When God Speaks . . .

It was two years ago today that God spoke to me about my baby girl. I am not one of those people who can put on the blog the Bible verse about Hannah praying for a child. Not that I didn't want to be a mother, I just didn't pray and ask God for a baby. I had looked into international and domestic adoption a little but nothing serious.

On this day in 2006 God told me I would be holding my own baby girl in church soon. I didn't really know if I could believe it so I answered back. "God, I'm not married!! I'm not even dating anyone!! How can I have a baby of my own????" God had a plan and it then hit me. I was to adopt. By the end of that year I had signed on with Little Miracles International Adoption Agency. When God gives the directions, it is best to waste no time.

I looked at Guatemala and felt and urge toward there but ultimately decided to go with Kazakhstan. I started getting the paperwork ready, did the home study and even started buying baby girl clothes. At one point my adoption coordinator thought Kaz wasn't going to work for me and suggested I switch to Guatemala. No. I was going to Kazakhstan. Then I started feeling very restless about my choice.

My dossier was complete and I was almost ready to hit the Kaz list when I KNEW that wasn't right. I quickly emailed my coordinator and asked if I could switch to Guatemala. Not a problem. Then I was at peace. This was the first of May.

August 3, 2007 I got the referral for a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. Right away I knew she was my Johanna Faith!! Now as I look back, I know why God called me to adopt this wonderful baby. Johanna was born July 23, 2007. About Dec. 4, 2006 her birth mom may have realized she was expecting a precious baby or maybe she already knew but then made the decision to give her up. At that moment God spoke to me!!!!

Half and Half

No, this post isn't about cream. It is about a significant moment in mine and Johanna's life together. Today marks the day when Johanna has spent half her life away from me and half her life with me. Johanna was 8 months and 1 day when I first held her in my arms.

Johanna has grown a bunch since coming home and has learned so much. I am amazed at how smart she is. She will try to say almost anything I ask her to say. She also knows about 12 animal sounds. She loves books and can't get enough of me reading to her. I don't think I really knew what it would be like to love someone as much as I love her. This motherhood thing is so awesome!!! I thank God daily for the big change He has made in my life through giving me Johanna.

Johanna Faith,

Your Mommy loves you so very much. I know I tell you this several times a day and I hope and pray you really understand it. You have had such a positive impact on my life and the lives of others around us. I pray that you will grow to be a mighty woman of God and fulfil whatever God has in store for your future.

Celebrating PA?

This morning I was thinking about the pre-approval process and what it means. I was wondering, "Is it really something to celebrate?" This is the process where the U.S. Embassy looks over all the papers to decide if the child to be adopted qualifies as an orphan. So yesterday I got the pre-approval from the embassy that says, "Yes, the baby you want is an orphan." I was kind of sad about it this morning. Sure it is a great milestone in the process but being an orphan is not really a good thing. Then this afternoon I visited my friend Tami's blog and she had this video on there. It is "Orphans of God" by Avalon. I guess it is okay to be an orphan on the earth. There are no orphans of God.

Blog Changes - YAY!!!

I have had to make some changes to my blog. These are changes I am very happy to make. "Becoming Family" - Baby William, "Worth the Wait" - Olivia Grace, and "Waiting For Brody" - Brody Boy, have been moved to ADOPTIONS COMPLETED!! I am so happy for these families.

I also have the pleasure of adding the blogs of four new friends who are currently adopting from Guatemala. If you haven't already, check out these new blogs. They are "Adopting Ariana", "Bringing Home Ava Bella", "Anthony's Adoption", and "Isaac Charles McGee".

Moving Along

I was so excited about the new pictures and the slushbag that I forgot to update on the adoption process. I got an email from my agency coordinator last week too. She said the dna was taken and the birth mother interview was done. YEA!! Things are finally moving along.

Please Help

Since I don't have anything new to report as far as the adoption process goes I decided to speak on something that is on-going. That would be raising money for this adoption. So far I have done the following: garage sale, popcorn sale, ebay (ongoing), loan from Mom, cashed in aluminum cans (ongoing) save all change (ongoing) and I will be selling candles this month.

