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!

Heartache...

These last 7 days have been an emotional roller-coaster for our family....I first imagined this post would be one of surprise and excitement to all our friends, then the roller-coaster immediately (and unexpectedly) dropped and turned our "ride" into complete heartache...

A week ago exactly we got a call, totally out of the blue, asking us if we'd like to adopt a baby boy who would be born in just 2 days.  And what do you think our answer was?  "ABSOLUTELY"!  So we sat down with the birthfamily the very next evening and talked through all the adoption details, how sure the 14 yr.old birthmom was with this decision (100% was the answer we got over and over), how best to protect the birthmom from bonding with the baby, why these decisions are made before the post-pardum emotions hit, the legal side of things, etc. etc.  It was an amazing evening full of honesty, love, understanding; even joy - on our part - as we plan the quick arrival of our child.

I was invited to go with the birthfamily to the last doctor appointment the very next morning, which the doctor told her to walk right across the street and get checked in - the baby was going to be induced right away!  I was there, just the birthmom and myself, for about 3 hours getting her checked in, gown on, iv's in, heart monitor beautifully beating away the heart beat of our son....

After a long and exhausting, yet joyful day, this beautiful baby boy was born at 11:00pm.  The three of us couldn't get to the hospital soon enough the next day to meet him.  It was an amazing, yet awkward, time of meeting our son.  God had beautifully answered our 3 year long plea for a child...at least that's what we thought at the moment...

The very next day began the sudden turn of events...without giving you any details, the birthmom has decided to keep the baby.

Our heart is aching.  We held this baby, fed him, changed his diaper, stroked his hair, took pictures, and even named him.  And now he is gone from us.  The tears continue to flow, our heart continues to break, and we are planning a tough conversation with Colin as to why his brother won't be coming home.  The pain of loosing our son is great...but God's grace is bringing us peace in the midst...

We rest in God's grace today, and everyday, and trust His plan completely!  There's a bigger battle going on - a spiritual one - and I've been reading this verse constantly the last couple of days - Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."  God is GREAT and His plan for us is GREAT.  We place ourselves in His arms and are comforted by His love.  Our faith is strong and unbreakable.

So now, as I pack up the bassinet, clothes, carseat, baby bottles, and formula, I am praying for our child - the one God will bring us in His perfect timing.  We are asking if God wills, to have this child come into our home as soon as possible.  Our heart aches for more children and we know that that ache is from the Lord.  So we wait.  We wait, knowing that God is fighting for us.  We wait, knowing that God is working, even when we can't see it.

We are $2,000 closer to our goal to be able to sign a contract with Lifetime Adoption Center.  Will you please help us?  We still need $18,000.

We would appreciate your prayers as we put our pain in God's hands to ease it away the way He desires.  Now we add "1 failed adoption" to our list of trials God has graciously allowed us to go through to grow us closer to Him and to hopefully use it to minister to someone else hurting.

On a side note, when we were asked to adopt this baby, Dustin brought me home beautiful white tulips to celebrate.  And it was very fitting that yesterday, those tulips wilted...

What Does God Have In Store For Us This Year?!

Happy New Year!  It is the second week of January 2012 already...I can't believe how fast the holidays flew by (like they do every year)!  We are praising God for all the blessings in our life and one that has been abundant these last couple months is our small home-based business!  God surprised us by having someone (thank you to who ever you are!!) put our Door Muffs on Pinterest.com just before Thanksgiving!  What an unexpected financial gift that has come along with that!  Over 16,000 people have viewed our sweet lil' door muffs (that we designed ourselves!) and over 70 have been purchased...along with quilts and burp cloths!  The orders keep coming every day and I am busy sewing and mailing!
 I just love it and feel so shocked and blessed by God's provision, which came at the perfect time!  If you feel like checking out our Store, here's the link: Sweet Dreams by Tami - Online Baby Boutique

Adoption Update # 2.5....only half an update because there is not much to update.  So Christmas came and went and as you might have guessed, I did not find a baby in my stocking this year!  :)  We are mailing out more fundraising letters each week and are waiting for God's perfect provisions!  Yesterday we received $250 to put in our "Baby Fund" from two wonderful and generous friends.  We are so thankful and blessed by every penny!  So we keep on waiting and trusting and moving forward with the life God has for us right now.

The running tally for our "Baby Fund" is: $1,680....with $18,320 to go!  We are also praying and waiting to see if we receive a grant from Lifetime Adoption to help lower the cost to sign our contract with them.  We are hoping to find out this week!

We have no idea what God has in store for us this year!  But we know it will be amazing...even if there are bumps and turns that we wish we could avoid....because God is the Lord of our life and He alone has planned our steps...where ever they take us!  Our eyes are turned heavenward and we trust and serve and love our God!

Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, and encouraging words!  They mean the world to us!

Adoption Update #2

Christmas is just three days away and oh how I'm hoping that I find a precious baby in my stocking this year! :)
  
Our hearts are aching to meet our children and our arms are aching to hold them.  The last few weeks have been emotional for me with the ups and downs of waiting....and choosing to make the conscience choice to turn my heart and desires over to God every second of the day.   God is FAITHFUL and the little boy playing next to me is the perfect example of that!  Colin brings me (us!) so much joy and fills my (our!) heart to overflowing with thanksgiving to God for making the three of us a family!!  Really, what more could I want...and if God chooses not to give us any more children then I am extremely happy with the beautiful little family God alone has created.

God has given Dustin and I an overwhelming desire and love for children, so we continue to wait and see what glorious plan He has for our family!

