Oh how quickly it goes....

Is it possible! We are 5th in line!

FIFTH!!!

I cannot believe how incredible fast this is all going!

We are so excited, scared, anxious, etc.

But, our arms ache to hold our sweet angel.

I find myself daydreaming about what her eyes will look like.  Or how soft her hair will feel when I touch it.  Or what she will smell like.  Will she cry when I first hold her? Will she like to be cuddled (oh I hope she will.  I'm preparing myself for the possibility of her not liking to be touched much, but I'm praying for the opposite!)

But, I am also filled with great anxiety.  The unknown is sometimes overwhelming.  The thought of leaving my other kids for 3 weeks is terrifying.  They will be in great care while we are away, but I've only even left them for a weekend once.  I'm not sure how this will go.  I wish we could figure out a way logistically and financially to bring them with us, but I know it's really not an option.  It would be much to difficult and stressful to bring them along (not to mention safety concerns!)

Please keep praying for us.  Keep sharing our story. We need your support! Check out our fundraising thermometer on the right.  Y'all have been soooooo generous, but we have a ways to go! Can you help move us up?

Number 10

Two more families received their travel dates today!

We have officially moved into the #10 position!

Next it's single digits.  Can I get a WooHoo??!!

The families today were submitted 7 weeks ago and travel NEXT WEEK!

Eek, I'd be freaking out! It really is a good reminder that I need to tighten up a few loose ends just in case we don't get much notice either! Oh, it'll be so exciting!

Now, I'm off to call the bank to start the process of getting our money situated.  For some reason, the U people want new, unmarked bills so we have to specifically order them from the bank.  I don't want to get caught scrambling with that part in the end! We need to bring approximately $15,000 in cash with us.  Scary! Anyone want to travel with us just to be our personal body guards??

I really liked the 2 steps closer today!

Pumpkin Hats For Your Lil' Pumpkin

Wouldn't your lil' pumpkin look so cute in this hat?!?

A very sweet lady from our church volunteered to knit us some hats to sell in order to support our adoption.  Way too sweet of her!

And just look at these hats!

I mean it, look at how stinkin' cute there are! 

(Honestly, they are MUCH cuter in person...I may not be known for my photographic abilities...I try!)

You know you want one!

They would fit babies to toddlers.  They have a nice stretch to them.  She also said they will wash up with no problem! 

Seeing as it is the beginning of fall, you better get your sweetie all decked out for the season! You won't be disappointed!

To order one (quantities are VERY limited at this time!) all you need to do is follow these simple steps:

1. Make a $18 $15 payment to our FSP by clicking right HERE!
(These identical hats are going for $20-$24/ea on Etsy right now!)

2. Forward me the confirmation email HERE!

3. Wait for your fun package to arrive! I will do my best to ship within 24 hours! I don't want you to miss any time enjoying this cuteness!

Come on, join our team today! Order your cute hat and help bring our own cute package home!!

2 weeks and counting...

It has official been 2 weeks since we were submitted.

This waiting business is hard.

I've learned the following:

1. I am terribly impatient!

2. Who are we kidding? There is no number 2! I honestly hate all this waiting.  It's like torture!

It seems like there was a bunch of us who all were submitted at the same time.  Now, no one is being issued dates.  It's painful to watch more names (Ok, maybe not painful because that just means there is one less orphan soon!!) be added to the list and no new dates given.  It's time to start checking off some names! Let's get going people! Mommas and daddies are aching to hold their kiddos!

I know, I know, this is just how it goes.  Hopefully soon we will have several dates handed out.  There are a lot of people who have been waiting much longer than us - I need to be patient and wait my turn.  But, I don't want to ;)

While we wait, we need some new fundraising ideas.  We've done lots, but still have a loooong way to go to be fully funded! Anyone want to help us out? Don't forget about our giveaway going on.  Read about it HERE!

If you'd like to make a donation to our baby, please click the following link:

"Treva" for the Scott family

Prayer Requests:

*Pray those travel dates start coming fast and furious!

*Pray for our still great financial need

*Pray our baby girl stays safe and healthy while we all wait!!

SUBMITTED

We received word today that our dossier has been submitted to the DAP team!! This means that all our paperwork we've painstakingly been plugging away at for months is now in the hands of the official department of adoption team! Eeeekkk! I just can't believe it! We are getting so very close to holding our baby girl!

We don't know exactly how long we will have to wait now.  The next thing we will get is our travel date.  This could come in 3 weeks or in 12 weeks.  More than likely it will come some time in the next 5-7 weeks and then we would travel 2-3 weeks after that notification.  It is so close!  Part of the unknown is that they recently came out with a new expedited petition for adoption.  Families who are adopting children with certain disabilities can be allowed to use this new form.  Charlotte's disability is one of those allowed.  However, it is so new that we aren't exactly sure how it will speed things up.  Nothing we can do about it anyway, so we will just pray that the Lord gives us the green light when it's the right time.  We are not worried about it...just dying with anticipation!! It's just like a waiting on a pregnancy and not knowing exactly when that baby will make their debut! Very exciting!!

Now, in all this excitement is reality.  We are still about $15,000 short of being fully funded!  We've been working so hard! I sell at the farmers market every Saturday, Dave is working extra shifts at his second job, held a garage sale, selling our stuff, doing benefit night at Pizza Ranch, etc.  We are willing to work and work HARD to bring this money in! We've also applied for numerous grants, but we are concerned that our travel date will come too quickly for decisions to be made by the organizations.  Grants are typically only disbursed a couple times a year and most have to happen before we travel.  For all the grants we had to have a completed home study, so our window of opportunity was/is very small!

Can you help us meet our goal? Would you be willing to pray for us, donate financially, or give us any fundraising ideas? We need your help bringing our girlie home safe and sound!

A HUGE thank you to all who have helped us raise so much already!  God has blessed us!!

Stacy