Praise God from whom all blessings flow....

Today was such a special day for us as a family. We had the opportunity to stand before the church family and dedicate Kynzie to the Lord.  To us, raising our children could NOT be done without the loving support of some of our strongest supporters within the church.  We were so blessed to be able to have all 4 of Kynzie's great grandmas there, some of our aunts, Nick's mom and two of Nick's nephews and grandpa Chuck.  After the dedication we went to the Barn Restuarant and just enjoyed a very yummy homecookin' meal and time with our family together.  Kynzie brings so much to our lives and we love her more than anything.  Our children all hold a very dear and special place in our lives. 
We followed that by an awesome family bike ride where we met at the park and the girls had fun playing together.  Lots of laughter and giggles, as always at the park.  We couldnt thank the Lord anymore for the blessings He has given us and the gifts of HIS children, entrusting us to be their earthly guidance to raise them in the way they should go.  We truly have to be the luckiest people ever to be blessed with such an incrediable gift and feel so very honored to have the priveledge to be the parents of such wonderful children.   They are our everything!! 
Tonight while laying here in bed, Nicholas and I prayed together.  Many nights, we just take turns praying aloud together and then we say our own silent prayer individually, but we both felt led to pray together aloud, instead of it just being one or the other.  Thanking Him for all our blessings and then asking Him to be with us through all the trials of parenthood and in our adoption journey.  In this journey our hearts are in so many places.  We both feel 100% in knowing God is calling us on this adventure. We both are honored to be where we are and we both are a tad bit overwhelmed by all the paperwork, the tasks that need to be accomplished, and the heartache that is involved.  Our entire family longs to be completed.  We long to know what's going to happen and where we are going to be.  Ashalyn talks daily about her brother and sister.  She begs to go see them.  She asks when we will go on an airplane to meet them.  She wants to know all the little details.  And everyday she makes something.  The most recent being a family picture.  She drew, Nicholas and I, Kynzie and herself...along with 3 other children.  I asked her who they were and she says, I don't know them mommy but they are my brother and sister.  I want them to come play with me and Kynzie.  So she knows and I really feel she understands.  And honestly, I know God is calling her to the place of being a big sister to these children.  She asks us throughout the day to pray for them, without us saying a word.  She goes up to Kynzie and in her mom voice talking to a little baby, tells Kynzie everything she knows about them and how we will have to go pick them up and bring them home to our house.  We're just all so anxious and excited for this journey of a lifetime.  We are so anxious to grow our hearts and our family, as well as an unexplainable love for these children that share nothing with us genetically, other than that pure and whole place in our hearts. 
I'll be honest, just tonight we talked about the numbers again financially...and it scares us...it scares the crap out of us.  "What if we are unable to come by these kinds of numbers?"  "What if our family is denied the grants?" and "What if we get that call tomorrow morning and we cannot come up with the next $1000 payment?"  So many what ifs, but we pray...we pray for God to show us a way and to calm everyone of our fears.  We ask that you join us in these prayers, because it is scary.  It's scary to have the unsure when talking about such large amounts of money.  We pray for opportunities to be able to save the funds we need.  Excuse me with this scenario, but it's not like the moment you find out you are expecting biologically and you can go to your physician and turn it into insurance and see what portion of these incrediable opportunity they will cover.  A OB will not deny you services because you dont have the moeny to cover at that exact moment you go into labor.  But it's scary knowing that if we dont have those funds readily available we could lose the precious chance to get to know a beautiful baby girl or handsome little boy.  So that's my prayer request tonight, that God provides us with a sense of comfort in knowing that He will take care of us, He will provide us with the opportunities when the need arises, and that we are equipped with the faith needed for the mountains to move and doors to be opened.  Our journey is only in it's beginning.  Our family life is still at the early stages and there is so so SO many things for us to be thankful for.  Our blessings are beyond numbers and we truly are grateful for every opportunity to be with each of our children, in our presence and in our hearts.  We pray for each of our children, the ones here in our home with us, our ones in Heaven, our ones clear across the world and across the states, and every other child we are not able to adopt but who are waiting for their forever love and family!  It's been a very special day with some very special people!  GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!                                            

Clearing up the confusion...

