Puzzle Pieces and Bracelets!

It has almost been a month since I have updated, so I figured it was time for an update.

No baby yet. We have seen several cases, eight to be exact, and for various reasons none of these have been our baby.  So we are still waiting.  Waiting is hard. I'm not a good wait-er.  At all. I'm so ready to know who this precious baby will be, how old he will be, what he will look like, where he will be, etc.  But for now we wait.  Wait on the Lord to send us this precious gift.

And while we are waiting, we are still fundraising. We took a week off to go on vacation and take a breather from the fundraising.  It was a much needed break and very refreshing.  We spent nearly a week at the lake with family, relaxed and had a great time.

Now back to fundraising!  As of this moment we have $20,050 raised and saved.  With our ultimate goal of $33,000, that leaves $13,250 to go.  Over half way there!  Woot!!!  So I'm sure you guessed the next part of this post... Fundraising opportunities!!!

We have two ways you can support us in our fundraising efforts: bracelets and puzzles pieces.  Sounds easy enough doesn't it?!  Here are all the details!

Bracelets
Jerrod's cousin is a very talented lady. She makes all sorts of things. One of the things she makes is jewelry.  Right now in her Etsy shop you can purchase these awesome bracelets.  Proceeds will go to our adoption!  Click here to see her beautiful work.  Purchase one or several and stack them!  Either way, you will be playing such an important part in helping us bring home Baby Dorminey #3!!!

Puzzle Pieces
In a lot of ways, this adoption has felt like one big puzzle.  We have worked over the past 8 months to put the pieces of a puzzle together that will ultimately lead us to our child.  And believe me when I say, God has been in all the details.  So when I was trying to think of another fundraiser to work on, I really wanted to pick something that people could really feel like and show that they played a part in bringing our next littlest one home.  Thus the puzzle fundraiser!
Puzzle fundraisers are very popular in the adoption community.  Basically I designed a puzzle and ordered.  This puzzle consists of 252 pieces.  We are also ordering a two sided picture frame.  Here's where you come in! You get to help us put together pieces of the puzzle by "purchasing" a piece each for $30.  You can purchase one or two or five or ten. However many you feel led to purchase. And each puzzle piece you purchase will have your name on the back of the puzzle piece.
Then when the puzzle is complete we will frame it in a double-sided frame and put it on display in our little guy's room.  This will be something I save for as long as I live to show him just how loved and wanted and prayed over he was by so so SO many people.
So do you want your name on one of those puzzle pieces?!  If so, you can simply click the "Click Here to DONATE" button at the right side of my blog.  Sounds pretty easy right?!

Everyone's support thus far has been mind blowing! We can't wait to see how the rest of the story unfolds. Thank you for all your support, especially your prayers!!!!

ACTIVE!

We. Are. Active. Folks.

Goodness... this is so exciting!!!

"Active" means we are at the stage of our adoption where we are waiting to hear about cases with birth moms and their precious babies.  We will be contacted with situations that meet the criteria we set out as things we are open to.  Then we will say yes or no to being presented on those cases.  When we are "presented" that just means that our adoption consultant will send our profile for the birth mother to look at.  Then we wait for an answer saying if we are picked yet or not.  We can present on a bunch of situations or we can present on one and be picked by the first one we present on. There is really no rhyme or reason to how this will play out besides the Lord doing His thing.  We are waiting on Him to send us our child. 

So since we are active that does mean we have raised over half of our long term goal of $33,000.  Right now, we have right at $19,500 raised.  When we are matched we will right a check for the first half of the funds (which we have) and when our child is placed in our arms, we have to write a check for the last half... which is why we are still fundraising. 

While fundraising is humbling and not something I love doing (who loves saying "Hey! We want to do XYZ but we don't have all the money to do it... can you give me some money?"), I know it's what we need to be doing right now, and I know it's what God wants us to do... so we are, but I do hope that you all hear our hearts when we say that, we are doing this out of obedience, not because we simply enjoy signing up to do things that we don't have the money to do and expecting others to fund it.  That's not it at all.  We are simply doing what the Lord has laid on our hearts and trusting that He will provide.  Because only He can in this situation. On He can move in others hearts to make this happen... in His timing... in His way.

