awesome update

We got an awesome awesome awesome update on our boy!!!!!  He is a healthy weight and so very tall!

 But the exciting thing is that we found out he is getting speech therapy, physical therapy and some kind of water therapy.  Do you know how incredible this is?????  Eli is in an orphanage...and i know that they are sometimes good and sometimes not, so to hear that he is getting all these therapies makes me feel that he is being given very good care.

 I can't tell you how that makes my mama's heart feel.  I worry about him everyday, and this has eased my burden just a little bit. I can't wait to bring him home but i feel better that he is getting all these extra things. 

We got an update from the social worker in his country.  He sounds like such a cool cool kiddo.  I will tell you some of the things they told us, let see...

* he is a great child, has very interesting personality. His character is strong, he believes in himself, expresses his wishes, wants, wants to be independant.
* He can say m any words, loves music!!!! Loves to sing!
* He can feed himself, dress/clean.  Which is totally awesome!!
* He is a polite kiddo ;)  maybe he can teach the other three some thing!
* He likes to play with toys, especially cars and construction.  I can just see him and Thomas huddled over toys in their room, sharing secrets like brothers do!
* They also said he is gentle and loving!

Seriously, could he be any cooler???

We got new pics of him and he looks so grown up, so big now.  I think the other pics we were given must have been a little older, because he is much  much much bigger now!!!!  He looks great, really great.  We are so so eager to have him home, we are pushing pushing pushing to finish all these papers and fingerprints and everything.  We just want him home.  Hang on little buddy, mama and daddy are coming soon!!!

online scrapbook software

My lovely friend Colleen has found us a new way to raise more for Eli's fund.  My Memories is a software program that lets you make scrapbook pages on your computer with all kinds of cool backgrounds!!  You can then print at home or upload to a photo-book making site and print into all kinds of cool books!!!  You can also make a neat facebook timeline cover pages with this! 

So the way this works is , you buy the software for $39.97.  if you use STMMMS7885 you will get $10 off. You'll pay $29.97 and you will also receive a $10 store credit for using the coupon code. For a limited time you will also get a free 20 page 6x6 photobook. $20 of the cost goes toward our adoption of Eli  So you pay 29.97 for an awesome software and the company gives us $20!  Win Win situation!  Just make sure to put the above code in when you order!

Here is the website:  https://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software

Here are some examples of pages i have done recently.  Seriously, if i can use this software anyone can!!

Winner Winner chicken dinner :)

First, Jared and i want to tell everyone how truly grateful we are for all the support we received during this giveaway!  We raised around $2300 after paying for the kindle fire!!!  That is amazing!!!!  We are overwhelmed that so many of you donated, shared on facebook and wrote lovely blog posts about us and our boy!!


Thank you, thank you, thank you all!!!!!!!!


Now, on to the fun part!!  WINNERS!!!!!

If you are a winner please email me your address and i will get you your goods :)

First up, the Kindle fire:  zam blau

Second:  $25  gift card to bath and body works:  john strobel

Third: $25 gift card to the app store:  kim dinan

Fourth: $15 gift card to Starbucks:  barb wehmann

Fifth:  $15 gift card to Starbucks: susan gardner

Sixth: Rainbow Clippie set: Linnie/Pat Kern

Seventh: Verizon pouch phone holder:  bob/cathy auten

Eight:  Verizon pouch phone holder:  Tammy Demos

ninth:  clippie set: Beth Baird

Thanks again to everyone who donated, shared, blogged for us!!!  You are all winners in our book and we certainly feel like winners to have so much support!!!

Love,

Jamie, Jared, Thomas, Gwen, Luci and Eli :)

Kindle Fire Giveaway for Eli!

Yay!  Giveaway to help bring little man home!

Some people have asked why we are bringing home a child who has a disability.  Why aren't we happy with our "typical children"?

Well, you see, we believe that every child matters. Every child has worth and inestimable value. Every child on the planet is worthy of a family who loves and adores them.  We think that every child is fearfully and wonderfully made—just the way they are.  And we believe that Eli deserves us, and more importantly, we deserve HIM!  We are excited to bring him home and help him start his healing journey!

Adoption is a lovely thing, bringing families to children who need them and children to families who need them!  But, it is very expensive, so this is one way to get some help with the costs related to it!  We are estimating costs to be around $30,000!


Here’s how things will work:

Giveaway will run from April 19th, 2012 to May 7th, 2012

This is a giveaway so all winners will be chosen at random by an automated selection program.

