Text to Donate for Nico - Today Only! December 1st!

Wish Upon a Hero has given us the go ahead to host a Text to Donate day on December 1st!

Here's how it works...

Text "WISH" to 80077 to donate $5 to your cause. 

Technical Information....

1. Mobile donors will have a $5 charge from mGive, the provider of the service on their phone bill.
2. A mobile donation will NOT be processed if the mobile user does not confirm "YES" to the agreed $5 charge. A majority of the donors do not do this.
3. If a mobile user has block extra usage charges, the text response will return as "FAIL". Many parents block their kids phones to stop unwanted charges.
4. A maximum of 5 mobile donations can be made.
5. Pay-as-you-go mobile phones and international phones will not work on the system.
6. Donation period runs from 12am (MTS) to 11:59pm (MTS). 24 hours are required for the donation system to calculate the totals.

Please share far and wide and help this be a success! This is JUST for today. Thank you all!!!

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

This week, a child passed away who was such a huge part in bringing the Catholic community to Reece's Rainbow. So many people found their children through his mommy's love for him.

Please keep the Dobrovits family in your prayers as they deal with this tragic loss. And if you would like to donate to help cover medical and funeral expenses, please do so here:

--- 2 ---

Remember "Malcolm"? He's coming home in early 2013! I am lucky enough to know his parents, as they are local. They have a matching grant right now that is almost complete. Can you bless their family today?

http://reecesrainbow.org/35177/sponsorsmith-3

Henry and his mommy Carla were responsible for helping find Malcolm's parents. Isn't that amazing?

--- 3 ---

Henry and his mommy also helped us find our little guy. If I had never seen Henry and then started advocating for Malcolm, I would've never seen my boy.

We have an amazing opportunity tomorrow, December 1st, from Wish Upon a Hero. You can donate $5 by text message this day only, and we will get the proceeds!

Please check it out and let me know if you have any questions!

--- 4 ---

At the beginning of this month, I set a loft goal of getting to $2,500 in our Reece's Rainbow grant, in honor of Nico's 2.5 birthday. I doubted God, we were SO far off. But just yesterday, our grant went from $2020 to $2505!!!! We made it! I am so grateful of the support pouring in for our boy. This is a hard process and so scary, but you all have made it so much easier on us. Please continue to pray, we do have a long road a head. But we know God's got this. He loves Nico more than we do.

--- 5 ---

Remember how I said that we had a beautiful Cathy's Creations bracelet coming up? HERE it is!!!

http://cathyscreationsjewelry.com/Adopting-Nico-Rainbow-Bracelet-Nico-B-1.htm

If you want one by Christmas, though, you have to order fast! These are so beautiful. And we're so thankful for our sweet friend Cathy for making such beautiful things for our boy.

--- 6 ---

I did want to say that the day Henry passed away was so hard on all of us. I felt horrible even trying to fundraise for our own adoption while his family was hurting. We have been praying so hard, and we hope that since he is the one that brought us to our children, that he would be honored if we continued to try to bring our babies out of the darkness. Henry got to feel the love of a family. And that's our mission. This adoption is NOT about us. It's not about growing our family. The Lord has blessed us with healthy fertility. We are doing this for Nico. We love him. The Lord loves him. We were called, very strongly, to bring him home. Every child deserves a family. And we give that to one person. Money doesn't matter. God is bigger than money. We will press on, in honor of sweet Henry, and because Nico has human dignity and is worthy of someone fighting for him.

--- 7 ---

Advent starts this weekend and we are so excited. We are setting up our Christmas tree and getting all of our goodies out. We will be watching Elf on Saturday night and drinking hot chocolate. Amelia insists that is a MUST! So I will oblige. What is your favorite holiday tradition in your little family?

Happy weekend!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Please Pray

For an amazing family who lost their sweet boy today due to complications from surgery.

Here is Henry. I'm pretty sure his adoption and the series of events afterwards are what led the entire Catholic community to Reece's Rainbow. Which led me to my boy. His mommy, Carla is such an inspiration. She gives so much prayer and support for the Catholic and adoptive community, even while going through so much herself. 

We are forever thankful for Henry. And we are grateful that this sweet little saint got to know the joy of being loved within a family here on Earth before leaving for his true home in Heaven.

Your heavenly father and blessed Mother hold you now. May they comfort your Earthly parents as they mourn. 

7 Quick Takes - Boring Edition

--- 1 ---

We wrapped up our auction on Monday and it was a pretty big success! We made about $1,000, but I won't have an accurate total until all payments are in!

