Update!

A quick update...

We have confirmed that our sweet girl was moved to our agency's transition home shortly after our referral!! This is not standard procedure, usually the children don't get moved until after a preliminary court date. Thank-you SO much to all of our friends and family who continue to pray for her. This brings some peace to my heart knowing that she is being properly cared for. 

We've received three new pictures of her since our referral.  Oh, how I wish I could share them with you!!! Unfortunately we can't post pictures or share her name online until we pass court.  Suffice it to say that she is beautiful and precious and I've studied every pixel of her precious face to no end!

The next exciting news is that our case was submitted to the Ethiopian courts on December 7!! Now we wait to hear when the preliminary court date will take place. After that we will be assigned our actual court date where we will appear before the Ethiopian judge and (hopefully) be declared her parents!  Unfortunately the journey does not end there. We will have to return home while the U.S. Embassy finishes making things official on their end. Then we get to go back and get her. Ugh. SO hard to wait. I literally feel like part of myself is a world away.  I have never felt this way before!  I can't concentrate.  My mind is constantly distracted by the fact that I have a daughter...in Africa...and this wait to bring her home is just plain hard.

We did hear from another family who was at our agency's transition home last week. They were able to find our sweet girl and spend some time with her! Their report was that she was very quiet and likes to observe. Just like her mommy (until you get to know me :)).

So...we continue to wait for our travel dates. I'm torn between the excitement of finally meeting our daughter and the sadness of knowing that a few days later I'm going to have to leave her.  Who makes up this lame system anyway?? I'm not thrilled about leaving my three boys either. It's going to be a messy couple of months. So much joy mixed with so much sadness. 

I'll leave you with a bit of precious brotherly love...
The other night Caleb asked me for a picture of her and later I found this hanging below it on his bulletin board. I love that he is already concerned for her and writing words of comfort. I will take those words of comfort too...I may be weeping now, but this too shall pass. Someday this painful part of our journey will be a distant memory and she'll be in my arms.

The road to her...

(to read the nitty gritty on our decision to adopt, click here)

Spring 2008 ~ Deanna's eyes are opened to the orphan crisis and asks Paul about adoption. He's unsure it would be a good idea for our family.

Fall 2009 ~ Isaac is born. Our hands and hearts are full with our three boys!

Spring 2011 ~ The topic of adoption comes up again. This time Paul is more open to the idea. We get information from some agencies and talk to other adoptive families. We both feel that the time still isn't right. Deanna decides that Paul will need to be the one to bring it up again if and when this is really what God wants for our family.

Spring 2012 ~ Paul brings it up. Deanna is nervous, but we start researching agencies. We choose to go with Lifeline. Love them.

April 10 ~ Submit our application

April 13 ~ Application accepted

April 15 ~ Announced our decision to family and friends...surprise!! :-)

April 28 ~ Get fingerprinted for background checks

May 1 ~ First homestudy visit

May 5 ~ Huge garage sale fundraiser!

May 12 ~ Go out to Ethiopian food for the first time. We (including the boys!!) LOVED it!

June 4 ~ New passports arrive

June 2012 ~ Sell Tukula Bags for a fundraiser

July 30 ~ Second homestudy meeting

{I am not listing every little thing, but our paper chase was grueling and took about 4 months}

August 27 ~ Mailed our dossier to agency!

September 24 ~ Dossier was on it's way to Ethiopia!

September 28 ~ Paperwork submitted!!  Received our first wait list update #95 for a healthy 0-3 year old boy or girl.

Also received our agencie's 'waiting child' list. These children are older or have health issues which makes them harder to place.  Deanna could not even read through the list with a breakdown.  So hard to think of these sweet kids who need families.

  September 29 ~ Auction and Raffle Fundraiser!!

October 31 ~ Biometric fingerprint appointment

November 1 ~ Wait list update.  #89. Read over our agency's 'waiting child' list again. The fact that there are children just a year or two older than our original criteria, with manageable health issues who are ready and waiting for a family, begins to weigh very heavily on our hearts. Start to talk about changing our criteria.

November 4 ~ Orphan Sunday! Attended our dear friend's church and heard an amazing sermon on Isaiah 54.

'Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, 

do 

not 

hold 

back; 

lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.'

God is bigger than any of our fears. We decide to change our criteria to include a child up to age 7.

November 7 ~ Meet with social worker to amend our homestudy.  Our caseworker tells us to "be ready" as things could move much faster now that our criteria includes children who are essentially ready and waiting. 

Deanna freaks out (in a good way :)).

Saturday November 10 ~ I-600 approval (171) arrives!

Week of November 12 ~ Paul, Deanna, and our agency scramble to get paperwork in order! We learn that we could receive our referral (match) within days. 