I have three ways here on my blog for money to be donated. One is the ChipIn. It is at the right side of the blog. Money can be donated directly to my Paypal account from yours. I have set a goal of $10,000 to raise by the end of the year.

Also on the right side of this blog is a shopping link. At this place you can shop at a variety of stores and a portion of the money will go to my account. This is where Holli G. got that beautiful Princess that Miss G. sleeps in. (Thanks Holli!) There is also a mystery buyer that buys office supplies from there. (Thanks Secret Buyer!).

The last way to help on my blog is the easiest. I have little white boxes from Adsense on my blog. I get a very small amount just by having people click on those and look at the sites. The amount may be small but it can add up to a lot!!

If you are interested in looking at what I have for sell on ebay, my seller id is xavie617. Take a look and tell your friends and family.

I hope to have some new photos and information about Johanna soon. Until then, the money raising must go on.
Thanks!!!

Slushbag Fabric

I really have nothing new to post on the adoption front so I will show what I am doing to get ready for baby. One thing is buying fabric for my Slushbag that I won on Sig's blog. The site for the Slushbags is www.slushbags.blogspot.com
Tara is the lady who makes them and they are so neat!! She has different fabrics to that she uses but I chose to go find my own. The light pink fabric has crowns/tiaras on it and says "Princess" in the dark pink. I think this will be one BEAUTIFUL Slushbag.

Clean Up Time

I need to finish adding blogs to my list at the side and take off some that don't need to be there. If you want to stay on my blog list or want to be added, please let me know. I will probably be dividing into three groups, those adopting from Guat, those who have already adopted and have their children home, and other blogs.

Fellow Guatemama

This is so neat!! Today I took one of my little daycare boys to his swim lessons. There was a little boy in the same class that didn't look like his mama. I was pretty sure he was adopted so I asked his mom. And He is from GUATEMALA!!! I am so excited to meet someone from my own town with a Guatemalan child. She said they are adopting a second little boy and got a referral in March. She seemed about as excited as I was. She also knows of one other family in our town with two children adopted from Guatemala. Maybe we can all get together sometime when we both have our new babies home!!

Special Thank Yous

Since I have nothing new to tell on the adoptin front, I thought I would use this time to give some "Thank Yous" to some people who have been helping with fund raising for my adoption.
THANK YOU TO:
My sil Lori who has given me a lot of her daughters outgrown clothes to sell on ebay and also brought a lot of items over for my garage sale.
Travis and Megan Quam and their children Jonas and Lucy who gave me lots of items to sell on ebay and at my garage sale. I hope you are enjoying your move to California. I know you are missed here. God Bless your family.
Jenny, a friend from church and one of our daycare moms for giving me items to sell at my garage sale.
Anna who is giving up her cake business and gave me TONS of pans to sell.
Richard and Carol Franz who gave me lots of family heirlooms to sell on ebay.
Kristie my niece who gave up her Coca Cola collection for me to sell.
Pandy my niece who gave me her Pokemon collection to sell.
Brenda my sister who gave me lots of Nutri System foods to sell on ebay.
Rachel my niece who gave me TONS of clothes to sell at my garage sale.

I have so many wonderful family and friends. I am truly blessed.

My ChipIn

I now have a ChipIn!! (Thanks Hayley and Mike.)
What is the ChipIn? It is a place to make direct donations toward my adoption. On it is my goal for the summer of $5,000. It also shows how much has been donated so far. This is actually only a part of what I still need to raise but would be a great dent to start with.

Fingerprints Done

Mom and I got our fingerprints done this morning in Wichita. It was so easy. It took about 30 minutes. The lady who did them was so nice. She asked what country I was adopting from and whether I was gettging a boy or girl. As I walked out the door, she wished me good luck. I hope I get my I-171H soon. I can get my referral when I have it. Then I will feel like it is soooooooo real.

I'm So Smart!! & It's Off - Again!!

Fed Ex delivered my psychological evaluation today. It came from Washington and has the Washington state seal on it. It is really neat. The best part is what was said about my intelligence. The Dr. said that I am "above average" in intelligence. I know all you married people are going to rush out and get the evaluations now. These are only required for singles adopting. So sorry.

