hair day!

On Friday I took Iona to an AA salon for the first time to get her hair done. The appointment was during her naptime, so I was nervous about how it would go.

She did so well! She was almost falling asleep at times. The stylist showed me how to detangle her hair without her screaming. I was shocked that Iona only said once that it hurt.

I was so impressed! And I loved the atmosphere in the salon. The ladies were even sharing scripture with each other! I wish I got a picture of her hair all detangled and out, because it was amazing, but I'm sure I will see it again like that sometime. The stylist detangled and braided all in an hour and a half!

Iona fell asleep on the way home, and then as soon as we walked inside she woke up. I set her up with a video and got these photos. She was so tired.

A funny: She went to the bathroom while we were there, and while we were in the bathroom, Iona points to the garbage at the hair extensions and says, "Mom, someone left their hair in there."

timeline and travel

For those who care, this is our list of dates when we reached each step of the process of Brendan's adoption:

Dossier to China: 3/11/2011

Log-in date: 3/18/2011

Date of referral: 12/10/2010

Letter of Intent: 12/16/2010

Pre-approval: 12/27/2010

Referral acceptance: 5/7/2011

Travel approval: 7/12/2011

Travel dates: 8/4/2011 through 8/19/2011

We leave in 2.5 weeks! Crazy! We have a couple house projects we are trying to finish up, and otherwise we are checking travel things off the list. My computer was very sick this weekend and we had to buy a new one...while I'm happy with the new one, I wish it could have happened in a month or two!

I will try to post a little more in the coming days and weeks, and I'll try to post daily while we are in China.

Please pray:

--for protection around our family before, during, and after our trip.

--for our kiddos here at home.

--for peace for us that our kiddos are here at home.

--good travel...we had such a horrid experience getting to Ethiopia that I am dreading this trip.

--good relationships built with the two families we are traveling with. We don't know anything about them yet.

--for our first meeting with Brendan to be peaceful, and us to minister to him well if it is not.

--for Brendan to be mentally and emotionally prepared for all the changes about to take place in his life.

--for God to heal his eyes, whether supernaturally or through the doctors here in the states.

--for us to be able to communicate with Brendan and vice versa.

--for our trip home with Brendan (and no translators!) to be smooth and fun.

--for Aidan and Iona to bond well with Brendan.

--for our first days, weeks, and months home to go well.

--for me to finish preparing for our homeschooling year and to know when we are ready to begin.

--anything else the Lord brings to your mind!

Nesting and adoption update

I've been too busy to blog lately...so sorry I haven't kept everyone up to date on the adoption. This week we are expecting a phone call from our agency saying we got our Article 5, which is the last approval we need before travel approval. We should get our travel approval about 2-4 weeks later, and then we travel 2-4 weeks after that.

Meanwhile, we are in the middle of a health insurance company change, including most of our doctors. We also had to complete Iona's annual report for Ethiopia. And we've been nesting...we went to IKEA to get more shelving and have been moving just about every bookshelf around our house. We got bunk beds for the boys, ordered Brendan's dresser and car booster seat, got travel books, got a new camera, etc. We took a short trip to St. Louis. We went to our first homeschool convention and bought the rest of our curriculum for next year.

Today we took a break and went to Wildlife Prairie State Park for their Olde English Faire and got to see knights, pirates, ninjas, jousting, and all manner of middle ages stuff. Aidan even got to throw some real throwing stars. We hung out with good friends from college and their kids for the day, and they offered to take our kids the whole time we are in China!! HUGE answer to prayer on so many levels.

And somewhere in all this prep before we leave I'm trying to do some homeschool planning for the new school year...

RA and Show Hope

Mother's Day ended with both children puking, and I woke up Monday morning and joined them. We all laid around in front of the tv on Monday, because that was about all we could do.

Monday afternoon we got a letter in the mail from Show Hope saying we got a $2500 grant!! Then, less than an hour after another session of puke, we got a call from our agency saying our RA arrived! This means that China has approved us to adopt Brendan. And this means you can now see him!



