AND THE WINNER IS......

The winner of this weeks raffle is ticket #190950

Julia Mckenzie.....Congrats Julia or should I say Abbey Grace....

Fun Times and Somebody's Birthday....

First I want to say "How did my baby get to 2 already?" Madisyn will be 2 years old tomorrow!

And I can't believe it....But she is growing up so much, and talking more and more. We are leaving tomorrow for the beach for a couple of days. This is a much needed time away for me and my family. I went to the Dr last week to find my blood pressure to be 218/138 and that isn't good at all. So now I am taking BP medicine everyday to try to get it down. My husband is working non-stop to pay some bills off and save money for our trip to Thailand so he is defiantly in need of some down time. My sister and her family are going too, We booked this trip last year when we were at the same resort. So we are all pretty excited, Madisyn isn't getting a BIG party this year but we are having a celebration at the beach with Cake and Dinner.

Now for the pics, Last weekend we went to a party for the little girl I watch her sister, and Madisyn had fun once half the people left. She doesn't like crowds at all......But here are the pics of her and daddy on the BIG slide that the people rented!!!

Blow this one up and see my little baby's face it is totally Priceless......

Beautiful Angel sent straight down from heaven.....

Mommy and Madisyn enjoying the water on this 90' day.....

I love the look on her face in this one...

And last but not lease if you don't look at my clothing blog, here is this weeks Raffle, It is a darling lady bug outfit that is made by Rare Editions....It is a size 12 months and the tickets are as followed...

1 Ticket for $1.00

3 Tickets for $5.00

I will be outta town from the 5th through the 8th, But on Sunday as soon as I return if you have left me an email that you have bought tickets I will send you your ticket #'s as soon as I get home.....The Raffle will end at 6pm and I will announce the winner by 8pm. Thank you and God Bless

Okay Only 8 1/2 hours LEFT......

Edited: And the winner is Ticket #190939 Corey Gaynes

Congrats Corey Madisyn drew the ticket

Okay this is your last chance, We only have 8 1/2 hours left for this raffle......Click on CHIP IN donate your $1, or $5 and get your tickets numbers via Email....At 6 pm I will stop the tickets and pull the winning number outta my cup! This outfit is size 12-18 months

So come on a GYMBOREE oufit

1- ticket= $1.00

3-tickets =$5.00

And only 8 1/2 hours left

Favorite Foto Friday #42 - PAJAMA PARTY!

What else does a girl need to have a pajama party besides a sippy cup, Cherrios and a smile like that??

New Outfit, New Raffle, Every MONDAY...

Okay I'm going to do something diffrent...Every Monday I'm going to list a new outfit...You can buy a raffle ticket for $1 and enter the chance to win this adorable outfit. The Raffle will run through Sunday at 6:00 pm and then at 8:00 pm the winner will be announced. The outfit will be NEW and this one retails for $42.00. SO for a $1.00 you could win a $42.00 outfit...

1 Ticket for $1.00

3 Tickets for $5.00

So who's up for it...Let's have some fun

This is a Size 12-18 Months

Send me an email at adoptingmom29@yahoo.com if you would like a raffle ticket. Thank you

Just here to Say.....

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a great weekend...We did alot of swimming and relaxing. And today what better day to go to the Sherrifs office to get your background check for your 2nd adoption!

Favorite Foto Friday #41 ONLY ONE

Okay so we had to pick One...I have so many favorites of my beauty queen that this was hard.
But I did find one of Madisyn with my Grandma...I love my Grandma so much as she took care of me most of my life. She was harsh and still is at 88 years old but we love every minute of it...

Grandma and Madisyn Dec.2007

TRAGIC DAY for the Chapman Family

I'm sure many have heard by now, That Steven Curtis Chapman and his family has suffered a Tragic Loss last night with there 5 year old daughter.

Copied Directly from there website:

MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOME
NASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Wednesday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family’s six children and one of their three adopted daughters.

More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry’s goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles.

Please Please keep this wonderful family in your prayers as they will need them. Thank you

FAVORITE FOTO FRIDAY #40 Fun In The Sun

Here is our little princess having fun at the beach...She wasn't sure at first but then we found her a little section back away from the ocean and she made herself at home. She LOVED it, almost as much as I love her.

Well we will be doing this in the next few days....

Do you ever just like being prepared....If you remember back in December we filed for our FREE one time extension on our I171H and who wouldn't go through with it since it saves us like $900.00. Well we had our finger print appt on January.5 and we just kinda left it as that because 10 days later we took custody of Grace. But when we lost Grace I started worring about where our new I171H is...The nice lady called me back to say she was waiting on our updated home study and then she would send out the approval.. So we have to do our Criminal Records checks for our update on our home study....Then the home study will be on it's way to the USCIS office in Tampa Florida so then we can get that Million Dollar piece of paper that allows us to bring another Orphan home with us to the USA...

For all the Mothers Out there.....

