Woohooo!

Well here's the news on our adoption.  We have for sure (unless we decide differently later) chosen our adoption agency,  Covenant Care in Georgia.  We are super excited!  I talked with them this morning and they are AWESOME people!  They seem super sweet and seem to have great hearts for adoption and for God.  So within the next couple of months (hopefully by June) we will be getting our homestudy and sending it and our application in to them.  Then once it is approved we will be put on the waiting list!  Then we will be waiting for our childs birthmother to pick us to be the family to raise her child.

 I pray that God protects our birthmother thru the process and helps her along her journey, and with the hardest decision she will ever make.  I want to thank her in advance for having soooooo much love for her child that she is so selfless and is choosing the best option for her child.  And to our birthmother:  I want you to know that we will be forever grateful to you and we will always keep you in our prayers. 

Please continue to pray for us on our journey and please please please share our story!  Spread the word about our adoption fundraising and tshirts!  Thanks so much!  God Bless!

Much Love,
Kristin

Check out these adorable dresses!!! (and enter to win!)

A fellow blogger who has adopted two PRECIOUS little girls from China is giving away one of the coolest creations ever!  A 'Poppy Dip'.  What is a Poppy Dip you say...well you should just hop on over to http://www.itspoppydip.blogspot.com/ to see AND order them and then hop on over to http://www.throwingourarmsopenwide.blogspot.com/ to enter the drawing for a new Poppy Dip!  I've put my entries in for Kylie!  I am also going to be ordering one of these SOON!

Much Love!
Kristin

Under attack...already!

Okay...so I know there are going to be people who disagree with us adopting out of our race...but today I had to hear it from one lady.  Here's how it went down...

I was telling this older lady how we are adopting domestically now.  She asked what race...so I told her, african-american.  Well apparently she had been holding back her feelings about us adopting until today.  She told me that I shouldn't be adopting anyways because we can physically still have children.  She said that there is no reason to adopt when you can have your own kids.  Then she proceeded to tell me that if we were going to adopt then we shouldn't adopt outside of our own race.  She said that it is ridiculous and it is harmful to the child.  So I proceeded with why we are adopting and why we are choosing african american.  I thought...when this lady hears the statistics there is no way she can argue...boy was I wrong!  When I told her about there being approximately 147 million orphans in this world her reply was..."well you can't change the world!"  I said what do you mean I can't change the world...I can change the world for one!  She asked what that was supposed to mean...but didn't let me explain.  She then went on to tell me that only God can change the world.  So I asked her...how do you think he does that...He sends His people to do that!  One small thing at a time!  I said, how do you think anything in this world gets done, it's not everyone doing something at one time...someone has to be the first...someone has to have a dream to change the world!  She just wasn't having it...she told me that only God could change the world...I said, I agree, and he does so thru us!  So then she went on to say some other really mean things about what people will "think" about me if we adopt african american.  Well I got news for you lady...I ain't out to please anyone but my heavenly Father, and I sure don't care what they think!  I was very bitter most of the rest of the day...but then I realized...that I shouldn't be bitter, I just needed to pray for her and ask God to help me be strong in these situations, and not to get upset.


So the moral of the story...there are always going to be people who don't agree with what we are doing...I just gotta remember...I am not doing this for them, I am doing it for HIM!

I am sure this was the first of many encounters I have like this...I just wasn't expecting it yet...or from her.  But I thank God I didn't lose my cool.  Now, maybe I should prepare a little more for such a beating!  Thanks for yall's support!

Much Love!
Kristin

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Luke 6:27-28

Wow...it's been forever

Hello folks!  I know it's been FOREVER since my last actual post, sorry!  So quite a bit has been going on in the Thomas household.  Here's a bit to catch you up:

1.  We have been remodeling...we had a roof leak, which led us to find a hot water leak, which led us to black mold, which led us to yet another water leak...needless to say, we have had a very busy past few weeks!  So far we have gotten the roof fixed and redone, torn out flooring in three rooms, layed new plywood/underlayment/and flooring down in three rooms, put in a new water heater, new toilet, fixed some pipes in the laundry room, and put down baseboard.  Man its been fun, NOT!  We had to spend a week at Cory's mom and dad's while we were removing all the black mold.  We are at home now but still have a few things left to do. 

2.  As far as social life, well there really hasn't been any!  We have been out to eat with his parents once and mine once, that's it.  Which honestly...we don't need to be spending money right now with everything going on. 

3.  My crazy brain has come up with an idea to get rid of my student loan debt...so what did I do to journal this...I started another blog!  You can check it out here:  http://www.skybluecrayon.blogspot.com/ 

4.  And with the adoption process...some BIG decisions have been made!  We heard a crazy statistic and it has been weighing on our hearts since.  We heard that in the US there are 7,000 families waiting for every caucasian baby that is born, and for african american...get ready for the number...there are ZERO on the waiting list!  Can you believe that?  We were heartbroken by this and just can't understand.  So with that being said, we have decided that maybe our next baby is right here in the US.  Now, I'm not saying that we aren't going to be going to Korea for a child...just putting that on hold right now.  There is an urgent need for families willing to adopt african american or biracial children in the US.  So we are talking with an agency in Georgia right now about our options.  The fees with this agency are considerably less than any other agency we have researched, domestic or international.  Instead of having to raise $30,000 we are only going to have to come up with less than $8,000!!   We are sooooooo excited!  Our next step is our home study.  So we have to raise about $1,000 more for our home study and we will be sending it and our application in!  I have seen where some families have their baby within just a few months of sending in their application!  So I guess I am saying that right now the only thing that seperates us from our son is less than $8,000! 

So, after all that I hope you are still with me.  I am glad to be back and hopefully won't have anymore breaks this long!  I want to ask you all to pray for us and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE spread the word about us, about our shirts, and about our adoption!  I would LOVE to have our son home for Christmas!  Thanks!

Much Love,
Kristin

New Post coming soon....I hope!

Sorry I've been kinda non-existent, we are remodeling!  We have been staying at my in-laws house for a week now.  I am soooooooo ready to be home!  We are getting there.  Hopefully by Sunday we will be back in our own beds.  Pray for us!  So maybe soon I'll have a post worth something. 

Much Love,
Kristin

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