So if you do feel led to be a part of our adoption story in this way, then I have included some info below on how you make a tax-deductible donation through Lifesong for Orphans.  Every dime will go towards our adoption costs.  We qualified for a $3,000 matching grant but have already met that amount.  However, Lifesong graciously allows us to continue to use that fund to fundraise making it possible for donors to continue to donate and receive credit for their taxes.  Here are those details:

To donate online:
1.) Go to http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate/
2.) Select "Give to an Adoptive Family"
3.) Complete the form and MAKE SURE YOU PUT OUR FAMILY NAME (Dorminey) AND NUMBER (5291) to assure it goes to the correct account.

To donate by check:
1.) Fill out your check and MAKE SURE TO PUT "Preference Dorminey 5291" in the "for" section to assure it goes towards the correct account.
2.) Please mail to: Lifesong for Orphans PO Box 40 Gridley, IL 61744

And if you aren't able to donate, your prayers are just as needed in this process. We ask for prayers for the birth mother, and all that she is facing and that God would grant us the opportunity to not just love her child, but to also love on her in a way that shows her how much she is loved by God.


We are ecstatic to see what the Lord does with this and how He opens doors.  Thank you all so much who have played a part in making this possible thus far.  We love and appreciate you so much!!!

The Grant & The Mom

I mentioned in my previous blog, we have been awarded a $3,000 matching grant through Lifesong for Orphans. This grant is funded by our AWESOME church, Frazer UMC.  And there's more awesome news... over $1,500 has already been pledged to our grant.  So that's right folks... we are $1,500 away from going active meaning we are $1,500 away from being selected as parents by a birth mom for her precious baby.  Holy guacamole batman!  We are SO CLOSE!  We would be so honored if you would prayerfully consider donating!  So as I promised in my previous blog, here is the info on how to donate towards our matching grant:

Donate Online

1. Go to: www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate.
2. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.”
3. Complete the form and MAKE SURE YOU PUT OUR FAMILY NAME (Dorminey) AND NUMBER (5291) to assure it goes to the correct account.

Donate by Check

1. Fill out your check and MAKE SURE YOU PUT "Preference Dorminey 5291" in the "for" section to assure it goes towards our account.
2. Please mail to

             Lifesong for Orphans
             PO Box 40
             Gridley, IL 61744


With going active right around the corner, the birth mother has been on my heart and mind constantly. My heart has been aching for her and I catch myself getting emotional about the decision she must be facing and how she must be feeling.  My goodness, the pressure, the fear, the worry, the unknown... THE SACRIFICE, THE SELFLESSNESS.  I just can't imagine.  So could you all do me a favor?  Please pray for this woman wherever she may be, whoever she may be.  Let's lift her up through prayer so that the Lord may wrap His arms around her and fill her with peace, courage and strength.  I absolutely can't wait to love on her and her precious child and tell her how much I admire her and her choice of life for her child.  I can't help but think that God is orchestrating this in this timing because He has her in mind and us in mind and is writing this beautiful story that will forever bind our lives together.  Our God is awesome like that... truly taking brokenness and turning it into something stunningly beautiful called adoption.  I can't wait to see what the next part of the story is and we are so grateful to have you all supporting us and joining us! 

Exciting Fundraising Update - Matching Grant & Concert!

We are continuing to chip away towards that short-term goal of $16,500.  Right now we are sitting at $10,652 and has some super excited news.  On this past Thursday we got news that we have been awarded a $3,000 matching grant from Lifesong.  That means that anyone who feels led to donate, you're money will be DOUBLED up to $3,000.  So if you feel led to donate $10, that will be matched so $20 will go towards our adoption.  Or, if you want to donate $100, your money will be matched and $200 will be donated towards our adoption costs.  Also, all donations are tax-deductible! If we exceed $3,000 that would be even better, and all donations will still go towards our adoptions costs.  I'm praying and expecting God to show out in amazing ways with this grant opportunity!  As soon as we get more details, I will be sure to share it here.  We should be getting all that information first of this week.