We received a text message the other day and another friend asked..."If you get a US opportunity first will you NOT be going to Africa?"  I can completely see where the confusion took place, because it may seem crazy.  But Yes, we will do BOTH.  We ARE doing both.  There is a super long wait time right now for children in Africa.  We are still being called there.  And we are still WAITING.   In the meantime, we have filled out paperwork and been approved for a domestic adoption. 
What does that mean?

Within the week our electronic profile will be on the web and available for birth mom's across the United States.  For the last 5 weeks we've been getting emails with birth mom scenarios that come through our agencies.  When we find one that matches our family specifics we submit ourselves for the birth mother to go through.  She could get 10-20 families interested.  And from those profiles she chooses the family she would like to place her child with when he/she is born. 

Only God knows, but our United States wait time could be just as long as in Africa.  We don't have a clue what God has planned for our family.  But, I can say with 100% certainty that He is moving mountains in our household. 

A weekend = a full time job

Logging onto our email account today, I stumbled across a yahoo story.  I never considered my weekend as a full time job!  This article stated that research shows that the most successful Americans in the work force are those that plan their weekends around relaxation and unwasted time.  One way I never looked at it is that starting at 6pm on Friday night until 6am Monday morning there's 36 hours, which is considered a full time job!  
Nicholas and I sat down and talked about how many of those hours are wasted in front of the tv, computer or just down time!  And after we looked at it that way, you wouldnt believe all the things we got done, and it wasnt even all hard work! 
First we sat down and made a list of 300 things we want to do on a weekend.  Some were things that cost money and others were very budget friendly.  Some allowed us to relax, others allowed us to give, and others helped us accomplish stuff around the house!  
After our list, here's what we accomplished today....
*BMV for new tags and a new license (7 months after we bought our house)
*delivered some 31 stuff to my customers
*groceries
*garage cleaned while the girls played in the sand table
*dishes done
*bathroom sink, toilet and shower cleaned
*floors swept
*delivered a baby/toddler slide to someone
*made party mix TOGETHER
*spent one on one with each child before bed
*Ashalyn and I cleaned her room together
*girls played playdough while we cleaned
*made clothing list  (this is a blog post in the making)
Can't wait to start our list of want to do's so we can enjoy our weekends and become refreshed for the work week.  Just having the list makes me feel so much better about everything we're doing and gives us a second or two to breathe and chill!  Can't wait to see how this transforms our lives and how it improves our weekly attitude!

Who says you can't save $120 a month??

I'd say its time for another post.  Really nothing new going on with our adoption.  We are all ready as far as the paperwork...and now we are just waiting for our approved copy of the homestudy!  We are very anxious. 
Next step is another payment.  So starting to get a little more strapped for cash and no upcoming fundraisers, we have sat down and made major adjustments to our daily living.
* We've eliminated going out to eat. 
*We're selling the unneccessary items within our house. 
* We've read over every bill we receive.  We found 2 bills that we could lower just by making a simple phone call.
            1. Our cable tv bill showed a $45 fee for HBO and Showtime Cinema, which are channels that we never watch.   In addition we were getting charged $8.00 a month for our second tv and $6.00 a month for the rental of our 2nd tv equipment.  The second tv is in our bedroom and we have only ever turned it on once or twice at the most.  So that to us was $14 a month that we could be saving just by eliminating a second tv and $45 just by getting rid of a few channels we didnt realize we were being charged extra for.
            2.  We use the cheap straight talk phones from walmart.  One phone has the 1000 minute 1000 text plan and the other has unlimited, an extra $15 a month.  We looked at our monthly usage and realized we would be safe with both phones having the 1000 minute 1000 text plan.  $15 savings a month.  Considering starting our magic jack phone service back up to eliminate a cell phone in its entirity. 
*We found a local lady who was making cloth diapers for extra income to her family. I am not a fan of changing messy panties so this really wasnt an option.....UNTIL....I calculated the savings. Our youngest daughter, 15 months, is pretty much on a schedule with her "messy" diapers. So we thought if we can eliminate 3 diapers a day by using the cloth diaper, that would be a savings of 90 diapers a month, over one jumbo box of diapers....$24.99. We still are using disposable for when we go places and in the mornings when we know a messy one is coming!  Can't believe we didnt do this soon...absolutely LOVE it, LOVE the savings, and think our little girl looks absolutely adorable in them! 

