Ok....so one of my resolutions for 2010 is to do a better job at this blogging thing!
We FINALLY received our letter in the mail that OFFICIALLY tells us that we have completed the pre-adoption process!!!!! Basically...means that we are waiting for a phone call for a placement!
We both literally cried...actual tears when we opened the letter on Christmas Eve. It was the best Christmas present ever, next to actually having our child here of course :)
I hope everyone had a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I hear 2010 is the year of the baby :)
Friday, January 1, 2010
Friday, September 11, 2009
Let's see if I remember how to blog....
Sooo....It has been some time since our last blog post. Ok....almost 4 months! Yikes!
Alot has happened in the last 4 months, personally and with the adoption.
I wont bore you with the personal since we all know that you want to know about the adoption!!
JD and I decided in May that due to finances and other factors, our International Adoption was not meant to happen for us at this time. It was a hard pill to swallow, but we knew that we would have to put our Kazakhstan adoption on hold. Before we even had the chance to discuss what we were going to do...we met some amazing people that educated us on state adoption. After a ZILLION questions....we felt that this was the path to our baby. The timing of meeting them and when we knew that our International adoption would have to be put on hold was definitely a God thing. It was too ironic to be anything else.
We know that if we had not started our Kazakhstan adoption journey, we never would have met the families that have supported us on this journey and given us advice for all of these months. We truly feel that our reason for starting our journey on the Kaz path had aligned us with friends and supporters that we needed in our life. We learned so much about ourselves and the true meaning of patience!
We decided to keep this news private for awhile, even from our family and closest friends, because its easy for us to handle the ups and downs of this process, and all of the changes or re-directions...but it is alot harder for them and we wanted to wait until we had jumped through all of our hoops (classes and inspections) before we shared. Thank you all for sticking with us on this long and crazy journey! We hope to be able to pick up where we left off with our Kaz adoption one day....maybe for baby #2!
I will definitely get better at updating the blog now. We are closer than ever to meeting and introducing you to Baby Hanks. :)
Alot has happened in the last 4 months, personally and with the adoption.
I wont bore you with the personal since we all know that you want to know about the adoption!!
JD and I decided in May that due to finances and other factors, our International Adoption was not meant to happen for us at this time. It was a hard pill to swallow, but we knew that we would have to put our Kazakhstan adoption on hold. Before we even had the chance to discuss what we were going to do...we met some amazing people that educated us on state adoption. After a ZILLION questions....we felt that this was the path to our baby. The timing of meeting them and when we knew that our International adoption would have to be put on hold was definitely a God thing. It was too ironic to be anything else.
We know that if we had not started our Kazakhstan adoption journey, we never would have met the families that have supported us on this journey and given us advice for all of these months. We truly feel that our reason for starting our journey on the Kaz path had aligned us with friends and supporters that we needed in our life. We learned so much about ourselves and the true meaning of patience!
We decided to keep this news private for awhile, even from our family and closest friends, because its easy for us to handle the ups and downs of this process, and all of the changes or re-directions...but it is alot harder for them and we wanted to wait until we had jumped through all of our hoops (classes and inspections) before we shared. Thank you all for sticking with us on this long and crazy journey! We hope to be able to pick up where we left off with our Kaz adoption one day....maybe for baby #2!
I will definitely get better at updating the blog now. We are closer than ever to meeting and introducing you to Baby Hanks. :)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Lowcountry Forever Families Festival PICS!
I'm sorry it has taken me a whole week to post pictures from the first annual Lowcountry Forever Families Festival! It was a busy, exciting, and exhausting day which yielded a week long recovery! :)JD and I were SOOO very pleased with the amount of support and attendance at our first year event. Families came from as far as Columbia, SC!! And a few people even asked if I would help them do this same event in their city! :)
We met some amazing families who have adopted from Guatemala, Columbia, Russia, and Kazakhstan! One family we met had adopted FOUR children from Kazakhstan. It was so great to have met them and to have the opportunity to hear about their journey and experience....which is exactly why JD and I chose to do this event in the first place!
We hope to make next year an even bigger event with an even bigger turnout!
Thank you to our incredible sponsors. Without you, this event would not have been able to happen! Thank you to every person who came out to support this event and helped us increase the community's awareness about adoption!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Lowcountry Forever Families Festival!
Well....we are at it again!
On Saturday, May 16th from 11am-2pm, JD and I are hosting the Lowcountry Forever Families Festival in Charleston, SC!
We made the decision to organize this event as an opportunity for local families to enjoy getting to know one another while also increasing awareness of adoption in the community.
JD and I don't think that there are enough events or groups for adoptive families in the area, and we hope that this event will spark a change in that!
If you are in or around the Charleston area, or want to make a vacation out of it and travel this way, we would love to see you there! We hope that you will bring your whole family to enjoy lunch with Chick-Fil-A, live music, jump castles, face painting, SC Aquarium turtle touch tank, Kids Safe I.D.'s, Fire Safety, and much more!
*Please check out our festival website for all of the details! www.foreverfestival.com
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thank You Lowcountry!!!!!
JD and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who came out to support our first annual "Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower!". We are overwhelmed by the amount of interest and support from the community!
