My BARGAIN on Craigslist!!!

So... I've been shopping for Asha again!!  Go figure right?!  This time I hit the jackpot!!  I was searching Craigslist during my break at work on Friday and found this nursery furniture.  It's not the crib or finish that I had picked out but... it was a steal!!  I emailed right away and scheduled to look at it on Sunday. Everything looks brand new and they are good solid pieces!!

3 SOLID WOOD PIECES: Armoir w/baskets, changing table/dresser w/baskets and crib  --- $350.  So... of course they came home with me!! :)  

I was really hoping for a convertible crib but I really couldn't pass this deal up.  This picture is the Craigslist photo just to show what the set looks like.  I will certainly post pictures of Asha's room when we get things settled.  If you are crib shopping, there are some smoking deals on Craigslist.  We had to drive 2 hours to Lancaster, NY but I got lunch at Tandoori's Indian Cuisine out of it.  :)

There is no other news to report as we begin our week of Thanksgiving Blessings! We are still holding at #4.

WATOTO Children's Choir of Uganda

(4 of the beautiful girls that I was able to spend time with after the concert)

If you have not heard of these wonderful children, you must check them out.

I had the chance Tuesday evening to see the WATOTO Children's Choir perform at the Full Gospel Church here in Wellsville.  They were amazing, to say the least!!

Sometimes we get so caught up with our own problems that we forget that there are people out there dealing with bigger issues.  "In the Swahili language of East Africa, Watoto means the children.  To the destitute children of Uganda, Watoto means Hope."  The children in the choir are orphans of the war or HIV/AIDS in the African nation of Uganda.  The Watoto Children's Choir has been touring the world since 1994 and spreading the message of hope for Africa's 60 million orphaned children through their inspirational songs and testimonies.  Today the Watoto Ministry is caring for over 1,700 orphans in their villages.  They provide a loving and nurturing environment for these children to grow up in.  The children live in small villages and have house parents. They live like families rather than in an orphanage type setting. The children are cared for by a mother and father figure called Auntie and Uncle.  Their mission?  To care for and raise responsible christians so that they may be productive citizens in the future.  The children are not open for adoption.  One of Watoto's goals is to teach the children to follow their dreams so that they may be great leaders one day.  They are the future of Uganda and with our continued support and prayers will be able to bring change to their nation. 

Watoto Ministries mission statement is Rescue a child-Raise a leader-Rebuild a nation.

These children will change your life!!  Open your hearts and reach out, check out their website.  There are beautiful Christmas ideas in the gift shop.

This is a video that I took of the children singing "I Am Not Forgotten".

The chorus is... I am not forgotten, God knows my name.

These children are truly a blessing and inspiration!

THANK YOU to all who have served!!

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!!

Thank you to all the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces and sacrificed themselves for the freedoms of our nation.  Words cannot express enough how grateful I am to you!  May God bless you and keep you safe! 

If tomorrow all the things were gone,

I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

                                               -Lee Greenwood

For a touching tribute to our veterans, please follow the link below.

http://www.managedmusic.com/php/BYGIndex.php?page=playBYG

With a little HOPE...

Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. ^[1] To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled, a key condition in unrequited love.^[2] Hopefulness is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive attitude.

With the election and all, we decided to have a vote of our own!  We have decided to name our future daughter ASHA.  Asha means "hope" in hindi.  We were going to wait for our referral but we all agreed that we are sick of referring to her as "the baby". :)  She will still have her birth name somewhere in there but a definite middle name has not been decided yet.  Shad has had Asha picked for her name from the beginning and I just kind of said "Yah, whatever!"  He has stood his ground for almost a year now with this and never backed down.  The least I could do is let him name our daughter.  After all, she is going to be his daughter too! :)

Now that the holidays are fast approaching, we have opened a "MALL" to begin a little fundraising to help with our adoption expenses.  Please consider using our link when you are doing your holiday shopping.  www.visitourmall.com/bringingashahome

So... hopefully I will be able to share some good news soon!  Happy Election Day!!

