Where The Money Goes ~

I realized that this blog, one of my therapeutic & creative outlets, has become all about our adoption road.  No apologizes!  Adoption is awesome!!  Praying for, preparing for, and working hard to raise $$ for this road is almost all consuming right now in all 3 of us....hence the adoption "overtake" here!  :)

Our road has been bumpy lately and I am longing for the day when our next child is home with us and I can mentally get back to posting fun things like recipes, pics of the fam, & the excitement of life itself!  So for now, Thank You for supporting us right where we are.

Our heartache from earlier this month (if you missed it you can read it HERE) is hitting Colin harder now and it breaks our hearts.  Almost every day in tears he says, "I miss my brother and I want him to come back to us." etc. etc. It has made for some wonderful talks about God and trusting Him and waiting on Him.  It has also put more determination in our hearts to do what we can to raise the necessary funds to bring home the baby God has planned for us...and the rest - we wait on God for.

The adoption road is long, emotional, hard (at times) and expensive and unless you've been through it, it's hard to understand what's involved.  So, I thought I'd write it out.  :)

The goal we are trying to reach is $20,000 and that is most likely the minimum that we will need.  See here:

(These steps are in order.)

* Homestudy - $8,002.50 +/-
-Breakdown:
     -Home Visit & Report:  $1,900
     -Background Checks/Fingerprinting:  $102.50
     -Birthmom Counseling/Consent (req'd in NV):  $2,800 (+ $500 if birthfather does this separately)
     -Online Courses (NV req'd) & overnighting paperwork fees:  $200
     -Post Placement Visits (total of 6 - NV req'd):  $1,800
     -Interstate Contract (if birthmom lives in another state)  $700

* Lifetime Adoption Center - $15,997
-To sign our contract with them and start getting shown to birthmoms.  This price includes our returning family discount ($1,000).  Once we get closer to signing, we will apply for a grant that could give us up to $2,500 towards the cost.

* Lawyer - $3,325 - $3,425

* Lawyer for Birthparents - TBD
-If our birthmom lives in another state

* Birthmom Expenses - TBD
-Anything from clothes to hospital bill

* Travel Expenses - TBD
-Airline travel, hotel, food, rental car/gas, etc. if baby is born in another city/state.

So we pray for the children God has planned for us through our hours of paperwork, fundraising, phone calls, and home visits.  We do all of it for God's glory!

To see how you can help us reach our goal and bring us one step closer to meeting our child, HERE is our current fundraising plans!  THANK YOU for your generosity and prayers!