We didn't get any medical updates, but I think you'll all agree that she looks great!!
There really is going to be way too much cuteness in the Weeks' house.
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What size do you think she's wearing now?
Friday, January 29, 2010
New Pictures
WE GOT UPDATED PICTURES!!!!!
We didn't get any medical updates, but I think you'll all agree that she looks great!!
There really is going to be way too much cuteness in the Weeks' house.
+(5).JPG)
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What size do you think she's wearing now?
We didn't get any medical updates, but I think you'll all agree that she looks great!!
There really is going to be way too much cuteness in the Weeks' house.
What size do you think she's wearing now?
Hair Care Worries
Of all the things to worry about, I have probably worried the most about caring for Naomi's hair. I was actually able to put it in the back of my mind for awhile, but now that we are nearing travel, I'm beginning to become a bit obsessed.
The other day I came across a blog called Happy Girl Hair. Don't let the name fool you though, there are also posts about caring for boy's hair. I have added this to my favorite blog list and am trying to catch up on reading some past posts.
Since Naomi is so young, I realize that I still have some time to figure all of this out. I just want to make sure I figure it out sooner rather than later.
If anyone has any great words of wisdom, please pass them along.
The other day I came across a blog called Happy Girl Hair. Don't let the name fool you though, there are also posts about caring for boy's hair. I have added this to my favorite blog list and am trying to catch up on reading some past posts.
Since Naomi is so young, I realize that I still have some time to figure all of this out. I just want to make sure I figure it out sooner rather than later.
If anyone has any great words of wisdom, please pass them along.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Don't Want to Forget
Oh how I wish blogging was the in thing when the boys were little. Of course when the boys were little it wasn't a common thing for families to even have a computer in the house. Instead I invested in a baby book for each of the boys and did a pretty good job keeping up with Ryan's, but Josh's book has fewer entries and Ben's has even less. Before Lili came home, I was introduced to blogging and the rest is history. I can look back in my blog and tell you how much she weighed and how long she was at 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, etc. I have lists of words she was saying at different ages, when she began walking, and pictures galore. In other words, my blog has become Lili's book of life.
Today I am adding another entry to Lili's book of life that I just don't want to forget, but it could fall under the category of 'too much information' for some of my readers.
Lili has been pretty healthy since we brought her home, but Tuesday night she started running a fever and was still feverish yesterday. She was in a great mood and drinking lots of fluids but not eating well. I really couldn't figure out what was going on until a late morning trip to the bathroom produced a little bout of diarrhea. She obviously knew this wasn't normal so I explained that her tummy was a little sick and she had diarrhea. She seemed fine with that explanation, however, later that day she wanted to tell me about her earlier bathroom visit and calmly announced that she had pooparrhea. When daddy came home from work told him she had pooparrhea and later when Ben was here she again announced that she had pooparrhea. She is becoming an overly informative child, but her description of her tummy troubles yesterday is just too cute to forget :-)
Today I am adding another entry to Lili's book of life that I just don't want to forget, but it could fall under the category of 'too much information' for some of my readers.
Lili has been pretty healthy since we brought her home, but Tuesday night she started running a fever and was still feverish yesterday. She was in a great mood and drinking lots of fluids but not eating well. I really couldn't figure out what was going on until a late morning trip to the bathroom produced a little bout of diarrhea. She obviously knew this wasn't normal so I explained that her tummy was a little sick and she had diarrhea. She seemed fine with that explanation, however, later that day she wanted to tell me about her earlier bathroom visit and calmly announced that she had pooparrhea. When daddy came home from work told him she had pooparrhea and later when Ben was here she again announced that she had pooparrhea. She is becoming an overly informative child, but her description of her tummy troubles yesterday is just too cute to forget :-)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
USCIS vs USPS
Those who have gone through the process of IA know that there are a lot of ups and downs in this process. We jump through hoops, cross all our T's and dot our I's, and hope that everything goes smoothly. Sometimes its does, but many times we hit obstacles along the way.
Dave and I have hit a bit of an obstacle and although I'm sure it will work out, it is a bit frustrating at the moment.
When we started the home study process for Naomi's adoption our social worker told us that it wouldn't take long to get everything done. After all, she was just updating a few pieces of information from our home study for Lili's adoption. Based on this information, we went ahead and submitted our I600-A, which is basically our application to Immigration Services (USCIS) to adopt a foreign born child. Once USCIS receives the application and finds everything to be in order, they scheduled an appointment for us to go to the nearest processing center to be fingerprinted. From the date our fingerprints were done, we had 15 months to complete our adoption. In other words, as long as we had met with an official at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia before the 15 month expiration date hit, we would be fine. However, if our Embassy appointment didn't fall within that 15 month window, we would need to get a new set of prints completed for a new background check. Our fingerprint appointment was on December 5, 2008 and from that date on we seemed to hit delay after delay getting our home study completed. By the time it was all said and done, over 5 months had passed which meant we had 10 months left before our fingerprint expiration date. Needless-to-say, that wasn't enough time so a couple weeks ago we requested a fingerprint renewal appointment and found out via email that our appointment is scheduled for tomorrow. The problem is, we haven't received the 'required' fingerprint notice letters and the Chicago USCIS office has told us that we can't have our fingerprints redone without those letters.
The question is, why don't we have those letters? In this situation another federal governing body comes into play - the United States Postal Service. You see, here in little Minier (population 1300), our mail is delivered to the post office. We have lived here for about 15 years now and for most of those 15 years our mail has been delivered to us regardless if it is addressed to our street address or PO Box address. However, the USPS is getting more and more particular and recently mail that is addressed to our street address isn't always delivered. For a matter-of-fact, more times than not, it is returned to the sender and eventually this will happen 100% of the time. I'm sure you've figured out by now that USCIS is sending our correspondence to our street address and there is a 99.9% chance that the USPS returned it.
As I write this post, I am waiting for a response from USCIS advising me on the steps necessary to get a new appointment scheduled and how to change our records to reflect our PO Box along with our street address so we actually receive our mail from them in the future. So far, no response. Fortunately, Noami is worth jumping through all these hoops and if I have to drive to Chicago and visit USCIS to get our letters, I'll do it!!!!
Dave and I have hit a bit of an obstacle and although I'm sure it will work out, it is a bit frustrating at the moment.
