The Start Of Our Adoption Journey...

This post is all sorts of hurry up and wait. Such is life when it comes to adoption. However, you all need to know what's going on because things are sort of moving (sort of not) on the adoption front for our family. And you know how long I have been waiting and praying to say that. For those of you that don't know why adoption is such a part of our family, let me tell you...

I was four. Yes, four years old. Not old enough for school, but I was potty trained so there's that. I had seen the commercials on the tv talking about malnourished children in third world countries. I saw that commercial where they show children who have cleft lip/palate and I boldly announced, "Mom. I am going to adopt! Let's bring home a baby!" My mom did not quite share that sentiment. Literally, from that time I knew I would adopt. God obviously placed it on my heart...oh and you know...He commands us to look after orphans. It was a no brainer. Early on in my relationship with Josh (that's a joke guys...we met in August, started dating in October, and were engaged in December) I let him know that adoption was a non-negotiable for me. I truly believe that God wanted me to adopt and that it was so important that I believed the husband He designed for me would also have a heart for adoption. Thankfully Josh was more than on board.

Fast forward to 2010. We never knew we would get pregnant. We honestly never thought that I could. My body hates me...for reals...and yet, Eden came along anyway. And then Israel. Pregnancy was not something I had to have. In fact, honestly, while I was curious what it was like to be pregnant, I really just wanted children. It was hard for me to want to be pregnant when I knew there were MILLIONS of children without homes. Something I just can't personally handle (please note that this is just the way I felt and understand that others feel differently).



So, here we are. 2014. God THREW the doors open for our adoption. In a perfect world all of our student loans would be paid off (although I can happily announce that a few months ago we paid off all medical and credit card debt!!!!) and we would have tons in savings. While we do have money saved up for our adoption, it's not the full amount. And that is okay because we believe God has said we are to adopt now so we are trusting Him. We have been pre-approved with our agency, but we can't officially start our process until August 1 (128 days away if you were wondering).

Why August?

Well, I had planned on waiting until August to tell you WHERE we are adopting from, but since this is a huge piece in the puzzle, it's time to tell you now.

HAITI.

God literally threw it at us. Honestly, I didn't expect it. Africa has been on our hearts in a major way for so long that I had trouble understanding why ever single door to Africa closed and Haiti just kept popping up in the craziest of ways. I will share more about this once the adoption is officially underway...because there are still a few things I am working through in this.

For an adoption in Haiti, one parent must be 30 years old. This is a very new requirement and it is why Haiti was never even considered before because we didn't meet their previous requirements. I was told that we could begin the process when I am 29 years and 9 months old since our home study will not be completed until after I am 30 so we will then qualify. So for now, we wait. But you know we aren't just sitting around right? Because you know I don't know how to wait patiently.

Right now we are reading up on all things regarding international adoption. Preparing our hearts. Preparing our family. Getting our home ready. And...we have been working on opening up an online shop to begin fundraising. God knew we needed this time and although at first it was hard to think of waiting longer, it truly has been so wonderful for our family to have a date in mind, but to have this time to ready ourselves for the very exhausting journey ahead.

It is so hard to put everything that is on my heart into words. There is so much more to share. For now, let me end by saying this. While we are SO excited to grow our family, please know that there is also a really devastating part to adoption. Our future child will be ours because they lost their first family. This breaks our hearts. I have already shed so many tears on behalf of a baby I don't know yet and a family I may never meet. No matter what we will know of our child's story, their birth family will forever be a part of our family. We have been praying big prayers about how we can use our adoption to then help families to keep their children. Sadly, many families simply cannot afford to care for their babies. This is not okay. I will stop here because I can write about this forever, but please know that while we say just how excited we are to start our adoption, we also are pained for the heartbreak that had to happen as well.



How can you help? We will let you know about our shop soon. We will also have other ways you can help in the future. For now, we are having a FLASH SALE on adoption t-shirts that ends this Thursday night (March 27)!!!  My friend Sarah is letting us jump on board with their t-shirt fundraiser...I am so blessed by her friendship! Shirts are $24 (shipped). Adult sizes: S-XL (XXL-XXXL are $27) and Kids XS-XL. All orders are done through PayPal. Please send a "gift" payment to sarahlongrdh@yahoo.com -- in the notes section please include shirt size, shipping address, and that it is for the Crain's adoption. Please let me know if you have any questions!!

 

Thank you all for your love, support, and most importantly, your prayers! We will keep you updated as our journey unfolds!

Cloth Diaper Week: Surprise Reveal!!!

Today is the BIG day!!! Seriously, I am so excited to be a part of this. I feel like we should have a drumroll...



Today is the day that Rock-a-Bums releases their PRINTS! I have been so excited about this day for so long! And to celebrate they are hosting a MASSIVE giveaway. Are you ready for this?

Rock-a-Bums is giving away a "From Birth to Potty Learning" stash of 9 covers (prints or solids, winners choice), 18 inserts, and 60 hybrid inserts.

If you have been considering cloth diapering, have a friend that wants to cloth diaper, or want a whole new stash (so basically EVERYONE) you need to enter! Tell your friends...this is something that just has to be shared it's so fun.

Head on over to their HUGE giveaway and then come back here for more info on why we big puffy heart Rock-A-Bums...don't worry...I'll wait...

