Orphanage clothing fundraiser update

Thank you very much to everyone who has contributed donations to the orphanage clothing fundraiser!!  As of yesterday, $475.00 has been donated.  Praise God for what he has put on peoples hearts!!! :)  I recently asked our contact at Love Without Boundaries what it would cost to purchase a single outfit for the babies at Poyang.  He shared that each outfit (top and bottom) costs just under $4.00!!!  Based on the donations already contributed we have enough funds for LWB to purchase approx. 118 outfits for these children!  That's just over one outfit per baby.  I'd love to see that come up to two outfits per baby, considering that the washing and changing of clothes with little ones is frequent.  That would mean we'd need an additional $245.  Prayerfully consider donating $5.00 (1 outfit) toward this effort to provide summer clothing for the babies at Poyang orphanage.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at robinleese27@ymail.com or reference my original post, http://leeseadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2010/04/orphanage-clothing-fundraiser-in-honor.html

Updates on Hadley
As of right now, we have still not received any updated information on Hadley since we received her referral just over 3 months ago.  We have requested information but our agency has not gotten a response back yet from her orphanage.  Of course we are hoping to get a glimpse of how she is doing and her sizes so we know what clothing and diapers to bring when we travel.  Our hope and prayer is to travel in July because my mom and dad will be watching Wyatt for the 2 weeks we are in China.  My mom is still teaching and goes back to work, the first week in August, so July travel would be a TREMENDOUS blessing!  There is the possibility that if we don't travel in July, just one of us will be going to China, so that someone can stay home with Wyatt.  God is good and he will work it all out according to his will. 


Last but not least, we celebrated yesterday because a family at our agency received their LOA in just 41 days yesterday!!  We are now at day 20 and praying for a speedy LOA which would allow us to travel faster.  Anything is possible and we are hopeful! :)

Have a great day!! Sending out big hugs!!
Robin

Cruisin along

About 2-3 weeks ago Wyatt really started cruisin around the house.  Wyatt's friend, Cameron gave him a cute little cart/walker that he's been moving around with over the last week.  Brandon calls it his grocery cart (ha!).  This video is from last week...he's so proud of himself!

Wyatt with his cousins

We spent the weekend in northern Illinois for Brandon's Uncle Arnolds 60th Birthday.  As you can see in the photos below...Wyatt is dressed for the movie Caddy Shack.  He looks like he's ready for a golf outing!  Brandon (Uncle Brandon) looks like a tree of children.  And Angelina and Donnie (Wyatt's cousins) are just too cute!

Orphanage Fundraiser update

Good Morning!  I have more great news!  We received an update yesterday morning (Monday) from Love Without Boundaries and at that point a total of $425.00 was raised so far, for the babies at Poyang!!!  I'm just tickled to pieces that friends have a heart for these precious little ones!  Thank you so much for contributing and Praise God for what He has laid on peoples hearts!!  YAY!!! 

If you would still like to make a donation, the link to LWB is... https://www. lovewithoutbound aries.com/ Donate.cfm? child_id= 0&category=134&spanishFlag= false&amount= Please see the posted titled, Orphanage Clothing Fundraiser in honor of Hadley for details and photos.

THANK YOU!!! XXOO

Robin

TODAY WE RECEIVED OUR LID!!!! HAPPY DAY!!

I wanted to share that today we received our LID (login date of our paperwork in China)!  HOOOOORAYYY!!!  One step closer to Hadley!!!  Now we'll be counting down the days till LOA!  EEK!!! We are so excited!!!

PLEASE SEE THE POST BELOW FOR INFORMATION ON THE ORPHANAGE CLOTHING FUNDRAISER.  I have great news!! Since yesterday there have been $280.00 in donations for the babies at Poyang.  It was also confirmed today that they have 90 babies currently :,-(  If you know anyone willing to contribute $5.00, please share our blog with them.  Every penny makes a difference!


Last but not least, I posted a few weeks back on a baby girl named, Lucy who was in immediate need of a family.  There has been an exciting update on her recently!  Check it out... www.dreamingofteafortwo.blogspot.com/  PTL!!!!

Hugs and MANY thanks to everyone who have been so generous!!!!!

