Social Security Numbers and Such

My social security card arrived in the mail today. That thing was a pain in the rear end to get a hold of. I am so excited it is here!

Why, you ask, am I so excited that a government issued ID card has arrived? Well, because it is the latest piece of information that was missing which I desperately needed to finish up some of the paper work.

I think I am close to being done. I have to take some of the paper work to the county clerk and then take it to somewhere in Atlanta to get the state seal. This is a monstrosity of a pain. But, I'm jumping through these ridiculously silly hoops with a smile so that I can get my hands on our baby.

Woo Hoo! Join me is saying Hallelujah, Praise the Lord! There is no way my social security card could have gotten here this quickly without a little help from our Lord. It was less than a week ago that I went to the SS Admin to put in the request. It had to be mailed from Baltimore or Boston (some where starting with a "B").

OK- I'll post more soon when I know something.

Adoption & Stomach Viruses

Good grief! It has been a long time since I have updated my blog. Well, hold on to your hat. Here goes.

Adoption:

The home study was finished and approved in December. We paid for it ($3800) so now it is put to rest. We still owe about $4000 in adoption fees. Hopefully David's W2s will hurry up and get here, the government will issue our refund check, and we can pay that fee.

The next step is the dossier. If I understand right, the dossier is similar to the home study but it requires different documents which are specific to Hong Kong. I spoke to the lady from Bethany who is in charge of adoptions from Hong Kong. It looks like we are still looking at traveling late summer(ish). That is assuming the funding is there.

When I started writing this post I remembered I had to pay for the I800A (about $900). I believe that has something to do with immigration. I really can't keep up anymore. I think it takes about 2 months to get approval.

Please don't hear me complaining about money or the high cost of adoption. I am simply stating how much we owe. For those that are considering adoption, you need to know what you are facing. David and I also know that God will provide one way or another. This is a big leap of faith for us. We really don't know how we'll get the money to pay for this. All my friends who have traveled this road before me have said the money will come.

I have been working on applying for grants. I just can't emphasize how much NOT fun that is. If it were just about filling out a form and signing on the dotted line that would be one thing. But unfortunately, you fill out forms, sign on the line, and provide about a bazillion documents to prove that you are legitimately adopting. What they don't know is that perseverance is my middle name.

Life in General:

Holley Kate has had a stomach virus this past week. Again with the not fun. She seems to be getting better slowly. Gatorade and soda crackers have been our friend. School work has been minimal, at best, this week. Calvin has used this to his advantage. What he didn't realize is that I would have lots of time to spend with him doing English. :0)

Oh and one more thing. Even though we haven't "matched" with our little boy in Hong Kong we have already picked out a name.

We have always given our kids family names. Holley is actually my great great grandmother's maiden name. Kate came from David's grandmother, Mary Kate. Calvin is David's dad and grandaddy's name. Jeffrey is David's middle name as well as his uncle's name.

David and the kids were happy with the name we picked out but I was still struggling with it. And really it was all because both of his names (first and middle) came from David's side of the family. Yes, I am petty like that. However, the other night I stumbled across a book at my house that chronicles the Rushes since the original one (Abraham) came over Germany. Guess what?!! The name that we had picked out is the same name of my great, great, great, great, great Grandaddy Rush. Woo Hoo! I'm happy with it now.

I'm not going to announce the name now. But if you really want to know, my loud mouthed kids will probably tell you. I just want to keep it somewhat under wraps until we are matched.

As always, David and I appreciate your continued prayers. The kids are memorizing Romans 8:28 right now which I believe is very appropriate to put here. It is what I repeat to myself when things seems to not be working out the way I think they should be.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Crochet Hats

I'm selling crochet hats (made by me) to help raise funds for the adoption. I know this is a small beans kind of fund raiser but I am pulling out all the stops to bring my little boy home!

This one is the bomber hat. I just love it! It is great to keep little ones ears warm. I also made this for a neighbor of mine without the bow ( it was for a boy). It turned out great!

This is the butterfly. I can't tell you how cut this one is on!

Here is the "dressed down" version. I like this one for boys especially. I can do them in camo or I can add the skater boy look with a stripe around the rim. Anything you like!

Just email me (or call) and let me know what you'd like! Thanks y'all!

Truly Blessed!

This weekend we had the mother of all yard sales. This was our first fundraiser for the adoption and quite possibly the last yard sale I will every do:0) Wow! I knew it was going to be a lot of work but didn't realize how exhausting it would be. I'm not sure having a garage sale in a yard that has the same slope as Stone Mountain was the smartest decision I have ever made. I'm sure the guys who helped us unpack the garage felt the same way.

Anyway, about 2 months ago I emailed everybody I have ever known and asked for any items in their house they were planning on getting rid of. David and I said we would come over with our trailer and pick it up and use it in our yard sale. And boy, did we get a response. We spent weekends and week nights hauling the trailer around the Atlanta area picking up everybody's stuff.

Here is my garage the morning before of the sale. And yes, both David and I could park in here before we got all the donations.

Here's the formal living room with books, games, and boxes of clothes. I believe I had at least 100 boxes in my house full of mostly clothes.

Here are all the clothes that would end up in those boxes. David decided to bring all the bags of clothes into the dining room for sorting (along with the books, CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes). He then jumped on a plane headed for Baltimore as quickly as he could. Grrrr!

Before we started all this I asked God to open or clothes the doors for me. Actually, I was hoping for an email from the Almighty containing step by step directions for carrying out this adoption. But seeing as how that didn't happen, I just prayed that God's will would be done. If He wanted this adoption to take place I knew He would provide a way. When I sent the email out I figured we would get the random bag of kid's clothes and maybe a few dirty kid's toys. I never expected all this.

