Quick (I tried, but I'm very wordy) Update!

Ashley
Apr 24, 2017
4 min read

Hello everyone! Just thought I would stop by to give you all a quick update.

The first and most exciting update is that we have been told by Faith International that we COULD possibly get some editing news this week! ;) (We do however know things can change very quickly in the adoption world.) That's all I am at liberty to say...sorry! But I will add that IF we get the exciting news we are hoping and praying for, we could be on a plane headed to Japan within the next two weeks or so! We will update you all once we know anything and are allowed to share official news! Fingers crossed it is this week sometime. But if it isn't, that's okay...we will wait until it is our time.

To go along with that update, we want to be completely open...we have officially taken out a loan to help cover the remaining $5,000 we owe Faith and the $20,000 we owe Japan. We also have almost $2,000 above that in our adoption account to help with remaining costs. Even though it seems as if we are covered, we are not. On top of the $20,000 we owe Japan, it costs an additional $200 a day for the expenses Baby Life in Japan pays to provide a home for our baby while in Japan waiting for us. We do not know what that will add up to, but it caps at $5,000. We do not have enough to cover that as of this moment if we have to pay that much. We only have the additional $2,000 we have raised. We also have the expense of getting to Japan and all accommodations while in Japan for 4-7 days. While we plan on charging these fees along with using our American Express reward points, we still have to pay those fees at some point. Once back home, we then have to pay approximately $1500 for six months of post-placement reports plus court fees to finalize the adoption. So, it is looking like we might need $10,000 to cover Baby Life, travel expenses, and adoption finalization. Yes, this seems daunting, but we would choose this journey a million times over even knowing how daunting it sometimes seems.

So to add onto that above, we are hoping to sell the remaining puzzle pieces to help cover the costs we will have to pay Baby Life for providing care to our little cherry blossom. We have sold 575 pieces, which is awesome! We have 425 left though. If we sell them all, we will raise $2,125. That should help us cover (along with the $2,000 we have saved) the stay at Baby Life. We may also do some cute photography mini-sessions in late May/early June to help cover some expenses for the finalization of our adoption. So stay tuned for that!

In other related news, we celebrated Easter with Vince's side and then with my parents (my brother was out of town at a friend's wedding). It is hard to believe the next holiday will include our little one! :) I have been practicing reading in the nursery with our furbabies, and we put together a book case for our future little cherry blossom also. I think that's my favorite part of the nursery...can't tell I'm an English teacher, can you?!?!

On one other side note, Stormy went to the vet last Thursday. His BP is great and he lost a pound and a half, which is actually good. He needs to lose about four more since it is better on his joints and heart. The one bad thing is that his kidney levels have gone back up some. That is not good news. The vet said (and my alternative medicine vet agreed) that it could be because we lowered his fluids over the last four weeks or so. We have been giving them to him every three days since he was doing so well instead of every other day. So we have upped his fluids and are hoping his levels come back down. He has also been dealing with some sinus/seasonal allergy stuff (like owner, like pup), which (along with his kidney levels) has him feeling a little blah. So he goes back in on Sunday, April 30. We are hoping and praying he feels better and that his numbers are down some. We fought hard all fall and winter. Now we are almost starting over. It is hard to handle and I feel so guilty. I know he can fight and lower them again, but I think any extra prayers wouldn't hurt. So if you are so inclined to pray to God or any other spiritual being you prefer that his levels come down some and that he is feeling better by next Sunday, we would greatly appreciate it! If not, I know I am going to be a complete mess while in Japan (hopefully) in the next couple weeks.

Once again, thank you all for your continued support! You all know who you are. We couldn't do this without the love and support of our family and friends. I thought this was going to be a quick update...but you know how wordy I am, so I guess it's just a normal update! ;)

Hopefully the next time we update we will have exciting news to share with you all! :)