The Elliott Adoption Journey

Please, please accept our apology. After some serious adoption fundraising/planning we basically went on an adoption hiatus. That’s right, after all the work and planning that went into our adoption fundraiser we flat out needed a break. But now we are back, and writing a long overdue post.

If you haven’t already heard the good news – our international adoption is FULLY FUNDED! Yep, you heard right, FULLY FUNDED! Between the ticket/table sales, raffle sales, silent auction and generous donations of so many we don’t need another dime. Oh, I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this feels. Knowing that as soon as we are matched with our child/ren we are able to leave and get them, immediately, no burden of finances, no need to raise more money before moving forward and finalizing the adoption. This feels so great. We praise God. We are truly beside ourselves with praise and gratitude.

Our hearts were touched by the outpour of love and support shown by so many the night of our fundraiser. Looking around the room we saw faces of people who love us, love our child and support adoption. Everything about it was beautiful.

As I think about my child, thinking how they may even now be experiencing moments of desperate loneliness, feelings of being unwanted or unloved –  I just can’t wait to show them the picture of the fundraiser. A night fueled by love and full of people who love them and worked together to bring them home. Talk about a beautiful story of redemption! I can’t wait to add the pictures of that night to their baby book – showing them just how loved they were from the start.

Thank you all. Your generosity is humbling and has touched us beyond words. Thank you for being a part of something so beautiful. Thank you for helping create one less orphan. Thank you for helping us reach our child. We love you and we thank you.

P.S.
I don’t know how I didn’t cry throughout the event – but it all came out about an hour after everyone left. Breakdown mode. I’m talking convulsing, bugger filled, sloppy tears of joy. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable I made the sweet high school student (who had volunteered at the event) feel as I cried on his shoulder. Haha, oh well, it was bound to happen.

In Him,
Leslie and JC

So next Saturday we are having a fundraising dinner. This means that the next two weeks are full of planning and prepping everything for this awesome event!

If you still haven’t purchased your tickets yet, we are so sorry. We have officially SOLD OUT! Unfortunately, no tickets will be sold at the door. (If you still want tickets, leave a comment or email us and we will see what we can do) To all of those that have bought tickets in advance, thank you. To all of you that have donated but couldn’t attend thank you too!

At the dinner there will be a raffle and a silent auction. We are still storing out what some of the items will be but one we wanted to let you know ahead of time.

We had a very generous donation to a week (June 14-21) at Tonopolo Private Residence club. This is on the north shore (Literally on the shore!!!) of Lake Tahoe (Kings Beach). It sleeps 8. I have been here and it is incredible. There are free paddle boards, small sail boats and kayaks. The condo’s have full kitchens and 3 bedrooms, and 3.5 baths. There are just too many amenities to name, so I’ll just stop. But trust me you will want to bid on this, clear your calendar and get ready for Tahoe fun!

Here are some pics…

The Residence Club available at our silent auction

So that is pretty much it.If you have your ticket already we will see you there!

Always, God Bless!

In Him,

JC and Leslie

Elliott Adoption Fundraiser
Save the date, and get your tickets now!

On April 13^th, we will be hosting an Adoption Fundraiser in order to raise the funds needed for our International Adoption. Will you attend and help us reach our chil/children?

Elliott Adoption Fundraiser
Saturday, April 13^th, 2013 at 6:00pm
Cost: $25 per ticket OR $350 for a table of 8
Location: First Baptist Church Stockton, CA
Informal Attire. Dinner will be served.
TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE.
Childcare provided - $5.00 for one or $10 for the entire family!

If you have any questions about the event or would like to buy tickets send us a comment or email us directly at leslieanneharding@gmail.com. Even if you can’t attend the event, but would like to sponsor a table or buy a ticket for someone else we would be grateful!

Also, if you are interested in donating a gift card or a basket for the raffle please let us know! Hope to see you there!

Hooray! We are officially approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services to adopt up to 2 children, male/female, ages 0-3. I can’t even tell you how exciting this is!

Immigration Approval

Funny Side Story – On the day of our Immigration Appointment JC was turned away from his fingerprinting. The guard took one look at JC’s hands, stamped his paperwork and said, “We will see you in two weeks.” JC was shocked. The straight faced, no emotion guard then explained that if you have cuts on your fingers you can’t get your prints taken. He explained to us that the prints will comeback as unacceptable and the process will be delayed.  Please note – JC had not just one, but two cuts on two different fingers from doing repairs on my car the week before.