Paul and Deanna become very emotional (Deanna) and distracted at the reality that one of their children is waiting for them in Ethiopia.

the day we will never forget...

November 16, (2012 Weston's birthday!!) ~ 10:30am 

Paul is home and we receive a call from our agency. She tells us that she and the Ethiopia program director will be calling us within minutes to present us with our referral.

It was surreal. Were we really about to learn the name of our child?? To see what he or she looked like? To learn pieces of the story that has led them to become an orphan, but soon to be our son or daughter??

The phone rang and we heard the sweetest words ever...

"We have a sweet four-year-old little girl that we'd like to talk to you about"

We are going to have a daughter. She is beyond beautiful.

I want to shout for joy, and sob for hours all at the same time.  It is such a contrast of happiness that she will be joining our family and sadness over the losses that she has already faced at such a young age.  She has a story to tell. We will not be sharing it with many. It is her story to share if she chooses. 

Please pray for our daughter. She needs her family and we are working like mad to go get her. We are at the mercy of the Ethiopian courts and the U.S. Embassy at this point.  Pray that we can travel soon to meet her.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  Ecclesiastes 3:11

Fall Update

The First Day Of School!

The boys were SUPER excited.  
I bawled all day.  
Enjoy!

{third grade}

{kindergarten}

Putting on a brave face at his new school.  I could tell he got nervous at drop-off and I was trying with ALL my might to hold it together.  It was hard after having him home with me all last year and every precious moment of homeschooling was literally flying through my mind as we stood there waiting for his teacher to come...and then...I lost it.  I managed to turn and walk away for a moment and luckily Caleb remained unaware of his psychotic mom, but his teacher did come over to ask if I was o.k.  She is so sweet and I love her...Caleb was in good hands.  Off he went.  I prayed with all the fervor of a mom. Asking God that he would have friends to play with at recess and to sit by at lunch.  As always...God heard.  Caleb has made GREAT friends at school and kids were fighting over who could sit by him since he was the "new kid". 

Then it was Weston's turn...

{did NOT want to let go}

And off he marched.  

He had wonderful day too!  I won't tell you about my emotional breakdown for fear of sounding like a broken record.    

Moving on to Halloween..

A Seahawks Fan, A Seahawks Player, and a Clone Trooper, OH MY!!

A special little Seahawks Cheerleader came trick-or-treating with us too!

And now...SOCCER!!

Isaac's umbrella from Uncle Sam and Auntie Andrea was put to good use!

Our Adoption Fundraiser!!

We are still feeling so blessed by the generosity of our family and friends. God is using those that we love to help bring our son our daughter home and it is humbling and awesome to see!

We had so many great donations and when all was said and done we raised close to 

$3,500!!!

I think that sums up the Fall Update.  I will have a more thorough adoption update within the next few days...you WON'T want to miss it! 

Winner!!

And the winner is...Comment #4~ My wonderful mother-in-law!!!Congratulations! Let me know which item you choose and I'll get it off to you in the mail.(and thank-you so much for all of your support, love you!)

Giveaway Time!!

Alright stylish ladies.  I was having such a hard time choosing what item I wanted to give away! I narrowed it down to two and the winner will get to choose which one she wants!

Here are the items that ONE lucky winner will get to choose from...

the dainty everyday necklace
{choice #1}

  

~OR~

the violet horn braclet
{choice #2}

Here's how to enter:  

There are THREE different ways to enter and you MUST leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry.

1. Go to www.deannastutzman.noondaycollection.com, then come back here and tell me what your favorite item is!

2. "Like" Noonday Collection on facebook. Come back here and leave a comment that you did so!

3. {two options here for locals and non-locals}

~BOOK A TRUNK SHOW!! Leave a comment that you want to book a trunk show in September or October and I'll contact you! HERE is a little more information about trunk shows. I'm happy to answer any other questions too! 

~If you don't live in the area, then tell a friend how to order from my Noonday site and leave a comment that you did!

So, those are your three ways to enter.  Do one, two, or all three to increase your chances!

The giveaway will end on Thursday night (9/13) at 10:00 and the lucky winner will be "drawn" from random.org and announced first thing Friday morning! I'll contact the lucky lady to see which of the two items she wants.

have fun!

Noonday Collection {how you can help}

Who knew adoption fundraising could look so stylish?  

As our adoption has progressed, so has my concern for those living in poverty. Awhile back I was introduced to an amazing company...

