a guarded heart....

each day we are getting closer to our baby boy. we can feel it. we have our home study update tomorrow and we have submitted al the paper work to soon receive a match / photo of our little one. I have not updated the blog in soooo long.....honestly, i have been guarding my heart. each day my amazing family, friends, and clients ask for updates and while it is so appreciated and makes my heart so happy to know they love our little man already - it is hard when there is nothing to update them on. lots of paperwork, fingerprinting, more paperwork, more dreaming of his little face. dusty and i have been pretty proud of our teamwork on the paperwork process. notarizing this and that, submitting and re-submitting paperwork....feeling so close to seeing his sweet little face. dreaming more and more about the day we will bring him home. preparing our hearts and home for the day he completes it. we have been overjoyed with the tee-shirt sale - and cannot believe how many we have now ordered. showing up to capture a family and seeing them wearing an adoption shirt. i just can't believe the love. it is so amazing.

we should have more news in the coming weeks....until then thanks to everyone for your love and support. sweet baby boy hang tight, we are coming for you. we love you more than words can express and dream of you each and everyday. your big sister will be starting "sibling" class soon and is soooo ready to meet you. and, unlike the pregnancy i experienced with her, you are growing in me as well. i feel you inside my heart, filling my heart and expanding my knowledge of love. you are my little love and i cannot wait to hold you, love you, protect you and encourage you all your days.

adoption tee fundraiser!

T-shirts – yea! We have teamed up with the amazing Kelsey Davis to create our touching design, which is currently being screen printed on organic burnt orange tees from the wonderful tree and leaf of okc! We are selling them for $30 each, and all the proceeds go to help cover the fees of our adoption. You get a great shirt. We get a little help. Everyone wins, and looks a little hipper in the process.

If you are local to the OKC METRO / OK Area, you are welcome to purchase directly and arrange pickup or to make things as simple as can be you can buy one now by clicking the “add to cart” button on the right. Shipping is $3 additional. we will be placing orders as they arrive but must have 12 at any given time to place an order.

We are excited at how these are turning out, and can’t wait to step off an airplane from Africa to introduce our son to a sea of burnt orange hugs!! thanks for your constant support and love! we truly appreciate it :)

Adoption Tee's

Child Small $30.00 Child Medium $30.00 Child Large $30.00 Adult Small $30.00 Adult Medium $30.00 Adult Large $30.00

{mother's day....}

it was a wonderful mother's day here at the porch house filled with lots of snuggles....dusty and i took the evening to fill out more adoption paperwork in hopes of having our baby boy in our arms by next mother's day. it's a longggg shot, but we can always stay positive, right? we are sooooo excited to be scheduled for our FIRST HOME STUDY next week and have completed round two of paperwork with the exception of dusty's passport that should be arriving soon :) things continue to move along and our hearts continue to grow just at the thought of our little man.

melted my heart to receive this from the hubs for mother's day. and, one for auburn too....and, a few family members :) it will remind me every second that my heart can be in two places at once. here and across the ocean....

my vintage pearl

{round one....done!}

we mailed off round one of paperwork today and it was pretty exciting day for our little family. dusty and i worked our tail off getting round one of paperwork done and it called for a high five after mailing :) the next set of paperwork is set to be sent in the next few weeks so we are getting started on it now. although a long process, each step feels just little closer to our baby boy......we will be having a few fundraisers this summer and selling shirts as well, so stay tuned for updates on that. our first fundraiser will be august 6th where we will be selling ALL yes ALL of auburn's old clothing from size 0-3 to put towards adoption expenses. as it gets closer i will post more updates.

hugs, the porches path to africa

{Why Ethiopia?.....}

We have been asked already quite a bit....."why ethiopia".......here are just a few reasons why....

Why Ethiopia?

*Life expectancy in Ethiopia 39 years for males and 42 years for females. The leading cause of death is communicable diseases such as malaria, typhoid, meningitis, cholera, AIDS, tuberculosis, yellow fever.
* One in ten children die before their first birthday
* One in six children die before their fifth birthday
* Woman have an average of 7 children and the maternal mortality rate is 1 in 14
* Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.
* Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over half the population lives on less than a $1 a day. The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year. Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
* Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.
* Ethiopia is home to 4-6 million orphans, or 12% of all children.
* That is the same number of children under age 18 who reside in Massachusetts, New York State, and Washington DC combined. If every parent in those places died tonight - that would be similar to Ethiopia's orphan crisis.
* More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.
* Only 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.
* Only 18 percent of children reach grade five. That means 82% of children don't.
*44% of the population is under 15 years old
*60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
*Ethiopia's doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
*Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
*Coffee prices (Ethiopia's only major export) declined 40-60%from 1998-2002
*Severe drought struck the country from 2000-2002
first year no crops
second year no seeds

{we are adopting!}

our journey has started as we are are ADOPTING FROM ETHIOPIA! Our paper work has been mailed in and we are waiting for approval from the adoption agency. our hearts are so full and we are excited for the journey ahead! Please follow along with us in this exciting journey by bookmarking this blog! We have already been asked many times "why" we are adopting and a fellow photographer, shannon summed up our hearts very well on her blog....

“Some say adoption is just trendy right now. Celebrities are doing it. I say- perfect. This is a trend I’m delighted to be a part of. Let’s bring orphans home. Lets deplete the foster care system. If it takes a trend, wonderful. But I pray it goes beyond that.

Last I saw there were still about 147 million orphans worldwide. That number is weighty. But there’s hope, and God is really moving the hearts of his people to care for those dear little ones. And I really do believe that’s more than a trend. I (one who calls God ‘Father’) must consider what it would have been like if He had not adopted me into His family.”

Some of my dearest friends are choosing adoption over comfort… they are choosing adoption over having more biological children… they are choosing adoption over a bigger home or family vacations… they are choosing to rescue the lost which will produce more joy than all the material things in the world. We are all called to have a role in caring for orphans. What is your role?