Adoption Showers

Hey there guys, so I figured I'd give you a little glimpse into our personal life since you don't know all that much about me and then it'll make it easier to understand this specific post. So, my husband and I are in the process of two adoptions at once, one from Ethiopia and one from West Africa.  We hope to have our guy home from West Africa the end of this summer or sometime this fall, but lets be honest I'm praying my guts out it'll be August-ish.  So, our first little guy, he's about 3. He'll be our first child, so of course my family and our friends are over the moon excited (and well we are too!) and everyone keeps asking us about when we're going to have a baby shower.

Hmm...

Well, he's not really a baby...he's a toddler, like an older toddler.. And in all honestly I don't even know what we'd need..well that's not all that true I know we need a car seat. Here in California kids practically need to be in a car seat until they're 18 (not really, but like they have to be pretty big to get out of it) And in all honestly I was kind of embarrassed.  Like, my biggest thing right now is to get him home! I don't really want to ooo and aaa over cute onesises (and hes too big for those anyway) And I'm like...how awkward to have a shower like, 1. I'm not pregnant and 2. I've never been to a shower where the mom isn't physically pregnant and you won't be able to play that weird "guess how big you are with toilet paper game" (ok I do like that game but do not want people ever assuming my size)

Rabbit trail

Enter...adoption showers

My sister is moving to England the end of May, and she desperately wanted to throw us a shower before she leaves and so I caved and said sure, not knowing what we'd do or what it would look like, and you know what? It's been a really great way to get people involved in our story and a simple and easy way to educate people on what our life might look like when he gets home.

So I got on Pinterest and started looking for ideas. I knew that I wanted both my hubs and I present and I wanted families to come too, and I wanted it to be chill and a time for people to ask questions and a time where we can thank those who have been involved in our journey so far.  I wanted to make it as least awkward as possible haha.

I knew I wanted information about his birth country so people can get to know where he's coming from.

So I sent my sister all my ideas and she's been hard at work! It's funny, a long time ago I thought I'd be so fun to have people dote over me and my belly and look at ultra sound pictures and all that jazz at a baby shower, but I am SO excited to share with those who have walked beside us and those who will forever be a part of our little guys story.

So, we made a wish list of a few things we knew we'd need. We asked for no clothing because we have no idea what size he'll be, we asked for some necessities and we are asking that people bring books to donate to his orphanages since we know they need and want books for the kids.

And you know, it's just a really fun way to keep people involved and let them bless you, sometimes I need to be ok with that.

Here's some inspiration for ya, courtesy of Pinterest 

How are you prepping for your new kiddos?

My New Favorite Advent

Hey guys,

So tomorrow is December 1st!!!! I love December as much as I love October, and that's alot. Every year I search a million fantastic advent ideas on Pinterest. I think "I can do that", but then I totally never do (I'm no Jenna , but follow her on instagram if you want to feel inspired and a little inadequate).
So anyway, I always start out with great intentions, but it just never happens. One reason is because I like a more modern look with traditional values and that's hard to find! So I usually have the intention of creating something. I had just come to the conclusion that once again, the advent was not going to happen this year, when look what I stumbled upon...

Just the right amount of funky for me! And guess what? Sarah is offering them as a free download as well as already done in her etsy store. I'm doing both. I'm a few days late since I just ordered them yesterday, so I'll be using a few downloads to get us started. Aren't they awesome?! Thanks Sarah!!!

Overwhelmed for the Holidays

Good morning, guys! I'm so excited to tell you about this little gem. I've been really excited and just waiting for the right time to take this particular webinar, Overwhelmed for the Holidays. It's about helping your adopted child navigate our crazy time of year, especially those with sensory issues (which is actually many, many, maybe even most of our littles). Adoption Learning Partners was sweet enough to let one of our readers take the class for free so she could tell us about it. But then they decided to make it free for everyone during the month of November!!! So go go go and take this class this week. The holidays are in our lap. Two weeks to Thanksgiving, y'all!

Speaking of holidays, I've got a few shameless plugs in the Christmas gift category. Our t-shirts are almost gone, and they would make a great gift for some of your Africa lovin' peeps. They are so cute, but selling t-shirts is kind of a pain, so I won't be restocking these babies. They are $18 shipped and I'll ship them to Antarctica or Canada or Puerto Rico or anywhere. In fact, I might anyway if y'all don't buy them because I really need my closet space back.

Also, I've been painting art girls for a bunch of people's Christmas gifts. I know we have 7 more weeks, but I'm only going to be painting until December. Then I'm going to chill out because I love it so much. So if you want to have an art girl made for your daughter, mom, sister, best friend, teacher, whatever, they are $25 in my etsy shop. Just pick your color and verse. Here are a few that are already done, some still need verses, but I thought I'd let you pick.

Christmas is coming and I'm thinking we can really tone it down this year and help it be a peaceful, meaningful time this round! 

PS. We've helped our 'family' of the week, Bring Love In, bring $1400 in! Have you donated yet? It would mean so much to those kids!

Shirts Are In!

