Saturday, October 10, 2009
THANK YOU
I just have to say thank you, thank you, thank you! We received a donation via our little paypal button. I think I read the email from paypal about thirteen times. I was just in shock. It made my entire day. I'm so moved that this couple felt like blessing us and our adoption with their hard earned money. I'm not sure that I really expected anyone to donate to us that way and so it's just a double shock. It was the best surprise I've had in a long time. So, you know who you are, and now you know that you made my entire day with your graciousness and generosity. THANK YOU!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Etsy & Home Study Agencies
I've been working on my etsy site, working on the blankies, and trying to get the mess that is our unstarted homestudy under control.
Etsy: The name for my shop is going to be MamaEnat. I'm happy to have that decided. I've been working on crafting my shop policies, procedures, and profiles. What I'm trying not to think about is my banner. No idea how to do that and make it look like it was NOT done by a seven year old. I'm also trying to think about pricing. THAT is a headache! Anyone want to offer up what they think is a reasonable amount to pay? I have to say that I'm really enjoying making the blankets, which is a good thing. I'm pretty surprised at the fact that I've found it so relaxing. It doesn't feel like a chore, or a have-to-do, I really enjoy the process. I love looking at that beautiful little face and knowing that I'm doing everything I can to get her here with me as quickly as possible.
Speaking of trying to get her here quickly we're having home study drama. I'm pretty frustrated and we haven't even gotten an application to fill out yet. Holt has a list of approved agencies in each state that we can choose from. In Maryland thre are two agencies. We'll call them agency A and agency B. Agency A was the one that we initially selected. Agency B is WAY more expensive (to the tune of more than $2,000 more) and has a slower timeline.
I've been in contact with agency A since we were in California. At first we were told that the worker in our area was out on maternity leave and so other people were filling in for her. I spoke with some current clients and they've been having a hard time with the agency and interim workers. The worker's maternity leave was done at the end of September so we were hopeful that we'd be able to work with the actual worker and it would be easy-peasy. WRONG. The worker decided to stay home with her new baby (good for her, bad for us). Oh, but when I called the agnecy and asked to speak with her *by name* no one told me this, they just transferred me to her voicemail... I only found out because I sent her an email the next day tha was bounced back to me so I did some more investigating. That was our first BIG sign that this agency might not have it all together. So now to use this agency it was going to require temporary workers, some transfers, and just a process that didn't make us feel secure. We talked to Holt and found another agency that we'd like to work with, and now Holt has to grant a "one time exception" so that we can work with a different agency.
We're hopeful that this agency will be a good match for us. I spoke with the director and she was very friendly, answered my questions fully, had a lot of information, and was fairly easy to get into contact with, which already sets her apart the other agency. I spoke with her by phone Friday morning while I was at the park with the boys. She said she was going to email me their information & application pack so that we could get started. I was under the impression that she was going to email it right away. However, by 2:00 on Friday I still didn't have it. I called back and the office closed at noon on Friday. :( So, another weekend is going by when we could be filling out forms and doing some of the scut work to move us forward.
I have to admit I'm a little disappointed and a lot impatient. I was overly explicit with the fact that we were in a hurry. And I'm almost certain she said she was emailing it right away. I'm trying to keep myself in line though. I know that social workers are busy busy busy (I was a social work major and have some hands-on experience in the field!), but all I can think about is that my little girl is in Ethiopia and I'm in Maryland and we need to be together! Maybe if we were working on a regular timeline we wouldn't worry about it quite as much, but I have a little girl in Ethiopia who needs us to get this stuff done. By the time we get to her she will have been in care for a year, it will have been half of her little life! I firmly believe that Holt provides excellent care and that even though she isn't with us she's still getting lots of love and attention, but I just want her here.
To sum up this week I'm praying for:
* Wisdom for getting my Etsy site up and running
* Patience, patience, patience for me
* Speed and efficiency for everyone I have to deal with! :)
* God's continue grace for our little girl (I almost typed her name again!) as she waits for us
UPDATE: A few hours after I posted this blog I got an email from the agency we're hoping to use saying that they're so sorry and the first email was returned to them. Gotta love a worker who will check her work email after hours! Now to get that Holt approval!
