This has been a busy weekend. I have been planning a fundraisers with a GREAT girlfriend of mine. We are making a "Your Town--opoly" game and trying to sell it at our local town festival. We are so excited to see how it turns out and if it works! We sat down for 3 1/2 hours at our local Chick-fil-a and monitized the board spaces while our kids played in the play gym. It was stressful and exciting. We actually sold a spot on the board before we even priced them by a gentleman who approached us!!! We are hoping that this is a sign from GOD saying that we chose the right fundraiser!!!!
We have decided on the name Ivy for our little girl!!! I just love the name. So we will have Ethan and Ivy. The closer we get the more excited we are. We are still looking at the different countries that you can adopt from and can choose an agency from there. So many decisions to make. I can only trust GOD to lead us to the little girl that HE has picked out for us!! I know that everything will be revealed to us in HIS time.
I want to thank ALL my friends that are backing us and routing for us!! We love you all! If you want to purchase a game, let me know! You don't have to be local to enjoy playing, It might even be fun to learn about a new town!! If you would like to pre-order a game email me at tiffanydpt@yahoo.com and let me know! They are $25.00 each. (Can you tell we are excited about our fundraiser?! We are trying to sell 750 games. Hope we can!! Sounds like such a large #.)
Ethan keeps telling us all about the things he is going to do with his "baby sister". And he is detailed about it. It ranges from feeding her to holding her and to sharing his bed. It is so cute. He says that he will sleep on the top bunk and his baby sister can have the bottom bunk. I had to explain that she will be little and have to sleep in the crib in the nursery for awhile. (and yes, our nursery is already prepared with only a few minor arrangements and tweaks left to do.)
We will be attending an adoption seminar March 9th presented by Dillon Adoption Agency and we have been reviewing the packet from Holt. These are our top 2 picks.
I also found an awesome website. It is rainbowkids.com. For those others wanting to adopt internationally, you should check this site out!
Well getting late and I am exhausted from a long couple of days!
Love your sister in Christ
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I love being a mom!
As I was putting my son to bed tonight and watching him adjust and readjust himself, I had to laugh as he tucked in each one of his 4 stuffed dalmations next to him under the covers with care......I love being a mom!! It makes everything in life worth it. I love the feel of little arms encircling my neck, of playing the "I love you" game, and of watching him makes new discoveries everyday. I love the looks of amazement with simple things such as a ladybug, a new dinosaur, or of ice cream shared together. I couldn't be happier than when I am spending time with my family. I long to share all we have with another child.
I want to thank all my friends and family for sending helpful sites and tips on where to find financial help. I will definitely be looking into them all. We are so blessed by having such good family and friends!
No new news today. We are still working on deciding what agency to use but I do think that we are leaning toward China as our place of adoption. I will keep you posted!
GOD bless!!
I want to thank all my friends and family for sending helpful sites and tips on where to find financial help. I will definitely be looking into them all. We are so blessed by having such good family and friends!
No new news today. We are still working on deciding what agency to use but I do think that we are leaning toward China as our place of adoption. I will keep you posted!
GOD bless!!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
more background
I gave you history yesterday so today I wanted to let you know where we are today.
I am a working mom. I work at a nursing home as a physical therapist. I love my work!! I have worked pediatrics and geriatrics and love them both in different ways. The ends of the spectrum but not that different! The clients that I work with make me laugh. I love the stories that they tell of "the good ole days". You just never know what will come out of thier mouths and sometimes you have to turn an understanding ear when working with dementia patients. I cherish my days off with my family. They are what keep me going and I try to spend as much time with them as possible (or course this means that my house pays for it because it is what gets neglected the most). I try hard to keep everything clean and orderly but if I have to choose between cleaning and playing with my baby boy, he wins every time!
My husband is a LPN at a local correctional facility (yes that means at the jail). He likes his job and is well suited for it. I think that if he ever decided to leave that they might cry. How many male nurses are actual out there? He is currently going back to school to get his RN. I am so proud of him. He is juggling full time work with full time school and he still always makes time for us.