Noonday provide a marketplace for artisans who were living impoverished lives by selling their products here in the United States.  This provides a living wage for them and therefore, a pathway out of poverty. I've had the privilege of hearing individual stories of how Noonday has changed lives for entire families and it is so inspiring! I soon learned that I could do more than just drool over all of the beautiful accessories on their website, so I have recently become a Noonday Ambassador!! I am so excited to be able to play a small part in helping those less fortunate while earning extra funds for our adoption (100% of my Noonday income will go toward our adoption).

I encourage you to spend some time browsing on their website to see all that they offer, learn about their artisans, and see how they advocate for orphans.  You will definitely be inspired to spruce up your fall wardrobe with some new pieces (they JUST released their new fall line last Tuesday)!  I love that each item is super stylish and has a story to tell. Here's an example...

  

Now comes the fun part! YOU can host your own Noonday trunk show! When you host a show that means you provide the house, the guests, and some drinks/snacks. I bring all of the Noonday items and information about the artisans who you will be making a difference for. Then, you and your girlfriends shop to your hearts content! It's the PERFECT girl's night!  Fun with your girlfriends and fashion with compassion! Also, as a hostess you earn 10% of total sales to put toward whatever items you want. I'm ready to start booking shows and the next few months are the perfect time of year to start your Christmas shopping! Feel free to contact me if you'd like more information about being a hostess. You can leave a comment here on the blog or my contact information can be found at-

www.deannastutzman.noondaycollection.com

If you don't live in Washington, you can still help!  When you purchase items from my website I will earn a portion of your total. Just click on the link above and have fun shopping!

I'll be kicking things off with a giveaway soon so stay tuned!

  

Moving Along {adoption update}

Well, summer is almost over.  We had lots of fun, but when I look back over the last few months it seems like a blur of nothing but adoption paperwork!  Phone calls, meetings with our social worker, going to the bank more times than I can count to get documents notarized, signing this, signing that, scanning, emailing, etc. This is what my dining room table has looked like for the past several months- and this was after a huge chunk of paperwork had already been sent off!

 It will be MORE than worth it in the end.  Last weekend we signed the very last document and I had a sudden case of OCD while I checked and re-checked to make sure that everything was right with our giant STACK of papers. First thing Monday morning Isaac and I drove down to the "mailbox store" as we now call it, to overnight it all to our agency.  

I'm not even ashamed to admit that I had a little tear in my eye as we walked across that parking lot, holding months worth of paperwork that will eventually bring us to our new son or daughter.

So...we are officially homestudy approved and our dossier (ALL of our required documents for the adoption) is currently being authenticated in Washington D.C.  Once that process is complete in 3-4 weeks, it gets sent to ETHIOPIA!!  We will receive a tracking number and be notified as soon as it arrives in Addis Ababa.  This is a big moment in the adoption process since it will mean that we are officially submitted to Ethiopia.  After that we will be fundraising like crazy (more on that in a future post!) and waiting for the phone call of a lifetime from our agency!  This is called the referral call and is when your caseworker tells you all about your child and you cry and freak out and get to see pictures of him/her and cry and freak out some more. I can't even imagine! I am going to...cry and freak out. This will still be several months away for us so we will just use this time to prepare our family and our house for the precious little gift that God is allowing us to have as a part of our family!  
more to come soon!!

Peeks of Summer

We're still here!  Enjoying these last few weeks of summer.  

I'll have some adoption updates in the next post, so stay tuned!

Top 5

We've been busy around here!  Here are our top 5 recent events to fill you in!

1.

Any free time that I've had has been spent doing adoption paperwork.  I just finished answering all of the required discussion questions, autobiography info, and trans-racial questions and ended up with 18 solid pages of typing.  Phew!  Paul is almost finished with his and then we can schedule our next home study visit.

2.
Weston and I sneaked out for an afternoon, just the two of us.  He needed new shoes and some one-on-one time with mom.  After running up and down the aisles with every pair of shoe in his size to test both speed and height of jumping capabilities, he chose these.
(Thankfully, I was able to avoid the "light-up" shoes, but it was a close call!)

Of course, we had to get a treat at Starbucks, then we headed over to a favorite park for some play time.

3.
We went out for Ethiopian food!  The boys LOVED it and can't wait to go again.  I think it had something to do with the whole 'eating with your hands' thing.  It was super yummy and I'm excited to learn how to cook some of these dishes at home!

4.
 We went to Azul's for brunch on Mother's Day.  Yum!

Then I had the crazy idea to do a little painting in the backyard.  The boys loved it.  
Isaac especially, as you can see!

5.
And the most exciting event of all, 
brad, lisa, and maya are here!
As in, they live here.  In Mill Creek.  Walking distance from our house.
It still seems surreal!  We have ALWAYS talked about how we wanted to live near each other and through a somewhat fast, but awesome series of events, it has happened!
We are SO excited and Isaac is completely in love with Maya.  It's so cute to see them hug and play together.