Robin

ORPHANAGE CLOTHING FUNDRAISER IN HONOR OF HADLEY

Just before we received our PA for Hadley, I joined a yahoo group of families that have adopted from her orphanage to learn more about where she is living, the process, the children that are there and to get to know the people who have adopted from Poyang. In the process I learned that in the past these families have done fundraisers for important items that the Poyang orphanage is in need of.  The orphanage needed a hot water heater and the group successfully raised money to get them the hot water heater.  They've also done a fundraiser for winter clothing and summer clothing.  They are always in need of these items.  When a child is adopted by a family, the outfit they are wearing stays with the child and in turn leaves less and less clothing for the children remaining at the orphanage. I’ve included some pictures from last summers clothing fundraiser so you can see the impact. So it got me thinking over the last month...I think alot about how, “we need to do more, we’re required to do more” to come to the aid of the poor, orphans and widows.   So I contacted Love Without Boundaries; an organization based in China that works with Hadley’s orphanage. I also contacted the moderator of our Poyang Yahoo group.  In doing this I found out that Hadley’s orphanage has more children right now than they are accustomed to having.  To be precise, they have 80+ children under the age of 1 year (on average they typically have 35-40 at most).  That absolutely blew me away!  I can’t imagine what it must be like to manage 90 little ones that are Wyatt’s age and younger!  I also found out that they are in great need of clothing right now due to the number of children.  So my thought is not do something unique but just to get the word out, in hopes that  people will respond to the need.  My goal is to raise $1000.00.  This money will ONLY go toward the clothing that the orphanage has requested or additional orphanage needs that are made known.  In doing this I also wanted to find a way for people to make a donation to this specific cause anonymously.  I don’t want anyone to feel like they need to respond to me for this fundraiser, to let me know they have donated or chosen not to donate.  I genuinely want it to be something that you’ve made the decision to do without feeling pressured.  In the end, the only information I will receive is the dollar amount that was raised...I will not know who contributed.  At the end of the fundraiser we’ll get an update from LWB on how the fundraiser went, what specifically was purchased and photos which I'll take great joy in sharing with you all!!!

So how do you contribute? 

This is the response I received from the Orphanage Assistance Coordinator with LWB:

The way that the orphanage assistance program works is that, once a fund-raiser has raised sufficient funds, LWB has a facilitator in China who will purchase the items and ship them to the orphanage.  This is much cheaper than shipping from the US or Europe and allows each donation to go that much further toward providing the orphanage with supplies.  As the coordinator, I will keep you regularly updated via email, to let you know as the supplies are purchased and shipped to Poyang.  In addition, after the orphanage receives your donation, we will receive pictures of everything (which I would forward on to you).  This way, you can see exactly what you bought.

The best way to donate is to go to https://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/Donate.cfm?child_id=0&category=134&spanishFlag=false&amount= When you fill out the form, please make sure the Category is set to Orphanage Assistance.  Also, please put in the Note field a short note indicating that this is for the Poyang orphanage fund-raiser.  This will ensure that your donation makes its way to me.
 

With all of the little ones currently at Poyang, a joint effort could go a long way at providing them with summer clothing for this year! Every penny counts and every contribution makes a difference!  

Last but not least, we believe that the very first baby girl in the photos below is likely our Hadley.  We have no way to confirm that but when I saw her, I immediately had the sense that she was ours.  After blowing the photo up and studying the picture next to her newborn picture, the features of this baby girl are additional confirmation that she could be our daughter.  So we are doing this fundraiser in honor of Hadley.  She obviously saw the benefits of other peoples generosity and now we hope as a group we can return that to other children that remain at the Poyang orphanage.

Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success.  ~Author Unknown

Psalm 82:3 and 4- Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!!  HUGS AND LOVE, Brandon, Robin, Wyatt & Hadley

SUMMER 2009 CLOTHING FUNDRAISER PHOTOS

                                                     A baby gets a bath at Poyang

Our Easter vacation

We returned home from FL yesterday afternoon and we're settling back in after a wonderful Easter vacation! :)  It was eventful!  Brandon's Butler Bulldogs made it to the championship game in Indy against Duke and had an amazing run this year!!  He was over the moon during March madness!! I'm including a video, which I'm sure I'll pay the price for later (haha!)  I took this from my phone when Butler beat Syracuse...It cracks me up!  It's a taste of what he was like during the rest of the tournament!  Just ignore my horrible cackling laugh in the background.  Keep in mind that Brandon is trying not to yell during the video because Wyatt is upstairs sleeping :)

So more exciting news over Easter weekend!  My sister, Kristen got engaged!  Her fiance, Mike proposed on Saturday night while they were in town visiting for Easter! CONGRATULATIONS KRISTEN AND MIKE!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!! 

WYATT TAKES THE WHEEL ON OUR STOP FOR GAS, DRIVING TO FL 

UNCLE MIKE READING TO WYATT

AUNT JILL AND AUNT KRISTEN GIVE WYATT A BATH