Simply Love Fundraiser!!!! *Updated & Extended*

We have a new fundraiser to share with yall! Thanks to Kari at mycrazyadoption.org we are selling Simply Love T-Shirts to help bring our child home! Because I have to buy these shirts in bulk, we are going to do a 2 week selling blitz. A selling blitz means these shirts will be available to purchase for 2 weeks and after the deadline I will order them. You should receive the shirts about 7-12 days after the deadline. Wait, we aren't just offering shirts, we are offering hats and bags! Just click the "buy now" buttons on the right side bar! Proceeds from each shirt will go toward our adoption! Let me know is you have any questions! Here are the Simply Love items.

*Women's shirts can be ordered in Unisex or Junior Fit! Junior fit run small so we advise that you order ONE size UP from your regular t-shirt size! Leave a note telling me which fit you would prefer when you checkout!*

Simply Love 2 Week Blitz June 29 - July 28 (EXTENDED)

Brown Unisex or Junior Fit Shirt with Pink and White Pattern - $25 + $2 Shipping

S, M, L, XL and XXL (+ $1.50)

Black Unisex or Junior Fit Shirt with Blue and White Pattern - $25 + $2 for Shipping
S, M, L, XL and XXL (+ $1.50)

Grey, Black or Blue Unisex Men's shirt with Red and White Pattern - $25 + $2 for Shipping

S, M, L, XL and XXL (+ $1.50)

Kids Grey Shirt - $20 + $2 for shipping

YXS (2-4), YS (6-8), YM (10-12), YL (14-16), YXL (18-20)

Simply Love Purse Tote in Blue, Brown, Pink or Black - $30 + $2 for Shipping

Brown Distressed Hat with Cream Wording - $22 + $2 for Shipping

Women's Military Style Hat in Brown, Khaki or Black - $22 + $2 for Shipping

*Buy Now Buttons are up! *

We are diving in!

We received emails from both our family coordinator AND our AWAA social worker (in Texas AWAA does the home study) and WOW I'm overwhelmed!! There is soooo much paperwork! To give you an idea, we received 10 attachments from our social worker and 16 from our FC! Ive always heard that the paper chase for the dossier was long and hard but so far I think its much worse for the home study!! And we need to get this stuff in ASAP because it could take 3-4 months to finish the home study AFTER we submit all the paperwork! We've only been at this for 2 days and I'm already tired and stressed...how do people do this??? OK sorry had to vent a little! One of our biggest issues right now is that Chris and I are not very organized. We have a habit of leaving important documents in random places instead of in the fire safe at home. For example I can not seem to find my birth certificate or Chris' social security card...wtheck?? It make no sense that they would be missing but they are! Ive already had 2 panic attacks about it but I have to keep reminding myself its no biggie and an easy fix (um I'm kind of dramatic!). So today I went ahead and ordered the certified copies of our birth certs which we will need for the dossier anyway and Chris is going to deal with the social security card tomorrow. Tonight after group we are going to organize every piece of paper we can find in our house!

Ok sorry I got a little side tracked but hey I'm a little less stressed now that I got that off my chest. Eventually I will write a blog with all the items we have to have for the home study and dossier but right now I will just tell you that there are 27 items on the checklist for the home study and so far we have finished 6 of them. Thankfully half of the items are in the HUGE packet that we received via email and really only require us to fill them out and sign. The items left that we actually have to go and get are copies of social security cards, medical exams,copies of all 3 birth certs (oh yeah did I mention I can't seem to find Jacob's either!!), financial statement, floor plan sketch (Chris is actually pretty excited about this), pics of our house/yard areas and employment verification. Most of that list is actually pretty easy I just have to get to work!

I can already tell that I am going to love our social worker. In the attachments she gave us there is a tip sheet with tips about some of the items on the list of documents and in the last tip she reminds that "If God brings me to it, He will bring me through it!" and I couldn't agree more! In the last 24 hours I have let the stress get to me and I forgot that this is not about us, its about HIM. He WILL help us with all this. I just have to keep remembering that this is ALL in His timing not mine. Now if we can just get through the medical exam next week without Chris fainting :)!

~Abbey

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” -Luke 12:22-24

I thank Him

I have to admit that I have a lot to be thankful for on a regular basis. I'm thankful for my family, my job, my friends, etc. But lately I'm REALLY thankful for God changing me. I keep remembering where I was a year ago, or even worse six months ago, and I am so thankful that I'm not there anymore. A year ago I was depressed and bitter. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I knew God was saying "not yet" and I refused to listen. I wanted another child so bad (and selfishly what I thought our family should look like) that I just ignored Him. Thankfully my God is much more stubborn than I am and He saved me from myself. I am so thankful that now I can rejoice when a friend finds out she is pregnant instead of cringing in jealousy. I can look at ultrasounds and little babies without pain and bitterness. Sure there is still longing for another child but now my longing is more in line with God's longing. Now I don't just want another child to add to our family, but also another child to add to God's kingdom. I don't just dream about our kids growing up, but also about orphans all around the world getting fed and loved on. God took my pain and my longing and turned it into something beautiful. He freed me from my selfishness and broke my heart for what broke His. I'm not perfect but I am changed!

