Another Milestone!

Quite a while ago I told Michael, that all I really wanted for Christmas was to have our adoption paperwork finished so we could be in the matchbook. I am soooooo incredibly excited and grateful that my Christmas wish came true. It's official we are in the matchbook of our adoption agency and our letter is also online at their website. We are Family 560 - Marion and Michael, although the number really doesn't mean anything. Matchletter Link - we are on the very bottom. :o)
God has blessed us so incredibly with all your support during these last few years and months. Thank you friends for your continued prayers.
As I was praying for our baby a few days ago, I decided that my new place of prayer will be our nursery. It does have the most comfy chair in the house in it ;o). And what better place to pray for our child than in it's home.
We received some wonderful Christmas presents that will help us get ready for our little one! I'm looking forward to going shopping with my step-mom-in-law and my step-sister-in-law. Long words but two ladies who are very dear to my heart!!!!!
And even though we are getting closer and closer, it still seems unreal to me that one day we will get the call that someone wants to meet us to maybe choose us as the parent for her child. What an honor!

Penny Drive Labels

So, Michael and I did our Christmas Letter and Cards this year. We were really excited to get both done for once. Until the day we found that the wonderful Penny Drive Labels we had made, were still laying on the printer :o(. In the crazy huzzle and buzzle of the holidays we forgot to put them in. For those of you who are interested to participate I'll mail them out separately.
Please leave a comment or e-mail me at   mnmbartlett@gmail.com if you'd like a label for a jar so you can participate.
Thanks to Martha and Katie for already starting!!!! You gals are awesome!!!!! :o)))

Marion's News

Aside from our wonderful adoption journey we've had all other kinds of exciting things going on in life.
One of them is that I (Marion) passed my U.S. Naturalization test! I should be able to take my oath to become a U.S. citizen early in the coming year. I am so excited!!!!! We're planning to celebrate and hope that some of you will be able to join us.

It's official - we're certified to adopt

Wow, what a journey it has been! We are excited to announce that since last Thursday we are officially ready to adopt. Our match letter should go online with our adoption agency some time this week. I'll post a copy of it on here. Now all we can do is pray, get ready, wait, and pray some more. Thank you for all your support friends and family! We would not be able to do this without you!
Only 6 more days until Christmas, as my kiddos remind me at least 10 times a day. :o)
As promised here is our match letter.
Love you all!!!!

Penny Drive

Hi all,
As those of you know that have experience with infant adoption, the fees are very high (20% of your annual family income before taxes). We've been saving for a while, but have still quite a large amount that we will need to come up with. Especially since we already spent a small fortune on our infertility treatments.
For those of you who are interested in helping out, we would love to participate in our penny drive. Please print the attached label and put it on an old jar that you fill with change. Please feel in no way obligated to participate! Your prayers are more important than anything!
Love you all and thank you for your help!!!!!

Major Milestone

Wow, time just flies when you are having fun! We have been working hard on finishing our adoption matchletter and getting ready for the holidays, while juggling all the school work that needs to get done.
I am so happy to report, that our matchletter is now truly done! I can't even believe that I am able to say this. What a major milestone. For those of you unfamiliar with the adoption world - a matchletter is a letter that birth mothers who want to place their child for adoption look at when they are trying to pick a family for their child. After looking at this letter they pick a family they would like to meet and hopefully like. Typically birth mothers are able to look at 4 or more letters, so you can imagine how important this document is on our way to parenthood. Our case worker took a look at it today and she said it was great just the way it is. So here we go!
I know I'm rambling - sorry guys.
I pray for our birth mother and her child every single day and I really appreciate your prayers for us, our baby, and his or her birth mother.
I'll post the letter in a little while, once it is online with our adoption agency.
Thank you guys for all your great support!