Glory to God in the Highest!

Introducing...

Anton Ezekiel Delgado

We've had to be really really quiet and lay low about what's been going on with Anton until it was official, but I wanted to let you know that Anton, who over two years ago, was abandoned in a hospital, an orphan, alone in the world, is on his way home today with his Mommy. On the way to meet up with his Daddy and siblings, to his forever family.

After so much time waiting, trying, praying, fundraising, persevering, and trusting their God, Jason and Vanessa are happy to say that Anton is wholly, officially, 100% their son! Anton is doing well and has really surprised everyone with how great he has transitioned to Vanessa's care. This was her third trip to Eastern Europe, so they've really gotten to do some great bonding. She left for her third trip on March 12th, and is coming home WITH ANTON today (they are 9 or 10 hours ahead of us).

I had to take down my Anton posts months ago, when we learned we needed to not use his name is association with theirs until things were official, but I've republished them now. I ask that you specifically read this one if you want to read an amazing story of God's providence and blessings.

HE IS SO GOOD, y'all. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow, especially today for the blessing of Anton's sweet little life! Glory, glory, glory! I'm just so happy I can barely stand it. I would give just about anything to be on my way to Texas right about now... Praise you, Lord. Thank you.

If you'd like to keep up with Anton, you can visit the Delgado's blog HERE.

great fundraising opportunities for Baby A

Two quick things -

There are lots of bags of Starbucks coffee up for bid right now on Hope for Anton. Four different postings of two bags each. All of the proceeds will go to Baby A's adoption fund! Please please help me spread the word by sharing this with all your coffee loving / Starbucks addicted friends. Click HERE for the auction.

Secondly, the Thirty One fundraiser is still going on over there too. Several of you tried to order but could not put in your shipping address in at the end. Happy to say that Thirty One has resolved their web site issues, and all is well now. Please try again. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience. (Sad face.) All items are 15% off for August ONLY and Janel is donating her full 25% commission to Baby A's adoption fund. Click HERE for the Thirty One fundraiser.

Please share both of these opportunities with friends and family. They still have over $10,000 to raise and hope to be able to travel for the first time in September or October. How awesome would it be if he could be home by Christmas!

Thank you so much for all your love, prayers, and support!

thirty one fundraiser for baby A

Okay, I've been a total slacker as far as Baby A goes, but things are settling down now that the yard sale and spring cleaning/organizing is over, so here I am (again). Ready to fundraise (again)!


I asked V for a breakdown of the costs so here goes:


$375 application fee
$3500 due at time dossier is being prepared
$1925 at time child is matched (after 1st) trip
$900 USCIS
$2500 home study
$600 psych. evaluations
$100 paperwork apostilled
$8,500 Support and service fee
$200- $500 for visas per trip per person. We have to make 2 trips so this will be about $1,600
$1700 Parent medical exam
$1,200 first trip $1500 second trip for transportation
$70 dollars per pick up and drop off from the air port
$150 notarize childs paperwork $6000 air plane tickets
$150 per day Hotel about $3,600 for both trips
$50 per day for meals $1200
$200 for childs medical exam
$120 childs passport
$40 childs photo for pass port
$420 childs visa 


They've raised a lot, but still need $14,000 more. Well, I committed to helping raise the money until A gets home, so we'll just keep on keepin' on. If you don't know Baby A's story, he's an orphan in Eastern Europe with EB whose parents took his healthy twin home but left him abandoned at the hospital. Sad and not fair are understatements.


Anyway, we currently have a Thirty-One fundraiser going on over on A's fundraising site, so CLICK HERE to check it out. 

The fall line is awesome and through August everything is 15% off, and almost all of it is new! Fundraiser ends August 22nd. (And be on the look out next week. We'll be auctioning off some Starbucks coffee!)

serwa chic - 30% to anton

My friend Jen is offering 30% of all sales from today and tomorrow to Anton's Adoption Fund. She sells amazing cloth diapers, long sleeved bibs, nursing covers etc. For more details see this post over on Hope for Anton. If you've thought about trying out cloth diapers, now is a great time to buy!

rochester, ny area peeps

ATTENTION: ROCHESTER, NY AREA folks!

There is a great photo package up for bid on Hope for Anton the next couple of days! Great photographer, wonderful pricing, awesome deal. If you are in the area, please go bid HERE. And I'm not sure how many readers I have in that area, so if you know people who live there, will you please pass the word along?

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO ANTON'S ADOPTION FUND!

Luna B Tee Fundraiser for Anton

REPOSTING HERE WHAT'S UP ON HOPE FOR ANTON TODAY! SO EXCITING!!!


The WONDERFUL folks at Luna B. Tee are running an amazing deal for Anton for the next two weeks. From today through April 18th, you can use the discount code "eb10" for 10% off ANYTHING on their site AND 20% of all sales go to Anton's Adoption Fund. Pretty amazing huh?


