Update!

We got an update from our agency a few days ago. I requested this update back in August, so we were more than ready to see these new photos of our beautiful girl. She seems to be doing well, so I am thankful for that. As far as our progress goes, we are still stalled on some paperwork but that should be approved within a few days so we can move onto the next step. \

In the meantime, we'll be sending her a care package that includes a photo album filled with photos of us and her new home, a letter to her and also a few small gifts.

Emotionally, I'm getting a little tired of worrying about money. So much of our time is spent trying to come up with new ideas for fundraising. I am willing to do almost anything that pays, so if anyone has ideas for ways to earn money I am all ears.

My friend Angela and I are working on a Thanksgiving fundraiser together. She is also adopting a little girl from China and we are on the same timeline and both still need to raise a few thousand dollars. We are selling apple butter, pumpkin butter, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie and sweet potato pie. Please check it out here and let us know if you'd like to buy something.

Also, I'm asking people to please shop through Amazon so that we can earn a percentage of the sale. The link is below and also on the sidebar of the blog.

I'm still making jewelry and hoping to do well at an upcoming show.

Please pray for us to somehow find a way to earn the money we need to get to China.We are not asking for donations. We are very much willing to work hard to earn this money but time is running out and I am just at a loss right now and getting worried.

Letters From Santa Fundraiser

Since Christmas is just around the corner, we'll be doing several holiday themed fundraisers. I have seen other fundraising families use this idea, so I thought we'd try it as well.

Letters from Santa!

For $5/letter, your child will receive their own personal, handwritten letter from Santa. Your letter will arrive at your home on Christmas-themed paper and contain an individualized message to your child. To order, donate $5/letter to the paypal button on my blog. Once you have donated, send me an email (kathywiehl dot gmail dot com)with your children's names, ages, and address, as well as specific information about what each one wants for Christmas, likes and dislikes, or any other relevant information. Santa will hand write a beautiful letter to be delivered in early December. We'll take orders until December 10. All letters will be mailed after Thanksgiving, but before December 15.
 
 It is a great way to stretch out a few weeks of extra good behavior, but also lots of fun! No two letters will be the same. Letters can be mailed to any address, anywhere in the world and do not have to be local.

Designed For Hope

If you are new to this blog, you may not know that my mom and I work very hard to make jewelry to sell to fund my adoption. When you buy jewelry from us at our website, all of your purchase goes to fund our adoption . If you click through one of our fundraising families' blogs, they will get a commission as well.

As we near the end of the process, we are getting a little desperate for funding. Please consider making a purchase to help us. Your item will come in a gift box, ready to be used a a Christmas gift or as a treat for yourself.

You can see the link above or click on www.designedforhope.com.

We are participating in the Christmas Frenzy on another adoptive mama's blog. Please take a look at what other families are selling this Christmas. Wouldn't it be awesome to buy ALL  of your Christmas gifts from fundraising families? 

 http://mycupoverfloweth.blogspot.com/2012/10/christmas-frenzy.html

The collage below shows a sampling of our work.

Shopping

If you are a mom, you know that your time is valuable and limited, especially the daytime hours when the kids are awake and needing attention, instruction and quality time. I don't know about you, but running errands and shopping is not my idea of quality time. I prefer to buy as much as I can online and with Amazon Prime, it just makes sense to buy everything online. I buy grocery items, pencils, paper, books, socks, pants, craft supplies and other household items on Amazon.com after the kids go to bed or early in the morning to save time and allow myself to focus on more important things.

If you agree with me and shop regularly on Amazon, please consider using our link to make your purchases. I'll earn a small commission and we will use that commission to grow our adoption fund.

Putting on my big girl panties

I've been a grump a few weeks now. This is why-

My oldest daughter has moved out. I miss her.

 

We have this awful paperwork delay which means we may not actually get to travel in December as we'd been hoping all along. 

If we do travel in December, we need to come up with at least $3,000 more than we had expected due to the high travel costs that month. 

We don't even have what we need for normal travel costs.

I asked for an update on Lily back in August and we still do not have it.

People have basically stopped buying jewelry.

Well, guess what? As of today, the pity party is OVER. It's time to put on my big girl panties and make this happen, let God handle these problems. 

No, we do not have the money we need to travel in December even if God does give us the opportunity, but I also believe that through hard work and prayer, that can be remedied.

Even though this is not working out according to my timeline, God is in control. How can I be sad when I know His timing is perfect and right? I have been foolish in thinking I can control this.

Kayla is an adult and on her own. She will make it and I am proud of her. 

As for the jewelry sales- I'll just keep making it. If people don't buy, then at least I have a nice collection for myself. 

The update on Lily? It will come and when it does it will be at the perfect time. I am remembering Mother's Day of this year when I woke up to a photo and video with Lily in the background. Someone had seen her photo on our blog, then noticed that she was also in some photos that another family had taken while at the orphanage. 

 

 

Please pray

We are working through a paperwork delay that could potentially set us back yet another 2-3 weeks. If this had not happened, we were looking at a likely travel date sometime in December. Now, since China is closed for the 2nd half of January, we may be traveling as late as February. This is upsetting to me. We need to get this child home. She needs to come home. Please pray with me that our paperwork issue will be resolved ASAP. 

My heart is just about broken right now. We have been waiting so long and we thought we were in the home stretch but it seems we are not.

LIfe Changes

Yesterday, I put my oldest daughter on a plane to Pittsburgh, PA where she will live with my mother, get a job and begin her higher education. She's always wanted to go back to Pittsburgh. She spent the first 5 years of her life there, then spent summers and every other holiday there until she was about 13 years old. I am so proud of her for making such a big move and thankful that my mom is there to give her a place to live and some help getting on her feet, but I miss her so much! Please say a prayer for her, that she'll be able to push herself to get out and meet some new friends, enroll in classes and get a job.

Meanwhile, we are stalled again while waiting for our social worker to do an update for our homestudy showing that Kayla no longer lives here. This must be done before we can move onto the next step, so please pray with me that this update will happen quickly and that it satisfies everyone who needs to be satisfied.

And, of course, we are still waiting for an update about Lily. I asked for this update in August and have not been able to find out anything more about her. Her file is over a year old, and I sent a list of questions regarding her likes/dislikes, size, medical history, etc. 

Now that we have LOA, we can send her a care package but I'd really like to have that update before we send anything to her. I want to make sure what we send will be appropriate.

As much as I dislike waiting and as much as I'm a control freak who wants everything to happen yesterday, I am learning to let go and let God handle it all. I have no choice but to hand it all over to Him.

It's funny because I have learned over and over again that His timing is always the best. Always. No matter what. Yet, every time something doesn't happen fast enough, I get all frustrated and bent out of shape. When will I learn?