Abraham turned 4 this week! On his next birthday, God willing, he will be surrounded by his loving family. His big brothers and sister have already picked out a bright sparkly green "5" candle to put on his cake next year.
We went to Mass and lit 4 candles for our Birthday Boy half a world away. His birthday "coincidentally" is the same day as my First Holy Communion anniversary! My heart skipped a couple of beats when I first saw his birth date in the paperwork when we committed to him in June. Another "coincidence," if I believed in coincidences, is that his birthday falls during National Adoption Month!
We started making him a blue, white, and brown Rosary that we will get blessed in his country and then again when he is baptized here. All of the big kids helped at least a little bit. The centerpiece is a beautiful depiction of Mary holding Baby Jesus. He won't be without a mother's loving arms for long.
We ended the day with a delicious banana birthday cake (decorated with help from his big siblings) and sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Hope he had a happy day! The Weather Channel said his village got up to 68 degrees and was sunny on his birthday, so I'm sure he got a chance to play outside. That makes me happy!
We watched the little 3-minute video we have of him playing with some keys (the only video we have) before bed. I had the most amazing dream that night that we went to the orphanage and met him for the first time. What a gift!
To help us raise the money we need for the next big agency fee, we launched our Little House on the Prairie giveaway. Each donation of $15 gets you one of the 30 entries to win the entire Little House series on DVD. That includes all 9 seasons plus the pilot--170+ hours of family entertainment you can enjoy for years to come. When all 30 spots are taken, we'll draw for the Little House grand prize as well as for a secondary prize of a $20 Amazon gift card. Only 15 spots left!
We got our fingerprinting appointments for the I800-A (form asking USCIS for permission to adopt internationally) and plan to go next week. The USCIS office we are assigned to is in Charleston, 2 hours away. We're planning on making a day out of it, enjoying that beautiful city while we're there. So happy that things on this front are moving along. We've been told the turnaround for I800-A approval is 90 days. We filed last month and don't expect final approval until January. That way, if things move more quickly, we'll be pleasantly surprised!
Also to help on the fundraising front, I will be launching an Etsy store just as soon as I can get everything listed. Stay tuned...
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
No comments:
Post a Comment