What you have to do to be entered into this awesome giveaway:

Donate!  Any donations to our chip in on the right of this blog are tax-deductible!

$10 = 1 entry

$25 = 5 entries

$50 = 20 entries

$100 = 50 entries

-SHARE-

Share our giveaway on facebook/twitter/social media = 1 entry

Blog about our giveaway = 1 entry

After you do one or more of the above, come back and leave a comment saying you did so and how much you donated (please let me know if you want it to remain anonymous and I won't publish your comment), as well as the link to your blog post if you blogged.

*All donations are tax deductable

~~~ You will HAVE to leave a comment here on my blog telling me that you have donated in Chip-In (a tax-deductible way to give) that you see on the top right.


Please remember to leave separate comments for donating and sharing. And please do not forget to state your name so that I know who the winners are. 

We have had MANY donations without comments, i would love to be able to add you to our giveaway!!!!! 

Words cannot even express how grateful Jared and I are to the incredible people who are helping us bring Eli home. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude. 

We have a lot of fun things!!!

First:  A NEW Kindle Fire!!!

Second: A $25 gift card to Bath and Body Works

Third: A $25 gift card to Itunes App Store!

Fourth: A $15 gift card to Starbucks

Fifth: Another $15 gift card to Starbucks!

Sixth: A rainbow Clippie set!

Seventh: A Liz Claiborne Verizon phone pouch (worth $34.99)  It's new in the box but i couldn't get the pic to show up so i found this one online!

Eighth: A Liz Claiborne Verizon phone pouch (worth $29.99)

Ninth: Another Clippie Set (these are great for holding bangs and for little pigtails)

no donation necessary to enter

Where are we?

So, i thought i would do an update!  Our homestudy is complete!!!!  It was sent to our agency to get signed/notarized, and then it will be sent back to us!  Once it comes back to us we can submit both our immigration papers and our dossier to be translated.  So i feel like we are finally making some progress. 

I have been struggling waiting for our homestudy to be done.  It's so hard when there is nothing we can be doing to feel like we are moving foward to get our boy.  Jared and i are kind of wierd, we rarely leave our kids w/ others, almost never with someone who is not family.  So, when i think about Eli, sitting in an institution, it rips my heart to shreds.  I have no idea what is happening to him, how he is being treated, anything.  I have NO CONTROL!!!!  And that is a struggle for me.  I know this process is stretching me in many ways :)

Picture of my lovey!  Isn't he such a doll???? 

On a scary side note, Luci (15 months) pulled a shoe dresser on top of her this weekend!  I was so, so scared.  I called 911!  First time i have ever had to call that and i have 3 (soon to be 4 :) ) kids!  The paramedics were so quick to come out and so kind to us.  They wanted Luci to go to the hospital but felt like she was ok for me to transport.  Of course, Jared had gone into work so i was alone with the kids!  I called him on the way to the hospital to come meet us.  I also called my sister in law and she met me and came and got the big kids so we didn't have to worry about entertaining them!  The children's hospital was so nice.  They got us in so quickly and were great with Luci. They were afraid she had broken her femur b/c she wouldn't bear any weight but after many x-rays all they saw was a bunch of swelling.  She is moving better today and putting some weight on it, although she is still limping!

You can see the red mark on the side of her head!  She somehow managed to get a bump on her forehead, the top of her head, and the back!  That takes talent!

Weekend Pics!

We had a great weekend!!!!!  Here are the pics for proof!!!!!  Hoping with fingers crossed that our homestudy will be final this week so we can submit our immigration paperwork.  Positive thoughts welcomed!!!!

All the grandkids

Egg hunting!

My beautiful niece



Go, go, go

Beautiful Girls

 

Safety first!

ch-ch-ch-changes!

We are in homestudy limbo right now.  So, moving on.  Luci (15 months) is so so smart!  She scares me sometimes!  Tonight, we were in Thomas's room cleaning it up a bit.  She sat right down at his train table and was playing (ahem, tasting) his playmobile knights.  As she took them out i would say "out" and then i would say "in" when she put them back.

Well, little smartie pants started saying "owww" and "nnnn" when she was taking them out and in!  Are you kidding me????  Wowzers!!!!  Gwen was an early talker too (and never stopped) and i think we have another one on our hands.  Now, if we can only get her walking!

As i was sitting and watching her play so contentedly, it hit me, she isn't a tiny baby anymore!  She is changing into a toddler, with sturdy legs and a pretty darn good attention span if i do say so myself.  Sniff Sniff!!!!!