I never really mentioned it before since we ran out the day that they came in, but Give1 tshirts are back in stock! Order yours now by clicking the icon over there on your right! See it? This is me in a medium, our most popular size by far. Thanks so much for supporting our family in this way. We've got one more round of plane tickets to buy and we're done!!!

 There are a few more neat things you can purchase from other Give1 bloggers. Have a look...

Lindsay, from the Caribbean blog, is actually adopting from DRC. Check these out!!!

Chantel is making these. Love them. 

And Alison has some beautiful new prints in her shop. Here's my current fave. 

Happy shopping and have a good weekend!

New Family of the Week - The Hatfields

Hey guys,

Today I'm going to let Mom and Dad share a little about their situation. And stick with me, because there's a giveaway going down. Remember those fantastic Gingermelon dolls that I blogged about last week. And last year, for that matter. Well, Shelly, the darling creator of Gingermelon has a soft spot for Africa. She was born and raised in South Africa! How crazy is that?! And she made this doll for us (thank you Shelly, you are the sweetest!). One of you is going to win it! I'll draw on Sunday evening at 8pm. All you have to do is comment. Tell me you donated or leave a word of encouragement for the Hatfields. Or do both, that would be awesome. Here she is, the Angel of Hope...

And now, on to say hello to our family of the week, the Hatfields, who are adopting Malachi and Mercy from Africa. It looks like they've got a pretty sweet family to come home to. :)

From Paul:

In 2003, our family left everything and moved to Boise, ID to start The Pursuit. We had no idea what God would do in and through us as we stepped forward in obedience. It appears that 2012 is going to be another defining step of faith for us.

Angela and I have always talked about "maybe adopting a child.” When I went to Uganda in March of this year, I went to two different orphanages. While visiting them, God made it clear that it was time for us to adopt and startled me when He said, "Don't stop at one."

Upon my return to Idaho, we met with a blessed family who has adopted from Africa, and we committed to adopting two children from the same place. On April 4, Angela and I walked into an adoption agency to begin the process. Then, on May 12, Angela received a call that a 3-year-old boy who could be our son had just arrived at the orphanage. On May 20, we received a call that a two-year-old girl had just arrived at the same orphanage. Their pictures grabbed our hearts, and we knew they were ours.


From Angela:

The journey since has not been easy. On June 16th, we received a call telling us that M&M were sick with malaria and typhoid and in the hospital. When your children are 8,423ish miles from you and you find out they have life-threatening illnesses, you are reminded of your complete dependence on God. We asked everyone to pray, and on June 21st, we got the call that all of the children in the orphanage had pulled through and were on meds and recovering.

What is it like to live in their city? Here is an excerpt from an article I found: “Violence is everywhere. Extreme deprivations due to the collapse of the formal economy and State institutions have created a underclass of demoralised and impoverished citizens. People there suffer from hunger. Children are starving from malnutrition or disease.”

Our children live in a orphanage with no running water or electricity. However, they are being fed and cared for medically by precious caregivers. We are so thankful to those who are laying down their lives for our children for this time.

We have learned that Mercy has a huge bright smile and is friendly with the other kids. Malachi appears very healthy and is fun too. They both loved the photo books we sent, and they enjoyed showing their friends their new family.

If we moved to Africa today, Malachi and Mercy would legally be Hatfields! We are so anxious to go pick them up and bring them home, but we have to wait for all the legal paperwork to go through before we can do this.


From our family:

We are so excited to bring these two beautiful children home. We have been so blessed by the love and support from our friends and church family. We want to give you the opportunity to join us in making a difference in the lives of these two orphans.

The first thing we would ask you to do is pray faithfully for Malachi and Mercy. Pray for their spiritual, emotional and physical health. Pray that they will already be attachinging to us as mom and dad through pictures and that God would be preparing them for the trip to the U.S. and their arrival in our home. Pray for our patience as we anticipate traveling there in October.

So guys, we know what to do, right? Donate your dollar (or more, whatever), and don't forget to leave me a comment so you're entered into the giveaway for the sweet Angel of Hope by Gingermelon! Then tell your friends. :)

***So far you guys have donated $1,886 to Mercy and Malachi's adoption***

This is How Men Nest

It's true, men do some nesting when it's time for a baby to arrive too. Is Brandon scrubbing the floors? Nope, not so much. A little decorating? Remodeling a bit. But no, his nesting is taking shape in the form of cigars. You know how men have that darling tradition of celebrating a new arrival with a smoke? Well, Brandon's taken it way farther. He's started making his own cigars (last year), and he's perfected the craft so well that they now sell his cigars in a local shop. Well, he made some for when Jude gets home.

He also made some for another couple that we traveled with. He decorated the box with their son's initials and is sending them to his cigar loving daddy!

Aren't they lovely? I have to admit, I never knew it could be such a pretty craft, and I do like the smell of the leaves. NOT the smoke. But the leaves smell nice. :)

On a little sidenote: I hope you guys aren't getting crazy bored with my life, but I'm scaling waaaay back on internet, a bit of a fast - and I'm not scouring the web for stuff to show you. It's all original content for a bit. Hang with me. Or send me a post!