$$ Tuesday's Big Tally $$

I'll just go ahead and let the cat out of the bag - we have raised $7,642 for our adoption in three months!!! Can you believe it? We are overwhelmed at the support we have received, certainly through the money given, but mostly through people's attitudes about our adoption. During every fundraising project, people (more than we can count) absolutely TOOK IT ON! It seems like everywhere we go people are asking us about the adoption and wanting to know how it is going, along with our fundraising efforts. It really is amazing. Thank you, everyone who is reading, for joining us in our journey!

I have added our fundraising progress to the "Timeline" sidebar, so people can see exactly how much we have raised in each area. I hope this will encourage those of you who are adopting (or considering it) when you see actual numbers. For example, I NEVER imagined that we would raise $1300 selling Ugandan necklaces through 147 Million Orphans. We had necklaces coming out of our ears for several weeks, but it was SO worth it. Here's a cute picture of the boys with a bunch of necklaces (and donning their new 147 Million Orphan t-shirts, which they LOVE)....

Also, I can't stress enough how generous people have been in giving gifts. Sometimes people would write their check for extra when they would buy a necklace or some days we will just receive a random check in the mail. And, we haven't asked for any of it! I say that to encourage anyone who is considering adoption and intimidated by the cost. People are eager to support adoption by giving money. And, I want to encourage those of you who are giving to keep giving. It really makes all the difference to the family who is embarking on this journey. It has made us feel like we are not alone.

We have a goal of still raising around $5,400. Our desire is to raise $13,000 because that is what we will receive back in tax credits next year. Out of that money, we plan to give the amount we made through fundraising to our church's adoption fund. There are several families desiring to adopt in our church and it would be awesome to see all that money being used again and again for adoption. Hopefully, Congress will pass the adoption tax credit again this year. As it stands, the tax credit will expire at the end of this year, so we have to finalize our adoption by the end of the year to receive the tax credit at all if they don't extend it. That means we must get our baby by this June! (There is a six month waiting period before you can finalize.) We encourage all of you to write your U.S. Congressmen and request that the Adoption Tax Credit be approved indefinitely.

Many of you have asked about our timeline - we are waiting. Patiently and anxiously waiting. We have done all our paperwork and are waiting for our case worker to come visit our home and submit our home study. Then, we will be approved and will start waiting again - for a birth mother to choose our family. We have been in a holding pattern since the first of November because of some changes at our agency, which has been a little frustrating, I'll admit. But, we know God is in control of the details and will make sure our child comes to us at the right time. Personally, I'm hoping for a spring baby! : ) Never had one of those before!!!

I'll have some more pictures to share soon of our boys' new room! The big brothers got to move upstairs to make room for the baby downstairs. We went all out and made the room makeover their big Christmas present. It looks great. Next, we'll be putting up a baby bed. Oh my!