And something else I'm super excited about is a benefit concert we have coming up.  Jerrod and some of his talented friends will be putting on a benefit concert at Pete Peterson Lodge in Montgomery on May 22 at 7 p.m.  So before you head out of town for Memorial Day weekend or if you plan to have a stay-cation... join us for some music and fun!  It is sure to be a treat!  Everything has been donated for this event so all funds raised will go towards our adoption costs.  We will be under a tent next to the lodge as long as weather permits and inside the lodge if it rains.  Bring your own chair or blanket and a sack supper if you wish. A playground will be located next to the tent so your little ones can run and play, and drinks and snacks have been donated for the event as well. 

You can see all the details in the flyer below.  Feel free to save this flyer and share it with others! 

Nerium!!!!

I am so so so excited to share that I am now an Independent Brand Partner with Nerium!!!  I have been using Nerium and have seen amazing results, so I figured why not sell this product that I love to help us raise money for our adoption!  

So in an effort to not blabber on forever about it, here are my top four favorite things about Nerium:
1) No regimine - You don't have to pick what you want to treat. The night cream treats it all!
2) No makeup, no problem - I have seen the biggest difference in my skin tone. It's so even!

3) I love my babies, but not so in love with my mommy tummy!  Can I get an amen?!  Their firming product is amazing, enough said!

3) Nerium gives back!  Nerium has a heart for charity and I absolutely can get on board with a company like that!

My hope and dream is to turn this opportunity into a way to not only fund our adoption but many more to come!  So shoot me a message if you are interested! (abby.dorminey [at] gmail [dot] com).  I'd be happy to share my pictures as well as many more.  Here are a few of the amazing NOT RETOUCHED before and after pictures:

Progress Report & April Fundraising

March was an insanely good month to us... our friends, family and God continue to blow our minds.  We are now up to $9,650 in funds raised!  We had several donations made to us by friends and more fundraising efforts were successful.  One dear friend of our made her famous salsa from scratch and we sold all the jars before I was ever able to promote the fact that we were selling them!  48 jars of salsa, gone in a week and a half!  That's just amazing.  We may get another chance to sell that incredible salsa again really soon, but I will keep you all updated on that.

Big thanks to Denise for her time and efforts in making the salsa, jarring it and make the awesome labels.  We are so grateful for her and her husband Todd.

So what's next?

Well, more fundraising!  That's right.  As I mentioned previously, we have to raise $16,500 to go active and begin presenting.  We have several new fundraising opportunities for April.  Here are a few ways you can "Shop to Adopt" in April:

Tshirts
We had such success with our Tshirt sale last month and so many people said they didn't get a chance to order them, so we are offering them again.  Our vendor has offered to print another batch as long as we sell at least 10.  So head on over here --> https://www.bonfirefunds.com/dorminey-adoption-1
And check them out! We got ours in and they are SO soft.  Zoey loves hers! 

ETSY: Abby's Shop
For two years now, I have run an Etsy shop.  I design from scratch and sell invitation, art prints, party decor, etc.  This has been a hobby of mine that I originally started doing to pay off some of Zoey's medical bills.  Now 500 sales later, the Lord has blossomed this into a small side business that I absolutely love.  I have never really advertised my shop because frankly, I am friends with some insanely talented graphic artists.  My skills pale in comparison to theirs, but in the name of adoption, I'm coming out of hiding. ;)  Haha.
100% of my sales are going directly towards funding our adoption.  Go check it out --> https://www.etsy.com/shop/DormineyDesigns

Scentsy
My sweet friend, Kelly Hellums sells Scentsy and is offering her entire 20% commission April 12-18 to us for our adoption.  How incredibly generous of her!  So head on over to the catalog and check out all the options just in time for Mother's Day!!!  You can download and view the catalog here: http://scentsy.com/catalog
Then contact Kelly on Facebook or by email or phone: hellums5277@yahoo.com or (334) 221-6144


