Happy Birthday Cash!

How did THIS....

Turn into THIS so fast?
Let me introduce you to the "happiest baby boy in the world"..... Sweet Baby Cash
Yesterday Sugar (a.k.a Cash) turned "one" and last week-end we had a pumpkin party to celebrate. Everyone wore their costumes and we had a ball. This little fellow takes the cake for being the happiest baby we have ever had. He has these great big dimples that just make you want to eat him up every time he smiles, which is most of the time. He is such a blessing to our family. You can probably tell this mama is crazy in love with this sweet little man.

At the party, we have a witch, a football player (roll tide), a cowgirl, a pumpkin, jessie, woody and buzz. My kids love deciding on costumes for halloween and this year was a pretty easy one thanks to Toy Story 3. : )
We had some very cute pumpkins by the end of the evening....
The week-end of celebration continued Sunday at the pumpkin patch. Levi and Lilly probably enjoyed this day the most. Inflatables, hayrides and ice cream... what more can a kid want?
.... and at the end of the day Maggie took this picture of myself, Lexie and Kayla (our "other" daughter/Lexie's bff) and I had to share it..... notice how beautiful and vibrant these two sweet (young) darlings look, AND how absolutely worn out mama looks. These girls worked very hard all week-end helping make sweet baby Cash's first birthday very special. Thank you girls.... I love you both more than you know : )
I thank Jesus everyday that I get to be mom to this amazing bunch of kids..... and what a special blessing Cash is to all of us. We love you sweet baby boy!

I Need an Expert!!!!

If you have made a donation to our adoption fund via the "donate" button on this blog..... please send me an e-mail at:
pollybice@aol.com.

Paypal experts, I need your help. I have had two people ask me if I received their donation through our blog lately and unfortunately, I did not. Other donations have come through with out any problem and t-shirt orders have been successful. Any idea what might be going on?

God has been so faithful in providing the funds to make this adoption happen and I pray that He is protecting even our paypal account.

If you have suggestions, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

A Great Book & an Inspiring Movie

I just finished a really good book and last night we watched a sweet family movie. I love to read, and when I heard about this book I knew I wanted it.
Here is the link to read more about the book and/or purchase a copy of it.

It was similar to other books that many of us have been challenged by lately, but I don't think we can ever get too much. Here is one of my favorite quotes.

"None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that?" I love that because I think it's easy for us to go, "there is so much need in our world, I can't do nearly enough to matter". Yet, when we think of every little opportunity to serve someone as being a chance to serve Jesus; that should change our perspective. He's not asking us to save the world, just to serve someone in need. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

And if you are looking for a really sweet, "Christian" movie for the whole family to watch.... you might enjoy this:

We watched it as a family and my kids have already watched it again. You can view the trailer at THIS SITE. With all of the bullying I'm hearing about going on in schools right now, this should encourage our kids to pray for bullies and approach them the way Jesus would. Sweet movie..... hope you get a chance to see it.

Well, we are getting ready for a "1st" birthday party around our house. Tomorrow we will have some pumpkin painting going on as we celebrate baby Cash turning ONE. It's been a busy day! I will share pictures from the party in a day or two.

Hope everyone has a fun "fall" week-end!

Christmas Frenzy

We may have pumpkins on the porch and mums in the flower beds but Christmas will be here before we know it. That means it's time to start thinking about a Christmas list. This year my Christmas list will be much different from last year. Those receiving gifts from us will get a gift that benefits another as well. I plan to do all of my shopping by purchasing gifts that will help bring home a child, care for an orphan or widow, clothe the poor, or in some way, serve someone in need. I encourage you to do the same! So many families are doing fundraisers right now to help financially support an adoption; If you are one of those, visit THIS sweet family's blog and take advantage of their offer. They have just brought home their precious son, Solomon and they want to help others on their fundraising journey. Check out Christmas Frenzy on their blog. Enjoy your Christmas shopping and find joy in knowing that you are giving gifts that will keep on giving!

As I start my shopping I plan to share my great finds with you all. Those of you on my list, sorry, you may know what you are getting before you unwrap it : )

A Beautiful "new" Gotcha-day Video!

They are all very sweet, but expect this to make you cry. The response of this precious little guy when he sees his momma and daddy coming for him, should make us all run to the rescue of every child in need of a home.

Updates and needs

I am constantly trying to figure out how to blog more often so I don't have to do one post and update on 10 things. There are so many things on my heart that I want to share yet being that I don't blog as often as I wish, I end up sharing the things of most importance.....usually not what is on my heart. I can't use my usual excuse of how I have 7 children and I homeschool and that's why I don't spend more time on here; because most of my blogger heros have more kids than me and homeschool and they do tons of other important things and they still find time to blog every other day or so. What are y'all??.... like superwoman! Oh well, maybe one day : )

Many of you have inquired about our plan for a city wide orphan alliance that I posted about HERE last week. As well, many of you who are local and have e-mailed or called me to tell me what God has placed on your heart about this possible ministry and how you would love to be a part. I could do a few post on what I have heard from people just this week. All I can say is, there are some pretty amazing things going on in the hearts of God's people. We are very excited about what HE is up to. We do not know at this point when or how this ministry will come together. We are specifically praying that God would raise up HIS chosen ones for HIS chosen agenda in HIS perfect timing. We realize that this is much bigger than us and it will take a mighty work by our Father to orchestrate it. But I must say, the excitement of the families that I have been talking with has me filled with anticipation and joy. Yes, excitement fades and that's why we are praying that God would give us an undying passion to serve the orphaned always. I will keep you posted on any new details and please keep praying for this ministry.

Next update..... adoption news!!! Our I-600 is going in the mail this week so we will then be waiting for our immigration approval. We are praying that it doesn't take very long. We are so relieved to be done with the paperwork process but it did keep our minds busy, now we will just be waiting. My dinning room table is officially just a school table again. I will also keep you updated as to when we receive our immigration approval. Please pray that it will be speedy.

Lately God has been impressing on my heart many things to be praying about for our daughter, her birth mother and our families transition. Just the other night I was going over a check list of these things with Shawn only to discover that he had already been praying for the same exact things. Guess I thought I was special or something and that God had only shared those prayer needs with me. Never did I dream that I would sit in my living room floor at night and hear my babies pray for their sister half way around the world. Just this morning, Cross said, "when daddy get home, can we go get baby Es-sir?" Our hearts are heavy for our little princess.

Last of all, I have a few needs. For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know about "Expecting a Blessing". And, many of you have made donations to this ministry over the past few months. I do have several new "followers" so let me bring you up to speed. Expecting a Blessing is a ministry for pregnant women living at a local transition center. We meet with these ladies bi-weekly to do a Bible study, pray, and just love on them. Basically, we just walk through this journey with them. We also put together care packages for each new mom that includes most of the items she will need for the baby upon giving birth. I will do a separate post about the items that go into the care package in a few weeks. We are currently expecting 4 babies between Dec. and Feb. so I will need some help bringing in the items for these babies. However, right now we have a few needs for the moms. Currently, we are in need of all sizes in maternity clothes, and jeans for a mom that delivered 8 weeks ago. She asked for size 9/10 but I'm thinking she could also do an 8 or 10. If you are interested in contributing any of these items you can e-mail me at pollybice@aol.com. If you are local, I will pick them up. If you are out of town but just want to help these girls out, I will be happy to pay the shipping cost.

Sorry this has been so long and I hope someone is still reading......thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support.