When we started the home study process for Naomi's adoption our social worker told us that it wouldn't take long to get everything done. After all, she was just updating a few pieces of information from our home study for Lili's adoption. Based on this information, we went ahead and submitted our I600-A, which is basically our application to Immigration Services (USCIS) to adopt a foreign born child. Once USCIS receives the application and finds everything to be in order, they scheduled an appointment for us to go to the nearest processing center to be fingerprinted. From the date our fingerprints were done, we had 15 months to complete our adoption. In other words, as long as we had met with an official at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia before the 15 month expiration date hit, we would be fine. However, if our Embassy appointment didn't fall within that 15 month window, we would need to get a new set of prints completed for a new background check. Our fingerprint appointment was on December 5, 2008 and from that date on we seemed to hit delay after delay getting our home study completed. By the time it was all said and done, over 5 months had passed which meant we had 10 months left before our fingerprint expiration date. Needless-to-say, that wasn't enough time so a couple weeks ago we requested a fingerprint renewal appointment and found out via email that our appointment is scheduled for tomorrow. The problem is, we haven't received the 'required' fingerprint notice letters and the Chicago USCIS office has told us that we can't have our fingerprints redone without those letters.
The question is, why don't we have those letters? In this situation another federal governing body comes into play - the United States Postal Service. You see, here in little Minier (population 1300), our mail is delivered to the post office. We have lived here for about 15 years now and for most of those 15 years our mail has been delivered to us regardless if it is addressed to our street address or PO Box address. However, the USPS is getting more and more particular and recently mail that is addressed to our street address isn't always delivered. For a matter-of-fact, more times than not, it is returned to the sender and eventually this will happen 100% of the time. I'm sure you've figured out by now that USCIS is sending our correspondence to our street address and there is a 99.9% chance that the USPS returned it.
As I write this post, I am waiting for a response from USCIS advising me on the steps necessary to get a new appointment scheduled and how to change our records to reflect our PO Box along with our street address so we actually receive our mail from them in the future. So far, no response. Fortunately, Noami is worth jumping through all these hoops and if I have to drive to Chicago and visit USCIS to get our letters, I'll do it!!!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Talent
Of course I'm biased and think that we have the smartest and most talented little girl in the entire world so I must share the talents of our daughter via pictures.
As you can see from the photos, she is coloring. Do you notice anything in particular about her coloring though?
Yes, she's beginning to color in the lines!!!!! She won't 3 until the end of April and she is already starting to color in the lines. I'm so proud.
Granted, she is coloring the giraffe purple and the pig has a blue/green nose, but I'm sure that's nothing more than a sign of great artistic vision. Or maybe it's just the fact that she's 2 and likes those colors.
As you can see from the photos, she is coloring. Do you notice anything in particular about her coloring though?Here, take a closer look at the picture.
Do you see it now?
Yes, she's beginning to color in the lines!!!!! She won't 3 until the end of April and she is already starting to color in the lines. I'm so proud.
Granted, she is coloring the giraffe purple and the pig has a blue/green nose, but I'm sure that's nothing more than a sign of great artistic vision. Or maybe it's just the fact that she's 2 and likes those colors.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Embassy Changes
I just received word from our agency of some changes that the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia implemented on January 1, 2010. These changes have a definite impact on our plans to go get Naomi.
We had been anticipating our travel to be the week of February 14th with an Embassy date of February 22nd. Apparently, Embassy appointments have been pushed out and are at minimum 7 weeks post court. Each agency is assigned two Embassy days per month. Our agency Embassy days are the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month. Since our court date was January 8th, 7 weeks later is February 26th. The next Embassy date for our agency after the 26th is March 8th. Yes folks, that is two weeks later than we expected. This is a real bummer, but I know that in the big picture, a couple weeks isn't going to really matter. I "WILL" be holding my baby girl in about 5 1/2 weeks and that is going to be a great day.
I am now going to contact the Ethiopia Guest House to change our reservations and contact the travel agency for a new itinerary.
We had been anticipating our travel to be the week of February 14th with an Embassy date of February 22nd. Apparently, Embassy appointments have been pushed out and are at minimum 7 weeks post court. Each agency is assigned two Embassy days per month. Our agency Embassy days are the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month. Since our court date was January 8th, 7 weeks later is February 26th. The next Embassy date for our agency after the 26th is March 8th. Yes folks, that is two weeks later than we expected. This is a real bummer, but I know that in the big picture, a couple weeks isn't going to really matter. I "WILL" be holding my baby girl in about 5 1/2 weeks and that is going to be a great day.
I am now going to contact the Ethiopia Guest House to change our reservations and contact the travel agency for a new itinerary.
A Big Post
In July, 2007 I started this blog to journal our journey through adoption. I had no idea if anyone would really be interested in reading my blog, but I felt it would be a good way of keeping friends and family up-to-date and knew it would be a great way to keep track of all the milestones along the way.
Now today I celebrate a blogging milestone as I complete my 500th blog post. I guess there were a few people who were interested in reading my blog since I have had over 50,600 blog hits since adding the counter to my blog a couple years ago. It's absolutely amazing to me, but very exciting at the same time.
When I first started blogging, I was using a different blog site and after a few posts discovered that I needed something that was a little less technical so I switched over to Blogger. Here is my first official World of Weeks post.
Since that first post I've shared the details about our adoption of Lili; news in the adoption world; information on attachment and bonding; things happening in Ryan's world; things happening with our dogs; stories of trips we've made; details about our adoption of Naomi; and lots and lots of pictures. My blog started public and after a lot of thought and consideration I decided to protect the privacy of our family by making it private.
Now I end my 500th post and prepare to begin my quest to the next milestone of 1000 blog posts. I will continue to post about those things that I find interesting; will share the rest of our journey to Naomi; will share stories and information about our family; and will continue to posts lots and lots of pictures.
Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey. I hope you'll continue to follow the next 500 posts!
Now today I celebrate a blogging milestone as I complete my 500th blog post. I guess there were a few people who were interested in reading my blog since I have had over 50,600 blog hits since adding the counter to my blog a couple years ago. It's absolutely amazing to me, but very exciting at the same time.
When I first started blogging, I was using a different blog site and after a few posts discovered that I needed something that was a little less technical so I switched over to Blogger. Here is my first official World of Weeks post.