My son is a very active 3 1/2 yr old. He love dinosaurs, trains, dogs, and tractors. He is ALL boy. An older man at McDonald's described him as a shark and said he had one of his own that was grown. It took me a while to understand that comment but I finally got it. A shark has to move at all times or it will die! Well that is my son to the T. He is always moving unless he is asleep and when he is sleeping he looks like an angel! Ethan is so excited about the prospects of getting a baby sister. He talks on end about what they are going to do together. He actually gets very ellaborate. It is sooo cute. However, he thinks we can just go down to the store and buy a sister! He doesn't know why it is taking so long and has actually cried when I stopped to talk with an adoption agency and did come back with his sister that day. Bless his heart!
We are currently trying to decide which agency to use. I think it is between Dillon and Holt. We have friends who just went to China to bring home a beautiful baby boy. They have been very helpful on who to use and who not to use. They said that Holt will hold your hand the whole time and I think that we want that; however, you pay for it. Some agencies maybe cheaper but they are not with you the whole time to help with every step of the way. The used The Great Wall of China for the 1st adoption but stated they felt like they were on thier own while in China to get thier baby and that is when I would think you would need them the most.
We are getting very excited about everything. All the decision and the fundraising. We are in high drive and coming up with all kinds of ideas. We will keep you updated on the ones that we actually try.
Ok again it is getting late and I need to sign off. Have to get up early and exercise and then go to work. Thanks for all the prayers...Love your sister in Christ
I am a working mom. I work at a nursing home as a physical therapist. I love my work!! I have worked pediatrics and geriatrics and love them both in different ways. The ends of the spectrum but not that different! The clients that I work with make me laugh. I love the stories that they tell of "the good ole days". You just never know what will come out of thier mouths and sometimes you have to turn an understanding ear when working with dementia patients. I cherish my days off with my family. They are what keep me going and I try to spend as much time with them as possible (or course this means that my house pays for it because it is what gets neglected the most). I try hard to keep everything clean and orderly but if I have to choose between cleaning and playing with my baby boy, he wins every time!
My husband is a LPN at a local correctional facility (yes that means at the jail). He likes his job and is well suited for it. I think that if he ever decided to leave that they might cry. How many male nurses are actual out there? He is currently going back to school to get his RN. I am so proud of him. He is juggling full time work with full time school and he still always makes time for us.
My son is a very active 3 1/2 yr old. He love dinosaurs, trains, dogs, and tractors. He is ALL boy. An older man at McDonald's described him as a shark and said he had one of his own that was grown. It took me a while to understand that comment but I finally got it. A shark has to move at all times or it will die! Well that is my son to the T. He is always moving unless he is asleep and when he is sleeping he looks like an angel! Ethan is so excited about the prospects of getting a baby sister. He talks on end about what they are going to do together. He actually gets very ellaborate. It is sooo cute. However, he thinks we can just go down to the store and buy a sister! He doesn't know why it is taking so long and has actually cried when I stopped to talk with an adoption agency and did come back with his sister that day. Bless his heart!
We are currently trying to decide which agency to use. I think it is between Dillon and Holt. We have friends who just went to China to bring home a beautiful baby boy. They have been very helpful on who to use and who not to use. They said that Holt will hold your hand the whole time and I think that we want that; however, you pay for it. Some agencies maybe cheaper but they are not with you the whole time to help with every step of the way. The used The Great Wall of China for the 1st adoption but stated they felt like they were on thier own while in China to get thier baby and that is when I would think you would need them the most.
We are getting very excited about everything. All the decision and the fundraising. We are in high drive and coming up with all kinds of ideas. We will keep you updated on the ones that we actually try.
Ok again it is getting late and I need to sign off. Have to get up early and exercise and then go to work. Thanks for all the prayers...Love your sister in Christ
Monday, February 22, 2010
Getting started
Here goes....this is all new to me so bear with me till I get the hang of this.
I have began this blog to tell you a little about my family and to ellicit some help.
My name is Tiffany. I was born in Mississippi, the 3rd of 4 children and the only girl. All my life I have dreamed of the family that I would once have, never seeing few children in my future. I have always wanted a big family so I was devasted when I ran into infertility problems after getting married. But before I go into that, let me tell you a little more about my past.
