Update on our Host Daughter!
Y’all, my mind is about to blow over the fact that our host daughter will be here at the end of June!!!
(I just found out that I can only share a pencil sketch of her picture online.)
The time is just flying by, and it is hard to believe that that sweet little face will be in our home in just a couple short months.
Our whole family is beyond estatic!
We found out a couple of cool things about her, one of which is that she is only two days older than our Eli!
They were born the exact year just two days apart!! What is even more weird is how much they look alike! I swear everyone thinks they look like twins!
We are hosting her through Project143. It is strictly a hosting program. She will be staying with us from approximately June 28th-August 2nd.
Then she will go back to Eastern Europe where she stays with her foster parents
Since Cy and I feel God leading us to adopt her, we have already started our adoption paperwork through CCAI. (Not all children are available for adoption, but our sweet girl is.)
We are going through CCAI for the adoption process, and we are almost finished with our dossier. If all goes well, Cy and I will be flying back to Eastern Europe for about three weeks in the fall to spend time with her and do a bunch of legal stuff. After those three weeks, she will be able to come back home with us until the adoption process is complete.
We will have to take two other short trips back to Eastern Europe to finish the process, but I love that she can be home with us during this time. I “think” we should be done with everything by Christmas?
Either way, I believe that our girl will be home for Christmas! (I found some Christmas pajamas at Goodwill for her yesterday, and I am claiming that she will be HOME by that time!) :)
Our family would covet your prayers for our sweet girl. She doesn’t even know we exist yet. She hasn’t seen our pictures, she hasn’t read our letter to her. She won’t get that information until June.
She doesn’t know she has a dad who bought her a bunny rabbit stuffed animal.
She doesn’t know that she has a mom that dreams of pink bows, pig tales, and fairy tales at bedtime.
She doesn’t know that she has brothers that cannot wait to have a princess in the house.
She doesn’t know that she has a mom and dad that prays for her everyday. Praying that God would whisper in her hear each night before bedtime that she is loved.
I know she doesn’t know we exist yet, but I hope she is dreaming of us like we are dreaming of her. :)
As a side note, we have created a fund raiser to help with the costs of our hosting/adoption/traveling. :)
Eli told me that he wanted to make a shirt at Booster.com to help bring her home. I was like, “Where did you here about that?”
“On TV!” he said. I should have known!
So we looked at it together, and we made this t-shirt. :)
I have been wanting to make a shirt with this phrase on it because my mom used to tell it to me all the time. When I would tell her how complete strangers would stop me in the store when they saw me with my four little boys and they would say, “Bless your heart!” or “”Well, you’ve got your hands full!”
My mom would say, “Traci, you just tell them, if you think my hands are full, you should see my heart!”
That has always stuck with me, and I have been thinking about it even more since we have decided to host/adopt our little girl.
I know a lot of people probably think we are crazy. I know they are thinking we are busy enough with our four little boys. I know that it may not make a lot of sense.
But we know that this is GOD’S WILL. We know this is right for our family.
And Cy and I know that our hands will be full, but man….
YOU SHOULD SEE OUR HEARTS!
If you, or someone you know would like this t-shirt, we would love for you to purchase one and help us bring home our daughter.
Click HERE to view our Booster Campaign! :)
Eli is already making plans to design another tshirt. He said the next one needs to have a dinosaur on it!
Have a blessed day, friends!
This has got to be the most heartwarming post ever. My husband and I knew one day we wanted to adopt. It was in our plans all along to adopt from Africa, and then we quickly realized God had other plans for us. 8 years ago our one year old nephew was placed in our home and we are now in the process of adoption. God is good, and adoption is something so special. I cannot wait to watch your whole story for years to come. Hugs from Oregon!
I am so excited to hear this wonderful news and I will be praying for you all as you continue this journey! What a wonderful blessing!
Yay! We have four boys and then adopted our daughter, so I can’t wait to see how your journey unfolds. One of the best parts was seeing how my boys bonded with their new sister. They adore her, and she knows she’s the princess!
It’s a roller coaster ride, so I will be praying for you and your family. :)
oh, traci i was just thinking about your sweet girl this morning. i am so glad that you have blogged the update. she seems meant to be♥
Oh Traci! I have tears in my eyes reading this post! So beautiful and I absolutely LOVE the saying on the t-shirt! I’m going to adopt that into my vocabulary too!! God is awesome and I am quite confident that little girl is dreaming of what her new family will be like!! She has no idea what an awesome family she is gaining! Can’t wait to see and hear all the steps through this journey! Blessings to all of you ;-)
This is beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
I am so happy for this sweet little girl to join your family. She IS loved and adored and you will be so lucky to get to bless her the rest of her life! Prayers that the adoption process is smooth and without delays so that your little girl can join your family forever!
I have always remembered this saying from you – and feel it so much now that my life is full with a 5 year old and 2 year old twins! I would love this shirt – and to support what your awesome family is doing. I love the story God is writing with your life. Prayers and blessings to you all – and tell Jonathan I said hi :) Amy Oliver
I’m so happy for you guys! That is one lucky little girl or I should say blessed.
I am so happy for your family. What a blessing for her and y’all! That will be the best Christmas gift ever!
So happy for you all. Thanks for sharing your sweet story with your readers. Great memories to be made!
so disappointed…tried to order a shirt but you’re not set up for CANADA! As a mom of nine, seven who are adopted, I wish you all the best to bring your girly home.
Oh Traci! That is so exciting to hear the final details. I will pray that all goes smoothly.
It seems so crystal clear that she is meant to be with your family. God surely has had this planned for her and for you for quite awhile and now it is all coming together. So happy for all of you. Will continue to read about your progress and will pray for you.
So happpy for you and your beautiful family!!! We adopted both of our daughters internationally. What an amazing journey! May God bless you all.
What a blessing, Traci! We adopted a sibling group of 3 plus we have two biological. They’re all almost grown now but adoption was the reason I started blogging in the first place. I’m a wealth of all types of information if I can help in any way! Can’t wait to see how God works His plans in your lives!
Love this post! For just over a year I have been reading your blog and this is the first time reading a post of yours has brought tears to my eyes, if fact, I think it just got worse the more I read. I am so happy for your family and for this little girl that God is placing in your life. She has no idea how much love your family already has for her. It is all incredibly beautiful and will be such a wonderful story to unfold. I will keep everyone in my prayers. I can’t wait to read about all that God has in store for your family as you embark on this adventure!
I strongly encourage you to attend Empowered to Connect. Orphaned children have often been neglected, abused and traumatized. I don’t say this to be a downer. I’m an adoptive parent. The ETC training would have been a tremendous benefit to our family.