Epic Fail

That's the grade I would receive for blogging everyday for 31 days straight. Oh well, good thing it's not for a real test or anything. :) I'm still getting back on the horse and will try to blog for the rest of the month. I will not be defeated! Ha!

Here is a little website I recently discovered and a link to an article that I found particularly interesting. Check it out! Especially if you are considering adopting a child with Down Syndrome. The name of the site is Down Syndrome Facts and Fiction.

http://www.down-syndrome-facts-and-fiction.com/down-syndrome-adoption.html

Homestudy is OVER!

Well, we finished the last part of our responsibility to toward our homestudy yesterday. YIPPEE! We were told it will take about two weeks to get our report finished, then two weeks at the state DHR office for approval. After that, it will go to the national office where it will probably hang out for no more than three months. At least that is what our social worker told us. We have learned from others to expect the unexpected, so we are not setting our hearts on any timeframe. Of course, we hope it will be done a.s.a.p. so we can go get our little boy! Regardless, it feels great to have a great big checkmark next to homestudy. Now I'm off to compile our dossier documents...

Homestudy Visit is Today!

Our homestudy in-home visit is scheduled for 1 p.m. today! That will mark the end of our homestudy duties and the beginning of our wait for them to complete the homestudy report. I am sooooooo excited to be nearing the end of this (very important) part of our adoption process. Our house is cleaner that it has ever been, I think. Maybe even cleaner than when we first moved into our house! I know they're not looking for dust and lint, but I didn't want our social worker to open and closet and find "Monica's closet." either. My good friend, Karen, came over yesterday and spent the entire day helping me deep clean and organize. It was so nice to have someone else to work with and another set of "fresh eyes" to see things that needed to be done. She's a detail person so she wiped down and cleaned things that I would've never even noticed (read: top of the fridge, kitchen canisters, plant foliage, etc.). Hopefully I can maintain the house a little better now that I have a fresh start. I love to organize, but I tend to let things like dusting and wiping fan blades and windexing windows go for months and months and months! I'll update later today and let you know how it went. Say a little prayer for us!

Watson's Adoption

This adoption video was made by another family adopting two children from Reece's Rainbow. One has Down Syndrome. I love the song, especially the line, "your courage asks me what I am afraid of?" What are YOU afraid of? What is God asking YOU to do to live courageously for HIM?

Angel Tree 2009

So many of you may be reading this adoption blog and thinking to yourself, "That's great that THEY are adopting, but I can't." Well, you may not be able to adopt (or you may not THINK you are able to adopt...I'm going to blog about that tomorrow so come back to read about it), but you CAN help orphans and participate in orphan care. God has COMMANDED us to care for orphans and widows (James 1:27). So before you think, "there's nothing I can do," please click on the Christmas Ornament in the left sidebar. After you read about the Angel Tree Project, PRAY about donating to one of the angels listed on the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree. The pictures won't be up until NOVEMBER 1, so that gives you the rest of the month to PRAY about how much God wants you to give. Any amount would be a huge step toward helping these children find forever families! The money goes to their grant funds. 100% of your donation will go toward the child's adoption. It is very expensive to save a child's life through adoption. So a child with a larger grant fund is often more attractive to potential adoptive parents, simply because it makes adoption a reality for them. So once again, please be a part of orphan care and donate to these children. I am a prayer warrior for Victoria and would love to see her have a HUGE grant and adoptive family as a result of the Angel Tree project! But if God puts another child on your heart, then by all means donate to them! All of these precious children need homes and your money, no matter how little or how much, could make it possible for them to find their forever family!!! I will be reminding you all again on November 1 that the Angel Tree is up, but until then, I want to strongly encourage you to PRAY about if God is calling you to be a part of the adoption of one of these sweet angels.

Will Babies With Down Syndrome Just Disappear?

This is an absolutely shocking article to me. Read more here:

Will Babies with Down Syndrome Just Disappear?

Shared via AddThis

After reading it, I did a little research and found that the statistics cited are not high. It's pretty much the same on every website I can find (+/- 2 percent). Approximately NINETY-TWO PERCENT...NINETY-TWO PERCENT! of women who are carrying a child with Down Syndrome elect to abort. NINETY-TWO PERCENT! It's staggering to me. I just can't get my head around that statistic. That is more than nine out of ten. Now I'm asking myself, what can be done? How do we change this? I don't know, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

31 For 21

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month so I've decided to take the 31 for 21 blog challenge and blog every day in the month of October. I realize today is the 3rd...so I'm late. Greg would tell you, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't late! So I'll post three days into November to make up for it...maybe. :)

So to start off, here's a great video about a kid with Down Syndrome named Matt Ziesel whose father is the coach of a high school football team. Matt practices with the team and at a recent game, scored his first touchdown in a real game. Read the story accompanying the video. What a great life lesson for everyone on the field and at the game about what is really important in life.