If you were unable to make it to the event, it isn't too late to donate items to the orphans of Kazakhstan. We will continue to accept donations through the end of the month. If you are in the Charleston area and would like to drop off your items, you can do so at the WAY-FM studios at 2045 Spaulding Drive in North Charleston or call 843.568.4664.
If you were unable to make it to the event, it isn't too late to donate items to the orphans of Kazakhstan. We will continue to accept donations through the end of the month. If you are in the Charleston area and would like to drop off your items, you can do so at the WAY-FM studios at 2045 Spaulding Drive in North Charleston or call 843.568.4664.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
"The Lowcountry's Biggest Baby Shower!!!!"
Click on pictures to make them bigger and not so blurry :)
"Family Fun!"
*SC Stingrays Hockey Family 4 pack tickets
*Book a birthday party at Ready, Set, Jump!
and receive decorations, food, and beverages FREE!
($90 value!)
*Multiple Blessings/Jon & Kate Plus 8 book
autographed by Kate Gosselin
*Kaz Cookbook-A collection of wonderful recipes
from adoptive families.
"Look Good, Feel Good!"
*3lb High 5 Protein Powder from
Max Muscle! ($60 value!)
*5 sessions of tanning from
Station 41 Tanning!
*6 month gym membership from
Snap Fitness!($300 value!)
"Pamper Me Fabulous!"
*I Tools Bio-Ionic Conditioning
Bristle Brush from
Tresses, A Studio For Serious Hair
*Silver travel case with travel size
Logics DNA Shampoo, Conditioner,
Blow Dry Design Creme,
and Shine Illuminating Serum from
Tresses, A Studio For Serious Hair
*$25 Gift Card for a Mom Massage from
The Mom Spa
*A Professional Make-Up
application customize just for YOU!
from Motives Cosmetics
"Man's Best Friend!"
*Chocolate brown and blue Ceramic dog bowl,
dog toy, Natural Bone, Bag of Treats,
dog food sample, Leash, All natural dog
"cookie", gift certificate for
FREE doggie wash from Lucia's Premium Pet!
*$250 gift certificate towards Doggy DayCare
and Boarding from Bark Avenue!
"Baby Prep Pack!"
*Unisex diaper bag with bottle from
Irene's Island Decor ($45 value!)
*2 Veggie Tales DVD's
*$25 gift certificate to online baby boutique,
Burp Itty Burp!
"Custom Bow-Holders!"
*I will be taking orders for Custom Initial Bow-Holders. The letters are 9.5" and can be custom ordered based on your little girls favorite colors or to match her room!
The ribbon in this picture is not attached but is showing that the ribbon is double sided for a little change once-in-awhile. They are attached to the back of the letter-vertically-with velcro and can be displayed using either side of the ribbon.
$10
***If you would like to order a custom bow-holder and you are not in the Charleston area, I would be more than happy to send it to you for an additional $2 shipping cost. Please email me if you are interested in making an order: nicolehanks9@hotmail.com
"Family Fun!"
*SC Stingrays Hockey Family 4 pack tickets
*Book a birthday party at Ready, Set, Jump!
and receive decorations, food, and beverages FREE!
($90 value!)
*Multiple Blessings/Jon & Kate Plus 8 book
autographed by Kate Gosselin
*Kaz Cookbook-A collection of wonderful recipes
from adoptive families.
"Look Good, Feel Good!"
*3lb High 5 Protein Powder from
Max Muscle! ($60 value!)
*5 sessions of tanning from
Station 41 Tanning!
*6 month gym membership from
Snap Fitness!($300 value!)
"Pamper Me Fabulous!"
*I Tools Bio-Ionic Conditioning
Bristle Brush from
Tresses, A Studio For Serious Hair
*Silver travel case with travel size
Logics DNA Shampoo, Conditioner,
Blow Dry Design Creme,
and Shine Illuminating Serum from
Tresses, A Studio For Serious Hair
*$25 Gift Card for a Mom Massage from
The Mom Spa
*A Professional Make-Up
application customize just for YOU!
from Motives Cosmetics
"Man's Best Friend!"
*Chocolate brown and blue Ceramic dog bowl,
dog toy, Natural Bone, Bag of Treats,
dog food sample, Leash, All natural dog
"cookie", gift certificate for
FREE doggie wash from Lucia's Premium Pet!
*$250 gift certificate towards Doggy DayCare
and Boarding from Bark Avenue!
"Baby Prep Pack!"
*Unisex diaper bag with bottle from
Irene's Island Decor ($45 value!)
*2 Veggie Tales DVD's
*$25 gift certificate to online baby boutique,
Burp Itty Burp!
"Custom Bow-Holders!"
*I will be taking orders for Custom Initial Bow-Holders. The letters are 9.5" and can be custom ordered based on your little girls favorite colors or to match her room!
The ribbon in this picture is not attached but is showing that the ribbon is double sided for a little change once-in-awhile. They are attached to the back of the letter-vertically-with velcro and can be displayed using either side of the ribbon.
$10
***If you would like to order a custom bow-holder and you are not in the Charleston area, I would be more than happy to send it to you for an additional $2 shipping cost. Please email me if you are interested in making an order: nicolehanks9@hotmail.com
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