Adoption Update

Lots of things have been happening with our adoption process!

1.  We are almost done with our home study (which gets us approved to bring a baby home!).  We need to have our social worker come out to our house to make sure we have the necessities like smoke detectors and fire extinguishers and then we can check the home study done.

2.  We have a working version of our profile done (a set of papers that the birth moms see when they are choosing a family!).  It still needs some work in the polishing area, but we have a good start so far.  When we meet the criteria that a birth mom is looking for, our profile will be made available...hopefully this will start happening this spring and/or summer!  We have also been praying for our birth mom and dad and our baby...we hope you will too!

3. The Nies Adoption Fund has been started at our local bank.  A few people have been asking about sending checks.  You can send them directly to the BankWest in Gregory, SD with "Nies Adoption" written on the check.  Thank you in advance!  The money issue is still our biggest roadblock.  We are making lots of changes in our personal budget to squeeze every penny we can, but our goal is to pay for the adoption as we go and not borrow any money.  This makes fundraising a necessity for us!

4.  Fundraising is starting!  After confirmation is done, Jared's schedule lightens up a bit at church and we will be planning a dinner here in town.  I am also planning on a Thirty-One catalog party in May (when the new catalog comes out!) and maybe a Pampered Chef party a little later in the summer (both in person and online).  You might notice an Amazon link on the blog too.  This is how it works...anytime you click on that box to the right, it will take you to Amazon.  You place your order (whatever you want) and we earn a percentage of what you buy.  It doesn't matter what you buy and we can't see what you buy, so don't let that worry you.  Just know you are supporting us by buying online with our link!

5. Craft show sewing is in full swing.  I have been working furiously on some really cute items and I'll put a separate entry up later this week.  I have learned that I am not cut out for the type of sewing where you make the same thing dozens of times to build an inventory.  I am going to specialize in a few patterns and make lots of those, and then make some unique, one-of-a-kind type items so I don't drive myself crazy.  I am more than happy to do it for our adoption, but not planning on doing the craft show thing on a regular basis.  I have been mulling over maybe selling my things online, but not sure about that yet.

Thanks for your support and love!  Please keep us in your prayers as we get closer to welcoming a new little one in our family and as we approach difficult anniversaries that make our arms ache for our little Evelyn.