Since that first post I've shared the details about our adoption of Lili; news in the adoption world; information on attachment and bonding; things happening in Ryan's world; things happening with our dogs; stories of trips we've made; details about our adoption of Naomi; and lots and lots of pictures. My blog started public and after a lot of thought and consideration I decided to protect the privacy of our family by making it private.
Now I end my 500th post and prepare to begin my quest to the next milestone of 1000 blog posts. I will continue to post about those things that I find interesting; will share the rest of our journey to Naomi; will share stories and information about our family; and will continue to posts lots and lots of pictures.
Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey. I hope you'll continue to follow the next 500 posts!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
More Information on Adopting or Fostering Haitian Orphans
For those who are interested in staying up-to-date on what is happening with the orphans in Haiti, I strongly encourage you to check in on the Creating a Family website. Dawn Davenport is staying on top of the situation and gathering her information directly from USCIS and State Department sources.
Dawn put out a new blog post today and you can read it here.
Dawn put out a new blog post today and you can read it here.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Let's Talk Adoption and Helping Haiti
Okay, I know that much of my blog is nothing but adoption talk, but let's talk about it a little bit more.
Haiti has been on the minds and hearts of many of us and will be for a long time to come. For those of us in the adoption community, we tend to be drawn even more to what is happening with the Haitian orphans and some people now want to find out how to go about adopting from Haiti. Dawn Davenport from Creating a Family and the author of "The Complete Book of International Adoption" did a radio show today on adoption from Haiti. She had representatives from USCIS, the State Dept and agencies on the show discussing the current situation and answering questions.
Considering the fact that I've now heard of two people being asked if they are going to adopt from Haiti now and am just waiting for someone to ask us the same question, I'm glad I listened to the program today because I have some good educated answers to that question now.
For those families who are interested in doing something to help the crisis in Haiti while also getting the chance to win a vacation in Destin, FL, go visit my friend Megan's blog.
Another friend, Maria, has started a campaign to help find adoptive families for children with special needs. Because of the way the system is set up in the Eastern European countries, these children are in danger of being institutionalized for life. If anyone is interested in more information or knows of a family that might be interested in obtaining additional information please visit Reece's Rainbow.
Haiti has been on the minds and hearts of many of us and will be for a long time to come. For those of us in the adoption community, we tend to be drawn even more to what is happening with the Haitian orphans and some people now want to find out how to go about adopting from Haiti. Dawn Davenport from Creating a Family and the author of "The Complete Book of International Adoption" did a radio show today on adoption from Haiti. She had representatives from USCIS, the State Dept and agencies on the show discussing the current situation and answering questions.
Considering the fact that I've now heard of two people being asked if they are going to adopt from Haiti now and am just waiting for someone to ask us the same question, I'm glad I listened to the program today because I have some good educated answers to that question now.
For those families who are interested in doing something to help the crisis in Haiti while also getting the chance to win a vacation in Destin, FL, go visit my friend Megan's blog.
Another friend, Maria, has started a campaign to help find adoptive families for children with special needs. Because of the way the system is set up in the Eastern European countries, these children are in danger of being institutionalized for life. If anyone is interested in more information or knows of a family that might be interested in obtaining additional information please visit Reece's Rainbow.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Lili and Strollers
I haven't posted much about Lili lately and thought I should share some of the things happening in her life.
Early last week I told her we were going to get on a big airplane to go get Naomi. Now every day, at some point, she tells me that she's getting on a plane to go get Naomi. She is very excited about our upcoming trip and I'm sure has absolutely no clue just how much her little life is going to change :-)
The camera she got for Christmas has to be the best gift ever. She has figured out how to use the video camera function and loves taking video as well as photos. I'm just not sure video and photos of the floors, walls and ceiling are necessarily that interesting, but she is getting better about getting people, dogs and other subjects in the shot.
Lili still loves books and within the last couple of days has started reading to daddy and mommy. All her books seem to start with "once upon a time" and sometimes every pages starts with "once upon a time," but she is doing a pretty good job of telling the story. Today she was reading a book to me and asked me to count the items on some of the pages just like I ask her to do from time to time.
Conversations with Lili have become actual conversations. She isn't satisfied with the just 2, 3 or 4 word sentences anymore. Instead, she rattles off exactly what's on her mind. Much of what she tells us is still difficult to understand, but each day her speech seems to improve more and more. She is a talker and talks from the moment her eyes pop open in the morning until she falls asleep at night. Yes, folks, she's a Weeks in every way :-)
Today, I was doing some more research on strollers and told Lili that we needed to get a new stroller that was big enough for both her and Naomi. I'm pretty sure I've found the one I want to get. Here is the link. Does anyone out in blogland own this stroller? If so, do you like it?
Early last week I told her we were going to get on a big airplane to go get Naomi. Now every day, at some point, she tells me that she's getting on a plane to go get Naomi. She is very excited about our upcoming trip and I'm sure has absolutely no clue just how much her little life is going to change :-)
The camera she got for Christmas has to be the best gift ever. She has figured out how to use the video camera function and loves taking video as well as photos. I'm just not sure video and photos of the floors, walls and ceiling are necessarily that interesting, but she is getting better about getting people, dogs and other subjects in the shot.
Lili still loves books and within the last couple of days has started reading to daddy and mommy. All her books seem to start with "once upon a time" and sometimes every pages starts with "once upon a time," but she is doing a pretty good job of telling the story. Today she was reading a book to me and asked me to count the items on some of the pages just like I ask her to do from time to time.
Conversations with Lili have become actual conversations. She isn't satisfied with the just 2, 3 or 4 word sentences anymore. Instead, she rattles off exactly what's on her mind. Much of what she tells us is still difficult to understand, but each day her speech seems to improve more and more. She is a talker and talks from the moment her eyes pop open in the morning until she falls asleep at night. Yes, folks, she's a Weeks in every way :-)
Today, I was doing some more research on strollers and told Lili that we needed to get a new stroller that was big enough for both her and Naomi. I'm pretty sure I've found the one I want to get. Here is the link. Does anyone out in blogland own this stroller? If so, do you like it?
Monday, January 18, 2010
Stroller Recommendation
I know, it's just really exciting to read 2 posts in one day isn't it?!!!!
