Just waiting for travel dates ! :)

Wow! Where do I even begin? January 1 we needed $11,500 to be fully funded. We have received donations and grants all month long. We have worked over time and donated plasma a few times. Last night I was told someone wanted to bless us with the remaining agency fees ($250). She is sending the check to Reece's rainbow tomorrow and by the end of this week our agency should receive it. Our agency fees are completely paid !

We are still waiting to hear from little man's country as to when our court date is. We expect to hear from them by next week, and court is usually scheduled about 10 days later -sometimes a little longer out. We still need to raise the remaining $3500 to be fully funded. This amount with cover our airfare, food, and orphanage donation while we are there. We have a goal to donate 25 bottles of hand sanitizer, 30 wipes and to purchase some diapers while in country. If you would like to help with this donation please donate to our FSP or our PayPal donation link.

We have contemplated our orphanage donation for awhile, I mean how do we say thank you for raising our child for 5 years u til we could get there ? Nothing seems adequate enough but I believe these items will be beneficial for them. His orphanage is run on nothing but donations so they appreciate all the help they get !

This month is going to be so exciting, and stressful. We are still getting everything ready for our trip. And I decided that I wanted to make 45 freezer meals to have for when we return. Having them ready and justing having to throw dinner in the crock pot each morning will be such a blessing. It will be one less thing to worry about and give us more time to bond with Owen. So don't mind me, I'll just be slaving away in my kitchen until we leave :)

$3500. Just a few weeks. And at the end, we get to welcome the newest little Mcbride and we are so excited! Ethan is so excited to have his brother home. He keeps reminding me that "Owen should be home" "why is it taking so long" "I just want my Owen to be home already". He has the sweetest little heart and I know that he will be the best big brother to Owen. <3

Thank you,friends!!!! We have come so far and we couldn't have done it without your help!!! Officially racing to the finish line!!!

We have our NVC numbers !!!

By now anyone that knows me knows that patience is not a virtue I possess. So when we got our provisional approval and it was sent to the National Benefits Center for processing we were told that we needed to wait 10-12 days before calling to get our numbers. I waited 7. I called and they let me know that they had received it and gave me some numbers, I asked if those were the numbers I needed to send to our agency and was told no. They said to call back he next day or Friday and I should have the right numbers. So I called the next day as soon as they opened. I was given the same information and asked the question, but this time I was told those were the numbers our agency needed. Yay !!!!!!!

I quickly sent an email to our agency, and waited for 9am to call them. I gave them our numbers and they will be filing our DS260 form (aka Little Mans VISA!!). The National Benefits Center has sent our file over to the embassy for processing. They will issue our article 5, and that is when we will get travel dates !!! Travel dates are generally about 10 days out from the time they issue it. This process should take about 4 weeks, but based on other families timelines usually only takes about 2.

All of this to say that we are just a few weeks away from bringing little Owen home !!! We are planning for 24 days (2 weeks for everything to process + 10 days waiting for court), but realize it "could" take about 4 weeks total before we travel. So far we have moved relatively fast through the end of this process so I am hoping we will continue moving at this speed for the remainder.

Big news !! Our FSP has gotten some love, and we are just $473.01 away from paying our agency !!! Our agency bill was due over a week ago, and while they have been patient and understanding I am sure they would like to be paid for their services ;) Will you help us get there?

I will post an updated board shortly-- we are so close to giving away a $75 Visa Gift Card !!!

We still have so many puzzle pieces ! For a donation of any amount I will put your name on the back of a piece which will hang in Owens room.

And we have TWO shirts left ! A grey and red both in size Medium ! $25 each to our fsp gets them shipped straight to your door !!!

Thank you, friends. Without your help we couldn't have made it this far ! We are so close to having him home forever !!! Our immediate need is $473.01. After that is travel expenses which we are estimating at about $3500. Which means to be FULLY FUNDED we only need $3,973.01 !!!

Can you believe that ? When we committed to making Owen our son in November 2014, we needed $30,000+ to bring him home !!! We are down to just $3,971 to bring him home !!! Gods faithfulness and timing are so perfect !!!!!

We have our provisional approval!!!

Yesterday we got our provisional approval from USCIS ! Now our article 16 is being sent to the national benefits center for approval which is when we will get our NVC numbers.  These numbers will be sent to little man's country to issue his visa , then TRAVEL DATES! This process should take about 4 weeks. But based on other families experience will probably only be about 2 weeks! This means we will be picking up Owen in about 4-6 weeks!!!! We are so so so excited ! We need to pay our final agency fee, after our matching grant is applied to our FSP we still need $825. Technically our fee is due tomorrow, but we will have to pay it a little late because we don't have it yet. After it is paid we need to come up with about $3500 for airfare/travel expenses!

This is so  amazing. We started this process with needing over $30,000 and now its down to just a few thousand ! This is so doable, God has moved so many mountains for us. I feel like so many things have gone wrong, but overall everything is falling into place. His perfect timing , even when I feel like we are moving at snails pace.

