Random Ramblings

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week!! It really seems like it was just summer and already the end of the year is in sight. I have been working on our Christmas shopping list today. Mackenzie is proving hard to shop for because she has given so few clues as to what she would actually like. The first time I asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her she responded with “Whatever he wants to bring me is fine.” Wow, talk about the response that a parent really wants to hear!

After some close observation we finally came up with a few items to put on her wish list. Top of the list? Baby doll stuff of course! I must admit that shopping for Christmas is one of my most favorite activities of the year. Especially Black Friday shopping!! Yes, for those of you who are not familiar with the darker side of Jeny, I am one of “those people”. You know one of the crazy women that stand in line in the cold for hours just for the privilege of shopping with hundreds of other cranky tired obsessed parents looking for that one toy that their child just HAS to have! I go for an entirely different reason – it’s the same reason that I clip coupons and stalk grocery store circulars. It’s the thrill of the hunt. I just love looking at that receipt and seeing in black and white how much I’ve saved.

On the adoption front, this week was filled with doctor’s appointments and fingerprinting. The fingerprinting experience was interesting. I’ve been fingerprinted before but had to be re-fingerprinted for the agency. We are still working on our “homework packet”. We’re hoping to have all of that done and submitted soon despite the busy holiday season.

Also, we have added a “ChipIn” button on the right sidebar. This will give people the opportunity to contribute to the adoption fund if they feel called to do so. We are about 10% of the way to the total cost of adoption and about $7,100 from the point where we can start applying for grants. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us get to the 10% mark!!

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Highs and Lows...

Today was a day of highs and lows. Some days still totally blindside me unfortunately. I was in church and halfway to my seat before I remembered why church was packed and there were an awful lot of babies there….

Oh right, the Baby Dedication was today…needless to say it did not go very well.

I managed to make it out of the room at least before losing it. After I pulled myself together I was able to watch from the connections café. I know it’s meant for crying babies but apparently it works well for crying mommies also. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t stop thinking about how we should have been up there with Jack, imagining how it would be if only things had gone differently. Needless to say it was NOT my favorite Sunday…

Since we had another fundraiser today DJ took Mackenzie to the Children’s Miracle Network Golf Tournament so that I could go hang out with some awesome ladies and do some Christmas shopping. Today was our Thirty-One Gifts fundraising party. Let me say if you have never been to a Thirty-One Gifts party, you definitely need to check it out! I had the hardest time trying to decide what to get…or should I say what NOT to get!! There was so much cute stuff to look through. I’d love to post all of the cute stuff that I ordered but most of it is meant for Christmas presents so it will have to wait :-) I am so incredibly thankful to Elizabeth for hosting the party and to our Thirty-One Gifts consultant Ashley Haley for so generously donating her commission from the party to the adoption fund.

Ashley has agreed to keep ordering for the party open until next Sunday so if you are looking for some super cute Christmas presents head on over to her website www.mythrityone.com/AshelyHaley/ . Just remember to select “Elizabeth Hood’s Party” when you checkout.

Post again soon!
~Jeny

Garage Sale....finally!

The garage sale was an incredible success! Thank you so much to everyone that helped out either by donating items, helping set up or by stopping by to show your support. We were wonderfully overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that everyone has shown us.

We managed to sell most of what we had and raised an incredible $1,204.45 despite having the COLDEST day so far this “winter”. I hope to have pictures uploaded at some point, but sadly I’m notoriously bad at remembering to upload pictures. I hope to have more time to focus on little details like that now that the craziness of the garage sale is (mainly) behind us…

We had an eventful evening that night as well. Because the weather turned cold that weekend and she spent so much time running around outside Mackenzie landed in After Hours that night with a pretty severe asthma attack :-( She started vomiting in the evening from the strain on her stomach muscles and it got so bad that she wasn’t able to keep anything down. At After Hours they gave her some additional breathing medicine along with steroids to help her breathing, some zofran to settle her stomach and some i.v. fluids to keep her from getting dehydrated. We spent most of the next day lounging on the couch and watching every Disney movie in our collection. After a couple days she was back to normal and thankfully is now doing great.

We are continuing to plan fundraising events. Our next fundraising opportunity is actually happening tomorrow…or rather later today by the time I will get this posted! One of our friends is hosting a Thirty-One Gifts party and the consultant has generously offered to donate her commission to the adoption fund. If you’re interested in ordering but aren’t able to make it to the event, you can take a peek and order online at www.mythirtyone.com/AshleyHaley/ . Check out the catalog and remember to select “Elizabeth Hood’s Party” at checkout.

We had a really wonderful experience today. We attended a family picnic that was thrown by the adoption agency that we are working with. It was a really amazing opportunity to meet some other families that have gone through the adoption process and also other families that are going through the process. It was great to talk to other adoptive parents and hear some about their journeys. It also continued to confirm for us that this is truly where God is calling us right now. I think the intent of the picnic was lost on Mackenzie though. At one point she pointed toward the church building we were next to and asked if we got the babies inside. It took a couple tries but I finally convinced her that we would not be bringing home a baby that day. I’m always amazed at the stuff that kid comes up with!

Post again soon!
Jeny