A Huge THANK YOU...

Yesterday, we shared the good news publicly that we have begun the adoption process. The outpouring of love, support, questions, and well wishes literally had me sobbing in the middle of Kohl's like an absolute crazy lady. Carter looked up at me getting teary in the toys section and said, "Mommy, did you get a sad message on your phone?" I told him that no, these were happy tears. He didn't quite grasp that, but he laughed at me and quickly moved on to begging for a Captain America Potato Head. :) Gotta love four year-olds!

A few common questions I wanted to answer that I've already gotten...

1) GENDER: Although China does allow you to select gender, we have chosen not to do so. Until we see that precious face, we won't know the gender of the child we are adopting. We chose to leave that detail up to the Big Guy. 

2) TIMELINE: Our agency has advised us that the process will take a minimum of 12 months, but not likely more than 18, from application to travel. We hope to be traveling next fall or winter to bring our little one home.

3) AGE: We are definitely staying in birth order, so our new addition will be at least a year younger than Kate. We are most likely going to be looking at children in the 6-18 month range. 

4) HOW CAN YOU AFFORD IT?!! Ah, yes. This one makes me laugh the uncomfortable laugh...the short answer? We can't. China adoptions range from $30-35,000 generally speaking, and I'll be frank, we don't just have that sitting around looking for a new home. ;) But, we have been living very frugally for the last few months, I've gotten a part-time job, and we are trusting that God is going to help us move these mountains. We are planning a t-shirt fundraiser that we hope to launch in September or October, and, for now, we have added a Paypal link that you can find under my bio if you feel inclined to donate directly.

Truth? This part of the process is the most icky to me. I absolutely despise talking about money...it just makes me SO uncomfortable. I'm also not one who gives over control easily (UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY), and I'm being forced to let go and trust God here. He brought us to this point now for a reason, and I'm trusting Him to provide. THERE I SAID IT.
And in the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.  

Again, from the bottom of our hearts, we cannot thank you all enough for supporting us and joining us for this journey. It's going to be quite a ride, I'm sure...