Updates

I'M ON SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

(Days like today make me beyond thankful to be a SLP in the school system!! I'll miss my speech/language babies, but a break is much needed!)

Whoooo Hooooooo! 

It's been a while since I gave an update! Life has been a bit hectic/crazy/busy to say the least. Matthew and I have had 3 nights at home together in over 4 weeks, so to say I'm ready for Micah to be here and force some down time would be an understatement! Between the loads of paperwork at the end of the school year, the loads of adoption paperwork, preparing for Micah's arrival, keeping up with the busiest 14 month old alive, church league softball, and Heart of Mississippi missions coming up NEXT week, we have been on the move (well.. I'm moving a little slower these days than the rest of the family)! I still have lots to do with our t-shirt order coming in early next week, catching up on thank you notes, some last minute nesting/cleaning that I don't necessarily want to do but needs to be done, and taking Noah to do some things I have been wanting to do with him before Micah gets here but I haven't had time while I have been working. Another trip to the Children's Museum, lots of park trips and swimming... here we come! I also intend on fitting a few naps in over the next few days :) 

I think we are finally prepared for Micah to be here! 10 days at the longest until he makes his grand arrival! We cannot wait!!! We had a sono on Monday and got to see that he already has a head full of hair :) Matthew keeps saying he doesn't know where our kids get all this hair from. (Not sure if he has looked at their mom lately or not by that comment!) He looks healthy and is already measuring (according to the sonogram on Monday) around 7 lbs! As hard as the last few weeks have been, I am reminding myself how thankful I am that God has blessed me with the ability to carry my babies full term! 

Speaking of healthy babies, our sweet Noah has been growing and learning SO much lately!! It seems he picks up on EVERYTHING we say and do! I feel like he learns a new word every day. It has been so fun watching him grow! I am attaching a few videos to share some of the joy we have been experiencing :) 

Heart of Mississippi missions is a mission week my husband is in charge of next week. Great timing, right? Teenagers are coming from all over the state to be the hands and feet of Jesus at different locations around metro Jackson. He has some great things planned! I know it will bring God glory! Just lots and LOTS and LOTS of planning involved!! 

On the adoption front, since the garage sale, things have been put on somewhat of a pause to take care of myself and the little one growing inside me! I'm excited to finish up our dossier paperwork and work toward finishing up our dossier payment fundraising goal! 

And I almost forgot... I haven't given the update on how the garage sale went!! God is SO SO SO good!! I'm not sure why I had the bright idea to have a massive garage sale at 36 weeks pregnant, but we did it! We could NOT have done it without my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, friends, and donors who were ALL seriously irreplaceable! A garage sale is WORK! But...God is faithful. Sometimes things just take work. It was worth it! With 60%-90% chance of rain in the forecast all week, we prayed HARD for no rain! Well..God blessed us with NO RAIN and the PERFECT weather!! He also blessed us by helping us raise almost...$2,500!!!! Can you believe that? From 6AM-2PM, we raised that! Just when we start to be doubtful, God shows us His blessings are greater than our disbelief. 

Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. --Deutoronomy 7:9

T-Shirt Orders SOON!!

For all of you that have asked about T-shirt orders, I just wanted to make sure you have all of the details. We will place our 2nd t-shirt order MAY 13--in 9 DAYS!! This will be the last order we place for a while due to Micah's arrival.

Details:
Youth XSmall - Youth XLarge: $15
Adult Small - Adult XLarge: $15
Adult XXLarge and larger: $16.50
SHIPPING: $3

How you can order:
1) Hand deliver cash or check to us
2) Click Donate on Right side of blog. Enter t-shirt order amount and specify t-shirt size (also specify address if needed)
3) Mail a check to 118 Appleridge Dr., Brandon, MS 39047.
4) Order at our yard sale next Saturday, May 11 @ 338 Lake Harbour church of Christ.

Busy Times!

The Powell house is crazily, insanely busy right now! The good news? We are getting LOTS accomplished! After not having a night at home in over 2 weeks, Matthew left leaving for California on Monday. I was hoping for a little down time before he left, but I'm excited he got to take a trip with Andy Miller, our preacher while we were in college, to lectureships in Malibu. I'm wondering who got the better end of this deal.... getting lots of spiritual fulfillment in Malibu for a week or being almost 35 weeks pregnant at home with a 14 month old?? Hmmm... (Thankful for moms who pitch in when I really need it! And of course, Noah loves being spoiled by grandparents way too much!) 

So what have we been up to?

The last 2 weekends have been filled with our Spring Youth Retreat and a sweet friends' wedding weekend. They were both a great success, and for that I am grateful! Noah officially has a bed and bedding to use when baby brother gets here. (Yay for being a slacker but getting it together at the last minute! So... anti-me.) The doctor says Micah looks great (he's measuring a good bit larger, so maybe we'll have 2 linebackers in the family?)! We have ALMOST gotten everything together to complete our homestudy. Our social worker has been awesome and much less intimidating than I was preparing for! We have been busy busy collecting documents for the rest of our dossier as well. (I didn't know there was so much paperwork out there about 2 people!? Oh and btw... somehow our marriage certificate wasn't on file! Hope we are actually married :) )We have passed all of our background checks/fingerprints/etc. so far. That's always a good thing, right? I have started my 10 hours of adoption education. I shipped all of the t-shirts yesterday that needed to be shipped from our first t-shirt order. I started our 2nd order TODAY! Donations have been pouring in for our yard sale. (My neighbors will soon think I am a hoarder by looking in my garage!) I could continue on with what has been going on in our lives, but you get the picture...

I'm counting on about 2 good weeks left before I'm too miserably large to function. (Micah, we are SOOOO ready to meet you!) So, what do the next 2 weeks consist of as pertaining to the adoption?

FUNDRAISING: YARD/BAKE SALE AND T-SHIRT SALES!

How can you help!? 

If you would like a t-shirt, you can give a check to one of us OR click the donate tab on this blog and specify size/s. T-shirts are $15 ($16.50 for 2XL & Larger). T-shirt sizes are Youth XSmall-Youth XLarge and Adult Small- Adult 3XLarge.

Share the news about our yard sale. Come to our yard sale. Bring a friend to our yard sale! It's in the front parking lot of the Lake Harbour church of Christ. (We will also be accepting donations for 1 more week!) Here is the flyer: 

We are really excited about the sale! It's a lot of work but our prayers is that God will be glorified and we can raise awareness about the orphan crisis! Come by and visit us NEXT Saturday! 10 more days!!!