Sunday, December 30, 2012

9 Months down

Today December 30th we have officially been waiting (this go around) to Bring Ivey Home.  Hard to believe I could have carried her in this time. These are all the feelings I have had over the last 9 months. We thank each of your for your constant prayers, love and support!!! This girl is already so loved. We can't wait to be her mom and dad!

Friday, November 30, 2012

8 months

8 months ago today we started this most recent journey to #bringiveyhome. 
When we started 8 months ago the wait time was 8-10 months so this day is bittersweet because she could almost have been home. Since then the wait has gone up to 29-31 months. 
Sounds horribly long... In the meantime we are putting our hearts into domestic and seeing if that gets our girl home faster. Thanks for the continued love, support, prayers and donations. 
We love each of you.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

7 Months!

Today marks 7 months since we have been waiting for our daughter. The months don't seem to go by any faster but we have hope knowing that every month that passes is one month closer to our girl. Thanks for all the wishes, dreams, love, support, prayers and donations - I say it every day but we really couldn't do this without you!!!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

6 months and a new announcement

Today marks six months of waiting for Ivey.
 In 6 months a lot has happened with the journey. The wait time has gone up from 8-10 months to our most recent time increase of 29-31 months. This is simply heartbreaking. And the part that worries us the most is it could just keep going up. 
How long are we willing to wait? When will we give up? Will we give up? What are our options?

Let’s talk options:

*There are some new countries we could try – but our fear in this is those countries are so new and honestly they could close anytime.
 *We could switch agencies – go to an agency with less adoptive parents on the list which would equal less of a wait – the problem with this is we would basically have to START over – all the paperwork and the cost….and we would lose what we have already invested.
*Throw domestic back in the mix – the problem with this is we have gone down this road and it broke our hearts 4 times over. So why would we try that again?


So what did we choose you ask?

We decided to add Domestic adoption back in the mix. Are we crazy? Yes! Do we want our daughter to come home? Yes! Will we do whatever we can to get her home? Yes! I met with our agency last week and she brought up domestic and how we would “show” really well to a birth mother. I just listened and at first thought we are so not doing that again.  I came home and told Corey totally thinking he would say NO, but he surprised me with “let’s do this.” New adventure here we come!

So our next step on this new part of our adventure is meet with our agency on Wednesday. We will discuss our profile that will be shown to birth mothers. This is something we have never done before – all our past domestic birth mothers have been found from friends or friends of friends. This will be a brand new journey. We will now be chosen by a birth mother. Our potential birth mother will have come to the agency in hopes of giving her child a better life than the life she can give them. This still isn’t a guarantee but we feel like it is the better way to go. This may or may not happen before we would get a referral from Ethiopia. We can stay on both lists and no we don’t know what we will do if one happens before the other. These are all things we will decide on when the time comes. We are going to ask for a girl – as of right now we are choosing African American or mixed for their race.  We are scared, hopeful, excited, worried, etc. This is a HUGE step for us. So please wish us luck and send prayers our way.

This journey has shown us just how loved we are and how many people we have that support us. I know we could NOT do this without each of you. The texts, the happies, the phone calls, the cards, the instagram love, the donations….we are just blessed beyond measure.  Some of you have asked how Corey and I as a couple are doing. We are great – honestly no matter what has happened, with every adoption that has fallen through Corey reminds me that what matters in this is HE AND I and how we deal with it together as a couple. We have become stronger throughout this journey and are both so excited to be parents.  We are both heartbroken and angry at this last set back but we know all of this will one day be Ivey’s story. We will be able to tell her about the long journey to her, the love of our lives.

With love and gratitude,
Tobi & Corey
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Thursday, August 30, 2012

5 Months Down

5 Months down! So far the wait is going fast - lets hope and pray it continues. I (Tobi) thought it was appropriate to mark 5 months with a little Ivey Handcrafted since I am working non stop for my show next weekend! Thanks for all the continued support!!! We love ya'll!!!

Monday, July 30, 2012

4 months down

Today marks 4 months waiting to bring our daughter home. Feels wonderful to be another month closer to having Ivey home with us! We are so grateful to our friends and family for the love and support you have all given to us. We couldn't go on this journey without you.