I was always a very healthy child, never sick...until my sophmore year in high school. I began to feel very weak and winded. I thought that I was sure getting out of shape..even though I went dancing every weekend and was in gymnastics. I really didn't know what was going on. That January, I turned 16. Like any ordinary teenager, I got to have the car that weekend and took my friends "cruising" town. We had so much fun that night. Little did I know what was about to happen. My birthday was on the 13th. On the 19th, my mother woke me up, told me to take a shower (not to put any makeup on), and to get ready to go to the doctor (again). This was not my 1st visit. This was probably the 4 or 5. We had already been to my PCP and the ENT because of a swollen lymph node behind my right ear that was soo big my friends were teasing me about having a tumor. (Boy did they feel bad later!!)
That morning, I was so tired that I didn't want to do anything. I got up, took a shower, and did what my mom said to do. As we walked into the doctor's office, I could hear to nurses talking to one another. I was so white that they could not beleive that I was walking on my own. This doctor's visit, the doctor took blood for the 1st time and sent us home with iron pills for anemia. I went home and crashed on the couch. The next thing I knew, my mom was waking me up and telling me to get in the car. I was so confused. My dad was home in the middle of a work day and my mom had packed our bags. I was told that we were going to Arkansas Children's Hospital but nothing else. (oh yeah did I forget to mention we moved to Arkansas)
At Children's, the news was finally broke to me. I had leukemia (ALL--acute lymphacytic leukemia). I underwent 2 1/2 yrs of chemotherapy, lost all my hair, and missed 1/3 of my sophmore year in school (however my teachers found it in their hearts to send my work home to me). I tried to be positive through everything even though I occassionally got boughed down by the chemo or by loosing my hair again after it had begun to come back in.
Good did come from this time in my life. I met my husband during this time. I was ball headed and he had just come home from the Army. We had mutual friends and had both stopped to talk to them "cruising town" (on one of the few nights that my mom let me out of the house). We instantly hit it off and have been together for 15 years (married for 11 of those). He has seen me during my worst and best times. His friends use to ask him "who the little boy was riding in the truck with him", but it never bothered him.
Years later after high school and during my last semester in college, we got the news that I was pregnant. We were so excited but the pregnancy was accompanied by appendicitis. Following a appendectomy the doctor said that the baby was fine. We were elated until our 1st miscarriage. I was 4 1/2 months along and devastated. A year later, we got pregnant again. Worried but excited again, I found myself trying to do everything right. At our visit to hear the heartbeat, we found out that I had had another miscarriage at 7 wks. Devastated is putting it lightly. I fell into a pretty deep depression. Crying myself to sleep nightly.
When we decided to try again, I was terrified. I didn't think I could go through it again. I got pregnant again and this time with the help of my doctor (who saw me weekly because I was always frightened something was going wrong), I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He came 3 weeks early and I was on bed rest for 6 weeks but everyday that I look into his face, I know that he is a gift from GOD!!
I couldn't have been happier until my son was 6 months old and I found out that I was pregnant again. Scared but very happy, I called the doctor. This pregnancy ended in disaster too but was alot easier to take since I had my precious little boy.
My son is the light of my life, my little miracle baby, but I still have that desire for a larger family. He is now 3 1/2 and wants a baby sister badly. We have not prevented getting pregnant since the last miscarriage but have not been pregnant since (3 yrs). I really don't want to be pregnant again and neither does my loving husband. In the last year or 2, we have felt a very strong pull to adopt. We started the process last June through DHS but have decided that we want to adopt internationally.
Now I have finally come to the reason that I began this blog.....We need your help! Adoption is a very expensive process and we are now in major fundraising mode. We will be posting ways that you can help us in the days to come and I will be keeping you updated on our progress along with family news and decisions. I am very excited about this blog and plan on trying to write something on it daily. Please keep us in your prayers and check in with us often to see how we are doing. Our goal is to raise $30,000 and so far with our 1st fundraiser (Rhea Lana consignment sale), we have raise $438. Not much but it is a start:)
Well it is getting late and I need to go to bed......Love your sister in Christ
I have began this blog to tell you a little about my family and to ellicit some help.
My name is Tiffany. I was born in Mississippi, the 3rd of 4 children and the only girl. All my life I have dreamed of the family that I would once have, never seeing few children in my future. I have always wanted a big family so I was devasted when I ran into infertility problems after getting married. But before I go into that, let me tell you a little more about my past.