Actually, I'm hoping to get feedback from all you parents who have 2 children in a stroller. It's been about 27 years since I had two children in a stroller at once and there really weren't that many choices. Now I have the choice of tandem strollers, side-by-side, sit-n-stand, etc., etc. So many choices.
Lili likes to walk when we go shopping, but she also gets tired of walking. Of course there are also those times when she just isn't cooperating and NEEDS to be in the stroller. Also, if we've been out for awhile or if we're out during nap time, she will still fall asleep and the stroller is really nice for a sleeping child.
Then we have Naomi who won't be walking for awhile and I'm sure will fall sleep more often that Lili when we're out and about.
Obviously, two different ages and sizes. Lili is about 32 lbs right now and Naomi was just over 13 lbs a month ago.
I've been leaning toward a tandem stroller, just because I think it would be easier to maneuver, but I could be wrong. I would like a stroller that has cup holders for kids and adults. A basket underneath for diaper bag and shopping bags. Seats that recline for sleeping children. A canopy that provides decent coverage from the sun.
Do any of my readers have a double stroller? Which one? Do you like it? If so, why? If not, why?
I could really use some feedback. Thanks.
Actually, I'm hoping to get feedback from all you parents who have 2 children in a stroller. It's been about 27 years since I had two children in a stroller at once and there really weren't that many choices. Now I have the choice of tandem strollers, side-by-side, sit-n-stand, etc., etc. So many choices.
Lili likes to walk when we go shopping, but she also gets tired of walking. Of course there are also those times when she just isn't cooperating and NEEDS to be in the stroller. Also, if we've been out for awhile or if we're out during nap time, she will still fall asleep and the stroller is really nice for a sleeping child.
Then we have Naomi who won't be walking for awhile and I'm sure will fall sleep more often that Lili when we're out and about.
Obviously, two different ages and sizes. Lili is about 32 lbs right now and Naomi was just over 13 lbs a month ago.
I've been leaning toward a tandem stroller, just because I think it would be easier to maneuver, but I could be wrong. I would like a stroller that has cup holders for kids and adults. A basket underneath for diaper bag and shopping bags. Seats that recline for sleeping children. A canopy that provides decent coverage from the sun.
Do any of my readers have a double stroller? Which one? Do you like it? If so, why? If not, why?
I could really use some feedback. Thanks.
No New News
We don't have a confirmed Embassy date yet. Our last update and photos of Naomi was a month ago today. In a nutshell, we have no new news.
I'm going to work on organizing closets, cleaning cupboards and getting the home office in shape. At least that will help pass the time while we wait and hopefully by weeks end we'll have confirmation of our Embassy date.
Now, for the Toukoul families who read my blog. The planning committee has been nailing down some plans for the reunion this summer and we need to get a better idea of how many families plan to attend the reunion. To help us as we firm up plans, please take a minute and jump over to the TAFRU blog and participate in the polls. Thanks.
I'm going to work on organizing closets, cleaning cupboards and getting the home office in shape. At least that will help pass the time while we wait and hopefully by weeks end we'll have confirmation of our Embassy date.
Now, for the Toukoul families who read my blog. The planning committee has been nailing down some plans for the reunion this summer and we need to get a better idea of how many families plan to attend the reunion. To help us as we firm up plans, please take a minute and jump over to the TAFRU blog and participate in the polls. Thanks.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Ending the Week with Some Positive, Good News
My friend Yesenia has a little girl in Guatemala that she and her hubby having been waiting for since September 4, 2007. They have jumped every hurdle and through every hoop imaginable. Recently PGN stated they needed a written MP report before they could approve their case and the report arrived today. YAY!!!! I so hope PGN finally gives them the green light and approves their case. Their little girl has been apart from her new mommy and daddy for way too long and it's time for their family to finally be together.
What many of you may not know is that we live in a very small community. Our little town has a population of about 1300 and is surrounded by corn and bean field. The nearest towns are 5-8 miles on every side of us and all are small as well. For a matter-of-fact, we are probably the 2nd largest of the 5 towns in this area :-) So, it's very exciting to me that we have an adoptive family of 2 girls from China just down the block, another adoptive family with 2 boys from Ethiopia, and another family who is in process of adopting from Ethiopia while waiting on their China adoption. Then of course there is our family with 1 Guatemalan princess and an Ethiopian princess on the way soon.
Today our other Ethiopia family in waiting, The Burt's, received that all important call. They have been referred a 2 1/2 month old baby boy. They have been waiting over 4 years for this day and I am so very, very happy for them. I don't think they have anything posted on their blog yet, but keep an eye out for a referral post and then drop by and give them a big congratulations!
I'm sure many of you have been thinking a lot about Haiti this week. I know it's been on my mind frequently and has been a tough week. So being able to end the week with some good news is really wonderful. Here's hoping next week brings lots of good news!!!
What many of you may not know is that we live in a very small community. Our little town has a population of about 1300 and is surrounded by corn and bean field. The nearest towns are 5-8 miles on every side of us and all are small as well. For a matter-of-fact, we are probably the 2nd largest of the 5 towns in this area :-) So, it's very exciting to me that we have an adoptive family of 2 girls from China just down the block, another adoptive family with 2 boys from Ethiopia, and another family who is in process of adopting from Ethiopia while waiting on their China adoption. Then of course there is our family with 1 Guatemalan princess and an Ethiopian princess on the way soon.
Today our other Ethiopia family in waiting, The Burt's, received that all important call. They have been referred a 2 1/2 month old baby boy. They have been waiting over 4 years for this day and I am so very, very happy for them. I don't think they have anything posted on their blog yet, but keep an eye out for a referral post and then drop by and give them a big congratulations!
I'm sure many of you have been thinking a lot about Haiti this week. I know it's been on my mind frequently and has been a tough week. So being able to end the week with some good news is really wonderful. Here's hoping next week brings lots of good news!!!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Today my thoughts are still with the people of Haiti and I find it difficult to post good news, but the fact remains that we received some very good news this week and are moving forward with our travel plans.
