Thankful Thursday...

I have several friends who do thankful Thursday and wordless Wednesday- I am going to try to keep up with these. I feel that I have so many things to be thankful for right now, and I always love a good picture (for wordless Wednesday) So here are 5 things I am thankful for today:

1. My student teacher this semester, which has left me much time to work on adoption applications, grant applications, etc. The Lord knew I needed help this semester

2. My husband's help. Just about every day I send Bryan an email with at least 5 things I need him to do that day...even though he is so busy with his new job, he always gets things done to help me out. Don't know what I would do without him!

3. Friends who generously give. As of last Saturday we are halfway to our first $10,000 mark! This is from our support letters we sent out and the premier jewelry fundraiser that my friend Emily did for me. I see people giving so generously and it makes me want to give to others the same selfless way. Bryan and I have been so blessed with so many people who want to be a part of our story.

4. Speaking of funds, it is amazing the people who want to help and have great ideas for fundraisers! People have come out of the woodwork and offered to do different fundraisers for us. Stay tuned to the blog for what is coming up!!!!

5. I am so very thankful to friends who send me messages or notes on a daily basis. Some of them I do not even know very well, but they are always so encouraging and it is a blessing to know that so many people are praying for us and our little one.

I am one thankful girl!

Happy Thursday!!!

~Elizabeth

Can't pass up a good deal...or cute baby clothes!

I know what you are thinking when you look at this picture…



No, we have not been matched, and no we do not know what we are having, but I want to be prepared! I have now become a goodwill baby clothes junkie. I mean I bought all this over February break, and I probably put back 50 more things that I did not buy L. It is all gender neutral, so no matter whether we have a boy or girl they can wear the clothes (except for the cute pink ruffled rosebud outfit, but that was too stinkin cute to pass up! ) It is amazing the treasures I found and they all look practically new. I am loving being able to shop for baby clothes now! For so long I made myself stay out of the baby department and now I spend as much time as I can there looking at clothes that our sweet little one will wear one day!



I have also discovered a love for consignment sales. A few weeks ago my mom and I went to a few consignment sales around her house and mine, and let me just say...I will be going to consignment sales from now on! It is amazing what amazing treasures I found that we will need. Again, I went a little overboard on the girl clothes, but they are so cute...and if figured if we don't have a girl then one of my two pregnant friends might...I didn't buy as many clothes at the sales, mainly sheets, towels, a great boppy pillow, lap pads, washcloths, etc. Thankful that my momma went with me to help me find practical things we would need!



This last picture fits right in with all the clothes pictures. This was my valentines present from my parents. The yellow blanket my mom crocheted. It is the perfect size to snuggle a newborn in :-) She also bought two cute outfits with socks one for a boy says Romeo in traing (Bryan loved this one), the little girl outfit has pink and polka dots (these are two of my favorite things) I think Mim is ready to spoil a new grandbaby!

We are going to have one well dressed little one!

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Why "even the sparrow"?

You may be wondering why we chose "even the sparrow" as our blog title...

We were trying to come up with something cooler than- the noel's adoption blog or something. Since I love birds, I began to look for things having to do with birds. I came up Psalm 84:3 which says:

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young- a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my God and King.

This really spoke to me because our little one will be finding a home with us, and I also idenitifed with the swallow since she finds a place to build her nest for her young. We kindof adopted the phrase "even the sparrow" when we talk about our little one.

Can't wait to meet our little one!

IT IS WORTH IT ALL!

As I am writing this, my eyes are blurry from looking at Adoption Agency applications all day! I think I may start reciting my name, social security number, and hair color in my sleep.

I want to start at the beginning though…We began the adoption “process” in August when we met with Christian Adoption Consultants. Check them out here. It is a cool story of how we found them , I actually taught their daughter last year in my kindergarten class. I know that this is no coincidence. We met with them in August to get a little direction, because the whole process is quite overwhelming to a newbie!They told us that the first step was to complete a home study.

A home study is when you meet with a social worker, get background checks, references, and other documents to be approved to adopt in the state of Georgia. The state requires 3 visits, and we have completed 2 already. The second visit she came to our home. We have really enjoyed getting to know Cheri with Hope For Adoption. Check her site out here. There has been a lot of waiting during this homestudy…waiting for birth certificates to come in, waiting for FBI prints, waiting at the doctor’s office for a physical, but overall this has been a fairly quick process. We are waiting for a few more things, but as soon as they come in we can have our final meeting!!!!

After the home study is complete we are going to send out applications, our profiles and our homestudy to multiple agencies. That is what I have been working on today is getting applications done, so that as soon as our home study is in our hands we can send applications out and wait to be matched with our special little one!

So, it is back to the applications for me…

But like our consultant, Amy said, you labor for the baby in one way or another- and we are laboring through piles of paperwork right now, It will all be worth it when I see that little face!!!!