Welcome

Hi and welcome to my blog. I'm Jenn also known as momma. I'm married to my best friend Chris and we have three daughters. Pooh is 14, Tweety is 12 and Tinka is 11. We are in the process of adopting two of the sweetest little girls from Eastern Europe. We made our first trip to their country in April to meet them and sign our petition to adopt. Our Butterfly is 6 and our monkey is 3. Both girls have Down Syndrome and Monkey has a lot of other medical needs. We are working to finish up our court dossier and are fundraising to finish raising the money to fully fund us for our second and third trips. For those not familiar with international adoption it is a very costly journey. We have spent thousands out of pocket and we're blessed that our Butterfly had a large grant. Our first trip was fully funded and we are half way there for our second trip. We have a couple fundraisers going on if you would like to look into them. The first is a cookbook we put together. Our girls have many extended "aunties" around the country who love and pray for them. Some of them came together and contributed treasured recipes for this book. It has close to 90 recipes along with helpful hints and tips. It comes in a 5 x 8  three ring binder.  We also have a facebook page called "Sugar & Spice" were we put up different crafty items we have made to sell. It's a work in progress, right now we have some hair clips, a couple cookbooks, and pillow case dresses. Soon we will be adding tutu bow holders as well as  aprons & hobo type purses my daughter Pooh has been sewing. We are also looking to have a giveaway/auction and can always use items donated to that. Having items donated helps keep the out of pocket expense down, which means more money goes to bringing our girls home.

You may be asking why it's so important to bring them home. Before our trip we had heard how horrible orphanages and institutions were in their country. We prepared ourselves for the worst. Our first trip to accept a referral was 12 days long. During that time we learned a lot, meet some really wonderful people and fell in love with two little girls. The girls are in two different places. Monkey is in a baby house still. We met the orphanage director, doctor, and social worker. They were all very nice. They explained all about her medical issues, why she was in the orphanage, and then asked if we wanted to meet her. We of course said yes. They took us into a little room and brought Monkey to us. As soon as they handed her to me I was in love. The only way I can describe it is it's like the first time you hold your baby in the hospital. You look at them and there is an instant bond. Next my husband held her and he too was in love. He has facial hair and Monkey finds it fasinating lol. We spent about 10 minutes with her that first day and then they asked us if we still wanted to adopt her. We said yes and signed our petition to adopt right there. They have a notary so it was notarized all on the same day. Some may ask how we knew we wanted to adopt her after a 10 minute visit and it's hard to explain because it's just a feeling you have.

When we met Butterfly we talked to the child's home director, the social worker for the home, the main doctor, and another social worker. They asked us all kinds of questions, why we wanted to adopt, why special needs, what did we do for a living, questions about our other children, about our home. Then they asked if we had any pictures, and we did. So they looked at them and said thank you for bringing them. They then gave us the history on Butterfly both her family history and medical history. They told us that she takes lessons there and that she loves music and is a smart girl. After they read everything to us they asked if we wanted to meet her still. We said yes and they brought her into the directors office. It was a small room with so many people. She sat down in a chair and we spent about 10 minutes playing with her and just getting a feel for each other. She too loves my husbands facial and arm hair. We again were in love. She has a smile that lights up the room, and she's got a sassy streak as well. After that initial 10 minutes they said she had to go eat lunch. They asked us if we wanted to adopt her and we said yes. They told her we would come back the next day to see her and she smiled. We signed our petition that day as well.

We spent the rest of our trip there doing paperwork and visiting with the girls. The children's home our Butterfly is in is about a 2 hour drive each way so that takes up a good portion of the day. We didn't do much sight seeing. On one day in between visits our translator took us to McDonalds and to walk down the walking street. That was really neat. We also got to experience our first train rides, they were 7 hours to and from the main city. We are looking forward to going back in a couple months and going before the judge to ask for her permission to adopt both girls.  We know it won't always be easy. There will be rough days, and good days. We have done foster care for a few years and we've dealt with all types of issues, RAD, anger issues, self harming, drug exposed infants, medically fragile children. Out of all the children who have come through our home only 2 have not gone back home, and that was by the parents choice. We understand the affects taking a child from the only environment they've ever known will have on them. It's scary for them. We have also seen how over time things do improve. Sometimes it takes longer than others. When we made the decision to adopt we agreed no matter what if we take these children into our home to be our children we treat them with the same love and respect we do our own bio children. We wouldn't send our bio children away if things got hard and we won't do that to these girls. We want to give them a forever family.

We hope you will follow us on our journey both bringing them home and after they are home. We do ask that NOTHING from our blog be copied or shared without first obtaining permission from myself. This is to protect our children and to respect the laws and customs of Butterfly & Monkeys country. Do however feel free to link to our blog if you find something here you want to share.

God Bless
Jenn