  
And one more thing!!!!
(so I guess this post should be titled Top 6...but that doesn't sound as good)
SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!
(now we just need the summer weather to go along with that)


It was a crawl across the finish line for me and I feel like I'm in recovery mode from a very draining year.  But, that's another post for another time.  For now, bring on the rainy day movies while I sit on the couch and look at magazines.  I think I deserve it...at least for a few days!!! 

Tukula Bags

Well, the fundraising continues here at the Stutzman household!  As you saw in my previous post, our garage sale was a HUGE success!!  

Now we're on to something a little more fun and pretty!  

I recently found out about an organization called Tukula.  They teach women in Uganda how to sew tote bags, clutches, wristlets etc. and then use these skills to earn an income.  

Here is their mission:

Tukula (meaning we grow in Luganda) is a cause-driven business invested in giving local Ugandan entrepreneurs an opportunity to grow above poverty. We do this by giving our artisans an above average wage for quality handmade products, an encouraging work environment, medical care and access to international markets. They are then able to provide themselves and their families with homes, food, education, and hope for the future. Through working with Tukula, these ladies are gaining confidence, joy, and the opportunity to empower others.

Here is a video that shows the amazing work that these women do.

I love the idea behind this and the handbags are super cute.  I purchased one of their fundraising kits, and this is where YOU come in!  I will be selling them here on the blog and with your purchase you will be supporting these beautiful women in Uganda, as well as our adoption!  It's a win all around :)  And just in time for Mother's Day!  These make great gifts.

Here is how to purchase a bag:

1.  Below, you will see pictures of the items that are available.  If you see something that you'd like to buy, either leave me a comment or send me an email at deannastutzman@gmail.com, telling me which specific item(s) you'd like and how many of each. 

2.  Then click on the donate button at the upper righthand corner of your screen and follow the directions to donate and pay for whatever bag(s) you've chosen.  Please include an addtional $3.00 if your order needs to be shipped.

3.  I will update the quantities as the bags sell.

4.  If you live locally, I will get the bags to you soon!  If it needs to be shipped, I will mail it within 24 hrs of your purchase.

5.  Enjoy your bag and knowing that you've helped, not one, but TWO great causes!!!

And now...here they are!  Happy shopping!

Navy, yellow and pink tote $25.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 15" x 12" (not including shoulder straps)
Quantity: Sold Out!
(The square on the front is a pocket. The inside is lined in navy and has an additional zippered pocket)

Turquoise, brown, and yellow tote $25.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 15" x 12" (not including shoulder straps)
Quantity: 1
(The square on the front is a pocket. The inside is lined in brown and has an additional zippered pocket)

Green and mustard leaf clutch $15.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 7.5" x 4.5"
Quantity: 1

Navy and orange clutch $15.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 7" x 4"
Quantity: 1

Green and brown bird clutch $15.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 8" x 4.5"
Quantity: Sold Out!

Turquoise and brown floral clutch $15.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 7.5" x 4.5"
Quantity: Sold Out!

Navy, yellow, and burgundy wristlet $18.00(+ $3.00 shipping)
Measures 11" x 6"
Quantity: 6


thank-you so much for your support!

First Fundraiser {success}

Yesterday was the annual Mill Creek garage sale and the big kick-off for our adoption fundraising efforts!  We had a ton of donations from local friends...especially our church Life Group.  We are SO thankful for their support and generosity!!  We could not have done it without them!  The turnout was great and the rain held off.  The shoppers came out in droves and they even decided to start browsing through our garage at 6:40 am while I was still in my pajamas, but whatever. 

Caleb and Weston were a big help with preparation.  We had a fun time making our huge banner together.

My favorite part was that while we colored away, the boys and I had a good, real talk about what it might be like when their new brother or sister arrives.  We are excited, but realistic and I think it's important for the boys to be able to talk openly about any fears or questions they may have.  

 When it came time for the actual sale, the boys were busy running around with friends who came to "help". They had a GREAT time!

My friend Julie and I had fun people watching and selling stuff all. day. long.  We were tired by the end, but it was fun!  Thanks Julie!!  Her husband, Bob was here helping too.  We love the Archers!!

People were very generous and encouraging.

We even had one of Caleb's buddies ask if he and his family could set up a lemonade stand and give us their proceeds!  It was so sweet and kind.  What amazing and selfless people! 

After all was said and done, we raised nearly $1,200!!!

Now, we just need to have 29 more garage sales and then we'll be good! :)

Kidding, we know that God will continue to provide as we work toward bringing our little one home!!