Some time ago I posted about the conflict I was having over staying at the orphanage guest house versus staying at another guest house that would be less expensive. Dave and I spent some time talking about the options and ultimately decided that it was best if we went the route of saving money and stayed elsewhere. So I made reservations for us to stay at the Ethiopian Guest Home (EGH) in Addis Ababa. We will have a few additional expenses as a result. For example, the fees charged at orphanage guest house provides 3 meals a day and EGH provides breakfast and lunch with dinner being an additional $5 per person, children 5 and under are free. The orphanage guest house provides transportation from the guest house to the orphanage and to the Embassy appointment and we'll now need to pay for transportation. However, even with those extra expenses, we'll still be savings somewhere between $300-$400 and that's an important thing right now. Of course there are some things that are nice about EHG over the orphanage guest house such as the 1 hour massage for each adult in the party. Yes, that's included in the price of the room and after the long flight to Ethiopia, we'll be in need of a good massage.
Ultimately, the purpose of our trip to bring home our baby girl and where we stay doesn't matter as long as we're together and bringing Naomi home.
I also contacted Susan Parr Travel about flights and fares. This is the largest of our travel expenses and right now we're looking at somewhere around $4100 for just the airline tickets. Of course we can't purchase our tickets until we have confirmation of our Embassy appointment, but we're also a little short financially as well at the moment. We should have confirmation of our Embassy appointment within the next 1-2 weeks and will need to purchase our tickets by February 2nd, so we have a few more weeks to raise the money we need to travel. Anyone want to buy coffee? :-)
That's where things are regarding our upcoming trip to Ethiopia and we're very excited about going. We've started preparing Lili for the trip as well and now she talks about getting on a big airplane to go get Naomi. All of the talk about Naomi is also improving Lili's pronunciation as she is pretty consistently calling her baby sister Maomi instead of Mayo-may. She's getting closer.
In preparation of Naomi's arrival we also had to purchase another car seat. I'm a big fan of Britax car seats and Lili has been in a Britax Marathon for almost 2 years now. My original plan was to buy a 2nd Marathon for Naomi, but unfortunately, they aren't cheap. So I started doing some research and heard from several moms that really liked the Graco Nautilus. It's a toddler car seat with a 5-point harness system, which can be removed later when it's time to convert to using the regular seat belt. The back of the car seat can also be removed later when it's time to convert to just a booster car seat. The bonus is that it is about $130 less than the Britax I was looking at, so I bought the Nautilus. Do I like it as much as the Britax? No. But do I like the Britax enough to spend the extra $130? No. The Nautilus is a nice car seat and Lili seems to like it, so until and unless money starts falling from the sky, she's in the Nautilus and Naomi will be in the Marathon.
The other plus in purchasing the new car seat was the box it came in.
Nothing more fun than a big box to play in.
Some time ago I posted about the conflict I was having over staying at the orphanage guest house versus staying at another guest house that would be less expensive. Dave and I spent some time talking about the options and ultimately decided that it was best if we went the route of saving money and stayed elsewhere. So I made reservations for us to stay at the Ethiopian Guest Home (EGH) in Addis Ababa. We will have a few additional expenses as a result. For example, the fees charged at orphanage guest house provides 3 meals a day and EGH provides breakfast and lunch with dinner being an additional $5 per person, children 5 and under are free. The orphanage guest house provides transportation from the guest house to the orphanage and to the Embassy appointment and we'll now need to pay for transportation. However, even with those extra expenses, we'll still be savings somewhere between $300-$400 and that's an important thing right now. Of course there are some things that are nice about EHG over the orphanage guest house such as the 1 hour massage for each adult in the party. Yes, that's included in the price of the room and after the long flight to Ethiopia, we'll be in need of a good massage.
Ultimately, the purpose of our trip to bring home our baby girl and where we stay doesn't matter as long as we're together and bringing Naomi home.
I also contacted Susan Parr Travel about flights and fares. This is the largest of our travel expenses and right now we're looking at somewhere around $4100 for just the airline tickets. Of course we can't purchase our tickets until we have confirmation of our Embassy appointment, but we're also a little short financially as well at the moment. We should have confirmation of our Embassy appointment within the next 1-2 weeks and will need to purchase our tickets by February 2nd, so we have a few more weeks to raise the money we need to travel. Anyone want to buy coffee? :-)
That's where things are regarding our upcoming trip to Ethiopia and we're very excited about going. We've started preparing Lili for the trip as well and now she talks about getting on a big airplane to go get Naomi. All of the talk about Naomi is also improving Lili's pronunciation as she is pretty consistently calling her baby sister Maomi instead of Mayo-may. She's getting closer.
In preparation of Naomi's arrival we also had to purchase another car seat. I'm a big fan of Britax car seats and Lili has been in a Britax Marathon for almost 2 years now. My original plan was to buy a 2nd Marathon for Naomi, but unfortunately, they aren't cheap. So I started doing some research and heard from several moms that really liked the Graco Nautilus. It's a toddler car seat with a 5-point harness system, which can be removed later when it's time to convert to using the regular seat belt. The back of the car seat can also be removed later when it's time to convert to just a booster car seat. The bonus is that it is about $130 less than the Britax I was looking at, so I bought the Nautilus. Do I like it as much as the Britax? No. But do I like the Britax enough to spend the extra $130? No. The Nautilus is a nice car seat and Lili seems to like it, so until and unless money starts falling from the sky, she's in the Nautilus and Naomi will be in the Marathon.
The other plus in purchasing the new car seat was the box it came in.
Nothing more fun than a big box to play in.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
My Real Boy
As most of you know, our oldest son has Autism. Now, I suppose having raised a child with a disability may make me a little more sensitive to things I hear or read, but typically I don't let comments get to me. However, I read something today that I'm really struggling with.
A mom, who is very obviously struggling with the challenges her child is facing wrote that she hoped her son would grow up to be a "real boy."
Ryan's first diagnosis was mental retardation with autistic-like behaviors. It was very hard to hear that my baby, my first born, was going to go through life having challenges that other children didn't have. However, at no point did I ever consider that my son was not a "real boy."
So now I struggle with the fact that a parent would feel that their child is not a real boy because they are facing challenges in life and I read between the lines to hear this person saying that people with disabilities are less real than those without disabilities.
Believe me, I know there are people in the world that very much feel as if someone with a disability is less of a person, but to hear another mother say this about her child is a very difficult thing for me to handle.
Am I just being overly sensitive to this comment?
A mom, who is very obviously struggling with the challenges her child is facing wrote that she hoped her son would grow up to be a "real boy."
