What are your thoughts about having a daughter?

It has struck me a lot lately...having a girl will be VERY different than having a boy! I wonder all the time, what will she look like? How well will be bond? Will she fit well into our family? I can't imagine what life will really be like with another girl living in our home! I can't wait to buy PINK clothes, and baby dolls!

Then I think about Jack...oh boy...how will he adjust? We will have to say goodbye to our downtown apartment...or at least to the one we currently live in. Parking in a garage is not fun with one kiddo everyday...imagine it with two! We love having extra kids, but 24/7??? It's going to be an adjustment, but a GREAT ONE!

Adoption update, it's time to start the dossier...oh boy...here we come! What are your thoughts on having a daughter?

Check out Jack's latest skills on the drums at Rhythm...

Meet Linda..the widow for our Both Hands Project

Linda is 58 years old, and enjoys life. She is very active at the John Boner Senior Center. She enjoys doing puzzles and playing bingo with other seniors at the center. She enjoys the activities, but her favorite part of attending the Senior Center is being with other people. Her and husband Richard never had any children, and all of their parents and siblings have passed away. In November of 2009, Richard passed away after having a heart attack.

Since then, Linda was forced to move out of her home until it was up to living condition again. She has since received assistance with emptying items out of her home, and she received a grant to assist her with the plumbing and electrical work. Now it's our turn to help. She needs 2 windows replaced and a new back door hung. Her home could also use a DEEP cleaning and painting all the interior rooms! It's a lot to undertake, so we made this a two-day project instead of 1. We have enjoyed getting to know Linda and feel that our friendship with her will continue well past this project!

Both Hands Fundraiser...we are officially on their website!

While on the adoption journey, it can be overwhelming! We were told the cost to adopt from Ethiopia would be between $25,000-$33,000...um I don't know about you but we don't have that kind of cash lying around.

We do however, have the love, patience, and calling to adopt. The money is merely a hurdle while on the journey. We have come across a wonderful program through Lifesong for Orphans that we will be pursing on April 29th -30th. We are SO excited that Lifesong agreed to support us on this journey.

The program, BOTH HANDS, has a duel purpose. Over the course of the project, we will help a widow do some home improvements, deep cleaning and odds and ends around her house. We have a widow we will be helping, and she is spectacular (more on her later). It helps our adoption because the team of people helping us send out sponsorship letters to raise support. Kind of like a 5k run, but we will be doing something that will change the life of a widow and help bring an orphan home by the end of the day.

How amazing is that?!?

To read more about this program, and check out a short video about it, click below:

http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/bothHands.html

Until next time!

Pressing Forward

Still no new news in Ethiopia, but we are going to continue pursuing everything! We are prayerful that Ethiopia's program will continue to stay open and that the new employees will make positive changes for the way adoptions are processed!

That said, we have something brewing and we can't wait to share all the details. All I have to say is we are SO THANKFUL for everyone who has agreed to help and support us during our adoption process! Without you, this process wouldn't be possible.

Stay tuned for an amazing project where by us helping a widow, our baby will be one step closer to coming home!

Can't wait to share in the upcoming process!! Until then, a cute family pix!

My thoughts are on Ethiopia today!

A lot has happened in the past two months...and we are basically done with our homestudy! I keep pushing myself to get the paperwork done and do whatever I have to do, to bring home our Princess!

We were given some crazy news last week about Ethiopia...they are slowing their International Adoption process down by 90%! What does that mean for our family? What does that mean for our friends who are also in the process of adopting from Ethiopia?

But the most important question...what are all the orphans going to do? I don't want our daughter to live in an orphanage any longer than she has to! Will they begin turning children away? This is now haunting me and all I can do is pray about it! It is so difficult to think about those who are in the process of getting ready to travel, and then being told...it's going to be a few more months! We are waiting on a response from Bethany, our adoption agency, on what our next steps are going to be. Please pray for the decision makers in Ethiopia to allow the children an opportunity to find Forever Families SOON!

Heartbreak.....Please Lord, bring our baby home!

Know a Good Tattoo Artist in Indianapolis or surrounding area?

We met with our adoption specialist Susan yesterday...and we are excited to be "doing things" to get the adoption process rolling. Our homestudy has officially started and we are collecting our first round of paperwork to be used. We are looking forward to completing our homestudy within the next next month or so! That said, we have our first "chunk" of funds do at the completion of our homestudy!

I've got an idea...that I'm hoping will work, but haven't been able to find a tattoo artist willing to help. This is where all of you come in! I would like to find a tattoo artist who will donate a percentage of his proceeds during the month of November to our adoption fund. The catch is that we only expect his donation from people we send him! So, if you know of someone who could assist us with the tattoo's or if you are interested in getting a tattoo (what better time than now), let me know!

Did you know that NOVEMBER is National Adoption Awareness Month? What better way to spread the word:)

Feel free to re-post this and spread the word! Thanks in advance!!!!
The Brown's

Bethany Informational Meeting Tonight!

Tonight is another item we have to complete on our checklist...attending one of the monthly informational meetings at Bethany! We are looking forward to the meeting, but we are also going to meet a family who has adopted from Ethiopia prior to it. We have so many questions about the the process and their experience.

We have the initial paperwork ready to submit tonight as well.

Let the Homestudy begin!