Our Sweet Sylvia

When we came home from Uganda with Jeremiah three years ago we left something there.  A piece of our heart.  In two months, we will be traveling back to Uganda to bring a beautiful little girl named Sylvia into our family.  She will be a daughter, a sister, a niece, a cousin, and a granddaughter.  No longer an orphan.

She is two years old and Mike and our boys are so excited to bring her home.  We love her so much already and she has been through so much in her short life.  We have saved every penny possible and are selling practically everything not nailed down on Craiglsist to come up with the fees for her adoption.  We believe that God has called us to adopt a child who needs a family, and even though we don't have all of the finances up front we trust him to provide.  

So.....We are having a puzzle fundraiser!  We purchased a beautiful puzzle designed by an  African artist and will hang it on Sylvia's room

Here's how it works:

For $10 you can purchase one piece of this beautiful African puzzle  We will write your name on the back of your piece(s) and Sylvia will forever know how many people loved her and helped bring her home!  You can purchase one for yourself, your spouse, each of your children, or in whoever's name you wish.  When all of the pieces have been purchased and the puzzle is complete we will place it in a double sided glass frame and hang it in Sylvia's room.  Your gift will forever be remembered and Sylvia will know as she grows up the impact you had on her life.  Just imagine seeing all of those names and realizing that hundreds of people cared enough about her to help bring her home into her forever family!  Can you imagine how special and loved that will make her feel?!

You can purchase puzzle pieces on Sylvia's GoFundMe page and leave a comment with your donation of what names you would like on your puzzle pieces at:  http://www.gofundme.com/6lm0bo

We appreciate your prayers during this adoption process and considering helping us bring our baby girl home by buying a puzzle piece.  Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers!  We are truly grateful.  May God bless you for being such a blessing to us!

Adoption Grant List

I am going to compile a list of adoption grant resources for myself and anyone who follows my blog who might be interested in adoption.  I need to get them all in one place so I can get to them when I need them instead of having them randomly bookmarked all over my computer.  Here is what I have so far:

Homestudy in process:
National adoption foundation


After homestudy:
Show hope
Caroline's Promise (just for folks in NC and SC)
Gift of Adoption
Help us adopt
Lifesong
Salvation International
JSC Foundation
katelyns fund
Hand in hand
families outreach
Orphan Impact
Lydia Fund
Golden Dawn
Affording Adoption
God's Grace
Sparrow Fund
Lost stork
Parenthood for Me
Chance to hope
Ava's hope
Mercy Found Ministries 
One Less
Sowing Roots

After referral:
A Child Waits
Sea of faces
Affording Adoption
Brittany's Hope

Jeremiah's Adoption Video

I finally got around to finishing Jeremiah's adoption video.  I need to upload some more of the airport pictures with all of our friends when we got home and add them to the end.  I would love to add the welcome home news story the local news did on us but I can't figure out how.  Until I figure that out here is the video :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DjzeXG6FB4&feature=youtube_gdata

3 Years Ago Today.....

Three years ago today I was on my way to meet my baby boy for the first time.  I was probably in Amsterdam at this point in the day.  After 24 hours  and 3 continents  I was finally in Uganda.  I landed in Uganda at 11 pm and they brought Jeremiah to me at 9 am the next morning.  With all of the time changes and continents I was on in such a short period of time I am not sure but I think it was March 17th when I met my baby for the first time.  It was an amazing crazy and unexpected adventure being in Uganda for 4 months but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I can't wait to go back again someday.  Uganda will forever hold a very special place in my heart.

Mike dropping me off at the airport.  The beginning of my journey toward Jeremiah.  

Meeting Jeremiah for the first time.  Our very first picture together.  I will never forget the emotion of that moment.  One of the best moments of my life!

I lost my heart to that tiny 8 pound 5.5 month old soft brown boy.  So in love!

I looked at him and marveled at him for a long time before I could even pick him up.

Finally in my arms instead of only in my heart.

In awe...

Beautiful baby finally with his Mama!

Rennie said he was looking at me as if he knew I was his Mama.  As if he had been waiting for me.  He seemed very content to belong to me.  To be someone's baby.  To be mine.  And I was all too happy to be his!

