New shirts!!!! Cory's are in!

Here are Cory's shirts:  

Front of shirt

Back of shirt

Design is full front and full back. 

The shirts are Gildan Ultra Cotton

100% cotton preshrunk.

Shirts are $20  

Thanks and MUCH LOVE!

Kristin 

Dad's for Adoption...WOW!

http://oatsvallteam.blogspot.com/2010/02/dads-4-adoption-you-ask-for-it.html


Check this out!  I love it!  Cory will be watching it soon!

Much Love,
Kristin

Adoption 101 (well what I know so far!)

Okay, so this isn't really adoption 101.  We of course are only in the first step, fundraising.  But I have had a ton of people ask me about adoption and where they can find information.  Here is what I know and the research I have done.  THESE ARE MY INTERPRETATIONS OF ADOPTION, YOU SHOULD DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH IF YOU PLAN ON ADOPTING AS EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN OPINION!

Domestic Adoption:  There are several agencies in the US for domestic adoption.  There are only a few that allow partially open or closed adoptions, the majority that I have found are open adoptions. 

1.  Open adoptions are where you meet the birth mother, and remain in contact or partial contact with the birth mother depending on what you agree on. 
2.  Partially or semi-open adoptions are where you can communicate with the birth mother through the agency that you are using.  Depending on comfort of both parties you could talk to the birth mother personally. 
3.  Closed adoption is that where only the minimum amount of information is given to the birth mother and the adoptive family.
With Domestic adoption you usually get your child at a very young age, and a ton of the time straight from the hospital!
The cost is about the same as international, is some cases a little less expensive.  It all depends on the agency and the medical costs of the birth mother.

International Adoption:  There are also many different agencies for international adoption.  Only certain agencies deal with certain countries.  There are several countries where you can adopt from right now, here are a few:
1.Korea (where we will be adopting from! here is my friends blog who just got her daughter from korea in Nov! http://www.afamilytolove.blogspot.com/
2.Ethiopia (my next choice!  for info on this one go to http://www.weloveourlucy.blogspot.com/)
3.China
4.Ukraine
5.Bulgaria
6.Thailand
7.Taiwan
8.Uganda
9.India
10.Nepal
11.Rwanda
12.Russia

International adoption right now is running about 25-50k.  That is including all of your cost from application to all the post adoption costs. 

Usually with international adoption your child will be 9 months old or older when they come home.  In some circumstances it may be earlier.  (Ethiopa is one of the countries I am pretty sure they can come home earlier).  There are also many sibling groups up for adoption.  Check out this couples blog, they just adopted two boys!  http://www.adoptingsweetpea.blogspot.com/   As far as waiting for your child the times vary greatly.  With us we will probably wait about a year after our application for our son to come home!  With some agencies it is less than that but with most it is usually that or longer.  Some people have been waiting for their kids for 3-4years! (such as several of the Haiti cases that got to come home after the earthquake).  

And then there is adopting through the foster system, which I really don't know that much about.  I do know that the cost is very minimal in foster system adoption.   This isn't really an option for our family at this time.  (but definitely will be in the future!)

Now, this is only little bits and pieces of the information out there.  It really doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg, but it's a start.  If you have other questions here is a list of blogs of families who have already adopted and a list of some of the other sites and agencies I have researched.  If you have any questions let me know! 

http://www.weloveourlucy.blogspot.com/
http://www.adoptingsweetpea.blogspot.com/
http://www.dayeongandtherestofus.blogspot.com/
http://www.afamilytolove.blogspot.com/
http://www.the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com/
http://www.ordianaryheroblog.blogspot.com/


http://www.holtinternational.org/
http://www.allgodschildren.org/
http://www.adoption.com/
http://www.aiaaadopt.org/
http://www.reecesrainbow.org/
http://www.hearttoheartadoptions.net/ 
http://www.adoptassoc.com/


Enjoy! 
Much Love!
Kristin

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God our Father is caring for the Orphans and Widows..."  James 1:27

What are you waiting for?????

Love this song...we are always waiting for the "perfect" conditions to do what we feel we should be doing, but in all reality, "What are you waiting for?"   check this video out, Natalie Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYe_g4vFwog

So People think we're kinda crazy...

When Cory and I decided in December to officially tell everyone that we would be adopting our next child, we knew we would be questioned.  Most people say, "Don't you have a little girl of your own?", or "Can you not have children?".  We then explain to them that yes, we do have a little girl, and yes we can still have children.  Then they get this funny look on their faces and ask "Why on earth are you going to spend all that money and adopt?".  So then here's what we tell them:

We are doing this because we feel that it is God's will for us.  There have been several times already that we have thought, "really...why us...why now?".  But we just have to chill out, and remember that this is Gods will, it is His timing, His money.  We are fundraising to fund the adoption.  Most people say, "man, it is going to take forever to get that much money."  Well we aren't sure God's timing for us on the whole funding issue, but we do know that He will provide and it will come when He has planned.  That could be in a year or that could be in a month. 

We also tell them that there are 147 million orphans in the world, and we feel our son is one of them.  We quote scripture that talks about orphans.  We tell them that our God is awesome and He has adopted all of us and that we are made in His image.  Then we ask them to pray for us on our journey.  Some people still don't understand why, and that's okay.  Some of them even get mad or angry because they say that we shouldn't be spending that much money on adoption when we can have our own.  They say we should leave those children for the people who can't have kids...really all 147 million of them?  I know that not everyone is going to be understanding and open to adoption, but I pray that God continues to send people into our lives who do understand. 

I thank God that we have so many great people in our lives and that they are very supportive of our decision.  Well most of the time :).  Thanks to everyone who is reading this who is supportive! 

Much Love!
Kristin

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God our Father means caring for orpans..."  James 1:27

Shirts are HERE!

Well my first batch of shirts are here and they are sooo cute!  If you want to order one you can on the right hand side of the blog.  Thanks for your support!  Here are some pictures:

                                                                     Front of Shirts

Back of Shirts

Much Love!

Kristin

Glimmer of Hope...

Well I have been researching other options to bring our son home faster! There is an agency out there that doesn't have the weight restrictions for Korea. The child will come from the  "waiting child" list. To be on this list the child has to have something wrong medically. The medical issues range greatly from something very minor to some major issues.  It is shaping up to be the route we are probably going to take! We just have pray to God to guide us in taking the right steps in this process! Please pray with us and for us about this option! Thanks!

Kylie and the flag of South Korea



So Sweet!



Kylie's fake camera "chipmunk" grin!

Much Love,

Kristin

Baby Slings

Slings all around for my son when he comes home!  Love this video! 

Much Love!
Kristin

Check this out!

Just go to this blog and listen to this song...God is soooo AWESOME!    http://the30dayjourneyforhope.blogspot.com/2010/02/lydia-and-natalie.html

Sad and Defeated...by my own self

I am very sad as I write this post. Well I guess I just feel defeated. As I sit here I think about how bad I want my son home. I know he is somewhere in this world. I just don't know where yet. We really had our hearts set on Korea, and still do really. The main thing though is that we are both overweight. We started our diets a few weeks ago and I have ruined it once again. I find it really upsetting that as bad as I want a son I STILL keep bringing my hand to my mouth with things that I just shouldn't be eating. This is terrible. It brings me to tears to think that I am letting myself destroy my dreams all for some stinkin food. I am so at a loss for what to do, I know that I just have to turn it all over to God. I want to be what God wants me to be, and to do what HE wants me to do. So tonight, I am laying it all down, over to God. HE is in control, and I have to let Him be.

Much Love,
Kristin