Lastly, I want to give a shout out to my extremely talented friend Suzie of Suzanne Williams Photography.  Suzie donated a session to us and took some of the most beautiful pictures of our family for our adoption profile.  How in the world she made us look so good and all look at the camera... I have no clue.  In the midst of her busy schedule, Suzie finds time to donate her talents by photographing foster care children and charitable events.  I'm going to put a few of those shots right here.  Thank you so much Suzie for your generosity and heart for the orphan.  Check her out on Facebook or at http://suzannewilliamsphotography.com.

 We sure can't wait to fill that empty chair! 

Uncomfortable

First things first… happy happy news!  We are home study approved! Woot woot!  So now that we are home study approved, we are simply waiting on the Lord's timing and the funds to be raised, which I explained in my previous blog post that we need to raise half the total adoption costs to be eligible to match.

Now, if you will take a look over at that nifty little thermometer over there to the right of the blog, you will see that it has gone up!  Yay for progress!  This past week has been filled with blessings, especially financial blessings.

Our Newk's fundraiser brought in $161 and the Tshirt fundraiser brought in $689.36.  In addition to those two fundraisers, we received $420 in cash donations from friends and family this past week.  So yea… WOW!  That's $1,270.36 in a week!!!  I'm just speechless.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who swung by Newks to grab a bite to eat, purchased a shirt and made donations towards our adoption.  We really can't thank you enough.

Now that brings the grand total money raised to $7,000.29!  Almost half way there!

March is wrapping up along with a few fundraisers we have going on right now.  We still have two fundraisers running through the end of March.  We would be honored if you felt so led to make a purchase:

ETSY

20% of profits at this Etsy shop go to our adoption ---> The Intentional Life
I especially love the ABC Scripture Memory cards she is selling in her shop right now.  What a perfect idea for your child's Easter basket!!!

RODAN+FIELDS

A dear friend and independent consultant with Rodan+Fields, Leslie Word is also offering 20% of profits of her sales in March to our adoption.  You can contact her for more information on their skincare products here ---> Leslieharris77@gmail.com
I'm very tempted to try out the sunless tanner she's been promoting on her Facebook page!




We continue to be filled with so much gratitude for everyone's generosity.  I have to be honest though… fundraising is not my thing.  It's awkward, exhausting, uncomfortable and the most pride-less thing I have ever done.  But, I know it is what the Lord wants us to do right now… trust Him in the process - beginning, middle, and beyond - even if it means we are uncomfortable.  Because the point of this life is not to see who can get to the end feeling the most comfortable.  I pray daily that my life would be used up fully for His glory.   We have dealt with many struggles in our marriage and family, in particular with our girls and the process of growing our family.  But, if there is anything I have learned through the past four years, it is this:

So here's to feeling uncomfortable!  And all the exciting things that will come along with it!  Show out God!

The Cost

First off I have to say a great big THANK YOU to everyone who had anything to do with our yard sale fundraiser.  Whether you donated items, money, time or prayers, you played a part in making Saturday's yard sale a HUGE success.  The yard sale brought in $3,561 for our adoption!!!  I am still in shock.  I never knew a yard sale could raise so much money.  I am so aware that the Lord had His hand in this the entire time.  Saturday was even more affirmation to us that we are doing just as the Lord wants us to.  That is such a great feeling!

Now, that leads us to a question I have gotten A LOT.  Like a lot, a lot.  I'm not keeping it a secret at all so I figured I would just break it down for you guys.  So here goes…

How much do you need to raise? How much is your adoption going to cost?

The short answer is $33,000.

The long and true answer is probably over $40,000.  The $33,000 is the amount we will have to pay to an agency that facilitates our adoption, but that does not include legal fees, travel expenses, our home study fees, or our contract fee. Our contract and home study has already been paid for by generous donors and our savings so we are now shooting long term for about $36,000.

