This update is a little late, I apologize. This month we have made leaps and bounds of progress. I keep looking at the fee schedule to see where we stand, and we are about half way through! All of our agency fees are covered, our 1-600A fees are covered, our adoption training is covered (and finished), our home study review fee is covered, our dossier authentication fee is covered, and we have $1,200 toward our referral fee. We are nearing our final stretch of fundraising! We only need $7,000 more for our referral fee and money for travel expenses. Looking at those numbers seems like a lot at first, but when we consider how far we have come…we are filled with excitement. We are almost there!

This month we had an amazing donation from Nathan’s soccer families. They did a fundraiser of their own in our honor. We were completely surprised and touched by their thoughtfulness. We also had several donations from family members, close friends, and the Flip drawing.  All the love and support is amazing!

I am happy to announce that we added 191 puzzle pieces this month! ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY ONE!!!! A big THANK YOU to everyone, we love you and appreciate your participation in this journey.

We now have a total of 311 puzzle pieces sponsored. Only 189 more to go…

For February, we would like to give a special thanks and lots of LOVE to:

♥ The Stephenson Family ♥ The Piotrowski Family ♥ The Shea Family ♥ The Moe Family ♥ The Blomberg Family ♥ The Traube Family ♥ The Evans Family ♥ The Minor Family ♥ The Sutherland Family ♥ The Barth Family ♥ The Gosselin Family ♥ The Obregon Family ♥ The Fletcher Family ♥ The Johnson Family ♥ The Leach Family ♥ The Walker Family♥ The Rusher Family ♥ The Day Family ♥ The Seeger Family ♥ The Stiller Family ♥ The LaConti Family ♥ The Broglia Family ♥ Crew & Kaye Schmitt ♥ Grammy Linda ♥ Michael Analu & Lucas♥ Matt Blechner ♥ Chris Hartnett ♥ Louise & Jonathon ♥ Ayni ♥ Britten ♥ Heather Rose ♥ Zach ♥ Laura W ♥ Wells ♥ Ronan ♥ Mandy ♥

…we heard the news that our home study re-certification was…

We are happily moving on to the next piece of paper!!!!

Laura Willard….FLIP!!!!

AND

Michelle Kelker…for the $25 gift card!!!!

Thank you to everyone for participating. It was a lot of fun and we really appreciate the support!!! xo

The adoption process is long; it truly is a life journey. For us it is a journey across the world, but even more a journey of the heart.

Today I sat down and, without thinking about it, I made a list of items we will need to get for Milo’s room. Items for a little boy, our little boy…and it hit me…this is really going to happen! We are really going to become a family of four, we are really going to have a son, Taegan is really going to be a big sister…finally. We aren’t there yet, but we are getting close. We are closer than we have ever been before and I can feel it, I can feel him and I know he is waiting for us. And, a part of my heart breaks because I know the hard part is about to begin. The part where we see his face, and we love him even more than we love him now, and we are miles away, and we wait, and we feel helpless. I have been keeping myself busy for so long, working diligently toward this dream of our son, and now I wonder what will keep me busy for this last portion of our adoption??? What could possibly distract me from him??? Nothing.

I’ve always known that the path of adoption is difficult, that it is challenging and painful. Our journey so far has been long and emotional, but the discovery, and the growth has changed us, for the better, and we are so grateful for that. Today, I realized where the pain and the challenge lies and I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the ride ahead….because the real journey is about to begin!!!

The support that we have received has really made this journey possible. I feel that simply saying thank you is not enough…..then I remember the beautiful life that will be joining our family, his smile, his laughter…his everything…and I know that you will all rejoice in our dream fulfilled. So once again, thank you!

I watched this (Emmy Winning) movie last week. It was touching, inspiring, heartbreaking, educational, and so much more that I can’t find words for… The story follows 5 Ethiopian women and their journeys to create a new life after childbirth complications. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning a little about Ethiopia or anyone just interested in watching a beautiful story. It is only about 50 minutes long. You can find the website to learn more here. I was able to find it on Netflick$ instant viewing. My first thought after watchng the movie was “I want to visit this beautiful place”…I have recently learned that there is now a restaurant associated with this amazing hospital and have added it to our “must do” list when we travel.

Over the holidays we ventured out for an adult date night with family to enjoy an Ethiopian meal. It was fantastic, such a fun experience shared with great company. We all enjoyed almost every dish and I made sure to mark down the ones we liked the most. We wondered as we ate which items Miss Tae would eat, and honestly she might just like it all. She often surprises us with her food selections, such as Eel being one of her favorite foods. We have so much to learn about the food and etiquette associated with a proper Ethiopian meal, but we are looking forward the experience!