So much to share, not enought time to blog!!

I've been working so much on getting everything together for "The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower" this weekend and I have so much exciting news to share but not enough time to blog about it!!
I hope to sit down tonight and share the latest news on what to expect for this event on March 14th....but I wanted to let everyone know that Im doing an interview that will air tomorrow morning on "The Lowcountry Chapter" issues show at 6am! We talk about Two Hearts For Hope and Kim & Stacy who started the organization, "The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower!" in Charleston, Adoption, and Kazakhstan- history, culture, and baby houses! If you are in the Charleston area and awake at 6am (haha!) you can tune in to 100.9-fm on your radio....if you would like to listen and are outside of the Charleston area, you can stream online at www.wayfm.com

Our Wedding Invitation...

JD and I celebrated another anniversary 2 weeks ago (Feb 10)....and alot of our new friends who weren't at our wedding have heard that we did our wedding invitation a little bit differently than most. With both of us being radio DJ's, we decided to make our invitation into a "radio spot" and send it out to our friends and family as our invite. They would have to play it in their CD or DVD player to hear our invite. Anyway, I promised I would post it, so here it is:
PS: Yes, I know, we are dorks....thats why we married each other! :)

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower! Part Dvah (That's 2 in Russian!)

Three weeks from today, we will be hosting the first annual, "The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower" in Charleston, SC! This event is taking place in hopes to collect as many items as possible for Two Hearts for Hope to send to the orphans in Kazakhstan, while also sharing with our community what adoption is all about . As the event gets closer we will be doing radio morning show interviews and a local TV news station is interested in coming to the party to cover it! We are so thrilled that people are as excited about this event as we are!
Here's a list, so far, of items that will be in our raffle and silent auction. We have a few businesses who are still trying to figure out what they want to donate, but I do not want to include them until I actually have the donation in hand. I will update as we receive more :) Click on the names to be taken to their website.



The Mommy Spa: $25 Gift Certificate for a Mommy Massage
SC Stingrays Hockey: Family 4 pack of tickets to any 'one' game
Burp Itty Burp: $20 Gift Certificate for the online store
Ready, Set, Jump!: With any kids party, ALL food, drinks and decor is FREE! *$90 value!!
Station 41 Tan : 5 visits on the Seashell tanning bed *$35 value
Tresses: $50 Gift Card towards services and "maintenace package" and shampoo, conditioner, and brush OR a CHI Flat Iron.
Motives Makover: One-on-One makover with a Motives Cosmetics Expert.
Kaz Cookbook : Cooking For Kaz-a collection of recipes by Kaz Adoptive Families
Irene's Island Decor : Stephans Baby Diaper bag/Tote bag

Again, we are awaiting a few more generous donations and I will post them as we receive them.
If you or someone you know would like to donate an item for our raffle/silent auction, please email me: nicolehanks9@hotmail.com

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

"The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower!"

J.D. and I are sooo proud to announce that we will be hosting our first annual "The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower!". This event will be held on Saturday, March 14th from 1pm-3pm at the East Bay Deli located in Mount Pleasant.
There will be food, fun, games, and prizes!!!! A list of raffle items will be added to this post at the end of next week, so check back soon!!
Your "ticket" into the party will be your new or gently used donation item, such as blankets, coats, socks and shoes, that will be donated to Two Hearts For Hope for the orphans in Kazakhstan. (you can see a list of preferred donation items at www.twoheartsforhope.org) This event is to collect donations for Two Hearts For Hope while also getting the word out to our local community about adoption and our favorite new non-profit organization!!
We are so very excited about this event and I hope that if you are close enough to come that you can make it!

Front of Invitation















Back of Invitation

On Air withTwo Hearts For Hope!

I hope you all enjoy listening to our new spot (radio commercial) for Two Hearts For Hope that is playing in Charleston, SC!! We are so excited to get the word out to our community about this organization that we are so proud of and to educate people about international adoption.
We have learned so many things on our journey so far, but the biggest by far...is that not enough people understand the process or the reality that these children are living in.
We will produce a new spot each month, so check back soon :)

Thank you to Kim and Stacy, founders of THFH, for allowing us to help increase awareness of their organization.

Doll-a Doll-a Bills Ya'll...

So this post is more for JD to get out his most recent annoyance with peoples reactions to "We are adopting a baby!" Instead of hearing "Congratulations!" or "How exciting!"....as you would if you had just found out that someone you know was carrying a little gummy bear sized bundle of joy inside their uterus....the first words out of their mouths are "Wow, that's expensive." Of course its expensive. It isnt any cheaper if you pop them out yourselves. (I hope that doesnt offend anyone!) But the point is, we are so very excited for this experience and journey and are so thankful that we have learned from others who have been through this already. We've learned how to answer "those kinds of questions" that we are met with when the subject comes about.
We are so thankful to those of you who have shared your journey with us and we cant wait meet our little one and pass on what we have learned to other PAP's. :)

PS: We are almost finished with the planning of the Baby Hanks Adoption Auction for our Adoption Journey and for Two Hearts for Hope. Details to come......

Fingerprints and Frustration :)

We finally completed our FBI Fingerprinting today.....but it wouldn't have been fitting for it to go smoothly after the week that we both have had...so of course, there is a story. And it goes a little something like this:

We received our packet of information from our agency explaining what to do with the documents they sent us and where we needed to take them. I opened up the "instructions sheet" and felt like I was in high school again taking French I for the third time, except this time it was English. I couldn't understand ONE complete sentence of this letter! Finally, I did what any 3rd grader would do...and sounded out each word out-loud and read each sentence slowly. After both JD and I felt completely incapable of raising a child because of our lack of understanding this simple task...we called the police station to find out what we would need to bring with us for our fingerprinting.
The next day, we wake bright and early, with our heads a little more clear....and we head to the police station. We were there VOLUNTARILY to get our fingerprinting and everyone was treating us like we had just robbed a bank! They were not nice at all and made us sit in a corner! Nobody puts baby in a corner! Anyway, JD's first set of fingerprints go off without a hitch. Which means...its my turn. After FIVE sets of fingerprints, they aren't able to get any clear prints. So THEN they tell us that we could go to the Charleston jail and have them done digitally....meaning no ink....meaning no smudges....meaning WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE?? So, we waited until today....drove to the Charleston jail...and again we are treated like we mugged an old lady in a Picadilly parking lot. We ended up getting great prints that we PRAY will not get sent back!!!! (PS: JD had to do his twice this time! haha :) )