inching closer!

Another Gladney family got a baby girl referral today! That leaves just two families ahead of us on the "unofficial" list specifying a baby girl in our age bracket (and one of them is a baby girl or siblings, so sometimes that changes things...) WooHoo! Leaves us 6th overall...unofficially. And of the 6, 3 are requesting a baby or siblings. Yay!!

Well, tomorrow, Friday, marks the 6th month for us on the waitlist. The past two weeks have shown alot of action on the referrals. The average waitlist time went down this month...Yay! From "8 full months" to 7.5 months...which is great news! It means family have recently spent a little less time in the wait for their kiddos. That is crazy good! Many families brought home thier little ones this month, to thier forever families! If you want to see the sweetness, check out the video on Emily's blog, bringing home thier newest addition to meet the rest of thier family. Get your tissue handy. I CAN"T even watch these withough loosing it anymore. I am starting to feel a little bit like I have near the end of my pregnancies with my boys. Teary! Everything makes me want to cry. Blogs, sweet comments, movies, heck even a commercial got me teary this week. I'd swear this adoption is affecting my female crying hormones!

We are so looking forward to seeing baby girls face for the first time, and I chose this particular #6 photo because of the period. I'm hoping that's it for us. 6. Six, period. We are still completely content, waiting on God to open the right doors, for the right daughter for our family. That being said, we'd LOVE to see her face soon, by Christmas would be fantastic. I remember last year thinking at this time, that maybe this year we'd HAVE her by Christmas. But, in my heart, I'm prepared for the long haul, still mentally prepared for February to be our referral month. As things started really moving a week ago on the "unofficial" list, I actualy kind of had a moment of panic. "shoot, am I ready for 3 kids? I haven't painted, and her bedding isn't made, and the floors are unfinished in her room!" then, I realized, those are not the things that make us ready, really. The Lord made our hearts ready, almost 9 years ago for this baby girl, and he will give us everything we need to have her here with us. Sanity, bedding, love. Mostly Love. That is the best part to get ready for! We are READY for that!!

Don't Forget!!

Don't forget!

The Open House Holiday Shopping Party Benefitting Casey and Aimee Graves Ethiopian Adoption fund is tomorrow night! (See post below!)

Also, all my Etsy shop sales proceeds between now and Dec 5th will go to the Graves as well. Orders must be recieved by Dec. 10th to be recieved in time for Christmas.

Check out the goodies! www.ekinspired.etsy.com

You are Invited!!

This Friday, I get the privilege of hosting a mini fundraiser for our sweet friends, The Graves Family. They are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia! We have been so amazingly blessed along our adoption journey by friends helping us out, that I could NOT resist an opportunity to try and help someone else on the same path.

SO, if you live in our area (Portland/Vancouver), we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see you Friday night. It is Open House style Holiday Shopping from 7-9pm. There will be bunches of beautiful handmade jewelry made my Ms. Aimee, some by friends, and of course, I'll be taking orders for my custom handstamped silver jewelry. There will be some handmade purses, baby onesies, some other fun accessories. There hopefully be some adorable sandals from www.ssekodesigns.com ( I haven't recieved them yet), and some fantastic partylite candles! All of the handmade goods will go 100% to the Graves adoption fund, and 50% of the Partylite proceeds will go them, and $5 from each Sseko sandal sale will go the Graves.

Of course, we will have delicious desserts, appetizers and some hot beverages for you all to enjoy while perusing the lovelies. What better way to get your holiday gifts taken care of and support such a wonderful cause? Please stop by!

If you DON'T live in the area or just can't come, I will be giving all the proceeds from my Etsy shop sales from Friday until Dec 5th to the Graves fund. Please, please, think about supporting them!

Leave me a comment if you want to attend, and I'll send you directions! Eryn