::Holiday Gifts for a Good Cause::

Need a perfect holiday gift? 

Check out Brooke's Bits & Pieces at www.etsy.com/shop/brookesbitsandpieces for new cozy & charming pieces! Do not miss out the limited editions!

Handmade peppermint soap bars will be sold locally only in Austin. They smell so refreshingly great, I tell you! They would also make fun stocking stuffers for families and friends! Check out my instagram at BrookeATX if you wish to purchase.

My (Brooke's) parents were in town recently for nearly a week, which was great! My mom the sewing extraordinaire helped out with making the new batch of infinity scarves for the holidays. We will be adding some reversible cowl scarves as a new part of the collection! I cannot not wait to show you the cozy pieces! 

My mom and I also became really productive with the our soap experiment and decided to make some cute peppermint soap bars with crushed candy cane on top- sounds and looks very festive, right!? They are too pretty to be washed, haha. It was surprisingly easy to make soap, although it was a little bit time-consuming. I'm sure this will be all worth it at the end! I honestly think I could be the next Martha Stewart. (Pfft, FAT chance. I actually rammed the sewing needle through my finger once recently. A traumatizing experience, it was.)

For coffeeholics out there like us, you could check out Ground to Cup Coffee for the holidays gift boxes. They are not limited to coffee only, but they have tea and smoothies, too. 

A holiday gift for a great cause! 

::November is National Adoption Month::

Did you know that November is National Adoption Month? 

We found out we were home study approved on November 1st. How fitting was it!? 

We did some reading- in 1984 President Reagan announced the first National Adoption Week, and this was expanded by President Clinton in 1995 to become a whole month. Interesting.. 

Yes, we are thrilled about being home study approved and cannot wait to apply for adoption grants (most of them require that we be home study approved prior to applying).  We truly hope we will receive some financial assistance for our adoption.  Our adoption fund keeps on growing and growing and we are truly humbled by the support shown from our family, friends and those we've not yet met! 

On the topic of the national adoption month, we came across this blog and thought it'd be great to share with you some resources and stories regarding adoptions from other folks' blogs. You can see our blog there at number 21! 

http://littlethingsbigstuff.com/2013/11/01/national-adoption-month-blog-link-up/

As soon-to-be adoptive parents, we are constantly learning everyday about the adoption process and how it works. Really, most of the process is mainly loads of paper work. Fill out this. Fax this. Mail this. Sign this. Cough up some money. Now, it's all about the waiting game. Waiting to be matched with a fortunate child. Although (on an exciting-but-remain-calm note), our agency claimed that they found a child for us. They gave us some information on this little boy. They are currently working on getting his paperwork in Colombia (translation from Spanish to English takes time, too....) and warned us that this may take up to a month until all of his medical background and information is finalized to be released. So we probably will not know more until the end of December. We do not want to get high hopes..... but it's hard not to anticipate! 

While we are waiting to be matched, we are filling out our i800A application... what is it exactly? It is for adjudicating our eligibility and suitability to adopt a child from a Hague adoption convention country (in other words, an accredited adoptive agency). Once we complete the forms, we will mail it out to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services  (USCIS) along with a check of $720.00 plus $85.00 (2x) for biometrics. Oh yeah, our piggy bank needs to be fed a little more because more expenses are on the horizon! 

Yes, You read it right. $9,000. Ouch. Sure, we do feel some sense of hopelessness, but we know we will need to come up with some outside-of-the-box ideas to raise MUCH MORE. Wait. The current estimated jackpot for Powerball is $40 million. Time for some tickets..

::the adoption taboo::

"Wow, I'm so surprised with how open you guys are about your adoption process."

"Oh, you're adopting... why? Can't have your own kids?" 

"Why are you adopting?"

"Have you tried other methods to conceive?" 

-------------------------

We have come to the realization that there is some kind of negative stigmatization associated with "adoption" and we do not understand why it is such a taboo subject. The inability for a woman to have a child or a couple's infertilty is perceived as a terrible thing in our society. Our world is evolving everyday and some of our cultural and social beliefs should be re-examined. With a negative stigma, it is no wonder adoption is kept a secret and hardly considered by many couples.