Ryan's first diagnosis was mental retardation with autistic-like behaviors. It was very hard to hear that my baby, my first born, was going to go through life having challenges that other children didn't have. However, at no point did I ever consider that my son was not a "real boy."
So now I struggle with the fact that a parent would feel that their child is not a real boy because they are facing challenges in life and I read between the lines to hear this person saying that people with disabilities are less real than those without disabilities.
Believe me, I know there are people in the world that very much feel as if someone with a disability is less of a person, but to hear another mother say this about her child is a very difficult thing for me to handle.
Am I just being overly sensitive to this comment?
Haiti
I hate posting tragedy after posting such good news, but the fact is Haiti was hit with by a strong earthquake yesterday and there have been many lives lost, people injured and even more now without homes.
Haiti was one of the countries we looked at when we were making our adoption plans. Haiti is in the #1 spot for the poorest countries in Western Hemisphere. There are thousands of orphaned children in Haiti and the need there is great. That need has become even greater now.
There was an interview with Dixie from God's Littlest Angels in Haiti on the Today Show this morning. Here is a link to their website for those who would like to watch the interview or read the information.
Another site is Livesay Haiti. They are also posting information.
This makes me very sad and my thoughts are with the people of Haiti today.
Haiti was one of the countries we looked at when we were making our adoption plans. Haiti is in the #1 spot for the poorest countries in Western Hemisphere. There are thousands of orphaned children in Haiti and the need there is great. That need has become even greater now.
There was an interview with Dixie from God's Littlest Angels in Haiti on the Today Show this morning. Here is a link to their website for those who would like to watch the interview or read the information.
Another site is Livesay Haiti. They are also posting information.
This makes me very sad and my thoughts are with the people of Haiti today.
Monday, January 11, 2010
No Call Yet
But I did get an email.
WE PASSED COURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And now, without further ado, I would like to introduce to you to our Ethiopian princess, Naomi Aster Weeks.
Here she is in all her cuteness!!!!!
Referral photos.
Updated photos from last month.
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I can't wait to kiss those chubby little cheeks. And did you notice the dimple?
WE PASSED COURT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And now, without further ado, I would like to introduce to you to our Ethiopian princess, Naomi Aster Weeks.
Here she is in all her cuteness!!!!!
Referral photos.
Updated photos from last month.
+(2).jpg)
+(3).jpg)
I can't wait to kiss those chubby little cheeks. And did you notice the dimple? We have also been told to plan travel in six weeks. I've been guessing that our Embassy date will be February 22nd and apparently our agency feels that we'll be getting the February 22nd Embassy date as well. Seriously, in six weeks I'll be holding my baby girl!!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!
There is just going to be too much cuteness in the Weeks' house!!!!!!!!!!!!
Time to kick it up a notch and get everything ready for Naomi's arrival!!!!!!
Friday, January 8, 2010
The News We've Been Waiting For
Is apparently going to have to wait until next week.
Since our consultant told us earlier this week, "sometimes when the courts are on Friday I don’t hear until Monday!! I will do my best to pester for an answer Friday.. when there is an issue or the court did not happen, I know right away, but when everything is fine I don’t.. " we were expecting that we might not hear anything today. Hopefully no news is good news.
Believe me, as soon as I get the call I'll be posting the information here first. Okay, I'll make sure that Dave knows before I post it here. Since he checks my blog he probably doesn't want to read the news here :-)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Since our consultant told us earlier this week, "sometimes when the courts are on Friday I don’t hear until Monday!! I will do my best to pester for an answer Friday.. when there is an issue or the court did not happen, I know right away, but when everything is fine I don’t.. " we were expecting that we might not hear anything today. Hopefully no news is good news.
Believe me, as soon as I get the call I'll be posting the information here first. Okay, I'll make sure that Dave knows before I post it here. Since he checks my blog he probably doesn't want to read the news here :-)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Sorry to Keep Everyone Waiting
Unfortunately, we've heard nothing yet. Granted, it's only 1:00 in Oregon where our agency is located, but I thought you might at least want some type of update.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
How Long To Court?
Well let's see. It's 7:35 p.m. here and 5:35 a.m. in Addis Ababa. That means in about 3 or 4 hours the courts will open and cases will start to be heard. If our case is one of the first to be heard and we pass court, Naomi will legally become our daughter in the next 3 or 4 hours. Seriously, it could happen that soon. Before long we could be a family of 7. We could have 3 boys and 2 girls. Can you hear my excitement?!!!
Now I need to put a call out to all my blog readers asking for your assistance once again. If you are a coffee drinker, please go to our Just Love Coffee storefront here and purchase a bag of coffee. Then pass along our storefront link http://www.justlovecoffee.com/TheWeeks to all of your coffee drinking friends and family asking them to please purchase a bag of coffee. Our goal is 500 bags of coffee sold in January. Can you please help us out?
Thanks.
And now I'll leave you with some photos of the little bit of snow we got last night and early this morning.
Doo, doo, doo lookin out my back door!
That's quite a bit of snow on the bench.
Our dogs love the snow and Lexie thought she'd just go out and sit for awhile enjoying it.
Shortly after I took these pictures it began snowing harder. I think we ended up getting around 6 or 7 inches total on top of the several inches we still had from Christmas weekend.
Now I need to put a call out to all my blog readers asking for your assistance once again. If you are a coffee drinker, please go to our Just Love Coffee storefront here and purchase a bag of coffee. Then pass along our storefront link http://www.justlovecoffee.com/TheWeeks to all of your coffee drinking friends and family asking them to please purchase a bag of coffee. Our goal is 500 bags of coffee sold in January. Can you please help us out?
Thanks.
And now I'll leave you with some photos of the little bit of snow we got last night and early this morning.
Doo, doo, doo lookin out my back door!
That's quite a bit of snow on the bench.
Our dogs love the snow and Lexie thought she'd just go out and sit for awhile enjoying it.
Shortly after I took these pictures it began snowing harder. I think we ended up getting around 6 or 7 inches total on top of the several inches we still had from Christmas weekend.
Tomorrow is the Day and Genna is Today
By the time we get up tomorrow morning, our case will have already gone before the courts in Ethiopia. Naomi may actually become a Weeks while we sleep tonight.
Today is Genna in Ethiopia, which is their Christmas. Here is some information about Genna.
