want! Here is a sneak peak at my Christmas list:

Luke 1:3

I have had to answer the question of why we choose Ethiopia a lot. Honestly I don't mind, I just didn't really know a straight black and white answer. I mean the statistics for this country are staggering, but so are other countries. I know what initially introduced me to Ethiopia was that Ryan and I met the requirements for this country. Some countries have some strannnnnge requirements. Head on over here to see for yourself. So we involuntarily had our country choices cut down. Then I found myself on tons of Ethiopian adoption blogs. The children were just beautiful. I told Ryan about it and we eventually agreed this was the country our child would come from. I say eventually because (being totally transparent here) we were a little nervous about becoming a biracial family. We don't know anyone with this kind of family and it was intimidating. However, we both were in agreement with the fact that we couldn't run from God's calling because of different skin colors.

Now I say all of this with still not really answering WHY? Why not America? Why not Korea? Why not Honduras? Why not _____? My answer in my heart is always it just feels right. I thought this was kind of a silly and not sufficient answer until I went to the Beth Moore Simulcast on Saturday. She spent the majority of the time talking about Luke.  I wish I could tell you all the statistics she mentioned about Luke, but I didn't write them down so I don't remember them. BUT I can tell you that Luke wrote two books of the bible. Luke 1:1-4  "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."  Basically Luke just thought it sounded like a good idea to write a book. That book is part of our God's Living Word.  Yep. I was pretty excited to hear Beth Moore point that out. Sometimes it doesn't take flashing lights or and audible voice to know and do what God has planned for you to do. Sometimes it can just feel right, or like a good idea. 

I am so grateful that I didn't run from this good feeling because even though we are at the first part of our adoption, it has been amazing. I can't wait to see what is to come!!

147 Million....

147 MILLION. That is A LOT of orphans in the world. Let's make a difference!
Ryan and I are doing our first fundraiser and we are partnering with the organization 147 Million Orphans. They sell clothes, jewelry, and merchandise and we get a portion to go towards our adoption! Yahh win-win!

Here is how it works:
1. You pick out whatever you want to buy.
2.Place your order through me.
3. Email me with the style, size, and quantity of what you want to buy. arin19@aol.com
4. I have to place the order to get the credit, so you'll have to pay me for your purchase.
5. When I get an order of $100 I will send in the order. (I have $40 so far...)

You can check out all the fundraising merchandise here. They have lots of cool stuff that doesn't go towards the adoption but does go to other great charities! *If you order it online, that is awesome for the charaties, but we will not get an credit for your purchase. I have to do the order.

Here are some items that would go towards our adoption:

$19.95

"We are proud to donate to Amazima Ministries and the wonderful women of the Karamojong tribe.  The Karamojong women create these beautiful necklaces by hand and from re-cycled paper … Our goal is to help these women maintain sustainable income for their families … We will be purchasing these necklaces from them and also sending 50%+ of the profits back to a feeding program run by Katie Davis.  It is a beautiful full circle story of the body of Christ."

$19.95

"This super soft shirt delivers a clear message, and it is a great shirt for the summer and fall."

$34.95

 

                                                                        $34.95

This shirt says it all. Our signature baseball tee with kelly green sleeves is back! And this time has the purpose of helping fundraising families bring their children home. The bold scripture on the front, James 1:27, and the message on the back, "Helping One Home" easily explains our mission. By purchasing this shirt through our website, we will donate 50% of the profits to adoption grants.

$34.95

"'WILL BE YOUR "GO TO" BUTTERY SOFT TEE ... Vintage baseball burn-out / 50% ringspun cotton, 50% polyester; extensively weathered, sheer fabric for vintage look; one-of-a-kind pilling and striation; regular fit; side seamed; 3/4 raglan sleeves; fabric-dyed, enzyme/silicone finish; merrowed bottom hem; 1x1 burnout rib collar'"

Paper Pregnant

Man oh man! We are getting so much done with our homestudy paper work!! I plan on knocking out everything that needs to be scanned tonight and finishing up our homestudy questionnaire. This 5 page billion question questionnaire really intimitated me, but alas I am almost finished!! Yippeee!! I was dreading starting it until one of my friends mentioned how fun it sounded. Her perspective really helped me get excited about answering personal questions about my childhood, family, marriage, and transracial family opinions!! Thanks Kristen :)  The past few days I felt overwhelmed about all we had left to do because I want to get it done ASAP. I asked for prayer from our women's bible study and you wouldn't believe how relaxed I feel tonight!  I am just so excited about becoming a mommy to a sweet little Ethiopian!! I saw a blog last night of an orphanage in Rwanda and they people are just beautiful. I am know Rwanda and Ethiopia aren't the same country, but it sure did make me bubble with excitement!! Check out the Rwanda orphanage at Pure and Lasting.

Labor Day Vacation....Oxymoron??

 

Fenway Park, City Park, Harvard

 

Clam Chow-da

 

Welcome Home!!! <3 the Cellar. 

I, too have seen.

I strive to die to myself daily.

I struggle with materialism.

I have seen.

I am not alone.

I was forever change by Haiti. by Jamie Ivey