Our 1st Fundraiser

In order to start the ball rolling on the adoption fund raising, we had a yard sale. The weather was great (up until 1pm when the bottom dropped out). We had quite a few people come by and we made some pretty good money.

Dylan wanted to help too. We set up his little picnic table so that he could sell water, kool-aid, and candy. He was so cute. When people came, he would ask them if he could make them some kool-aid (we had those little packets that you add to water bottles). He told anyone that would listen that he was trying to raise money so he can bring home his new sister. It was so sweet.

Anyone who knows my son knows how important money is to him. He never wants to spend his own money -he has no such qualms about spending our money-. I just knew that when the sale was over, he'd want to keep a least some of the money if not all of it. However, he once again surprized me. He didn't ask to keep any of it and he gave up a $1 that someone gave to him for him to keep.

Dylan's New Library Card

Dylan and I decided to visit the local library to find some books on Ukraine. We both wanted to learn more about where our adopted girl was coming from. We didn't find a whole lot (we were at the Bartlett branch which isn't nearly as big as the main branch in Memphis).

We did find out that Dylan is now old enough for a library card of his very own. He was super excited! He got his own card and even got to sign his own name on the back! He was able to check out two books about Ukraine and one about Alaska (he liked the pictures in it).

He is such a big boy!

It started out as a feeling. Chris and I felt our family of 3 just could not be complete. We had a taste of being a family of 4 for such a short period of time. It just felt right, two adults + two kids. Dylan knew the gift of having and loving a sibling and we had two wonderful children to give our love.

We realize we could never replace our Cedie. She will always be our first daughter and Dylan's first sister. However, we could let another child into our lives and into our hearts without betraying her memory.

So, we then started discussing our options. Medically speaking, I can not have anymore children. Fostering a child is out because we could not go through the pain of getting attached and then losing a child again (not that it would be as final as it was with Cedie-but it would still be devastating to us and unfair to Dylan). That leaves us with the idea of adopting. Before we knew what sex Cedie was, we had said that if she were a boy, we would adopt a little girl, so this wasn't exactly an original idea to us.

We started thinking more about the possibility of adoption over the past month or so. Watching Dylan has really solidified this need to expand our family to 4 again in our minds. When he is alone with just us, the house is so quiet and he seems so lonely. But when he is around other children, he just lights up, regardless of whether they are a boy or a girl or whether they are 3 months old or 8 years old.

Chris and I started researching the different kinds of adopting. We know that our ideal would be a little girl between the ages of 2 to 4. We want Dylan to be the big brother and we don't want their age gap to be too vast. We first looked into domestic adoptions but were told by two different types of agencies that it was a long shot to get our "ideal" child. They both said that that age range was just not common in the available children of our area. This led us to the idea of international adoption. We were specifically drawn to the Russian and Ukraine programs. However, the cost factor nearly had us rethinking if this idea was even obtainable for a family like us.

And then Sunday came. It was like God put the thoughts in our head that morning before church. As soon as I saw my mom-in-law, we both simultaneously said "we do mission work in the Ukraine!" After the service we talked to one of the church members who had returned from there. He gave me the name of another man who does the missionary work over there and knows the country well.

Chris and I have both had discussions with him and we now have a clear (and much more affordable) plan! If all goes well, we may have a new member in our family by the end of the year!

There is a lot of paper work and legalities involved. We will also have to start some serious fundraising to make this happen. However, to have our family complete again, as we really believe it was meant to be, would be so worth it! We have talked to Dylan and he is super pumped. He said "then I could have two sisters, one here with me and one watching above me."

So, now you know our new direction. Please pray for our family as we begin this new journey. God knows the plan and will most certainly guide us in the right direction, as we believe He is doing now. Also, if you have any fundraising ideas, we could definitely use your help there as well.

Easter Flowers for our Angel, Cedie Lynn

Today we replaced Cedie's March flowers with some Easter Calla Lilies. We even found some with a pink edge (Dylan says there always has to be some pink for his sister). I decided she needed some Easter eggs as well. We topped it all off with a "Hello Kitty" ribbon and a Easter Bunny pinwheel.

*In one of the pictures, you can see Dylan "cutting" the grass around her stone with my scissors. Such a silly boy!

We went to church this morning. It was a great sermon, tackling the question "Are you a friend of Jesus?" After church we went to lunch with Memaw and Pepaw. We went and got the flowers at Walmart. Memaw got flowers for her son Andy's grave (he is Chris older brother who died at 21 and is buried near Cedie).

When we were leaving Walmart, I got into a little accident in the parking lot. A lady parked across from me backed out at the same time I did. Thankfully she just got a scratch on her car and my bumper got a little cut and a dent. Neither was worth involving police or insurance. Dylan told the lady she was making us late- "we had to get to Cedie and give her her new flowers at the grave." I then had to explain to the lady what he was talking about. I wonder if that will never be easy to do, even when I tell the abbreviated version.

Elite Eight!

GO TIGERS GO!

My Tigers WON tonight and are advancing to the Elite EIGHT! YEA!

*For those of you who don't know, I "go" to the University of Memphis. I have 3 semesters to go. I last attended the Spring 05 semester. Cedie was born a month after exams. Obviously, I had to take a break for a while to be with Cedie. I still intend to return and finish those last bit of classes. Probably this fall.

Cool Coincidence

Turns out, "Dylan's tree" is also a flowering cherry tree! Now both of my children will each have one of their own beautiful flowering cherry tree in our yard!

Also, we have a Bradford Pear tree in our yard (just like the one we planted at the school):

PTA Board and more

I have joined the PTA board at Dylan's school for the 2007-2008 school year. I joined the PTA this year but I wasn't on the board. Next year I will hold the "Parental Involvement" Chair! I am definitely new to this kind of thing so it should be interesting. I am excited though!

Go Pathers!

On another note:

Can you believe that Sanjaya was NOT in the bottom 3 again this week on American Idol? He has got to go! I am pulling for Blake! I really like him!

Also, GO U of M TIGERS! We play in the Sweet 16 tomorrow night!