My Crazy Life

Hi, everyone.

Allow me to introduce myself. I have been married to the most wonderful man (Tim) for almost 13 years. We have two boys--Colton (6) and Eli (3). I taught school (grades 6-12) for 8 years and then moved to a position overseeing technology in the classrooms for 3 years. While my husband is completing his 13th year as a middle school teacher, we have decided to homeschool our own children. Colton and I will be finishing kindergarten soon. In addition to homeschooling, I baby-sit an 8 month-old neighbor; I play the keyboard/piano full-time at church; and I have a very small bookkeeping business that I run from home during naps and between diapers.

But the "craziest" thing on my plate right now is trying to make plans for an international adoption. Actually 2 adoptions if God wills it. We would like to adopt 2 girls most likely between the ages of 1-5. We don't know where they are, but their names are going to be Keely Page and Maggie Elizabeth. Our 2 biggest obstacles right now are choosing a country (and agency) and raising the money. We are trying to set small financial goals, but even those are slow in coming. Just to get through the application, home study, and initial paperwork, we need about $3,000.

Part of the reason for this attempt at blogging is so that I can meet people who have adopted or who know people who have. I'd like to hear your words of wisdom. We have a website at www.demossendeavors.com/ where we advertise jobs we can do. We also have a little store there for selling these adoption bracelets I'm making. What do you think? They cost $8, and I have recently made a couple of necklaces for $10. Want one?

We are also planning a yard sale for June, but other than those two things, we've been fundraising since December, and we've only got $470 to show for it. Any suggestions anyone?

Now about country, we started out looking at El Salvador. They had very few adoptions per year and had a potential for being flooded if/when Guatemala closed (which they have). Then we chose Guatemala, but it has closed for now. As I look at other countries, there seems to be at least one major obstacle with each one. Either it has recently closed, is way more expensive than others, has a very long wait (like 3 years), or requires a very lengthy stay in the country (like 5-6 weeks). I can neither imagine leaving my boys for that long nor can I imagine taking them into a foreign country where a little girl or girls would be needing my undivided attention anyway.

Over the last few days I have looked at Bulgaria, Ukraine, and even China. But China's wait is approaching the 3 year mark, and you can only adopt 1 child at a time. That's 6 years! I'll be too old to handle it by then!! Okay, I'm not exactly ancient, but I'm 38, and Tim is about to turn 42. That does start disqualifying you from some programs.

Does anyone have any advice on countries? or agencies?