Another step forward!

I love it when you find out that you've moved up in line!!

I 'm fulfilling a long term subbing position at our elementary school to keep my mind busy while we wait.  It it could go through Easter so I figured the timing was about right with the adoption and all.  

I found out that we are one of the last families to have filed the I-600A  form before April 1 under the old regs.  If you file after April 1st, Immigration requires you to file the I-800.  Don't worry, we are grandfathered in!!  I'm told that it takes about 90 days to process the I-800 after fingerprinting is done AND it does not go to a regional office like the I-600A did.  I'm glad that we were able to deal with our regional Immigration office.  The staff up in Buffalo was awesome!  We were in and out in no time and I don't think we had to wait a week from the time they received our homestudy to get our approval letter. Great people to deal with!!

With the new regs... you cannot even be presented with a referral until you have approval.

Soo... Gidget, get your butt in gear! I thought we were going to pick our girls up together! :)

Well... it's been a week since my last post and I don't have any more news to report on our own adoption but there are many families that are being united with their babies as we speak.

Zeena and Amy K. are in India now and are with their little girls, Zaleeya and Devika!! Erica left today to pick up Zachary.  Kristi leaves on Sunday to finally meet Shaili and Amanda will be joining them on Tuesday to be reunited with Prasun.  Yes, I said reunited!  Amanda met Prasun when she traveled to pick up her daughter last year and started the process to adopt him when she returned to the states.  It's been a long time coming, but Prasun will finally see his mama again.  Best wishes everyone!!!!

I am so thrilled for these families!  but have to admit... I am extremely jealous! I have to remember that patience is a virtue and that only God knows when the timing is right for us to know our daughter.  However, with 5 children going home, that means there is room for more children to enter the orphanage.  :)  Maybe we will have some good news to report in the next few weeks.  November is National Adoption Month and it would be great to celebrate with a referral!

Movement again!!

Congrats to Colleen and Greg on their referral of a beautiful baby girl!

That makes our "official" number on the wait list... 5.  So, we continue to sit and wait patiently for our princess! Remember though, there is still a family on hold so we are actually #4. :) Keep the referrals coming!  

Inching along...

So... as promised... any new news would be passed along!  After a brief email from our agency this morning, we have moved to #6.  This does NOT include the family that is on hold.  So... that means we are closer to the top than we think! :) Not every family participates on the adoption forum so it is hard to keep track of everyone and where they are in the process.  All I know is that another child has been blessed with a family!  Congrats to you! 

Remembering Wendy...

Yesterday was a very special day for my family. It would have been my cousin Wendy's birthday. Her life was cut short by uterine sarcoma in November of 2006 at. By the time is was diagnosed it was already in stage 3. Although she had the best doctors possible for the situation, Wendy lost her battle only 6 months later. We started a tradition this year of releasing lavender balloons with messages in them from some place we shared fond memories. This year my Aunt Shirley picked her childhood home.

Then...

(after a bottle of wine, of course!)

we all went and got our hair cut in her memory.

It is being donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to help another cancer patient feel beautiful. My sisters and I each had 9 1/2 inches cut and my mom donated 11 1/2 inches.

This day was almost 2 years in the making. It was an extremely emotional day for me because it was something that Wendy and I were going to do together. The day we discussed donating our hair was the last day that we spent together. When she had called me that October to tell me that the treatments weren't working, she made me promise that I would still donate my hair. So... when my mom and sisters asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I asked them to donate their hair with me.

Thanks guys, it was the best be-lated birthday gift ever!

One more hop...

Congrats to Candice and her family for the referral of a little boy!! That moves us to #7. Although... rumor has it that we may actually be #6 because a family waiting has decided to put their application on hold. Any news will surely be passed along. Until then, we wait at #7.

Lots of congrats go out to the families that have received their NOC's and Guardianships in the past few weeks AND many many safe travel wishes to those of you who are traveling.