New Blankets For Sale!!




Hey friends! My sister, Emmy & I are so excited to show you our new blankets! I have been in Florida for the past 2 weeks while Matt is on a mission trip in China. While I've been here Emmy and I have been working like crazy making blankets. We watched the whole first season of Gilmore Girls while we cut, pinned and sewed. It's been a lot of fun! You can see all the blankets at www.auntieemscreations.blogspot.com . We also still have the pink & blue blankets that we have sold in the past. However, due to low demand, we have discontinued the blue polka-dot/fish blanket. But we think you will like the new ones a lot! So take a look around & tell your friends about us! Remember, 100% of profits made from the blankets go into our El Salvador adoption fund! You can also make a donation if you don't have a need for a baby blanket but still want to help out. Thanks for helping us bring baby Bella home, and thanks for stopping by!

Another Milestone Reached

I am so so so so so so tired but I had to post a quick blog. Since this blog (at the moment at least!) is the closest thing I have to a baby book for baby #2, I just had to write this down before I forgot. Today I mailed off our USCIS application & a big chunk of change!! Yeah!! We are getting so much closer to finishing all the paperwork for our adoption....it's starting to get pretty exciting. We still have a ways to go--probably 1-2 more months of work, but we're closer today than we have been yet. God has so faithfully provided every cent that we have needed. I am just in awe of His provision. What I love most is that He is using you--the Body of Christ to provide for us. He could just dump money through our chimney, but this is so much more real....so much more beautiful! We watched a Primetime special tonight about adoption--from the viewpoint of birthmothers. It was so touching. I cried through the whole thing & I am just sitting here praising God that He has included us in this crazy, amazing plan of His for our family. It made me want to work that much harder to bring Bella home. (And yes...we are still calling her Bella around here :) Love you all...I'm off to dreamland.....

Prayer

I found this over at my friend Ginger's blog. It was too good not to share.

{ from ted loder’s guerillas of grace: }

how shall i pray?

are tears prayers, lord?

are screams prayers,
or groans
or sighs
or curses?

can trembling hands be lifted to you,
or clenched fists
or the cold sweat that trickles down my back
or the cramps that knot my stomach?

will you accept my prayers, lord,
my real prayers,
rooted in the muck and mud and rock of my life,
and not just the pretty, cut-flower,
gracefully arranged bouquet of words?

will you accept me, lord,
as i really am,
messed up mixture of glory and grime?

Hello From Florida!

Hi friends :) Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've been in Florida for a week now, spending time with my family while Matt is in China. I'm having a really good time here. I've been sick for most of the week, but I'm feeling a little better today. I've had a few "I think I need to go the emergency room" moments & a major pregnancy scare (I'm not--praise God!!). It's been an interesting week :)

I've talked to Matt a couple of times & it sounds like they're having a really amazing trip. 5 college students have already given their life to Christ! Every time I talk to him he says, I want to adopt from China--maybe one day! We are going for a kid in every color--red & yellow, black & white. We'll see where God leads us. They got to worship with a house church pastor the other day--it sounds like it was a very sweet time. He's also hoping to be able to go to a house church meeting in the next couple of days. I am so thankful that he is getting these experiences, but a little jealous that I'm not right there with him! Hopefully someday I'll get there. For all my single friends out there--go on as many mission trips as you can before you get married & have babies--it's so much harder now & it's the one thing I miss the most!

My Mom is doing ok. She just left for the hospital for a red blood cell booster shot. She finished her 4th round of chemo yesterday. Her body is extremely worn & tired, but she is still so strong. I know she doesn't think she is, but I do. I think she's more beautiful & strong than she's ever been & I'm proud to be her daughter. We've had some good news in the last few days about her cancer, but I can't remember the right terminology, so I'll save that for another post. I think her cancer cell counts are way down. Praise God for good news! I'll update when I get things figured out.

Emmy & I have been making blankets like crazy. We bought some new fabrics & should have those for sale in the next few days. I"ll just give you a preview.....we have toile & polka dots!! They are SO CUTE!! I can't wait to start selling them--I think people will really love them.

On the adoption front....we have a first draft of our homestudy!! Yeah! We should have the final notarized copy by next week. Then all we have to do is complete our psychological testing and gather some documents & we're done with all the paperwork!!! We're getting so close to the finish line--I'm so excited! We need a HUGE chunk of money in the next month, so please pray that we will be accepted by the grant & loan scholarships that we're about to apply for. We'll also be selling t-shirts when we get home, so if you know anyone who wants one, let me know!!

Last of all...I have always loved Hillsong United. But their new stuff is just so good. Go check them out here or here.

Here are some pictures for your view pleasure.


Ava's "I just smashed bananas in my hair & I don't like you laughing about it" face


the girls


Ava with Auntie Em & Grandma


Getting ready to swim


Swimming & not so sure if she's liking it


Playing with her new favorite toy

Back Pain, Home Study & My Mama

Hey friends! I hope you've had a good Sunday. I had to stay home from church this morning b/c I somehow managed to throw my back out this week & I am pretty much couch bound. Not fun! But I am managing & thankfully Ava has been good for me. I also wanted to keep Ava out of the nursery this week since it is a breeding ground for germs. We're headed to Florida on Friday to spend 2 weeks with my family while Matt is in China. Since my Mom is in chemo, her immune system is very weak & I didn't want to bring any extra germs with us. So, we had a quiet morning at home. Please pray that my back starts healing....we have so much to do by tomorrow night before our social worker comes.