JC was so bummed. He started picking at the cuts, trying to remove the dead skin around them. I started to get upset – thinking he was going to make it worse and delay the process further. JC even went out to the car and put lotion on his hands, hoping that it would help diminish the appearance of the cuts. After several minutes of picking and moisturizing JC went back to the guard and showed him his hands again. The guard wouldn’t even look at them. He sternly asked why JC was trying so hard to fix the cuts (ummm, because we don’t want to drive back here), and told him once again that he would see him in two weeks.

Needless to say, JC went back – his fingers healed and he had his prints taken! So we are officially approved by Immigration to adopt!

My heart is breaking, and through the breaking it is changing.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about my child. In the early stages of our adoption my thoughts were consumed with questions like what will they look like? What kind of personality will they have? How will I style their beautiful hair? Boy? Girl? Will they be into reading or maybe art? Straight “A” student or super star athlete?

Yet as we continued to move forward in our adoption my thoughts have changed. Instead I wake up in the middle of the night wondering if they are warm? Are they healthy? Are they eating well or are they malnourished? Did they go to bed hungry? How is institutionalization affecting them? Who is there when they fall down? Do they have someone showing them love? Are they developing the tools for attachment?

As my knowledge about international adoption has grown, so has my heart. And my heart is breaking.

Breaking for the children going to bed hungry. Breaking that according to the Action Against Hunger website, “That at least 3.5 million malnourished children die every year because they lack access to the necessary treatment. And that 19 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, a deadly condition if not treated.”

Breaking for the children with no one to hold them, or tell them they are dearly loved. Breaking that according to UNICEF, “Around the world, there are an estimated 153 million orphans who have lost one parent. There are 17,800,000 million orphans who have lost both parents and are living in orphanages or on the streets and lack the care and attention required for healthy development. These children are at risk for disease, malnutrition, and death.”

Breaking that children are not getting the tools needed for proper brain development. Breaking that according to the CCAI, “No child under three years of age should be placed in institutional care without a parent or primary caregiver. This is based on results from 32 European countries, including nine in-depth country studies, which considered the “risk of harm in terms of attachment disorder, developmental delay and neural atrophy in the developing brain.”

Breaking that international adoption has been declining over the years. Breaking that less children are leaving orphanages and moving into forever families. Breaking that this year the US Department of State released its annual report on inter-country adoption for fiscal year 2012, showing that for the 8th consecutive year, the number of inter-country adoptions has declined.

http://poundpuplegacy.org

Breaking. My heart is breaking for our child and so many others.

We took a few Adoption pictures this weekend – after I realized ALL of our pictures are out of date! Not just a little out of date, I’m talking seriously outdated. Therefore, I need to be better about documenting our life via camera. So consider this my commitment to our blog followers, I will take and upload more pictures of our Adoption Journey! Thanks to Natalie Petersen for the great pictures, and Maddi Ezell for the beautiful painting! Here are a few, more to come soon…

I’m in love with my man and our painting!

Our (hopefully soon) to be growing family!!

Can’t wait to meet our child.

Can’t wait to meet the child who will stand there someday!

Love this man! He is going to be the most amazing father.

Can you tell we are excited??

More Kissing! XoXo!

REMINDER!! Get your tickets for the Elliott Adoption Fundraiser. Call us to purchase tickets, or buy online!

Elliott Adoption Fundraiser
Save the date, and get your tickets now!

On April 13^th, we will be hosting an Adoption Fundraiser in order to raise the funds needed for our International Adoption. Will you attend and help us reach our chil/children?

Elliott Adoption Fundraiser
Saturday, April 13^th, 2013
6:00pm
Cost: $25 per ticket OR $350 for a table of 8
Location: First Baptist Church Stockton, CA
Informal Attire. Dinner will be served.
TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE.

If you have any questions about the event or would like to buy tickets send us a comment or email us directly at leslieanneharding@gmail.com. Even if you can’t attend the event, but would like to sponsor a table or buy a ticket for someone else we would be grateful!

Also, if you are interested in donating a gift card for the raffle please let us know.