Now, that being said… we can go active (meaning we can present our profile and match with a child) once we have $16,500 raised.  Once we do match, we have to at least know where the rest is coming from (i.e. loan, savings, grants, funds raised, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg… haha).

So, our short-term goal is $16,500.  The yard sale definitely knocked a dent in that as well as some  generous donations from friends and family and our personal savings.  Right now we are sitting at $5,561.  So over a third of the way there!  And about $5,000 of that happened over the past few weeks.  God is working in amazing ways, and continues to make it abundantly clear that He is driving this and it's our job to hop on and trust Him.

So for fun, I'm going to keep a meter on the right hand side of this blog that I will keep updated on the amount that has been raised so far as it pertains to our short term goal.  I hope you join us in anticipating all of this coming together, and we would love your continued prayers through this!

Oh and if you would like, why not head on over and purchase a t-shirt!  You have until March 21 to order a shirt. The shirts are a dark heather grey, and there are several style options… traditional t-shirt, women's cut, child's shirts, long-sleeved adult shirts, and adult hoodies.  Check them out below and CLICK HERE to head over to the tshirt fundraiser!  We receive approximately 40% of the sales!

There is one more thing I want to address… As I have shared the staggering amount it costs for our private domestic adoption, I have mostly gotten positive and uplifting responses.  God's got this!  It's going to happen! If it's His will, He'll find a way! He will fund what He favors!
But I have also gotten some responses of disgust, and rightfully so.  How could someone put a price on a life? Why is there a ransom on a child that needs a home? These kids are going to end up in foster care so why make this so difficult for good families? How do you know someone isn't being dishonest and pocketing your money?  I think it's perfectly natural to think that.  I thought that too.
But, that's just not a good enough reason for us not to do this.  First off we have done research and seen the fees itemized so we are confident in the honesty of who we will be working with.  Secondly and most importantly, if the world has chosen to place a price tag on adoption and a child, we will simply ask the creator of the world to meet that.  And He will. In His timing.  The world is His and everything in it (Psalm 24:1)… including money.  If the Lord followed through with the death of His only, perfect Son as the price for our salvation, I have no doubt He can and will send money just when we need it to match the price of adoption.

Adoption is risky, messy, and intimidating… but I'm certain it is more than worth it.

March Is a Big Month!

Y'all… God is great and His people are good. They are so so good.  The generosity of others, whether it be their prayers, time, energy, stuff, finances… I am just blown away.  March has brought A LOT of opportunities for us to fundraise through very generous people.  Here are some fundraising opportunities:

First off, let's talk yard sale!  We will have our fundraising yard sale this coming Saturday, March 7 at 6-11 am. at 415 New Providence Way in Pike Road.  So many people have donated items, so much so we can hardly close the garage door and still have other things coming.

We are so blessed by our friends and family who donated so many things, and our Sunday School who is also donating their time to make signs, price and organize, haul the items, and work the yard sale.  We are also immensely grateful to our friends, Hudson and Brantley who have offered their yard, garage and time to allow us to use their yard for the sale.  This will be a neighborhood wide yard sale in the Providence neighborhood, so you can surely find something you like!




We also have three other shopping opportunities for those that feel so led to make a purchase to help with our adoption costs.

TSHIRTS

We have an awesome shirt for sale right here ---> Dorminey Adoption Tshirt
The way the t-shirt sale works is that we have 21 days to have 25 tshirt pledges.  Once we reach the goal of selling 25 tshirts, the tshirts will be printed and we can sell as many as we would like.  All tshirts will be delivered in about 14 business days after the final day of the fundraiser, which is March 21.  Approximately 40% of the sales go straight towards our adoption.

I have included a preview of the front here:

And the back here:

ETSY

20% of profits at this Etsy shop go to our adoption ---> The Intentional Life

The Intentional Life is run by Karen Isbell. Karen went to school with Jerrod, and we are dear friends with much of her family.  Her Etsy shop features beautiful and creative art pieces.  Check it out!
Karen originally started her shop to benefit New Creation Home Orphanage and the Higher Ground Women's Rescue Home, organizations that keep women and children out of the sex trafficking industry in Kathmadu, Nepal.