Our oldest daughter, still wears pull ups at night because she sleeps so sound that she doesnt wake herself up.  So our next step is to purchase a set for her too.  Pay $7.00 to eliminate a pack of pull ups a month as well.  $19.99. 
So all these savings = a total monthly savings of ....  $118.98      SCORE!!!!!! 
$118.98 more that we dont have to ask for to go towards our next payment!  And for that we are grateful and beyond blessed!  

a heavy heart....and we're off!!

My heart has been so heavy over the last few weeks.  I know we are being called in this direction.  I know we are being called to Africa.  My heart hurts because I want to be a part of something big...something huge!  But it hurts because my children here...they're ages really do not allow us to take them with us.   We havent ever left our girls for more than a night.  And when we have we've not traveled out of the town they were in, yet alone the country.  The anxiety of this is overwhelming.  It's scary.   But God still calls us.  He still is saying, "I need you here!"  So it is my prayer today, that we can answer this call with a peace amongst us, to know our girls here will be taken care of and that we can open up to this adventure fully! 
I am amazed at how my heart is opening for these children.  I never once doubted we'd ever have a hard time loving our babies...but my heart is opening for ALL of these children.  Yes, every one of the 147 million that are without a home and a forever family.  I've joined the prayer battle, daily!!  Praying for every single aspect of this life.  I pray that area churches can be more open minded to this.  I pray that when a family feels the call they can openly say, "Yes God, use us." and I pray more than anything that He uses our family in whatever way He desires. 
As of yesterday we are COMPLETELY finished to be available for domestic adoptions, as well as state waiting.  So now whatever God has planned we are completely ready!!   For those that do read my blog...hold on...this could get interesting!!  WE ARE VERY READY!!! 

Bringing Home an Orphan by helping a widow and the chance to win $250 in gas!

Those that our following our blog know that we've been praying about something exciting!!  The time has come for us to share our vision! 

I've been following a blog of Lifesong for Orphans.  And one thing they do is a program called "Both Hands", which after reading this I realized this is a complete God thing.  Because the two verses he's laid most upon our hearts in all this are...

James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. 

AND....

Deuteronomy 14: 28-29 At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year's harvest and store it in the nearest town. Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, was well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the Lord will bless you in all your work."

With those two verses in mind, and through lots of prayer...God gave us the vision of doing this together as a family.  We are inviting others to join Nick and I one Saturday a month til our babies come home to help the widows of our church and community...whether through visiting, taking meals, lawn care, whatever! We want to invite you to help us bring joy to the days of our widows.  If you don't feel this is for you or you don't want to be part of our team, then we invite you to PRAYERFULLY  "sponser us" financially on this journey so that we can in return care for the orphans God has chosen for our family.  And we also invite EVERYONE to pray for us...pray for our journey...pray for our hearts! And maybe even pray for our mission

Bringing Home an Orphan by Helping a Widow!   

We have applied for grants for the remainder of our adoption process but there are so many families who also desire to be part of God's plan and on the same journey as our family.  So if we can raise all our funds on our own that would be wonderful.  The chunk of money needed is extremely large, but  by God's grace and with the help of our friends/family/church family I know we can do this.  YES, God is that AWESOME!!!! 

Our shirts we got for this journey.  (Msg me if u're interested in a shirt.)

If any of you feel that in your heart you would like to help in this process in anyway...please contact either of us and we'd be more than glad to have you get involved. 

And there's more exciting news....

Anyone who sponsors us financially (by clinking on the donate button to the side) will be entered into our giveaway for a $250 Gas Card!   
 Every $5.00 donated = 1 entry
Sharing our blog on your facebook, twitter and google accounts = 1 entry
(must message us and let us know you shared it for it to count!)
Drawing will be held June 26th!

AND in ALL seriousness....

This will not all be possible without your prayers!!  So PLEASE if you cannot help in any other way...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... REMEMBER US IN PRAYER! 

Happy Father's day!

Today wouldnt be complete without a post today for Nicholas! 
I couldnt be more thankful for the man in my life that blessed me with the children we have!!  He couldnt be a better father.  I am so lucky to share the parenting responsibility with him and our kids couldnt be more blessed.  Happy Father's day Nicholas James!
Also would like to wish the birth father of the children we will adopt some day a happy Father's day!  We will always be so grateful to you and want you to know you will always be a father to our children!