Tomorrow we have our last meeting with our social worker, Beth. We have our in-home visit where she tours our home, does our final couple interview & observes how we interact with Ava in her own environment. We are SO happy that our homestudy is wrapping up. It's definitely the most labor intensive part of our entire adoption process. We were really wanting to have our final meeting before we both took off for the rest of the month, so we're really happy that it all worked out. The US Center for Immigration Services (USCIS) is increasing their fees on July 31, so we really wanted to have our homestudy complete by then so we don't have to pay the extra (large) charge. Praise God....it looks like it will happen! The only bad thing by finishing early is that we now need our fee ASAP. Pray that God provides the last $300 that we need for this portion of our paperwork! Thanks for praying!! When we get back in August, we will just have to meet with our psychologist for IQ, personality & general testing and then gather a few more documents & our entire dossier will be COMPLETE!! We're hoping to have everything done & sent by early September. Please pray with us as we work diligently to complete this goal. Once our homestudy is complete we can start applying for grants & loans (hallelujah!!). To submit our dossier we will need another $5,500, so we are really hoping to be accepted by some grant organizations. After everything is turned in we will have about a year to wait for the referral of our daughter & then we will travel to get her about a month after that. SO.....hopefully she will be home by next fall.....YEAH!!! Thanks for praying through all of these things with us!

Finally, an update on my Mom. She is halfway done with her chemo treatments now. She has the week off and begins her 4th round next Friday. She had a CT Scan done this week to see the progress of the chemo. We should have the results from that by Friday. Please be praying for this.....we really need some good news right now. Pray that the chemo is doing its work & that she is on the road to being cancer free. She has about 2 good days per chemo round & the rest of the time she feels completely terrible. Her main pain is in her stomach....it's very tight, crampy & uncomfortable. She is also not sleeping very well. Please be praying for her as she begins round #4 this weekend. Thanks for your prayers. I can't wait to see my family & to spend some special time with my Mom.

Oops...one more thing :) Our family coordinator with AWAA traveled to El Salvador last week to work in-country to get some things moving within our program. The first referrals should be handed out soon to the 1st families...very exciting! El Salvador is trying to get some of the older & special needs kids adopted out first before they move on to the infants & toddlers. Here are some pictures she took of some kids that are adoptable. They are so beautiful. I thought I'd put the pictures on my blog....you never know who might see one of these kids & decide to pursue their adoption. Plus you get to see how incredible beautiful the El Salvadorian people are! Love you all! If you or anyone you know is even slightly interested in any of these kids, click here to find out how to contact AWAA.

I Am Truly Unique!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Ava Bug

Silliness

Here are some pictures from the last day of jr. high camp with all the staff guys & wives. It would take 12 days to explain why the boys look the way that they do & I don't really care to spend my day that way.....SO.....if you care, click here to see what this is all about :)

Check Out This Website!!

Hey friends! One of my best friends from Florida, Aprile, just launched her own website for her teaching ministry. Go check it out....you will not be sorry!

www.aprilesweers.com

There are tons of reflection stories, pictures of her recent trip to Uganda, recipes and an AMAZING resource section with recommended reading. It is such a great website & tool for women to use. Enjoy! And if you check it out, sign the guestbook & let her know what you thought! Love you all!

Such A Good Video!

Watch this & let me know what you think

My Little Cuties

Hey all. I just had to share these 2 new pictures with you guys. I love them! Also, thanks for praying for us yesterday. Our interview went awesome! We have another one on Thursday & then hopefully our last one next week...yeah!! Love you all!



So sweet


Do they look alike or what?????

Uh-Oh

I have always thought that kids who say "uh-oh" are just the cutest little things. I don't know why, but that word always melted my heart. So of course I have been throwing that word around all the time since Ava was born hoping she would pick it up. Well it finally stuck & she has been saying it pretty much all the time. Cat runs away...uh-oh. Ava falls down....uh-oh. Daddy acts silly....uh-oh. Ava sees a flower....uh-oh. It is so cute & I have been trying to catch in tape for days now. This morning I finally got it....twice! I hope you can catch it. I love the way she says it....I think it sounds so cute :) Ps---can you tell she still hasn't quite figured out the whole standing up business :)


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Still Walking

For those of you who just couldn't wait to see Ava walking some more (AKA: the grandparents) :) Enjoy!!



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Fun With The Boys

Last week I had the fun privilege of keeping our good friend Aaron & Jamie's kids so that Jamie could go to camp with her hubby. We had such a fun time hanging out with the boys. They are SUCH GREAT kids! Here are a few pictures & videos from our time together. Love you guys & miss you!! Tell your Mom & Dad to bring you again some time :)




Strong Cayden after eating his "magic beans"


Cutie-pie Deacon


My attempt of getting all 3 squirmy kids into a picture....their expressions are priceless :)



I finally got my picture....I just had to strap them all down!! Ha ha! Welcome to Carseat City



Playing with food at the Children's Museum





Driving Mr. Deacon around




Dancing Fun :)

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Please Pray Today

Hey friends! I have so much to write about my week with the Ivey kids last week & so many pictures to post, but I'm about to walk out the door & wanted to write this really quick. Please be praying for Matt & I as we have our first meeting with our adoption social worker this afternoon. We are driving up to Conroe today & Thursday to do our first couple interviews & then (hopefully) she will be coming next week to do our in-home visit & our individual interviews. So just be praying today at 1:00 for God to give us favor in her eyes, for us to have clarity of thought & speech as we work through our interview, for Ava to be good & not grumpy with her babysitters (she's cutting more teeth...enough said!!) and for our homestudy process to come to a quick & easy end. Thanks for praying!! Hopefully I will post lots of pics and videos in the next few days. Love you all!!!