Welcome back! Now let's go over some of the new features of the 2.0. We LOVED their 1.0 so you can bet the 2.0 is amazing.

FABRIC: It’s proprietary to Rock-a-Bums and is quick to wick away moisture and is hospital grade hypo allergenic. You guys. It is black. This is genius when you are talking about a DIAPER that gets poo on it all the time. No need to worry about stains!

VELCRO: Although I am a self proclaimed snap lover...I sure do love their high quality velcro when I am trying to change a wiggly boy in the middle of the night.

TUMMY PANEL: The RAB's now have an extra layer of fabric in the front of the diaper which helps for tummy sleepers and for boys (this is now something I have to think about you know). 

TWO OPENINGS: Although we typically only use our RAB's as an AI2, we have been known to use the pocket for overnight. For those of you that use it as a pocket diaper, you will love this feature. This makes it so easy to get inserts in and out!

NEW SNAP ARRANGEMENT: This time around they did away with the hip snap so now you only have two rows of snaps to work with!

And as always, Rock-a-Bums still can be used 5 different ways. Curious? They thought you might be so they posted a video explaining each one of its uses.

Clearly, Rock-A-Bums are a favorite around here. Now, make sure if you haven't already, to head on over to their giveaway!

And, because I am OBSESSED with their new prints. Let's just take one last look at them, shall we?

(from top to bottom:  blue velvet, zanadu, punk plaid green, & punk plaid pink)

Which one is your favorite? I am thinking Israel needs to be rocking some guitars...but that plaid sure would look so great on him too.

*All opinions are my own. 

Cloth Diapers: Round Two!

One more day until the big reveal! I can hardly wait! But, as promised, I am back with some more info on our 3rd year of cloth diapering. I decided to keep the party going because let's face it...I am a novelist and I just could not fit everything I needed to say into one post. Today's topic will be an overview of what we are using now. I also have a controversial post coming...it is going to shock a few people...but it needs to be said. So, yeah, that is coming later on this week!

Okay by now we all know I might as well be a hippy because let’s just be honest, I like all things natural. Cloth diapering was no exception. Now, something I have learned over the years (3.5 to be exact) is that cloth diapering is not always the easiest solution. We love it and love the benefits so much that we never wavered in our decision, but more and more I am finding people that go into cloth blindly thinking that it’s all going to be wonderful and easy. This is where I picture people holding hands and skipping through fields of daisies. Is cloth worth it? You betcha! I just think you need to know that it will take some trial and error and you may not love it right away.

Let’s start with types of diapers. There are lots of them. We started with an All-in-One system, the BumGenius Elemental. That diaper was EASY. We never had to explain how to use them to any other caregivers, they were so much like disposables. However, we aren’t using them with Israel. Why? Sadly, over time, the natural fibers broke down to the point of them being unusable. I believe this happened because we did not have a large rotation of them so the fibers naturally break down (just like any piece of clothing) and we also had some bad bleaching advice (more on that another time). The other thing to note is that with Eden, the BGE’s fit perfectly from 10 lbs all the way until she was potty trained. Unfortunately, their fit is just not as great with Israel’s body type. So, do note that different diapers fit babies differently.

So, what are we using this time? Since the BGE’s we have tried MANY different diapers. We have narrowed down our “stash” to SoftBums, RockaBums, and Grovia shells. Our system of choice? All-in-twos. The way this system works is you have a shell (the outer layer of the diaper) and an insert that attach together. When you go to change the diaper, you put the wet insert into the pail, but you keep the shell out to reuse multiple times. We fell in love with this system because it was similar to what we were used to with the all-in-one diapers, but more cost effective since you get to reuse them which means you don’t need as many shells. This was extremely important for us since we were at a place financially where we just could not afford a whole lot. We do miss the ease of our AIO’s (Josh does especially), but these are pretty awesome. Each brand has reasons why we love them. I am not going to do a review on them at this point, but if you want to hear my opinions on all the ones we have tried I would be happy to fill you in...and trust me...I have tried A LOT. 

So, the moral of the story is, one diaper does not fit all. Every time someone asks me what my favorite diaper is, I ask them what their needs are. If you are contemplating starting cloth, but don't know where to start, write a list of things that are important to use. Ease of use, cost, snaps vs. velcro, etc. Then, start asking around. Get ready for LOTS of opinions. We cloth diapering folk sure like to express our love for the brands we use. Also, if you happen to have a local cloth diaper store, ask if they do demonstrations. This is a great way to get your hands on the diapers and really see what you think. Tomorrow I will fill you in on the diaper that I feel fits all of the criteria we looked for in a diaper and why I think it's a good fit for most everyone. 

 

A Little Tease

You guys. I get to be a part of something EXCITING on Wednesday. It is HUGE. It has to do with one of my very favorite cloth diaper companies and I just can't wait. Tomorrow I will be posting a little bit about our cloth diapering journey now that we are 3.5 years into it. A LOT has changed for us as we experiment with different brands, wash routines, detergents...you know, all the fun stuff we cloth diapering moms love to talk about. Come back tomorrow for the dirt on our latest diapering changes (ha!) and definitely DO NOT forget to come back Wednesday!