They sent Jonah this adorable shirt...

AND this one...

And that's just a taste of the adorableness that is Luna B.

Here's the skinny.

Running: today through April 18th

Percent of Sales: 20%

Where: Click HERE

Instructions: Make sure you use the discount code "eb10" when checking out. That will give you 10% off and will track sales and count toward Anton's Fundraiser.

They have TONS of shirt options. Birthday, Holiday, Parent, Grandparent, Sibling, School, Theme, Sports, shirts for dogs, shirts for dolls... etc and so on and so forth. I'm not doing them justice.

and. AND. AAAAAND.

They have shirts for different causes, like MS, Cancer etc. And this one, that's particularly close to my heart.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! It will be available in this blue/brown combo and a pink/brown combo for girls/ladies. You can get it in kids' or adult sizes! (Sorry, I'm finding it hard to control myself.) To go directly to the EB shirt, click HERE.

If you want to purchase a Bunny shirt for Easter, make sure you do so by April 7th. That is the deadline for Easter orders. 

And remember, eb10 gets you 10% off and gets 20% for Anton's fund so don't forget birthdays, holidays, Mother's day, first day of school etc. THIS IS SO EXCITING.

Okay, I'm done now. Happy Shopping!

the last couple of days

Jonah's had an okay day. He's been pretty fussy and really ticked that he had to come inside when it got too hot. It bugs me that 80 degrees and BEAUTIFUL is too hot for him. We are both going to lose it this summer. I have had a killer sinus headache most of the day, so I've been pretty pissy and unpleasant myself. Jonah is in bed and I am soon behind him. Tomorrow is a new day! On a bright note, Matt took Thursday afternoon and all day today off from work to watch basketball, so it's been really great to have his help, but most of all his company, these last couple days.


I don't know where this week has gone. It was Saturday and all of a sudden it's Friday. Some of them drag on and on but this one has flown by. On Wednesday, one of my best friend's daughter's had surgery on her ear (they had to remove some sort of cyst and hope to restore her hearing in that ear with an additional surgery down the road). Matt stayed with Jonah on Wednesday night, so I could go for a visit. She was so tired and grumpy, and I felt so sad because usually she is wearing a contagious smile and has a bubbly spirit... just like her mommy. I saw her today though, and she's feeling MUCH better.

Last night, I went to my friend Lindsey's house for our monthly scrapbooking (cropping?... that sounds so weird) night. I did four pages in three and a half hours. I got stuck on my first two page spread and Lindsey and I had some serious catching up to. The hang out time is just as, if not more, important than the scrapbook progress. I've switched to Matt's Aunt Katherine's block template style and I'm loving it! No real need for embellishment, which I'm really bad at. The photos can speak for themselves, and all you have to really do is a title and a journal box. Here are the pages I did last night.

(Yes, I'm doing pages of October 2009 in March 2011. What's your point?)


Anyway, things are okay. Jonah is still coughing at night, and his breathing is not right during the day or night. He's now sleeping with a humidifier, a Vicks plug-in, Vicks on his feet with socks, and Triaminic in his system. I know it's not recommended for kids his age, but I gave him a small, safe dose and we are desperate. MUST PROTECT THE TRACHEA. I'm excited to see his new ENT on the 7th and discuss a plan for when this happens, seeing as how it happens every few weeks. I'm thinking an inhaler or breathing treatments may be involved. Poor buddy. I'm so afraid that the more it happens, the more permanent damage he may have. Praying that I'm wrong. I know it's in God's hands, but for goodness sakes, I need someone to be proactive about this. We are not in a good pattern.


Hope you all have a blessed weekend. It's going to be a busy week on Hope For Anton, so make sure you subscribe or put it in Google Reader or whatever it is you do, so you can keep up! 

photo session with Amber Herlocker Photography

There is a photo session with Amber Herlocker Photography up for bid on Hope for Anton. Session must take place within a 30 mile radius of Charlotte, NC. Check out the details AND BID here. (Amber is also the one I took the photography workshop from back in January.)

up for bid

Really cute hand made Easter bunny and adorable bunny hat up for auction today on the Hope for Anton site. All proceeds go to Anton's adoption fund. Click HERE to check them out.

Willow House Fundraiser

Willow House (beautiful home goods) fundraiser is up on Hope for Anton. 20% of all sales go to his adoption fund! Click HERE to check it out.

Anton Delgado

WITH TEARS STREAMING DOWN MY FACE AND IN COMPLETE AWE AND AMAZEMENT OF WHAT MY GOD CAN DO - I GIVE YOU THIS LINK:

http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsordelgado

GOD IS SO VERY GOOD!

anton's button

Please hop over to the Hope for Anton blog and grab the code for his swanky new button. Thanks, Peyton!