Our living room is almost finished ! We will be so happy to have our house back in order :) last week while I was driving a rock flew up and cracked our windsheild. Fantastic. Then this morning as I was getting ready to take Ethan to school I couldn't get the door to open on my van. It was completely frozen shut. My husband came out to help, and broke the handle off my van. He's either the hulk or wreck it Ralph ;) I am just going with the theory that if it CAN break or go wrong, it WILL in the next 4 weeks! Ha-ha.

Seriously friends, please pray nothing else happens. All of these "little" bumps are costing us money we can't really afford to spend at such a crucial time in the process.

And for added measure, we are all battling some icky cold or something. It's so fun having a child in school ;)

Just two more days of my fast! I will be back on Facebook Saturday!!! I can not wait. I realized that I don't "need" Facebook to keep me busy. But it was also a realization that almost all of our support system is through social media. I miss being able to talk to other families, and I miss being able to check in on our friends traveling. I also realized it was our biggest avenue if sharing fundraisers and stuff. I'll be excited to be back on:)

So in short, we expect to get travel dates in about 2 weeks and to travel about 2-3 weeks after that!!!!! The finish line is in sight!!! My heart is so happy that we are finally so close to having our sweet boy again, this time forever.

We have a $500 matching grant !!!

When it rains , it pours. Or something like that! Ha-ha! But its raining BLESSINGS! Is there a positive version of that expression? I need to Google it because we have so many blessings !!!

I was contacted a little while ago by our family warrior. She wanted to let me know that someone who wishes to remain anonymous wants to give us a $500 matching grant !!! So many blessings !!!

This means that once our FSP reads $4806.52 our anonymous donor will add her $500 and that will put us at $5306.52!!!

This is absolutely amazing. And I am so so so thankful! Please donate if you can, and share our FSP link with your friends and family .

Our anonymous donor is giving us FIVE days to meet this grant, which I think is totally doable with the amazing support from our friends and family.

Two posts in one day, both great and amazing news !!!! <3

Thank you friends!!!

Praise God!!! We got a grant !!!:)

Oh my gosh! I am so excited to let everyone know that something absolutely amazing happened yesterday! We received a letter from Show Hope, and they gave us $5,000 towards our adoption! I was so excited that it took a few minutes to sink in and then I cried tears of joy !!!!! This couldn't have come at a better time for us. When we started the new year we needed $12,500 to be fully funded, but then we realized that we had water damage in our living room. This meant that we needed to rip up the flooring to fix the issue and lay new flooring down. This would cost us a significant amount of money, and we still needed so much for the adoption. On top of that we had our oldest was scheduled for a surgery (just minor, no worries!) But our insurance wouldnt cover it completely, and we need to come up with the out of pocket expenses for it. These things couldn't have happened at a worst time, we are just a few weeks away from traveling to bring Owen home. I felt like everything was going wrong.

**Ethan did very well during his surgery, thank God. He recovered quickly and is back to being good as ever :)

Then I started my fast from Facebook which I felt like was kind of a mistake at this time just because facebook has been our biggest support and our easiest method of sharing fundraisers. But within a little over a week God has provided so much!!! We now just need $5000 to be fully funded. How amazing is that?!?

Words seriously can't describe the level of awesomeness that it. Just $5000, and about 7 weeks until we go back to little man's country to bring him home.

Thank you so so much to everyone who has been sharing our family's story, and our need. We really appreciate every one who has joined us in our journey. Please continue sharing and praying for us. We need our FSP to read $9585 to be fully funded.

We have some shirts left over from our last campaign, and I will update the sizes and colors of each as soon as I can.

We also have some numbers left on the visa board. I think if we can get the numbers claimed that we will be fully funded or extremely close !!!

I will update as soon as our living room is finished. I am currently writing this post on my phone, which is easier said than done :)

 the current situation going on in our living room. 

Fasting, Trusting, and most of all Praying

Each year we begin the new year with a fast. We give up different things based on what we feel is most sacrificial. This year I gave up Facebook. I am also giving up Soda, Tea, Juice and animal based foods. The fast will be from Jan 3 - Jan 23. I realized that I was spending a lot of time on social media and less and less time with daily devotion. It was not an easy decision. Especially at this point in the adoption. I was worried that not being able to be on Facebook and sharing our story that people would forget about us, about Owen. But God never forgets. And he is always faithful. I was talking with a friend today and she shared something with me that really spoke to my heart. She shared: what God originates, He orchestrates. The how is never a problem for Him. How true this has been for us ! He has brought us on this incredible journey and provided every step of the way.

 Imagine my surprise when I checked our FSP and it had grown over $1000 since Sunday !!! Talk about Miracles. Seriously, I am blown away. Thank you so much to every single person who has donated to our account.

With the new FSP amount we now have our Post Placement fees covered ! Miracles.

Today is also a big step in the process for us. Our article 16 was sent off to USCIS. Once they process it we will get our travel dates to bring Owen home !! It generally takes about 3-4 weeks for them to process everything and most families travel 3-4 weeks later.