Or this,

I was completely overwhelmed, but in a good way!

Sooooo many people came out to help. There is no way we could have done it without them. There were people unloading boxes, moving furniture, organizing clothes, and taking up money. During the middle of the day I zoned out and couldn't figure out what I should be doing. I sort of just stood there in awe. I had to ask my buddies to tell me what to do. They were the glue that held the yard sale together.

So, all in all, the yard sale was a success. Some of the nicer items donated I sold earlier on Craig's List. So with the Craig's List money and the yard sale we made..................................................................

$4000!!!

That's double what we prayed for. God truly blessed us!

I want to thank everyone who donated items and also those who helped out with the yard sale. I am thankful beyond belief. It's hard to believe that people would take time out of their busy schedule to come and help us raise money to bring out little boy home. But they did. And we couldn't have done it without them.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Meemaw

Back when my kids were real little, Grandaddy Ang and Meemaw would take the kids to either Six Flags, Ga Aquarium, White Water, or some such entertainment arena.

To be perfectly honest, I thought they were insane. Not only did they take my children but they also took all the other grand kids.

Needless to say, either David or I went with them for crowd control. It was always a hot sweaty day but boy did those kids have fun!

This happened to be one of those times that I was not there, I believe. I'd say my son was either very hot or very sunburned. Maybe a little of both.

This picture must have been taken at Six Flags ( it could have been American Adventures). Meemaw is the one hiding behind Murry Margaret. Wasn't that handsome looking group?

They stopped taking the kids a few years back. Maybe they got a look at their credit card bill after one of their trips and decided they'd had enough. Or maybe they just started having so many grand kids they decided that going to a theme park wasn't a good idea. At last count there were 10 grand kids with one more waiting for them in Hong Kong.

Today is a hard day. Today is Meemaw's birthday. She's not here to celebrate with us. The Lord took her to be with Him on Feb. 14, 2011. It has been a long, hard 7 months. My kids know that Meemaw was not their biological grandmother but it didn't matter because she was their Meemaw. The funeral was awful hard. Both kids sobbed and begged me to take them home.

I just told Holley Kate about her birthday and she started crying again. It's hard to loose your grandmother at any age but 8 and 10 years old were especially hard.

My father-in-law still struggles daily. October is a hard month. Not only is it Meemaw's birthday but it is also breast cancer awareness month. Everywhere you look there is a pink ribbon. For those that are unaware that they are at risk, the ribbon is a subtle reminder to get those mammograms. For those of us who have lost a loved one to breast cancer, seeing the ribbon is a reminder that not everyone survives.

I do know this though. Meemaw would be mad with us if she knew we were crying for her on her birthday. So, I'll wipe my tears that are dripping off my nose and wish a Happy Birthday to Meemaw in heaven!

October Adoption Update

We had our 3rd (out of 4) meeting with the social worker today. David and I were asked questions about our family life separately. Every meeting with her feels like a mini-therapy session. You have to bare your soul in order to adopt. I mean, good grief! All those little things that I tend to sweep under the carpet have come out in these meetings.

Last week we put a child on "hold" for us. What that means is that no one else in Bethany is eligible to adopt him. Now, if a couple from another adoption agency decides they want him, there is nothing we can do to stop them from adopting the child. It would just be a matter of who gets there first. Hong Kong won't recognize a "hold" on a child until the paper work is sent to Hong Kong and approved.

Trying to "pick" a child was a pretty hard task. We have prayed over several of the children. I asked for open and closed doors and God did just that. Another couple in the Atlanta are adopting the little girl we had been considering. That left the little boy wide open. I can't give too many details about him here except that it is a little boy and he is less than 3 years old. He is also a special needs child.

I have poured over his medical charts, which thankfully, were written in English. I have called and consulted with my pediatrician (who also consulted with her husband who is a neurologist). I've talked to countless people about his medical conditions. How do you know how much you can handle? How do you know where the child will ultimately end up? Will he grow up and be a productive member of society or does he face a very different future?

And you know what? We decided it didn't matter. If this was the child that God has chosen for us then nothing else mattered. It is no different than if the child sprung from my very own loins. We'll do everything in our power to fix what is wrong and we'll just deal with the un-fixable.

So the big question is, how are we going to come up with the funds for the adoption? Well... We are planning a yard sale for the first weekend in November. If you have anything that you'd like to get rid of ( and you live in the greater Atlanta area) please let me know and we'll come by and pick it up so it can be included in our yard sale. I'm also selling some things on Craig's List.

David and I ask that you pray for us, our kids, and our "to be" kid. Please pray that we continue to follow God's path. Please pray for patience (for me especially). My pediatrician was very adamant that we move as quickly as possible to get him over her as soon as we could. I think I felt my anxiety level rise as we talked.

Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

My Favorite stuff by Holley Kate Schramm

1.I really like american girls. Visit it at http://www.americangirl.com/play/. I'ts really fun.

2.HARRY POTTER!Mostly.

3.I enjoy writing plays. I finished one called :Princess Petunia Flare. You want to see?https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iQxzr_lZdQOZdbX0F9M8qMwnrdVuc0Oez1LuDrhfu4s/edit?hl=en_US.

4.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXIgNnB_oq4 is a funny video that is good to watch-if you like Harry Potter.

5.I like T.V. , as every child.

6.And I like it when you "happily" read my blog.

7.I also like my animals.

Hm...........Harry Potter...............Harry Potter................Harry Potter................Harry Potter............I guess that's it. Did I mention Harry Potter?Please post a comment as an answer.