As soon as I got the evaluation I stuck it in the next envelope with my dossier to go to the Guatemalan Consulate in Houston. It is already in the drop box. With it are the envelope to send it on to my agency. One more thing done!!

Changes to My Blog

I made some changes today in the "Blogs I Visit" space. I have changed it to "Friends Adopting From Guatemala." Under it I have tons of blogs. These are only people currently adopting. If you have already adopted, I will add another list for you. I still need to move out the blogs of those adopting from elsewhere. It took me so long to add to the list that I am not going to do the moving-out right now. I added the names of the mother and child next to the blog name, uless a name was in the title. If I have a name wrong or spelled incorrectly, please let me know. If you would like to be added to my list, please let me know that too. If a link does not work, tell me please.

My GREAT Great Relatives

Last Friday I took my mom to Nebraska for the 80th birthday of an aunt. There were many, many relatives there and most of them I haven't seen for awhile. What was really great was how many of them knew about my adoption and had been to my blog. My great-uncle Glen seemed very interested. He said he hadn't been to my blog for awhile so he had loads of questions to get himself updated. I just love these family members and am soooooo glad they are MY FAMILY!!!

Dossier it Authenticated!!

On Monday, May 21, my dossier went to Topeka for Authentication. I got it back already this morning!!! Those guys are sure quick! I wish everything in this adoption would move that quickly. I am learning a lot about being patient though. I know that the daughter God has chosen for me, may not even be born yet so I have to wait. Now I will send my dossier to the Guatemalan Consulate in Houston so they can authenticate it too.

For those not familar with the process, the top picture is of my documents with the statements from the Secretary of State (Ron Thornburgh) saying that the notaries I used are actual notaries for the state of Kansas. The second picture show a page from Governor Kathleen Sebilous stating that Ron Thornburgh is the Secretary of State. I guess the Governor doesn't need anyone to say she is who she says she is.

I had 15 documents authenticated at $7.50 each for a total of $112.50. For the Guatemalan authentications it is $10 each - - - $150!!! No wonder international adoptions are so expensive.

Thank You Shopper!!!

I got my third statement from my Bookcodex shopping fund-raiser. This is the first time I have gotten any money on a statement. Someone bought several items from Office Depot through my site. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!! Every dollar helps me get my Johanna Faith.

For those of you who don't know what this is, I'll tell you. Down this page and on the right side is a link to Bookcodex shopping. At this site are several stores you can shop from. Some of them are quite familar, Wal-Mart, Sears, Office Depot, etc. Some are specialty shops. If you go through my blog to this site and shop, a portion of what you spend comes to me for my adoption fund. Take a look if you haven't already done so. Tell your friends and family.

Johanna has moved

I am just going to make this a short post for now. I have changed my adoption from Kazakhstan to Guatemala. One of the main reasons for this was the in-country time for Kazakhstan. I have a lot of paperwork to do now to redo my dossier for my new country.

What Am I Doing?

This is a two year old in my daycare that has heard a lot about my adoption and coming baby. Can you tell?

Let the Waiting Begin

Boy is this no fun!! I hate just sitting and waiting. I have sent my home study to K.C. and now have to wait for my I171, I think that is what it is called anyway. It is a piece of paper saying it is okay for me to bring an orphan into the US.

There are things I need to be doing during this waiting time but it is difficult to get motivated for some reason. I know if I want my daughter here I have to do them - - - things to raise money. I still have a lot of things I need to get listed on ebay to sell. Problem is, I lost my digital camera. I will have to borrow one since I refuse to spend the money on a new one. As soon as I do that, my old one will turn up.

I also need to get things finalized for the Miles of Smiles "Women's Day Out" fundraiser. I guess I am going to take orders for gourmet popcorn. ( I sold it a few months ago and it is delicious!) I am also going to take orders for specialty pasta. I may try to sell coupons for Antiquities Photos to if I can get a space from my church to do the pictures in May. I just have a difficult time calling people and asking for favors, or asking for anything for that matter.

Guess I will close this post and get busy. Just typing this has convinced me I need to get started.