Happy Birthday, Jenny!

Jenny will turn 5 this March.

Her birthday is just a few days after Vivien's.  Vivien will be turning 3 and this year we are holding a small party of close family to celebrate Vivien's birthday.  The theme will be "Nemo & Dory" and will feature homemade orange and blue cupcakes.   This is a stark contrast to her first birthday party where we invited everyone we knew to a bumble-bee themed catered brunch complete with a smash cake photo op.  Isn't there an unwritten rule that the first birthday party has to be absurdly ostentatious?

Vivien

I wonder what Jenny's first birthday was like?  Did her caregivers throw her a party in the hospital?  Was there cake?  Are there any pictures?  Did anyone even acknowledge it?  These are questions we may never know the answers to and it breaks our hearts.

This time last year, we thought for sure that Jenny would be celebrating her 5th birthday with us.  We would have planned a small, intimate birthday celebration for her since most likely, she would still be adjusting to life in a new family and a new country.

As time slipped by, it became apparent that Jenny would not be an Etter in time for her 5th birthday, but we became hopeful that we might be visiting with her on her birthday as part of the required bonding time that all adoptive families are court-mandated to have.   Barring a miracle from God, it doesn't look like this will be the case for us either.  More than likely, Jenny will be well into her 6th year before we even get to meet her.

But we don't want to let her 5th birthday slip by us.  After all, she is just as much a part of our family as anyone.  We love her.  And we know you love her too.  That's why we're going to throw her a great big birthday bash - And you're all invited!!

Come for 2 minutes or stay for the whole evening!  We will have snacks and appetizers, drinks and desserts.  We also want to video-tape YOU wishing Jenny a happy birthday!  Our birthday present to Jenny will be a video time capsule of all of her friends, family and supporters letting her know how much she is loved.  This will be a present she can keep and cherish for always.  Please plan to come and be part of it since you have all meant so much to us on our "Journey to Jenny"!

Oh, and our good friend Becca will be there with nearly every style of LuLaRoe for you to try and purchase with proceeds going toward our adoption costs!  It wouldn't be a party without LLR, right?

The family that LuLas together...

We hope you plan to stop by so we can let you know just how appreciated you are...for every single person who has give us a single word, thought, or prayer of encouragement has meant the world to us.  And to Jenny.  You're part of this journey.  

Usborne Books & More for Jenny!

So, Jenny's country might be dragging their feet (nope, still no word!) but we aren't!  Our dear friend Crystal has struck again with an amazing fundraiser to help us reach our goal of being able to fund Jenny's adoption debt-free!

Have you heard of Usborne Books?  If you have little ones around, you probably have!!

Join our Facebook party and get ready for the sale to start on Friday, Feb 16 at 8PM EST!   25% of your purchase goes directly to our adoption fund for Jenny!  Shop Here!

We can't wait to get plenty of reading material for Vivien and Jenny for that long plane ride back to the States!

Looking forward to sharing one of the greatest series ever written with our girls...AND it's about adoption!

Much thanks and love to Katrina Thomas for hosting this party for us and generously donating her time and talents to bring Jenny home!  And thanks to you for supporting us by liking, sharing, posting and participating in all of our fundraising efforts!

Groundhog Day

Stop me if you've heard this before...waiting is hard.

Right now, I feel like our lives are like the iconic comedy starring Bill Murray and Andie McDowell, Groundhog Day, in which Murray's character is forced to relive Feb 2nd over and over again.

This mostly has to do with the season of life which we're currently in - our almost-three year old thrives on routine.  Wake up, eat, play, eat, nap, play, eat, play, sleep.  Rinse and repeat.

We also see it in the quiet moments we share with God.  Each morning I wake up early to spend time praying and reading the Bible.  My prayer for the past year has been practically the same: "Dear Father, please watch over Jenny.  Prepare us to become a family for her and bless those who watch over her in the meantime.  Please put our paperwork on the right desk and into the right hands today, dear Lord, that we would hear an approval even this very day.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

One of my favorite hymns is "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and I've found myself humming this song throughout each day and coming back to the lyrics:  "Morning by morning new mercies I see."  How awesome!  Every day His mercies are new!  Each day is a new beginning and a new opportunity for God's mercy, grace and peace to flood our hearts and sustain our hope.

Waiting is a right of passage in adoption.  Everyone who adopts goes through it, whether you're adopting from foster care, pursuing a domestic newborn adoption, or waiting to hear from an international government.

We're currently reading through a book called "Praying Through Your Adoption"  written by a local adoptive mother who's been there.  Chapter 4 is titled simply "Waiting."  The author opens the chapter with a quote from a handmade button she wore to church one day during her adoption journey:

No news yet.  Thanks for praying!

She took the words right out of our mouths.

Another great lyric from the hymn is "Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."  His mercies are new each morning and He grants us the strength we need just for today.  Our hope lies in tomorrow - tomorrow we'll hear news of our approval!

Tomorrow we'll have a court date for the adoption.
Tomorrow we'll board a plane headed toward Jenny's country.
Tomorrow she will be our daughter.

But for today, we have just enough peace, mercy and strength from God to continue to hope.