Etsy: The name for my shop is going to be MamaEnat. I'm happy to have that decided. I've been working on crafting my shop policies, procedures, and profiles. What I'm trying not to think about is my banner. No idea how to do that and make it look like it was NOT done by a seven year old. I'm also trying to think about pricing. THAT is a headache! Anyone want to offer up what they think is a reasonable amount to pay? I have to say that I'm really enjoying making the blankets, which is a good thing. I'm pretty surprised at the fact that I've found it so relaxing. It doesn't feel like a chore, or a have-to-do, I really enjoy the process. I love looking at that beautiful little face and knowing that I'm doing everything I can to get her here with me as quickly as possible.
Speaking of trying to get her here quickly we're having home study drama. I'm pretty frustrated and we haven't even gotten an application to fill out yet. Holt has a list of approved agencies in each state that we can choose from. In Maryland thre are two agencies. We'll call them agency A and agency B. Agency A was the one that we initially selected. Agency B is WAY more expensive (to the tune of more than $2,000 more) and has a slower timeline.
I've been in contact with agency A since we were in California. At first we were told that the worker in our area was out on maternity leave and so other people were filling in for her. I spoke with some current clients and they've been having a hard time with the agency and interim workers. The worker's maternity leave was done at the end of September so we were hopeful that we'd be able to work with the actual worker and it would be easy-peasy. WRONG. The worker decided to stay home with her new baby (good for her, bad for us). Oh, but when I called the agnecy and asked to speak with her *by name* no one told me this, they just transferred me to her voicemail... I only found out because I sent her an email the next day tha was bounced back to me so I did some more investigating. That was our first BIG sign that this agency might not have it all together. So now to use this agency it was going to require temporary workers, some transfers, and just a process that didn't make us feel secure. We talked to Holt and found another agency that we'd like to work with, and now Holt has to grant a "one time exception" so that we can work with a different agency.
We're hopeful that this agency will be a good match for us. I spoke with the director and she was very friendly, answered my questions fully, had a lot of information, and was fairly easy to get into contact with, which already sets her apart the other agency. I spoke with her by phone Friday morning while I was at the park with the boys. She said she was going to email me their information & application pack so that we could get started. I was under the impression that she was going to email it right away. However, by 2:00 on Friday I still didn't have it. I called back and the office closed at noon on Friday. :( So, another weekend is going by when we could be filling out forms and doing some of the scut work to move us forward.
I have to admit I'm a little disappointed and a lot impatient. I was overly explicit with the fact that we were in a hurry. And I'm almost certain she said she was emailing it right away. I'm trying to keep myself in line though. I know that social workers are busy busy busy (I was a social work major and have some hands-on experience in the field!), but all I can think about is that my little girl is in Ethiopia and I'm in Maryland and we need to be together! Maybe if we were working on a regular timeline we wouldn't worry about it quite as much, but I have a little girl in Ethiopia who needs us to get this stuff done. By the time we get to her she will have been in care for a year, it will have been half of her little life! I firmly believe that Holt provides excellent care and that even though she isn't with us she's still getting lots of love and attention, but I just want her here.
To sum up this week I'm praying for:
* Wisdom for getting my Etsy site up and running
* Patience, patience, patience for me
* Speed and efficiency for everyone I have to deal with! :)
* God's continue grace for our little girl (I almost typed her name again!) as she waits for us
UPDATE: A few hours after I posted this blog I got an email from the agency we're hoping to use saying that they're so sorry and the first email was returned to them. Gotta love a worker who will check her work email after hours! Now to get that Holt approval!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Ethiopian Flag Blankies
This is the front of the blanket. It's completed made out of no-pill microfleece.
The flipped over corner is (obviously) the back of the blankie. It is made out of wonderful white striped minky.
I have to say that I'm really happy with these. I'm planning on getting my Etsy shopped opened up by the end of the month! I will be mainly making blankets identical to this one. However, I do have some pink dot minky for anyone out there who needs a girly blanket. Blue minky will come at a later date or can be a custom order. I also will (eventually) have a few "deluxe" blankets that will have satin binding around the edges. I'm also hoping that people adopting from other than Ethiopia would be interested as well and I could do some other flags as well.
Monday, October 5, 2009
It's a girl!
It's a girl!!
My blog that is. :) We already knew that we are adopting a little girl. It simply seemed reasonable to me that due to a dearth of pink, purple, and flowers in my house (even though my socks are pink stripes today) that we should have a girly blog in celebration of a little girl.
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