This means we could potentially be traveling in as little as 6-8 weeks !  We are so excited to finally have our little guy in our arms again, and our family whole. It has been so difficult to "do life" when one of your children is missing. He is always in our thoughts, everything we do we are acutely aware that there should be another hand to hold, another face to wash, another little one to tuck in at night. But, soon he will be here, and we will be together forever.

With the new donations this is what we have left : 

$4,600 Hosting fee- covers apartment, transportation and translator

$2,000 International Fee

$3,500-$4,500 Airfare/In country expenses (we hope this is a high estimate) 

This is what is covered for first trip :

$325 Owens Visa

$1,400 Post Placement Fees 

It seems like a lot of money to raise in just a few short weeks and it is. But God has his hand in this and he will see us through. Even when I feel like it is impossible I am reminded about this verse:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

 We are putting our entire process in Gods hands. He will pave the way and see it through.

As always, please keep our family in your prayers. That the funds will come at just the right time, because His timing is always perfect. And Please keep Owen in your prayers that his heart will be prepared to leave the only home he has ever known and join a family . Also that his brother and sister will be prepared for the new addition of a sibling.

Thank you so much, friends.

When Great News happens !

I was expecting last week to be excruciating. The weeks leading up to Christmas were painful. I thought last year was hard, we had just submitted our application to the agency right before Thanksgiving and had been approved to adopt him a little before Christmas. Last year we felt like we were missing somebody, Last year we knew there was an extra plate we weren't making, another stocking we weren't filling, another child missing out on the family traditions we do each year. Last year I was so so sure that our family would be different. Our family would be one of the fast ones, the ones our agency said not to base your timeline on. I just knew he would be home for Christmas. But I was wrong. This year I knew he wouldn't be here for Christmas.  This year was different though, we knew him. We spent a week with him. We have held him and snuggled him. He was missing. And I literally felt like my heart was in two places, breaking from the pain of not having all of my little ones with us. I thought for sure Christmas Day would be unbearable.

But Then !

On Dec. 22 we received a video update of Owen. It was the sweetest gift we could have asked for, really. Or so we thought. Because on Dec.23 we received our article 16! This is a HUGE step in the process. It basically means both governments agree that we can adopt OWEN. We got the OK from our government that we could adopt "a child", we got the okay from his government that we could adopt "a child" but now we have the okay to adopt not just "a child" but OUR CHILD. I am so so so happy ! We quickly filled out our portion and sent it to our agency. But in true adoption fashion, every single time we have needed something to hurry along or get seen there's a delay or holiday. Hello, Christmas. LOL.

Other families have traveled anywhere from 7 weeks to 5 months after receiving their article 16. We know based on our in country teams estimate that we should travel around March. So we have about 10-12 weeks to come up with the remaining adoption fees. We have a few pending donations that haven't been added to our FSP yet so there is a small update but I don't know the specifics yet.

Until those are accounted for I am just going to say this is where we are:
International fee $2000
Hosting fee (apartment, transportation,translator) $4600
Post placement fees $1400
Airfare/ In Country Expenses $4500 (We really hope this is a HIGH estimate!)

We are so so so close to bringing home the newest little McBride! I can hardly wait. I know we still have a ton of money to raise but right now I am soaking in the excitement of the finish line ! That sweet smart little guy we met in November gets to finally come home in 2016! The little 3 year old that we saw on Reece's Rainbow in 2014, finally gets to have his very own family in 2016 ! The sweet little guy who has spent 4 years waiting for a mom and dad and believing with everything in him that they weren't coming , finally gets his very own right before his 5th birthday ! And what a celebration that will be !

So maybe we did miss this Christmas with him, but it will certainly be the last one without him!

We ask that you please keep us in your thoughts and prayers in the next several weeks. We have one final adoption grant application that we are waiting to hear from. We need this grant. I know every person that applies needs it too. But I really really hope we are chosen for it. We have tried so many fundraisers, we have worked over time, side jobs and random things (remember my plasma post? ) We have applied to so many grant organizations. We just need help getting to the finish line. He isn't a cute little squishy baby, He isn't aging out, he isn't in a horrible orphanage being abused, neglected or starved, but he is still worthy of having a family. He deserves it just as much as every other child waiting for a family. So, please help us get there. Pray for our family. Share our posts. Ask your friends if they want to buy a shirt or a puzzle piece or a number on our VISA gift card board.

Every single thing that you do is a blessing to us. Every single prayer is heard and God is faithful. He will get us through this journey and he will provide the funds we need to bring this sweet amazing little boy home.

I saw this verse the other day and it really resonated with me. The power in prayer is a beautiful thing. I know that if we could have everyone flood heavens gate with prayers for our family God will provide the funds to bring our sweet guy home.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) 

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 Thank you so very much.

Here is a photo of Ethan & Ashlyn on Christmas ! And here is our "Christmas photo" we took at my husbands job a few weeks ago ! They had a "family day" with crafts and Elsa and games. The kids really enjoyed seeing where daddy spends all his time ;)