--- 2 ---

Thanksgiving was really nice this year. My aunt hosts it now and it was delicious. We had a lot of family there and had a great time. The kids all got to run free in the back yard with cousins, and that's always wonderful.

--- 3 ---

For some reason, it always seems like I can never take advantage of Black Friday deals. I rarely go out into the crowds anyway, and if I do, I go later in the day and grab a couple of items, and that's it. One year I got Magna Doodles for $9 (regular $19.99) and that made me happy. I still have no idea what to get the girls.  But I always end up waiting until the last minute, so oh well!

If you are shopping online, please use our Amazon link. We will receive 6.5% towards our adoption!

Shop Amazon and help bring Nico home!

--- 4 ---

I want to decorate for Christmas so bad, but I know my kids will just wreck it all. So, I think I'll wait. I hope our Advent wreath we made last year made it through storage. I don't want to make another one. lol

--- 5 ---

We usually go to Costco every Friday, but there's no way I'm braving that crowd. Guess I will do a little shopping at Fry's this week!

--- 6 ---

Sorry these are so boring... I'm sleepy from Thanksgiving and we're out of coffee! NOOOO!!

--- 7 ---

There are 2 iPad mini giveaways I know of benefiting adoptions right now!! Check it out!

Help Bring Malcolm Home! - this one ends TONIGHT!!

Help Bring Kael Home!

Happy weekend! I'd love to hear from you! 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

The tab above has all of our current fundraisers, but, we have some awesome new ones this week, so I wanted to post them here, too!

--- 2 ---

"Adopting Nico - Chosen Pendant"

$5 of all sales go towards our adoption!

Get Yours Here!

--- 3 ---

Our auction starts today and only runs until Monday night!

Save the Redhead - Auction for Nico

A few of the items:

Chocolate from Ukraine!

--- 4 ---

We are having a 31 Gifts Medium Tote sale. Our goal is to sell 30, and then we will get $500 towards our adoption! That's a HUGE amount!

What's even better, is each sale earns a free thermal tote for a military family. And, if you order by Sunday, you receive a free thermal tote yourself!

31 Fundraiser for Nico

--- 5 ---

Our coffee fundraiser is still going on. They ship really fast, and I've heard that the coffee is amazing. It would make a wonderful gift.

https://justlovecoffee.com/Nico

--- 6 ---

I had a great chat with a manager at Applebee's today about a local fundraiser. It's sounding very promising that it will happen there and I'm really excited. The guy was really nice and we talked for 15 minutes! I am eager to meet him in person and get this thing rolling! I should have solid news in about a week and a half, which makes me nervous, but I will be patient for something that could be so awesome!

--- 7 ---

Do you guys remember Malcolm? Well, his parents just got back from their first trip and will have him home early next year. They are still a little short of being fully funded, so they have an electronics giveaway going on!

http://ourfamilysmith.blogspot.com/2012/11/black-friday-electronics-giveaway.html?spref=fb

and go check out the post about their first trip, too!!

http://ourfamilysmith.blogspot.com/2012/11/were-back-from-eastern-europe-how-about.html

The very most important thing about this entire process is that we have prayers. Prayers for the families in the process and the children waiting. Please pray that we can all move through this process as easily as possible and that the Lord will comfort Nico and Malcolm and all of the other orphans as they wait. 

Happy weekend!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Something Beautiful

We have had some amazing support so far. I do not know how anyone goes through this process without a belief in God, because it is a tough one, and I am so glad to have my faith, my Church, and my community to fall back on in times of distress.

My community spans so far and wide these days. Some of them are simply people who love Nico, and will help in anyway they can to bring him home. Others are orphan warriors. Some are family, close friends, acquaintances, Church family, and the list goes on and on. Whoever they are, I am thankful. It's really been great to see.

Anyway, the sweet lady that has already helped us so much, Cathy, from Cathy's Creations, has made us a special pendant. $5 of every sale will go to our adoption. Now, that doesn't sound like a lot, but this is all of the proceeds after materials. Plus, if you've been around long enough, you'll know that $5 can add up quickly.

Cathy is doing so many special things for us and our boy. She has always been such an amazing source of support, love, and laughs. She has the biggest heart out of anyone I know, and I love her dearly. I am the luckiest person in the world to know her.

