Siberian winter weather

Wow! Today's weather reminded me of the weather we may face if we go to Russia during the winter. I hope everyone was safe today. We have determined our Gipson Family Adoption Kick-off to be a TACO DINNER. It will be held on Sunday, February 21st from 4 to 7pm at the Cameron Fire Station. We ask everyone for a free will donation for an all you can eat taco bar. In conjunction we will hold a 50/50 raffle and will be selling raffle tickets until the dinner. Don't worry, if you are unable to make it to the dinner you need not be present to win the raffle. I hope we see everyone there at our Kick-off! People may bring their aluminum cans to the dinner as well. On Monday Chad and I took seven bags of crushed cans to the recycling center in Peoria. We recycled 74 pounds of cans! Thanks again to everyone who donated their cans. Every night when I lay my head on my pillow I think of the boys and wonder if someone kissed them goodnight. It makes me sad to think about them sleeping in a large room with many other children. On the other hand these thoughts keep me striving to bring our little guys home. Stay tuned, I will post more information as it becomes available. Please call or email if you have any questions about the upcoming dinner.

February Fundraiser

We have to cancel our Bowling fundraiser due to the fire at Northgate Bowling alley in Galesburg. I apologize, as some of you have probably already received your flyer. We are currently planning a TACO DINNER to be held at the Cameron fire station for later in February instead. I am hopeful everyone will be able to attend and bring their appetite. Tonight Callie and I crushed cans for almost an hour. Please continue saving them for us and pass it on to others. Today I was talking to a friend at her office and a coworker overheard us discussing my plans to pick up her cans this weekend. The coworker actually had a garbage bag of cans in her car she had planned to take to the recycling center that same day. She happily donated the cans to us instead! As far as an update on the adoption, we have received new pictures of both boys. The agency has presented us with the contract and so I am busy filling out more paperwork. I have a friend that referred to the endless forms as a "paperwork pregnancy". I am beginning to understand why! Samantha has her first basketball game this Saturday. Today was my first day at WIU; I felt more like a student than professor. It is hard to speak to my former professors as a colleague and not a student. I am sure I will get used to things soon. Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful support in our endeavor!

Yet more information!

We are snowed in today. Not a bad thing, except I need to work on Saturday now, which isn't my favorite thing! I was happy to receive an email today from the agency with newer pictures of the older little guy. He had a cute little smile in one of the pictures. I have had my good friend Sue (who is a pediatric PT) look at the pictures and she has shared with me her expertise on the medical issues the little guy faces. We are confident that most of these may be addressed successfully here in the US. At this time the agency continues to attempt to retrieve more information on his younger brother. We have been handing out flyers for our upcoming Bowling fundraiser on February 7th. Please consider attending our event to share in the fun and help us with our cause! I am hoping to speak and meet with our pediatrician soon with the medical information we have received to get her professional opinion. I understand how it is tough for some people to understand why we would be willing to adopt a child with known medical diagnoses. I think for many people it is a fear of the unknown. Of course, we all dream of our children being healthy and "perfect". I guess I look at it that if Sam were to live in another country and be in an orphanage, she would be considered special needs as well. Her diabetes and ADHD would keep potential families from adopting her. I wouldn't have changed my mind during the pregnancy if I knew she would later receive these diagnoses. It is a complicated issue to say for sure. Thank you for everyone's well wishes and prayers!

More information

Today I got to spend the day with Callie as she had tonsillitis. Fortunately, she is feeling pretty well and has not complained much of her throat hurting. I have been working on planning the Kick-off fundraiser that will be held next month. Flyers should be mailed out in the next few days. We are holding a Gipson Family Adoption Fundraiser Kick-off at Northgate Bowling Lanes on Sunday, February 7 at 2:00. Bowling is regular price; the manager has agreed to give us a portion of the profits for those bowling with our group. We will also hold a 50/50 raffle and Bake sale so bring a few extra dollars and your sweet tooth! If you would like to attend, send me an email at CheriGipson@live.com or you may text/call. UPDATE: I received an email from our agency regarding the brothers from Russia. The agency has been working hard to acquire medical information on the boys. If everything works out right, things may move much more quickly than anticipated. This makes me quite nervous as my budget allowed us a year to save! We keep saying it will all work out if it is supposed to; God has a plan. I just wish he'd share it with me! : )

First entry

I have decided to begin our adoption blog on the first day of 2010. I woke up this morning feeling exuberant that we would find our boys this year, if not bring them home by the end of the year. I am writing this blog with the intention of keeping our friends and family members updated on the current status of our adoption journey. I would like to begin by getting everyone up to speed. In October I began to think about adoption. I have a friend who adopted her daughter from Khazakstan a year ago, which made me realize it can happen. I spoke with Chad about the process of adoption. He agreed it was something worth checking out, as we had not had much luck getting pregnant thus far. On Columbus Day I met with a very helpful social worker in Galesburg. She gave me a lot of information to review. It seemed we needed to make the first of many decisions. Do we want to adopt? I have to admit, I felt myself pulled toward adoption, but after talking everything through with Chad we decided to seek medical treatment for infertility. In November and December we both had what seemed several pints of blood taken for fertility testing. I had a couple of medical procedures as well. We found out that although we could possibly conceive via the process of IVF, I would have to receive daily injections of several medications and monthly infusions of medication as well. In December the medical bills began to arrive. Although the insurance company had told us all fertility testing was covered, the bills told another story. One blood draw we had was $3,000! We were upset to say the least. The same day we got the 3K bill, I received an email about a child with cleft palate who needed a family. I called Chad in tears and told him how I felt we were being compelled to adopt. He agreed it was our path to take and so I became obsessed with researching adoption options. I sent requests to multiple adoption agencies for both domestic and international adoption. I spoke with adoption consultants from several agencies. I presented the information to Chad, and we decided international adoption was the path for us. We have determined the agency we will use to pursue our adoption. To be honest, we are still undetermined on the country we will adopt from. The reason for this is that we have shared with our adoption consultant our desire to adopt a boy or possibly brothers. We have also decided we would be willing to adopt a child with special needs. When I state "special needs" that is a very broad term, especially in the adoption arena. Many children are labeled special needs because they have a minor correctible condition. We are awaiting more information on two boys (brothers) from Russia. We found out about them about two weeks ago, but due to the holidays the agency has had difficulty acquiring recent medical reports and updated information. I found out yesterday the adoption worker in Russia is actually having to travel to the orphanage, pull the files on the boys, make copies, and then fax to the agency here in the US. The orphanage is in a somewhat remote region of Russia so it may be quite a journey for the worker. In the meantime, I am working on our adoption budget and the fundraisers we will need to complete to pay for everything. We sent out letters to our close family and friends detailing our first two fundraising ideas which include collecting aluminum cans for recycling and holding a garage sale in July. This past week I spoke with the manager at Northgate Lanes. He agreed to allow us the usage of half of the lanes and will give us a portion of the cost that each person attending our fundraiser will pay for bowling and shoes. We have been fortunate to be so blessed! Sam and Callie are aware of our efforts and each helps in her own way (Sam is helping distribute letters and collecting cans while Callie prays for the "little ones" in the orphanages at bedtime). Please stay tuned for further posts as updates happen. I want to end with a "Thank you" to everyone who has voiced their willingness to collect cans; we really appreciate it! Happy New Year!