For God's GLORY we were given $1,000 to add to our "baby fund" this past week raising our "baby fund" to $1,430!  We are praising God for what He is doing in His PERFECT timing!  We have $18,570 more to go to reach our $20,000 goal.  In the next couple of weeks we'll be mailing out more letters to our friends asking for their help in reaching our goal if God wills.  So keep an eye on your mailbox!  :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

All our love,
Dustin, Tami, & Colin

Adoption Update #1

So today I sit here thankful for all God is doing in our lives.  His plan is perfect and we are (trying to) patiently wait for His perfect timing!

We are praying constantly for our future children and also that God will protect the birthfamilies and beautifully weave our paths together.

We have raised $430 towards our $20,000 goal.  We praise God for every penny and for our amazing friends and family who have helped us be one step closer to our goal!  We continue to pray for God's provision and to joyfully wait to see what God has planned.  We know it's gonna be amazing!

Pumpkin Patch

Today Colin and I embarked on his second ever outing to a pumpkin patch....and boy was it going to be great!   Over the past few weeks I have resisted the urge to buy "that perfect pumpkin" at Trader Joes because I wanted Colin to have the whole "pumpkin patch experience".  :)

So we started our morning at Starbucks with each of us getting our own hot apple cider and then headed the 7 miles to a local family farm.

Once there we were greeted with cows and beautiful fall colored trees lining the entrance to the dirt parking lot that's next to the large family home.

Once inside the farm, we grabbed a cute, rusty 'ol wagon and headed out to pick our own pumpkins!

We passed goats, pigs, emu's, and a llama - named Pilgrim.

The first stop was grabbing a pair of clippers to cut our pumpkins from the vine ~ love it!

And here's what we chose, out of the hundreds to choose from.....

Satisfied with our findings, and ready to get out of the hot sun, we headed to the play area!

And after two and a half hours of pumpkin patch FUN, it was time to go...with promises of returning next year!

Thank you Pumpkin Patch for making today all I had hoped it would be!

Snippets of Our Life

(8.2011)
Summertime is quickly coming to an end, and although I love the season of fall and am excited about apple cider, the orange and red of changing leaves, and cooler weather, I am being sentimental and recapping our summer fun!

 Avila Beach, CA

 Cousins / Mom & Daughters / Santa Maria, CA

 Sick for 4th of July = Smores indoors

 Cousins / Best Girlfriends of 30 + yrs.

 Swim Lessons!

 Otter Pops together after a long day...oh the love

 Soak'n up the rays

OK Summer, thanks for the visit!  We'll see you again next year!  (8.2011)

Growing Our Family

To All Our Family & Friends,

We are moving forward with our next adoption!  Our original hopes were to adopt within our city through our Social Services department, but God has closed that door. We have now decided to go through Lifetime Adoption Center (again!) to bring our baby home.  

After two years of waiting on God's perfect timing, we are more than ready to fill our arms with more children and brothers/sisters for Colin.  We rest fully in the fact that God knows who our children are and how they will come to be ours. We know God hasn't said, "Oh yeah, Dustin and Tami (with a smack to the forehead)!  OK, where's that baby?"  :)

The beautiful story of how God will bring this baby to us is just beginning and we need your help.  We are humbling asking for your support!  The cost will be above $20,000 which is why we are coming to you with this request.  Our desire is to have as many kids as the Lord sees fit to bless us with and adoption happens to be the only mechanism for this to happen.  The cost of adoption is great and we are unable to do it alone.  God amazingly provided all that we needed 5 years ago to bring Colin home and we trust that He will do it again in His timing.

Will you also please pray for the birthfamily?  Pray that God would graciously give them a peace and a confidence in their decision to lovingly give their baby a better life (with us). Please pray for wisdom and patience for everything we'll face along the way.  Pray for spiritual and physical protection of the birthmom and that she might come to know the Lord, if she doesn't already.

Any gracious donations can be made here on this blog via our Paypal "Donate" button, on our facebook page via our Fundrazr "Give" button, or directly to us.  You can reach us through email at sweetdreams.tami@gmail.com.

We deeply thank you for your love, support, care and prayers.  God has blessed us with amazing friends and family.  Thank you for being a special part of our life.

Dustin & Tami & Colin

Remembering & Celebrating Life

Last weekend we said goodbye to my favorite grandpa, Ralph Larsen, who died at the grand 'ol age of 91.  Exactly a year ago we were celebrating his 90th bday with the entire family and we all vowed to come back for his 100th - we really did think he would live that long.  :)

As we were preparing for his burial, I was reminded of all our family would face this month.  Celebrations were just around the corner ~ my cousin's marriage to his beautiful fiancee, and 3 fun birthdays for our nieces and nephew.  Life goes on and we celebrate every stage, every season.

The burial was sweet.  Remembering the man my grandpa was was special.  He was the rock of our family - the only man who was constant, who never left, who loved us and supported us no matter what.  The curious minds of little boys made us softly chuckle as the casket was lowered.  And half way down, our son broke the silence by saying, "Grammy's dad's in there (pointing to the casket).  Granddad died.  And he's in heaven with God."

As we all went through the photo memories of our life with grandpa, I came across one of my new favorite pictures.  It was the day my grandpa retired from being a Captain for United Airlines for 36 years.  I was almost 3 yrs. old and I remember that day.  It is a special memory for me.

(Look'n good Mom!)

I thank God these last couple of weeks that Colin and I were able to be with my mom to help her with all the details of ending the chapter of grandpa's life.  Immediate family came to celebrate and it was a nice time of being together and lov'n on each other.

Grandpa, you will be deeply missed.  Thank you for our family you and grandma beautifully created.