I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day

Favorite Foto Friday #39 MOMMY AND ME

This is Madisyn and Mommy a few months ago and again in April at the beach. I love this little girl to the moon and back.

Happy Mother's Day

to all the Mommy's out there

Today Is....

Today Is:
National Day Of Prayer
For The
Orphans Of Guatemala
PLEASE join with us today as we lift up the children and families caught in the process of adoption and the children that have no families as well.
Please read James 1:27 today.
No matter who you are, you are called to be a part of the life of orphans. If God sees it as pure and perfect, then how can we not get involved? We are ALL called to love, pray and DO.
Thank you for giving your time today to make the difference in the future of the life of a child.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thanks for first loving us and adopting us as your own. Thank you for teaching us in your word how you need us to be your hands and feet and care for the orphans of the world.
God we unite today in this special time of prayer asking for you to reach out and do amazing miracles in the country of Guatemala. We pray you would turn the hearts of the kings (the government) and show them YOUR love and compassion for the children that so desperately need families and to be HOME. We pray that you would touch their hearts and minds and lead and guide them. We bind up the plans of the enemy to keep these children captive and forgotten. We pray that mighty angels would go now to comfort them and protect them. Lord We pray that each child would feel your presence and know your love. We pray that you would touch the hearts of the caregivers and help them to love and care for these children the way you would. We pray that the new process of adoption would be set up quickly and that it would be one of integrity and truth. Father we pray that ALL cases in process would be released and that these children would be allowed to come home to the families that love them QUICKLY.
Father God we thank you that you love us and care for us and that you are faithful to hear our prayers and answer them. Hear our cries today oh Lord and set the children of Guatemala FREE.
Father God with all that we are we cry out to you for the Mommas out there right now that have children in Guatemala. Oh God - we can only imagine what they are feeling right now. We pray that your peace would flood their souls and that your grace would sustain them. Lord God we ask you to meet every need in their lives. If they need financial help - We pray that it would come quickly from places they never dreamed it would.
Lord strengthen the waiting families and show us how to encourage them and love them through this difficult time. Father God - you perfectly designed a Mother's heart for her children - so we pray that you would comfort them in the ways that only you can dear Lord.
Teach us ways to help and how to make a difference in the country of Guatemala. Lead us and guide us and NEVER let us forget for a moment the children that still wait for families. Touch the hearts of your people Lord and help them to see the great need in Guatemala. Prick our hearts daily Lord and let our hearts always be broken for things that your heart is broken for.
We ask these things with GREAT faith - knowing that you are a good and loving Father,
In Jesus Name ,
Amen

Spoken from the heart...

Okay bad news is why I wish I would find out everything before I speak. Savannah will not be joining our family as she can't be placed in a home with other children. Now just sit and imagine the pain this child has had to face that she can't be around any other child. This is extremely sad to be because honestly do you know how hard it is to find a married couple that want to adopt an 8 year old girl??? That is going to be hard to do. I hope and pray she does find her family and my heart breaks for this little girl.
Okay, I know that alot of you that read my blog is probably thinking does this woman really knows what she wants she is awful wishy washy...I'm really not I'm just unsure where my heart is going. My desire to have more children came many years ago after my son was born. I knew I wanted more and at the age of 18 I started trying....I did the whole nine yards, Clothes, shoes, decorating, and I just knew I was going to have a girl. Well 8 years later, NO baby and an ended marriage I sorta gave up the chance to parent again. Then I met Jed and he wanted children and we knew with my infertility we would have to adopt. SO we found Madisyn and fought tooth and nail to get her home, And we did...And we couldn't be more happy or could we.
Our hearts isn't done, We knew three months after bringing her home we wanted another child. Which country, what would we need to do first, Where will the funding come from, Where would the funding come from??? That would be our biggest optical. I wanted to do domestic, No wait my heart is in Ethiopia so lets do that country, But there are so many orphans here so lets do domestic with the chance of being in the hospital room when the child is born. Then we met Megan, OH dear sweet Megan....She was 7 months pregnant with the intentions of not keeping the child. Could this be our next baby....She promised us it would be. SO when little Mariah was 6 weeks old we were asked to come and get her, And be her parents...So A big sigh of relief left us that day thinking okay we are done for now...so the next four months were perfect, Hectic but perfect. Then the tragic day would come and we would lose Mariah to her Birth father....OMG...
SO after I beat myself up on what I did wrong or what I should have done, I dove right back in to wanting to adopt again...Do I know what country? NO.....Do I know when? NO.....But I do know it will happen.
But you know what I am doing first, I'm giving my life to the lord...Not half way, Not a couple of Sunday's a month...I'm giving my FULL life to him, I want him to control me and me not control myself because I'm not doing something right. I love him and I know who he is, But I want him to be my SOLE....I want him to have my SOLE.....So you are looking at a new and improved blogger, mother, wife and friend....We will have another child, Who knows maybe two..But it will be when God wants us too!

Now for some cuteness to tide you over from the heart post..

