Category Archives: Adoption

Moving Along

We are moving right along with our dossier. All we still need is our homestudy & a couple of other documents from our social worker and our USCIS approval. I doubt we will get our USCIS approval for quite some time.

That means, we have gotten our state clearances, my medical form, proof of home ownership and proof of mortgage! Yay!

We should have our home study any day now…

We’ve also made some progress on Scarlett and Reed’s room… I will share it with you once we have it more together for photos! And Aaron’s sister gave us lots and lots of boy clothes and some books yesterday. And my sister gave us lots of books this weekend.

Today, I was a Goodwill, and I saw this book…

Um, for 49¢, with Scarlett’s new nickname, it’s perfect!

Red & Purple

I have a niece, who we call Violet. Last week, my mom put up pictures of Scarlett and Reed in her house, and Violet comes over and looks at them. Then, she asks my sister what their names are. When my sister told Violet that we were planning to name Erika Scarlett, she told my sister that she does not like that name! So, my sister told Violet that if she wanted to call Scarlett Red, that would be fine, but then Scarlett could call her Purple!

Now, Scarlett and Reed are Reed and Red.

Violet seems excited about her new cousin and playmate. This weekend, I took a short trip out to Pennsylvania for a family reunion. Before I left, I made up a stack of cards with Reed and Scarlett’s photos, and our contact information. Violet took one from me on the first night and carried it around with her. At the reunion, she took another photo and carried it around with her. A couple of times, I caught her staring at the photo.

“I was not staring at their photo!”

My sister told me that Violet also thought that Red would be coming with me on this trip and she was disappointed when she realized that she would not be. She asked my sister what kind of dress she would wear when she came to visit.

I’m glad to have family who is excited about Reed and Scarlett!

How cute are these shirts on Reed and Scarlett’s cousins?

Still waiting

One of the hardest things we’ve done so far for this adoption was pick the Scarlett/Erika and Reed/Ilya. No, picking them wasn’t the hard part, it was not picking all the other waiting children. I wanted to share some of the other beautiful children looking for their perfect family.

When we first decided that we were going to adopt, there were two little girls who stuck out to me, one being Scarlett/Erika. The other was Nora… 

Her messy blonde hair and pretty blue eyes remind me of my niece. I am also pretty sure that I tried to convince my sister to name my niece Nora. And she was born the same year as my niece (2005). Nora is HIV+.  

When we had to chose another little boy, after Quinn was taken into foster care, I logically thought James would be a good choice. He is only a few months younger than Quinn, very cute and described as easy going. But, he just didn’t feel like the right little boy, if that makes sense.

James was born July 25, 2006. A missionary who visited him in March described him, “This little boy is a sweet kid. He seems to get along with everybody and he’s just generally very easy going. He’s fun and he goes with the flow.” James is also HIV+. 


Marat breaks my heart everytime I see his photo.

He is 12 years old, and described as very smart. He looks like such a sweet kid. He is also HIV+.


Berkeley stood out from one of the first times I ever looked at RR, over a year ago. I think she just looks so happy and sweet– the kind of person you just want to be around!



Her medical records indicate clubbed feet, strabismus(crossed eye), hydrocephaly, & hypoplasia of her right kidney. She is described as very kind and has many friends. 


There are so many more beautiful children listed at Reece’s Rainbow. Please contact Andrea if you are interested in adding any one of them to your family.

Photo Fundraiser, Take 2

Our fundraiser is the weekend of August 7th and 8th. The sessions on the 7th will be in Kansas City and the sessions on the 8th will be in locally. All you local folks should sign up; it will be a blast! And I’m baking cupcakes. Even if you don’t love photos, maybe you love cupcakes? Maybe I’ll have a little bake sale along with it, cupcakes are free for families being photographed, $1 for everyone else!

Photo Fundraiser, Take 2

My specialty is Red Velvet, but I take (and bake!) requests.