I was always a very healthy child, never sick...until my sophmore year in high school. I began to feel very weak and winded. I thought that I was sure getting out of shape..even though I went dancing every weekend and was in gymnastics. I really didn't know what was going on. That January, I turned 16. Like any ordinary teenager, I got to have the car that weekend and took my friends "cruising" town. We had so much fun that night. Little did I know what was about to happen. My birthday was on the 13th. On the 19th, my mother woke me up, told me to take a shower (not to put any makeup on), and to get ready to go to the doctor (again). This was not my 1st visit. This was probably the 4 or 5. We had already been to my PCP and the ENT because of a swollen lymph node behind my right ear that was soo big my friends were teasing me about having a tumor. (Boy did they feel bad later!!)
That morning, I was so tired that I didn't want to do anything. I got up, took a shower, and did what my mom said to do. As we walked into the doctor's office, I could hear to nurses talking to one another. I was so white that they could not beleive that I was walking on my own. This doctor's visit, the doctor took blood for the 1st time and sent us home with iron pills for anemia. I went home and crashed on the couch. The next thing I knew, my mom was waking me up and telling me to get in the car. I was so confused. My dad was home in the middle of a work day and my mom had packed our bags. I was told that we were going to Arkansas Children's Hospital but nothing else. (oh yeah did I forget to mention we moved to Arkansas)
At Children's, the news was finally broke to me. I had leukemia (ALL--acute lymphacytic leukemia). I underwent 2 1/2 yrs of chemotherapy, lost all my hair, and missed 1/3 of my sophmore year in school (however my teachers found it in their hearts to send my work home to me). I tried to be positive through everything even though I occassionally got boughed down by the chemo or by loosing my hair again after it had begun to come back in.
Good did come from this time in my life. I met my husband during this time. I was ball headed and he had just come home from the Army. We had mutual friends and had both stopped to talk to them "cruising town" (on one of the few nights that my mom let me out of the house). We instantly hit it off and have been together for 15 years (married for 11 of those). He has seen me during my worst and best times. His friends use to ask him "who the little boy was riding in the truck with him", but it never bothered him.
Years later after high school and during my last semester in college, we got the news that I was pregnant. We were so excited but the pregnancy was accompanied by appendicitis. Following a appendectomy the doctor said that the baby was fine. We were elated until our 1st miscarriage. I was 4 1/2 months along and devastated. A year later, we got pregnant again. Worried but excited again, I found myself trying to do everything right. At our visit to hear the heartbeat, we found out that I had had another miscarriage at 7 wks. Devastated is putting it lightly. I fell into a pretty deep depression. Crying myself to sleep nightly.
When we decided to try again, I was terrified. I didn't think I could go through it again. I got pregnant again and this time with the help of my doctor (who saw me weekly because I was always frightened something was going wrong), I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He came 3 weeks early and I was on bed rest for 6 weeks but everyday that I look into his face, I know that he is a gift from GOD!!
I couldn't have been happier until my son was 6 months old and I found out that I was pregnant again. Scared but very happy, I called the doctor. This pregnancy ended in disaster too but was alot easier to take since I had my precious little boy.
My son is the light of my life, my little miracle baby, but I still have that desire for a larger family. He is now 3 1/2 and wants a baby sister badly. We have not prevented getting pregnant since the last miscarriage but have not been pregnant since (3 yrs). I really don't want to be pregnant again and neither does my loving husband. In the last year or 2, we have felt a very strong pull to adopt. We started the process last June through DHS but have decided that we want to adopt internationally.
Now I have finally come to the reason that I began this blog.....We need your help! Adoption is a very expensive process and we are now in major fundraising mode. We will be posting ways that you can help us in the days to come and I will be keeping you updated on our progress along with family news and decisions. I am very excited about this blog and plan on trying to write something on it daily. Please keep us in your prayers and check in with us often to see how we are doing. Our goal is to raise $30,000 and so far with our 1st fundraiser (Rhea Lana consignment sale), we have raise $438. Not much but it is a start:)
Well it is getting late and I need to go to bed......Love your sister in Christ
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