Monday, July 2, 2012

3 months down

We have now been waiting 3 months to Bring Ivey Home! This is my beautiful niece Lucy showing how excited she is that we have been waiting 3 months to bring her cousin home!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

2 months waiting

We have officially been waiting 2 months! 
We still have a long road, but we are 2 months closer to Ivey!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Raising Ivey

On March 17th we had an AWESOME fundraiser. We thought it was appropriate to show Raising Arizona. It was donation based, and we sold snacks (candy, popcorn and yummy treats made by friends and family). I also had some Ivey Handcrafted items ready to be sold. In total we raised over $1,000. IT was AMAZING. What a fun night, around 40 of our closest friends and family came out in support of us and helped make our dreams continue to come true. Here are a few photos from the night taken by my dear friends Brittany (moncrief photography) and Meghan (soli photography). The ladies of Homespun Parties and Events allowed us to hold the event in their beautiful shop/studio. We are blessed, there is no better way to put it!
The beautiful location

Ivey's Aunt Bunny

Corey thanking the crowd


Corey and I with Ivey's Uncle and Aunt (tobi's brother and sister in law)
The Soon to be parents
myself and our beautiful friend Brittany who was gracious enough to take photos :)
Our sweet friend and photographer Meghan
Tobi & Stacy (sister in law and Ivey's aunt)
girlfriends
my nurse Steve from when I was in the burn unit. This was so special to me that he came to support us. He was a HUGE part of my recovery.
myself and the beautiful hostesss Ayesha and Kelly - lucky to call these girls my friends

We are officially Paper Pregnant!!!


As of March 30th we are officially waiting.

It is so hard to get too excited we have a really long wait ahead of us. The wait time as of March 16th has changed to 18-24 months. This means more than likely our little girl isn't born yet, like we had thought. This means we have 2 years before seeing our little girl. This means there are two more mother's day and father's days that we aren't a mom and dad. This means 2 more Christmas's, New Years, Thanksgivings, Halloween's, etc, etc without our girl.

But the positive is hopefully in 2 years we will meet our girl and all of this hoping, wishing, praying and dreaming will all come true. Our heart is in Ethiopia and we can't wait to go get Ivey. She is already so loved by all these amazing people we have surrounding us. I always knew we had great support, but this time around it just keeps overwhelming us with how many people we have on our side. We thank each of you for the support, prayers, donations, kind thoughts, hugs, positive reinforcement, friendship and love. We couldn't do this without you. The next 2 years is going to be the toughest because we know our girl is out there we just can't get to her. So continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Pray for Ivey and her birth mother - they need us. Pray the wait times decrease. We love you and will forever be indebted to you. .

We will keep you posted with any news we have, but for now we wait....won't you wait along with us?

Saturday, February 11, 2012

DOSSIER turned in!

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February 1st, 2012 WE TURNED IN OUR DOSSIER. WOW

Dossier: When used in the context of adoption, this term refers to a set of appropriately authenticated and translated legal documents which are used in international adoption cases to process the adoption of a child in its own country by the adoptive parents, or for the adoptive parents to obtain the legal custody or guardianship of the child in the foreign court, so the child can be brought by the adoptive parents to the United States for adoption.

Here are the things we had to get to complete our dossier:



1. Home Study
2. Birth Certificate(s)
3. Marriage Certificate (if applicable)
4. Divorce or Death Certificate (if applicable)
5. Power of Attorney (2) to Sebilu Bodja Gelalcha
6. Medical Letter(s)
7. Police Clearance(s)
8. Employment or Accountant Letter(s)
9. Financial Statement(s)
10. Attestation and Declaration of Personal Conditions
11. Most recent Income Tax 1040
12. Passport Photo Page(s)
13. Passport-Size Photos
14. Letter to MOWCYA regarding motivation for adoption from Ethiopia
15. Letter of Obligation by Parent(s) regarding Post Adoption Reports
16. Two (2) signed recommendation letters from non-relatives
17. Photographs of applicant(s) and home (6-10)
18. USCIS Approval (I-171H)
19. Ethiopia Travel Contract
20. Adoption Release and Consent Form
21. Release of information form
22. Risk Statement
23. Family Preference Form
24. Fee Agreement
25. Service Plan, copy only
26. Intercountry Adoption Services Contract
27. Check for Initial Country fee + authentication
28. post adoption agreement with Ethiopia
29. Sponsorship and Undertaking by Adoption Agency
30. Agency License

Looks like a lot right? It was - it was overwhelming and the timing was right when I was trying to finish my busiest season ever for my business. But Corey and I did it and turned it in - now it is in our agencies hands to complete everything and get it turned in to Ethiopia. That process should take 6-8 weeks...then the real waiting begins. I can't WAIT to be paper pregnant. We will let you know when that part comes.

To all of you who have donated thus far...thank you - you will NEVER know how much it means to us that you are helping bring ivey home. We have the most amazing support team and we need each of you. We have a long road ahead and we can't do this without our friend and family.

with love,
Tobi & Corey