Making some progress!

Small steps...but any forward movement is encouraging! Yesterday we received Scott's employer reference in the mail, so now we can mail it back to CA to be apostilled. Then we also got our appointment from the USCIS to have our biometrics taken. This is the final step for USCIS clearance, which is one of the more lengthy steps. We are still waiting on fingerprint clearance from the FBI, so please pray that we will get that soon. After we get all of the clearances we can take all our paperwork to the state department in GA to have it apostilled, and then get it sent off for translation. We are praying to get that done before Christmas, but that deadline is quickly approaching.

Also, we have been doing well in our fundraisers. The tshirts have been ordered, so if you haven't paid we would appreciate a check anytime. You can message me on Facebook for our address. We should be able to get those distributed before Christmas (hopefully)! We have about $2000 left to raise before we can submit our dossier to Bethany, so we are also praying that we can get that raised so it doesn't hinder our progress. After that payment we will begin raising funds for travel, which we estimate to be around $10,000. We are planning a fundraiser for January, so I will post more info on that in the coming weeks.

We have been very blessed by personal donations thus far. We are hoping to get a matching grant, which people can donate to for our travel costs. We will post more info about donations after December 15th.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

My latest project...

For months since we started the adoption I looked forward to the day when we would know the child that we were adopting. Ever since we got approved for our little girl I have been envisioning the projects I wanted to do before she came home. One was to create a special "lovey" to send to her in Colombia. It is recommended to send the child a soft toy that they can bond with in the orphanage. Then when your child leaves she will always have that "lovey" that smells like the place she has always called home. It is a good way to bridge the gap.

My sweet friend Joy suggested I make a rag doll. My great-grandmother made me a rag doll that I still have, and our sweet girl shares a name with my great-grandma. I knew it would be perfect to sew my girl a similar doll. I ended up hand stitching and embroidering the doll, so it was a sweet time to focus on our daughter, and pray her her.

I finally finished sewing her dress today. It was made from a night gown that was made by my great-grandma, and I had enough material to make a matching dress for our girl. I can't wait to see her in it!

 The finished dolly!

 My rag doll, the new doll, and matching dress. 

I'm hoping maybe we can send the doll for Christmas, but we are still trying to figure out how to make that happen.

Other good news is that our check has cleared the USCIS, so we should be getting our fingerprint appointment soon. We are waiting on USCIS clearance, FBI fingerprint clearance, and our employer reference. Then we will get everything apostilled. Getting closer to the end of the paperwork! Hooray!

Nursery Projects!

This week I decided to start on some of the nursery projects I have been planning. We are very fortunate that the only furniture we have to buy is a crib. A while back I painted my great-grandmother's sewing cabinet, and that will work as a changing station. This week I decided to paint our glider, a book shelf, and a mini rocking chair. They are not completely finished but here are some pictures of the progress. The glider is mine from when I was a baby! It's in great shape, but I wanted to update it.

I will post completed pictures soon! We are almost ready to order shirts, so please let me know if you would still like one. You can comment on the blog, or message me on Facebook. Thanks for your support!