Here is Karen pictures with her husband Bryan and two daughters, Ellie and Maggie.

RODAN+FIELDS

A dear friend and independent consultant with Rodan+Fields, Leslie Word is offering 20% of profits of her sales in March to our adoption.  You can contact her for more information on their skincare products here ---> Leslieharris77@gmail.com

Jerrod and I met Leslie through church, where her husband Brian was the youth ministry director and they both started ONEFamily, a ministry at Frazer UMC that supports foster care and adoption.  Leslie sponsors an adoptive family every month and donates to their adoption costs from her sales.
Here is Leslie pictured with her family minus her newest addition, a little girl!






Once again, thank you so much to all of our friends and family for your support!!!

Update: Homestudy, Fundraising, & FAQ

First of all I have to say a big "Thank you!!!" to everyone for your words of encouragement and excitement regarding our adoption news.  As much as we seek to solely rely on God during this process, it sure does make it a whole lot easier when you have people cheering you on and supporting you.

Now for an update on a few things going on with our adoption:

Fundraising

We mentioned a few weeks ago on Facebook that we are having a yard sale to help raise funds for our adoption.  I will be sure to share that address as we get closer in case any of you want to stop by.

For now, we are still accepting donations and would love to take some stuff off your hands so just send me a message at dormineyadoption [at] gmail [dot] com or contact me on Facebook and we will arrange a time to pick your things up.  

And just FYI, anything that is not sold, will be donated to charity… NOTHING will be thrown away.  If there is something you would like back if it doesn't sell, just let me know. 

We have several other fundraisers coming up that I can't wait to share with you all as we get things more set in stone.

Adoption Process/Homestudy

We had our last home study visit this past Thursday. This visit consisted of our individual interviews and a little snooping around our house. For the most part it was pretty pain free. ;)  This whole home study process has been far less intimidating than I thought. Our social worker has been a joy to work with.  The paperwork was the most daunting part of the whole process.  I had a friend ask, "Just how much paperwork are you talking about?"  Well, about this much…

Now we wait for our social worker to writeup our home study. She projects that we should be home study approved in a few short weeks.  Yay!

FAQ

We have gotten a ton of questions over the past few weeks, so we figured we would just share some answers to the most frequently asked questions so far.  If you have another questions that you don't see answered below, please feel free to ask!  We are an open book!

Who are you adopting?

We do not know exactly who we will be adopting.  We do know we will be adopting a child in the United States between the ages of birth and 6 months old.  The child could be from nearly any state but most adoptions facilitated through the group we are working with come from Utah and Arizona.

When will you adopt?

We don't exactly know. Haha.  We do know that we will not adopt any earlier than when we go active (which means we are home study approved and have half the funds raised).  The group we are working with has said that the longest time it has taken one of their families to be home with their adoptive child, once they were active, was 7 months. However, you can match with a child and have that child in your arms within 24 hours of going active.  Yea.  Craziness.  

The best description I can provide you is one that was illustrated to me… Our adoption will be much like going to an airport and waiting to board a flight to pick up our child but we don't know when our flight will take off, where it is going, or who we are meeting when we get off the plane.  Lucky for us, we aren't big planners and tend to fly by the seat of our pants, so rather than breathing into a paper bag, we find this exhilarating! 

Will you get to know the birth mother?

We don't exactly know the answer to that either.  Are you seeing a pattern here? ;)  It is very likely that we may one day meet her.  I do hope to meet her.  I would love to have the opportunity to get to know her and thank her for her courage and sacrifice.  We are pursuing an open adoption, so it is very likely that we will have some form of communication with the birth mother at some time, but whether that is the day we match, in the delivery room, or when our child turns 16 years old… we simply don't know.

Let us know if you have any other question!  We so appreciate your interest and prayers!