God's Plan A for Mike and Amy!

50/50 Referral Guess Raffle

We are beginning our 50/50 Referral Guess Raffle with just $5 to enter!! (If this idea in any way bothers you – please feel free to stop reading this post!)

We are requesting a child of either gender, aged 0-2 years old. If you’d like to enter the raffle, we need to know: boy or girl and how old you think he/she will be at time of referral. Then as a tie breaker, please list the date on which you think we’ll receive our referral call. FOR EXAMPLE: Amy thinks it’s going to be a boy, 18 months old, referral date on November 1^st.

You can enter as many times as you’d like with different guesses. Just email us your guess(es) and pay us when you see us or send the money in the mail! (The Vagnoni Family, 408 South Slusser Street, Grayslake, IL 60030)

Winner will be announced right after we receive our referral. We’ll keep half of all money collected and the winner will get the other half!

Please feel free to share this fundraiser with others!!

Three Years Ago Today

"This is your referral call."

Oh, how lovely those words sounded three years ago today!! I got the call at work and because Mike was working third shift at the time and didn't hear the phone ring, I came home from work to wake him up so we could call our agency back and hear who our children were!! It was the longest drive home ever - and all i kept thinking was I need to not speed and get a speeding ticket because that will just get me home later.

Three years ago today we saw the first pictures of our boys:

John was so sick at the time and look at that smile on Ryan's face - doesn't it just say, "Look out! Here I come!"

And our world changed, so much for the better.

Last Pieces of Dossier Paperwork!

The second to last piece of paper needed for our dossier (the official bundle of paperwork that will be sent by our agency overseas) arrived in the mailbox yesterday! We needed two power of attorney papers authenticated by our state - not even going to explain what that means, just know it was relatively painless - and they are sitting in the pile with the other papers waiting.

Now we wait for that last piece - the I-171H form. This will come in the mail from USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and is approval by the federal government for us to adopt an orphan internationally. Next Friday will be two weeks since our finger print appointment and I will officially begin stalking the mailbox daily after that. Once that lovely piece of paper arrives, we call our international agency in Indianapolis and tell them it is here!! And after that ... they can match us with a child, which because the need is so great, we are expecting to happen shortly after!!

And so that means, our third child has been born and already needs or will shortly need a forever family. My heart has begun to cry out for him (or her). I ask God to watch over this precious child - to keep him safe, to shower him with a comfort and knowledge that he is loved by a heavenly Father. And I lift up his/her first family, for it is their sorrow that will be our joy. And I try to process all this as we wait and watch God's plan for our lives unfold. And I am thankful that in all things He works good for those who love Him.

America World Adoption Seminar coming to Gurnee!

An America World Adoption “Adopted by Design” seminar is coming to Lakeland Evangelical Free Church on Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 10am to noon. The “Adopted by Design” seminar is a free two-hour seminar that helps families to understand the blessings and the process of international adoption.

For more information about America World or to register, please visit their website: www.awaa.org and click the “Events” link at the top of the page.

Please share this information with those you think might be interested! And if you live in the Lake County area and your church might be interested in hosting its own seminar next spring, please let me know!!

Wordless Wednesday

Doesn't it really look like Pretty is listening to Ryan read?

Fall Photo Shoot

How fancy and official is that title for you!? In leu of school photo packages, we have our own photo shoot outside in the fall. I must admit, the boys are amazingly photogetic (at least I think so!)

Wordless Wednesday

We're still here!

Well, two months have come and gone! I've written a summer full of posts in my head but obviously never gotten them onto this blog - ha!

It was a great and adventure filled summer: backyard camping, zoo trips, story time at the library, Backyard Bible Club (me teaching and the boys attending), children's concerts, trips to the beach, trips to the spray park, a over night trip to Sheboygen courtesy of my parents, free evening concerts, $1 movies, friends taking the boys and I to Great America, Green Bay getaway, outdoor theatre (they made it through both kids' movies!), Wisconsin State Fair, and the summer always ends with a neighborhood block party. I completely enjoyed my summer and kept the boys mostly to myself, not a lot of play dates, as the reality of John being gone the whole day at school drew closer.

So with that said, here's pictures of their first day of school - aren't they so handsome!

John is in first grade and LOVES his teacher. After attending the Back to School Night, I am excited for all the year has to offer too. Ryan is in afternoon kindergarten with the same teacher as John had last year. He is also LOVING going to school.

On the adoption front, things are moving faster than we expected - PRAISE GOD!! Our home study is done and has been approved by DCFS and our international agency. We have sent the paperwork in to the federal government (the I-600A form) requesting to adopt a child internationally and will wait for that approval as well as our fingerprinting appointment. While we wait we will be gathering the remainder of our documents for our dossier. Excitement is building!

My sincere hope would be to publish on the blog more often - I would relish any suggestions from busy Moms on when you all have time to add to your blogs!! Thanks in advance for your ideas.

New Additions

No we did not get our referral yet - but we did get 2 kittens!!!! Pretty (name picked by John) is a girl and Henson (named after one of Mike and mys puppeteer heroes) is a boy and they are almost 3 months old. They are crazy fun to have and are getting used to our house. They love to wrestle with each other and play with all the free cat toys we have - ribbons, yarn, empty cut up toilet paper holder - as opposed to the $4 feather on a stick toy each boy picked out - HA! They are also curious about any opening in the house: cabinets, refrigerator, dishwasher, etc. They will come lie next to the boys and John and Ryan are so excited they are here! (And I am too!!)