So, without further ado, our pendant!!

http://cathyscreationsjewelry.com/Adopting-Nico-Chosen-Pendant-Nico-P-1.htm

I shared with Cathy earlier today that when I was clicking through the pendant choices, I realized that emerald is Nico's birthstone and I started to cry. When a mommy saw Nico back in June, she offered him a couple of balls, and he very much preferred the green one. That little bit of information stuck with me and any time I think of him, I think of how green is "his" color. When the person who won the balance bike donated it back for Nico, the donor and I decided that green would be perfect for him for that, too. Green really IS his color, and it just made me so happy to realize that it was his birthstone. 

Always keep an eye on our "Current Fundraisers" tab, too! I will keep you up to date on all of the goodies that we have to help Nico. Current Fundraisers There's a Cathy bracelet coming soon, too!! You will not want to miss that!

My momma's heart is at ease because of all of this support. I hope everyone knows how much you all mean to us. 

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

I wish I could put something eloquent about the despair I'm feeling about our nation's choice to re-elect a person who is attacking my religious freedom, ruining the economy, and thinks that letting infants die is just dandy, but I can't. I am speechless and in mourning. I'm not even sure I can pump out 6 more takes.

--- 2 ---

2. Sigh. 2 is a great number. Unless you're an orphan who is turning 2.5 this month and you are still alone. That's our Nico. He turns 2.5 this month, and I wish I could snuggle him. Will you consider donating a little something today in honor of his half birthday? Help us bring him home, so that by the time he is 3.5, he'll be home with all of us who love him. I'd love to have him at $2500 in his grant before December.

Tax deductible donations here:

http://reecesrainbow.org/46526/sponsormcintee

--- 3 ---

I am trying frantically to get a local Christmas fundraiser together, but I think I'm dropping the ball. We'll see what happens with phone calls tomorrow, but I'm losing hope that I will be able to pull it all together this quickly. I'm running out of time! I'm just really not good at this.

--- 4 ---

Our auction starts next week! Go check out our Facebook page and look at all the goodies!

http://www.facebook.com/SavetheRedhead

--- 5 ---

I had parent teacher conferences for both big girls this week. They're both doing excellent. I love their schools. So blessed.

--- 6 ---

My girls each want a Furby for Christmas. Have you seen how much the new Furbys cost?! $54 each. Are you kidding me? I don't think they'll be getting what they want for Christmas. lol. I will admit that even I want one. I love Furbys. But dude... no.

--- 7 ---

I just want to announce that Oliver has a family! AND it's the family that is adopting Andrew, too! SO EXCITED!!!!!

http://reecesrainbow.org/41828/sponsorspivey

Happy Veteran's Day!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes - 11-2-12

--- 1 ---

Phewwww! We wrapped up our iPad giveaway and it was a pretty big success! Our goal was to have our PayPal widget read $2,500, and we didn't reach that, BUT between our FSP and the widget, we did end up with about that much anyway, so we're good to say that we did reach our goal. I am so grateful for all the support for sweet Nico. And I'm so happy for the winners!

The winner of the bike donated it back for Nico. (THANK YOU!) So, Nico officially has his own bike and a Davy Crockett costume, haha!! We might have to start working on some other things for him soon! :)

--- 2 ---

I've made a central location for all of our fundraisers. It will be at the top on the tab that says "Current Fundraisers" to keep everyone up to date.

--- 3 ---

This week is a big week. We celebrated Halloween at Lily's preschool, then we celebrated All Saint's Day at both of the girls' schools, this weekend is our 3rd daughter's birthday, and Tuesday is, of course, ELECTION DAY!!!

--- 4 ---

Get out and vote this Tuesday! Keep in mind that Romney's opponent voted 3 times against the born alive infant protection act, which would require babies born alive in a botched abortion to be given medical treatment. Obama has been the most pro-abortion president we've ever had, and it will only get worse if he's given another 4 years. Please prayerfully think about this, and other things he has done (Benghazi, The Fast and the Furious, etc) before casting your vote. 

--- 5 ---

Wow, I'm spent. LOL I  have so much to do that I can't even think straight. We're kind of in a waiting period right now, but we need to keep the funds coming, so it's not like I can rest.

--- 6 ---

I really am not sure what is going on with my kids lately. But we are having far more naughty days than not. Please pray that I can get a handle on them soon. They're nuts! And it started before all the candy, so it's not that.

--- 7 ---

http://reecesrainbow.org/47278/alaric

This sweetie was just listed. Look at his cute face! Is he your son?

Happy Friday!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!