The Ethiopian Calendar is seven years behind the Gregorian Calendar now used in the west. Ethiopia, having never been colonised, still uses the Julian Calendar. The year is divided into 12 months of 30 days each, and a 13th month of five days (six days every leap year). See the New Year page for more information about the measurement of time.
Ethiopian Christmas day is on January 7th of the Gregorian Calendar or Tahsas 29th of the Ethiopian Calendar. This is the date that Christmas was originally celebrated and still is in most Orthodox Christian traditions.
Ethiopian names for Christmas are Liddet, Genna and also Qiddus Bala Wald.
Genna is preceded by a fast of 40 days. There are many fast days in the Orthodox Christian Calendar. Christians fast every Wednesday and Friday all year round. On fast days Ethiopians eat only one meal in the evening. This must not contain meat or dairy foods. Sometimes fish is also avoided.
After a large meal on Christmas Eve, Ethiopian Christians go to Church and spend the night praying. Modern Churches are designed in three concentric circles. Men and boys sit separately from women and girls. The choir sings from the outside circle. As the people enter the church they are given candles which are then lit. Everyone then walks around the church three times. The congregation remain standing for Mass which can last up to three hours.
Food eaten at Christmas is the standard Ethiopian menu of injera, a pancake like bread made from a local grain called t'ef, and wat, a spicy stew. The injera is used to scoop up the wat. The meal is served in beautifully decorated baskets.
Only the children receive presents. This is usually something simple such as clothes. Children also play a game at this time of year called Genna. It is similar to hockey.
And here is a short video clip of a Genna celebration in Ethiopia.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Pilot Program
A few weeks ago I posted a story about a little boy in Guatemala being fostered by Lili's foster grandmother. He had been with the foster family since shortly before we went to pick Lili up in March, 2008 and after a visit to PGN they were going to be moving him from the foster home to an orphanage. I have since found out that he was not moved to an orphanage, but is still with the foster family. Apparently, there is no room at any of the orphanages for him and they asked the family to keep him.
During that same post I also mentioned that Guatemala is taking steps to begin a pilot program in an effort to become Hague compliant, which will then reopen adoption from Guatemala. They asked countries interested in participating in the program to send in their letter of intent. Surprising to many, the U.S. actually send in their letter of intent.
Today I read this information from Guatemala:
This is a translated article that was in a Guatemala City paper:
The National Council for Adoptions (CAN) issued a report yesterday that opened the process to start a pilot scheme for international adoptions which will be promoted this year with five countries that are interested.
Rudy Zepeda, a spokesman for CAN reported that the procedure was started in late 2009, when he took the call which was answered by 10 countries, who sent letters claiming to be interested in adopting Guatemalan children.
From last November 19th to Decemeber 3rd, the institution received documents from institutions from those countries that are interested in doing adoptions.
Each country must nominate two to four adoption agencies.
Since each application must be qualify by Guatemalan standards, CNA was informed of that each agency must research and analyze families wishing to adopt in order to score them for suitability.
The agencies experience in international adoptions will also be assessed, especially in cases of children with special needs such as sibling groups or children with physical or mental deficiencies.
So far, out of the 526 children that qualify for adoption only 238 have found Guatemala families. The rest are still hoping to have a home.
Zepeda believes that the children could be adopted abroad, but stressed that Guatemalan couples should always take precedence.
The spokesman explained that one of the requirements of the pilot is that the ANC is in charge of sending the data about the children who may be placed for adoption, not like before, when foreign families provided their requirements.
Zepeda said the process is in the phase of evaluating the agencies’ applications. Next March to April, the program will be started in five countries that pass the process.
From that moment, he started working in the adoption of children who are abandoned and have not been placed in Guatemalan families.
I am absolutely thrilled to know that things are moving forward. It can't happen soon enough for me and isn't happening nearly fast enough for the orphaned children in Guatemala, but at least something is happening and that's a good thing.
During that same post I also mentioned that Guatemala is taking steps to begin a pilot program in an effort to become Hague compliant, which will then reopen adoption from Guatemala. They asked countries interested in participating in the program to send in their letter of intent. Surprising to many, the U.S. actually send in their letter of intent.
Today I read this information from Guatemala:
This is a translated article that was in a Guatemala City paper:
The National Council for Adoptions (CAN) issued a report yesterday that opened the process to start a pilot scheme for international adoptions which will be promoted this year with five countries that are interested.
Rudy Zepeda, a spokesman for CAN reported that the procedure was started in late 2009, when he took the call which was answered by 10 countries, who sent letters claiming to be interested in adopting Guatemalan children.
From last November 19th to Decemeber 3rd, the institution received documents from institutions from those countries that are interested in doing adoptions.
Each country must nominate two to four adoption agencies.
Since each application must be qualify by Guatemalan standards, CNA was informed of that each agency must research and analyze families wishing to adopt in order to score them for suitability.
The agencies experience in international adoptions will also be assessed, especially in cases of children with special needs such as sibling groups or children with physical or mental deficiencies.
So far, out of the 526 children that qualify for adoption only 238 have found Guatemala families. The rest are still hoping to have a home.
Zepeda believes that the children could be adopted abroad, but stressed that Guatemalan couples should always take precedence.
The spokesman explained that one of the requirements of the pilot is that the ANC is in charge of sending the data about the children who may be placed for adoption, not like before, when foreign families provided their requirements.
Zepeda said the process is in the phase of evaluating the agencies’ applications. Next March to April, the program will be started in five countries that pass the process.
From that moment, he started working in the adoption of children who are abandoned and have not been placed in Guatemalan families.
I am absolutely thrilled to know that things are moving forward. It can't happen soon enough for me and isn't happening nearly fast enough for the orphaned children in Guatemala, but at least something is happening and that's a good thing.
Surviving the Wait
I can survive the wait to court. What I'm not sure of is surviving the day of court. LOL!!! I traded emails with our agency consultant a couple days ago and told her that I actually scheduled a play date for Friday to help keep me busy. I also told her that I would most certainly jump every time the phone rang. Here was her response:"Oh, don’t hate me, please.. sometimes when the courts are on Friday I don’t hear until Monday!! I will do my best to pester for an answer Friday.. when there is an issue or the court did not happen, I know right away, but when everything is fine I don’t.."