The biggest question is, what is so wrong about adoption? The issue with childlessness.

do issues around childlessness

We have discussed this taboo with close friends (to clarify, they are truly supportive and very excited with our adoption) and there is a sense of "great importance" with family name and heritage being passed on from generation to generation... but, there are an estimated 153 million orphans out there waiting for a family. An adoption shouldn't be labeled as a "last resort" because of the inability of having children. Brian and I perceive this journey as a new path in our lives and that a child out there is destined to be with us. Every child needs love. Every child deserves love.

We are embracing our whole adoption experience. We are open with our adoption journey for two major reasons: for one, to share our awesome experience! This process is the same as pregnancy... like when our dream gets closer to coming true, our heart grows and grows with each step of the way.  Secondly, to educate others who are curious about the adoption process. This is a win-win situation for us. We even got some people coming to us expressing their positive, genuine questions regarding the adoption process. Some women came up to Brooke expressing their frustrations that they felt alone in their struggles with conceiving and had no one else to talk about the idea of adopting. We think it's important to share that no one is alone in this process and that they should be able to discuss about adoption without feeling that adoption shouldn't be discussed openly. We are up for a genuine discussion. We certainly have faced some interesting questions from our "acquaintances"... we expected to face personal questions along the way- but there are also those who should learn the do's and don'ts about asking.

So, here we are blogging about this issue. An adoption isn't commonly talked about. Not everyone can relate to the adoption experience. We get it. We would be lying if we said that it has been a smooth, perfect ride for us.  In fact it has been an emotional roller coaster for us. However, our support for each other has kept us going and that is the most important. :)

An update about our first home study interview last Thursday, it went well! It was a very casual interview. We met up at a local coffee shop for our couples interview with our social worker, Leslie. We will have another meeting on November 1st, where we'll do our individual interviews and home inspection. Child-proofing .. or something close to it!  Our niece, Alia, definitely helped with the child proofing part so there's a little left to do. :)  We also need to get most of our paperwork done by then. We've arranged to have doctor appointments next week to get our medical paperwork signed and verify that we are in good health. Financial documents need to put together, as well. We, seriously, cannot wait to wrap up our home study! It has been going rather quicker than anticipated! Yay!    

oxox, 

Brooke & Brian

we find out that adoption is such a big deal after all, especially in our society.  So why is adoption a big deal?  Why is such a taboo?  Why do issues around childlessness come to define a woman’s position in her family and even her self-esteem? The inability of a woman to have a child is seen as a terrible thing in our society.  - See more at: http://www.genevieveng.com/adoption-a-taboo-for-our-times/#sthash.9HHJLzs1.dpuf

we find out that adoption is such a big deal after all, especially in our society.  So why is adoption a big deal?  Why is such a taboo?  Why do issues around childlessness come to define a woman’s position in her family and even her self-esteem? The inability of a woman to have a child is seen as a terrible thing in our society.  - See more at: http://www.genevieveng.com/adoption-a-taboo-for-our-times/#sthash.9HHJLzs1.dpuf

we find out that adoption is such a big deal after all, especially in our society.  So why is adoption a big deal?  Why is such a taboo?  Why do issues around childlessness come to define a woman’s position in her family and even her self-esteem? The inability of a woman to have a child is seen as a terrible thing in our society.  - See more at: http://www.genevieveng.com/adoption-a-taboo-for-our-times/#sthash.9HHJLzs1.dpuf

::tutorial for wearing an infinity scarf::

I (Brooke) want to share this simple video for those who ordered the infinity scarves about how to use the scarves properly because some of you asked me, "how do I wear this?" No worries! The video is self-explanatory. (yes... that's Lo in the background...) All scarves I've made are ironed out for convenient packaging reasons; thus, you need to pull two sides apart to become tube-like to fluff up the infinity scarf.  Please do not wear them "flattened out" like when you get the scarf in the package. :)  You could even wash them to fluff them up, too. 

Thank you again for your generous support! ox.

::adoption fund progress::

What a week(end)!