Thy brought him to me at feeding time so I sat down and rocked my baby for the first time.  He watched me the whole time as he sucked away on his bottle.  I will never forget this moment!  

First night with me.  I couldn't resist a picture.  5.5 months old and swimming in a newborn onsie.

First bath (with me).  Seriously, he was the cutest baby ever!  Who could resist that face?

Kampala traffic

Uganda was full of beautiful long horned cattle like this one.  

The view of the expensive houses on the hill across from our village.

Our first family picture.  How cool that it is in front of the Nile River!!

Daddy came 3 weeks after me, just in time to spend Easter weekend at the Jinja Nile Resort before our Tuesday court date.  

Kissing at the Equator. 

A stop at Lake Victoria after some adoption related errands in Kampala.  We loved going to the little fish place there and eating on the shore.

My beautiful little family at the Ttanda pits.

Amazing dancers with clay pots on their heads at the Ndere Cultural Center.  That was a fun night!  We made the best of our time on our 4 month wait for Jeremiah's visa to come home.  

Daddy and Jeremiah on the trail to visit Jeremiah's friends at his orphanage. 

Any time I was frustrated in the adoption process and the long unexpected wait to bring him home all I had to do was go visit these beautiful children at the orphanage and they put a smile on my face so fast!

A beautiful girl who stole my heart.  She and her brother have since been adopted into a wonderful Ugandan family.

Our village.  This is the bottom of the hill of our village where I would walk to to buy airtime for my cell phone and an ice cold Krest from the only shop on the village with a refrigerator.  I SO wish I could have a Krest bitter lemon right now!

I am so very thankful that God brought us down the path to be this beautiful little boy's parents 3 years ago.  I can't imagine life without you Jeremiah.  I love you SO much!!

Adoption Update

Our blog has been quiet for a while, so I wanted to write an update on our adoption process for little sprout. I know many of you have been keeping our adoption in your thoughts and prayers so I wanted to send out an update. We found out a couple of weeks ago that the Uganda program we were going through is making some changes and will not be assisting with any more adoptions until sometime in 2014. We were disappointed, but after some thought and prayer Mike and I decided that we would like to bring our son or daughter into our family sooner than that. Waiting until 2014 to start the adoption process over could easily mean we wouldn't be bringing a child home until 2015, so we began to consider other options. Recently we submitted an application to an agency who assists families with the adoption of African American and bi-racial children in domestically. We decided on this program because of the need for adoptive families open to children of other ethnicities here in America. I am a little nervous about starting our adoption process over but I have complete peace in our decision.  

When I opened my email this morning and found out that we have been accepted into the domestic adoption program it felt like seeing two pink lines on a pregnancy test. I don't know when our little sprout will be joining our family as all adoptions are different and have their own time frames, but we are on the road to him or her. Next step: Traveling to Texas in April for an adoption education meeting to learn about the domestic adoption process step by step. We are very excited and covet your prayers as we embark on this journey toward our son or daughter.  What we have learned by growing our family this way is that the road to adoption is not for the faint of heart.  It is full of ups and downs and bumps and delays, but in the end it is ALWAYS worth it.

Because People Have Asked...

Because people have asked I am writing a new post about our adoption puzzle fundraiser.  We still have more than half of the pieces awaiting a name or a 3 word personal message from you!  Here is how it works,  $10 buys 1 puzzle piece and helps create 1 less orphan.  We put your name on the back of your puzzle piece and add it to our child's puzzle.  Buy one for yourself, your spouse, your kids, or as a gift in someone's name.  When the puzzle is finished we will frame it in double sided glass and hang it in our child's room as a reminder of everyone who helped bring them home.  To purchase a puzzle piece click the donate button in the upper corner of my blog.  If you would prefer to send a check, leave a comment and I will send you my address.  Let's fill in Sprout's puzzle and help bring our little one home!!

Photo Contest

Dear friends, would you please take a second and vote for this adorable picture of my babies.  All you have to do is click the link LIKE the picture. Pretty please? The photographer is giving away a 16x20 canvas to the picture with the most likes. We are in the top 2 and I would LOVE to win. It will only take a second. Thanks friends!!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=453973597987441&set=a.453973454654122.127824.130239673694170&type=1&theater

Thanks for voting!!