Now I'm not sure if I want her to call Friday or not. If she calls, it might mean bad news. If I have to wait it out until Monday it will probably be good news. On the other hand, I would have to wait through the weekend before hearing anything. Ahhhh!!!
I think I'll go shopping today.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Pictures
I traded emails with our agency yesterday afternoon and in one of the emails I received our travel packet. Our consultant wanted to give me some additional work to help keep me occupied during the wait to court.I also traded a couple emails with our social worker and she is sending me a form that will need to be filled out and sent to USCIS because our prints expire March 5th. I mailed our I600A when our social worker told us it wasn't going to take much longer to get our home study completed. It wasn't too long after I mailed it off that everything too a turn south and we had delay after delay after delay getting our home study done. It took another 5 1/2 months after getting our prints done to finally receive our final home study report and 171H. If we pass court this Friday we may be traveling in February on pick up, but there is also the possibility that we won't travel until March after our prints have expired. Since it takes a few weeks to get an appointment for fingerprinting here in Illinois, it's time to get our request in now. Better safe than sorry.
Little did I know that my post about my paint dilemma would generate so many requests for photos. I was going to wait until the room was furnished, but I'm not quite sure when that will happen and I didn't want to keep so many waiting. So, I took my camera upstairs, threw the crib comforter over the rocking chair and snapped a few pictures. Hopefully this will satisfy everyone's curiosity until I am able to take photos of a completely furnished and decorated room.
A second coat of paint and a full day of drying really made the difference. I also wish we could afford to get new carpet, but we'll have to deal with the blue carpet for awhile.
Also, notice the stack of Rubbermaid containers full of Lili's outgrown clothes? That isn't even half of the containers and none of them are small containers. Lili has been one well dressed little girl and fortunately since she had so many clothes, most were only worn a handful of times and are still in really good shape. Actually, some still had tags on them because she never wore them. Oops!
Lili was having fun with her camera again yesterday and at one point she asked me to take a picture of her. I grabbed my camera and got a good picture showing the reason why there seem to be so many close-ups of Lili's face on her camera.
Yes folks, she's holding it backwards. She got a great shot of her teeth in one picture. LOL!!!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Painting Dilemma
I can't talk about paint before I talk about our CTC. 4 more days folks!!!!!! By the end of this week Naomi could legally be our daughter!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now onto the paint dilemma I was having over the weekend.
Lili's room is light pink with burgundy curtains. I also painted the shelves in her closet a burgundy color all of which matched the pink and burgundy colors in her crib bedding. This same crib bedding will be used by Naomi and I decided I wanted to pull out the greens in the bedding for Naomi's room. Several months ago I grabbed several paint samples and spent quite a bit of time holding them against the bedding trying to figure out which would look best. I made a decision, marked the sample and put it away with the others until I was ready to start on my paint project. I decided to get started over the long weekend, but after looking at the color I had chosen I decided it was too dark. I wanted Naomi's room to have a lighter color on the walls with darker accents just like Lili's room so I started looking at the other samples and finally decided on a lighter green that appeared to be a nice contrast to the greens in the bedding.
I got the room painted and by that evening I wasn't sure I liked it. The next day I looked at it again and decided that I really did like the color, but I wasn't sure about that color with the bedding. After some thought I decided to do a second coat of paint on the walls to see if that would make a difference. Well, it did. I really do like the color and it is a nice contrast to the greens in the bedding.
The only thing left now is curtains and possibly new shades, closet organizers that Dave will be building in the spring, a crib, dressers and most of all Naomi.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Painting
Only six more days to court!!!!! This time next week we will hopefully know whether or not Naomi is a Weeks.
Right now it seems as if Naomi's homecoming is so far away. However, I do remember feeling as if Lili's arrival home was also far away and now I can barely remember a time that she wasn't here. I also remember being much further along in the preparations for bringing Lili home. For example, her room was painted and ready for her arrival. Of course painting a room with a 2 year old is not humanly possible. Okay, I'm sure it's humanly possible, but not if I only want the walls painted. Since Dave had a 4-day weekend I decided this was a good time to get the paint and start on Naomi's room. Yesterday was paint day. I actually enjoy painting, but I really do not like the preparation part of painting. Especially, the taping. Thankfully, Dave offered to do the taping for me. He also removed the closet doors, took the curtains down, removed the hardware and outlet covers. Basically, he got everything ready so all I had to do was paint.
I quickly got to work and as the paint is applied to the walls I'm trying to decide if I really like this color or not. As I'm sure most of you know, the color that goes on the walls is not the same color an hour later. As it begins to dry I'm liking it and by mid afternoon the entire room is painted and drying. Shortly after dinner I go in to look at my work and I'm not sure I like it. It's not that I don't like the color, I just don't like the color with the bedding and decor that will be in the room. When I held that little paint sample on the wall I really thought it was the right color. Someday I'll learn to buy just a little sample jar of paint to put on the wall.
Do I leave the walls as they are or do I repaint? Once I decide, I'll let you know.
Friday, January 1, 2010
One Week and a Chance to Win
One week from today, just 7 more days, Naomi could actually become a Weeks. Now that we've hit the one week mark I'm starting to get a little nervous. What if our case is postponed (it happens more frequently than it should)? What if there is missing paperwork (it also happens more frequently than it should)? It also doesn't help that we had a similar delay during Lili's adoption. We had been in PGN for 8 weeks, which was the time frame it took for cases to be approved or kicked out because they wanted/needed additional information or paperwork. Our case was kicked out on the 8 week mark because they wanted some petty information on one of our documents. We had no idea how long it would take before it was resubmitted. Fortunately it only took a week and 8 weeks later the case was approved, but still that was another 2 months of my daughter's life that I was without her. Once again, each day that passes by is another day without Naomi so 7 days from today I really want our case to be heard, all paperwork to be in place and for the judge to claim that she is now a Weeks.
Wonder what I'm going to be like next Thursday and Friday? LOL!!!
In the meantime, our fundraising attempts continue.
We've raised just over $1000 toward our $4000 goal and truly appreciate 'everyone' who has purchased coffee through our storefront, bought raffle tickets or participated in our 100 for $35 fundraiser. Due to pride, we really didn't want to do any fundraising, but we also didn't realize just how much we would be touched by the generosity of others. This truly has been a lesson in humility. One day we will "Pay it Forward" and hope that we are able to touch other lives in the same way our lives have been touched.
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