Something else I have to thank God for is freeing me from my stubbornness about my weight. Its pretty obvious that I need to get healthy, not just for myself but for my family too. But I am VERY stubborn and if I can find a reason not to do something then I am pretty set in my ways. Thats how I have been about my weight since we first started trying for kids. I have always known that losing weight would make it easier to get pregnant, but my stubbornness would kick in and I figured, whats the point? Im going to get pregnant soon and just gain it all back. Ok I admit this logic was stupid but I was so stuck in my ways that I couldnt find a way out. Well, now what the heck is my excuse?? NOTHING! For the first time since we have been married, I am actually hoping to not get pregnant (yeah yall that know me knew I pushed Chris into having kids, thankfully he loves being a daddy and forgave me ;) so I have NOTHING standing in my way! So, Im gonna do it! I feel that God is asking me to fix a lot of areas of my life and this is one of them! I am a goal oriented person so I am going to set a goal for myself to lose 100lbs in 1 year! Yep, Im crazy. That means 2lbs a week! But Im tired of living with excuses, like "I can't because its too hard" or "I don't have enough time". I CAN do this and I CAN make time. I NEED to do this. I owe this to my husband, to Jacob, our future kids and to my family! So its been 2 weeks since Ive started this goal and Im not doing so great with only losing 2.5lbs, but I figure I need a week or 2 get used to our new lifestyle. No more excuses and no more laziness. Im looking forward to the "new me" that God is creating inside and out.
So, is God asking you to "stop making excuses and start making changes"? Don't ignore it!

~Abbey

Common Objections to Adoption

Ok sorry for posting 3 posts in one day but I just saw this video and HAD to share it! I think God for putting a line through my reasons to not adopt now!

Agreement Sent Off!!

We mailed our signed AWA agreement (and other forms) and Initial Program Fee today!! We are soooo blessed because without the garage sale, we wouldn't have been able to do this for a few weeks!! We were so excited about taking this BIG step that I wanted to document it with some pics...

So now we wait for AWA to receive our packet and assign us a family coordinator who will give us a list of documents to get for our dossier and our home study social worker. Also we need to complete our 8 hour online training course for adoptive parents. Yay for moving faster than we thought!

~Abbey

Adoption Fundraising Garage Sale = SUCCESS!!

Our adoption fundraising garage sale was a success!! We had our garage sale June 17 and 18 and my goal was $500 for the whole weekend and we received $900!!!!! Enough (added with our savings) to send in the first fee!! Wow and praise God! In the first hour we made $120 and we made more on Friday then we did Saturday(which really surprised me!). We had a lot of fun, even in the 100 degree weather and even got a few donations. The most awesome part was getting to meet 3 adoptive families that stopped by because of our signs. We still have a lot of stuff left so we are planning to do a few more garage sales in the next few months but we need more donations, so if you have anything you don't want/need, just email me and I will pick it up! Here are some pics from our garage sale (2nd day):

Thanks again for everyone helped out, we really could not have done this without yall!!

~Abbey

Who are we??

So I realized the other day that we are probably going to have a lot of random people viewing this blog from the garage sale, AWA yahoo group (well when we get the info from our FC), etc. and I thought it would be a good idea to give yall an idea of who we are. I’m Abbey and I am married to one of my best friends, Chris. We live in Houston, TX and have been married for 4.5yrs. We have a 2yr old, Jacob and he has truly changed our lives. We love soccer and the Houston Dynamo, hanging out with friends and family, and we try to put God as the center of our family. Jacob is outgoing, social, talkative and goofy. He is rarely shy and will hug a stranger (seriously he has hugged a waitress or 2!). He calms us with his sweet nature and reminds us to laugh with his goofy tendencies (he got that from his daddy!). I am head over heels in love with my husband and I really don’t know how I keep him! He is gentle, loving and selfless but also is my rock and keeps me grounded when my dreams try to float me away. And who am I? Well I’m not that good at describing myself but I think you will learn soon that I am stubborn and a dreamer. I let very few things stand in my way, as long as someone is rooting for me! Ok enough talking; instead I will share some recent pictures of us instead!

Well I hope that gave you a little idea of who we are! Welcome, I hope that this blog helps you where ever you are in you life! More than anything I hope that this blog is not about us but about God and His mercy and His faithfulness. Now who are YOU? Leave me a comment so i can get to know you a little better!

~Abbey