We also found out that we will most likely travel in August. And if we receive our travel approval in July, like expected, we won't have to pay the additional $2750 we thought we would have to due to changes in post placement requirements. So as soon as Pete got home from work, he had to head over to the Fed Ex office to send in a form to USCIS.

We got the Welcome to Travel email Monday as well, and I was once again overwhelmed by all the next things that need to get done. I can't believe we're not done with paperwork! And then it hit me...we are traveling to China in 3 months! So much to do!

We are praising the Father for all His good gifts to us, even in the midst of sickness.

waiting

I feel like I'm in phone-stalking mode again. We are waiting for "THE CALL" from our agency telling us they have received our RA (referral acceptance). Technically, we will probably not hear back until around 5/18, but now that it's May I'm getting antsy. We have our I800 and DS230 documents complete and waiting, so we should be ready to submit as soon as it comes.

Meanwhile, we're trying to finish the school year, going on field trips, and prepping the house.

You know you are adopting when things break and craziness happens. All in the same week. I'll just leave it at that.

We're beginning to think about Brendan's care package and working on the video we'll release of him when the RA arrives. We've been applying for more adoption grants.

Next week is Iona's 3rd birthday, so maybe I'll post photos. :) She will tell everyone who will listen that she is SO excited to be 3 because she gets to go to AWANA and ballet.

The week after is our adoption fundraiser garage sale. Our garage is half-full, and we're getting leftovers from other sales soon. Let me know if you have anything to donate to our sale!

Shoe Saturday

Edmund Gives Back from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

Edmund is just one example of many who have been helped by Lifesong Honduras, and are now giving back.  I love how he obviously cares for these kids and even gives what little he has away so they can have shoes!  What a great example.

Here’s a question for you… How many pairs of shoes do you have?.

10? 20? 30? (eek!)

The kids at Lifesong Honduras have one pair each… sometimes two (a pair of boots to serve in).  Wow.

This Saturday join us for Shoe Saturday.  Simply count your shoes… and get your kids in on it too.  Have them count theirs.  And then tell them about the children in Honduras.  Tell them about Edmund who sacrifices his own money so children in the village can have something on their feet.  Then as a family pray.  Thank God for His faithfulness and His blessings on your family.  Thank Him for raising up men and women and children in Honduras to care for the poor, the orphaned, the vulnerable.  Ask Him to continue to provide and watch over them.  Ask Him raise up supporters so Lifesong can continue to serve in Honduras.

We are reaching for a goal:

Please pray that we can reach this goal?   Maybe God wants to use you?  Will you prayerfully consider joining us?

Maybe you can't give $30 a month... Maybe you can give more.  Today we want to encourage you to give your best!

One commitment we've received was a one time gift... Another commitment was matched by the donor's employer... meaning his gift has now quadrupled!  We are so excited to see people rise up and give what they can!

Thank you to those who have committed so far.

We have 15.5 commitments.

Can we make 100?

We have 7 days... 84.5 commitments to go.

With your help we can do it!

Meet Edgar

Edgar is 15 years old and in the 10th grade at Lifesong Honduras.

On June 5th, 2009 his father was shot and killed because he didn't want to sell his property, leaving his mother alone to raise Edgar and his brothers.

Recently Edgar's family decided to move to another state and wanted him to join them.  However, even though it was hard to watch them leave, he was determined to continue his education at Escalon.  After being there for 3 years, Edgar understands his need for education as a step towards a better life.

When asked about these major trials he has had to face in his young life, he simply says,

"It's just like "Pastor Guy" (Lifesong Honduras director) always says, "we should never give up."  

After graduating Edgar wants to study in the medical field.  He desires to use these skills to help people in need and give back as he has been given.

With your support we can continue to serve more kids like Edgar.

Our goal is:

We have 16.5 commitments.

We need 83.5 more.

Please prayerfully consider joining us as we strive to bring joy and purpose to orphans in Honduras! YOUR DONATION WILL BE DOUBLED by a gracious giver!

Contact us at at info@lifesongfororphans.org to make your commitment AND be sure to tell them tha we sent you from our blog!

Hear personal stories and check back for progress through the end of the month!
*All administrative costs are covered, so 100% of your donation will go directly toward helping orphans!