Madisyn was at a birthday party and couldn't wait for the cupcakes..

I had her dad lick some of that sweet icing off and she didn't want to wait...

Random Sweetness

Edited to ADD: We could never FORGET about Madisyn while searching for another child that is just Crazy.....It is just very important to our family for Madisyn to grow up with a sibling. I had three sisters and my husband had one brother and siblings are very important to us. So could we forget about Madisyn in this UMM I don't think so!

Okay Okay...Here is goes

Me and my family have a Hugh heart for children. We would take all the orphans in with us if we could. Every week I see where someone dropped off a baby in the woods, Or someone punched a baby in the face, Or someone threw a baby into the air and hit his head on the ceiling and then let him fall to the floor because he was crying too much..This makes me sick to my stomach.

So here in Florida we have a website called Hillsborough Kids.....It is kids that are in foster system(but there not) does that make sense. These kids parents have already had there rights terminated and they are legally free for adoption...There are about 147 kids on this site and more added daily. Well yesterday I was looking at the site as I do about 5 times a week and fell head over heels in LOVE with an 8 year old girl name Savannah...She is the sweetest thing I ever saw and she looks so innocent.

So Moral to my story, Me and Jed are going to the adoption orientation and then we will spend 10 weeks in Mapp classes then we will be legally registered in the state of Florida to adopt any child on this web site that is available. So we are on our way to hopefully giving Savannah her forever family and her forever home......As soon as I know a little more(because they can't hold a child for us), I will post a picture of her for you guys to see. That is the only bad thing is they won't hold a child, if someone already is completed with there process and they want her they can adopt her, So that is why we are praying that our process goes quickly because I really really want her...I'm scared to show her picture just in case.....Which I guess isn't a big deal because you could go to the web site to see her...So keep your eyes open on my sidebar and I will post her picture.....I'm so in love, So keep your prayers on us please...God is good and he is A~W~E~S~O~M~E in my book!

BIG BIG news happening for the Reavers....

Okay so I have some BIG news coming your way and I know it is going to blow you guys outta the water. I've lost a piece of my mind since Grace has left us and I am losing more of it everyday...(that comes with age too). But NOT anymore, Something great is about to happen for our family and I am so Freaking excited I can't stand myself.....Please just let me know you got my back, And I may ask for some support, NO money but support in other ways.....More to Come..Now that I have your attention!

I had to Share this Photo....SBP Rocks...

Okay so it didn't turn out quite like the photo show had it...I did the cartoon on this picture and in my photo album it is the coolest thing I ever saw...Not so much here, You get more effect if you enlarge it though...So just click on it and enlarge it.

And also my SBP rocked this time, She sent Madisyn the outfit in the picture which I love because I love PINK & BROWN together, A set of pajamas....And she even sent Grace two outfits....Which will be going to the family who lost everything in the fire...Thank SBP you ROCK!

Madisyn looks like she has something on her lip, and she looks Sad but It's not I promise it is the CARTOON image....Our couch looks funny too...OH well I thought it was cute!!!

Can You say AWE.....

We added another member to our family, And no we didn't adopt again YET....But this little girl is the cutest thing you ever saw and Madisyn adores her...

We refer to her as MISS KENZIE....

She is a 10 week old Cocker Spaniel that we adopted from a small town near us...Isn't she the cutest thing evah....

I REMEMBER This all too well....

It was on Friday the 13th 1983 when my family's house caught on fire...My dad rushed to get everyone out and he managed to put out the flames with a water hose, So he thought...Just as we all got back into the house, back into our beds....The flames broke out again and this time it took the fire dept to put it out...They named it the worst house fire in 1983. Everything was a total loss. So this morning when I got up, I always read the paper online and I saw a family of 10 including 5 children had lost there entire house to a fire....It happened at 1:40 in the morning and luckily all the family got out in time....The children ranged in age from 4 weeks-age 10.

The lady made a comment" We lost everything, we don't even have shoes...But importantly enough we don't have diapers, bottles, or anything at all for our kids"

So I knew I had to step in and help...I was able to gather about 7 garbage bags FULL of stuff for the 4 week old, the 1 & 3 year old, and some stuff for the 7 & 10 year old... I'm even donating a pack and play for the infant to sleep in.

It's so awesome to help another family and I feel so proud to make these kids smile again!

This is the actually house of the family of 10

Favorite Foto Friday #36 SIBLINGS.....

This weeks theme is Siblings...Madisyn has a brother which is almost 15 and lives with his dad, So I don't have a whole lot of pictures because there are more interesting things than sitting on Mom's house...

Madisyn and Austin sometime around October 2007

Madisyn and Austin meeting for the first time February 2007

And of coarse we can't leave out little Gracie...She was our doll baby, we miss her so much it hurts... But she will always be considered ours in our hearts so here is a pic of

Madisyn and Gracie February 2008

Don't forget to read my last post...There some good news for me, And a good thing for my family!