We hosted our adoption fundraiser at our school's homecoming event over the weekend and it was a  hit! We received a generous donation from Jamba Juice with three different flavored smoothies to sell at the event.. with 100% of the proceeds going towards our adoption. We were truly blessed to have their help. With extra hands, Brian's mother flew in for the weekend to help us with the adoption fundraiser and also helped out with the new batch of autumnal scarves (and sew them all!) to sell at our booth. Brooke's mother also made 24 scarves of our school colors, which was in very high demand from the TSD community! Thank you, moms (Irene & Patty) for your AWESOME and GENEROUS help! We earned +$2,000 bucks from this awesome event!

 

 

We also want to recognize our generous friends (Jessica, Fallon, Pia, Erin, & Sarah) who came over for a craft party to help Brooke make scarves and necklaces for the homecoming event, too! The craft party was fun, especially after being served mimosas! :)

Infinity scarves are really hot and trending right now, we are currently working on a special order of scarves for a sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha. Special thanks to Rachella Shepard and her sorority sisters for contributing to our adoption fund! For you sororities/organizations out there, please contact us if you are interested in ordering scarves for a great cause!

Ground to Cup Coffee is now selling autumnal flavors: Pumpkin Spice and Pumpkin Creme Brulee! They make great gifts for friends & families... (hint hint: Thanksgiving & Christmas is coming up!).

Brooke is currently getting her creative juices flowing to make something new for our Etsy adoption shop. We will keep you posted..

Finally, we are going to meet our social worker this Thursday for our first "interview."  We each had to complete a lengthy autobiography. And in such details!  We are looking forward to the meeting and getting one step closer to bringing our child/ren home :)

Thank you all for your continued support, without your great support, Brian and I would not be where we are in the process. 

::BusyBusyBees::

To update you, we have been really busy, especially since returning to our classrooms after summer break. The first week back is always the busiest and most energy draining time of the year (for all you teachers out there, we feel you!). Both of us have been completely exhausted everyday the past week and a half. Once we get back into a routine, we'll be able to get a lot of the little things done.  Things like getting our fingers printed, completing our autobiographies for our social worker, and getting everything in order for our home study.

Some of you have asked, what exactly is a home study? We learn as we go... 

The home study is a detailed report of .. our lives (basically!) and prepared by an assigned social worker. The entire process can take anywhere from three to six months to complete. The home study requires prospective families like us to compile a bunch of documents, answer questions, and explore our reasons for adopting. Through a series of visits and interviews, the social worker can get a complete picture of who we are and what life is like in the Sipek zoo. So, let's get down to the nitty and gritty... the home study includes:

Autobiography/Family Background: We will have to talk about our family (past and present), how we both perceive discipline, memories from our awesome childhood, etc. We've had discussions about the topic of discipline and it was interesting because we've definitely learned a lot about each other as soon-to-be-parents.  (The same applies to couples who are going through pregnancy.. what types of discipline will be used or not?)

Neighborhood/Community/Schools: Oh yeah, these are also topics we have to discuss with the social worker by explaining what our home community and school system is like. Questions like, "Which school will our child(ren) attend? Are we buddy-buddy with our neighbors? What resources does our community offer to help us parent our soon-to-be adopted child(ren)?" We are sure that we will have everything covered .. but whew...

Physical Health: We have to see our family doctor to give our social worker the green light that we are in excellent health! We cannot have serious health issues that may impede our life expectancy... because, of course, it is preferential that our child(ren) not be left parent-less again! And a bunch of shots, too. How fun.

Financial Statements: This is everyone's favorite part. Who doesn't like to talk about finances? Ha, not everyone, actually. Not us. However, as expected, we are to show that we are able to care for a child with our current income. We'll have to show our pay stubs, income tax returns, debts, savings, insurance coverages, mortgage, life insurance, and that secret money tree in our backyard, blah blah blah.

Criminal Clearances: We will pass this with flying colors! We both are teachers and work very closely with children. Ah, piece of cake! Next!

References: This is interesting. We'll have to ask three family members/close friends to write letters to our social worker about how awesome we are with children and their perceptions on our marriage... but mainly to see how we would be as parents. One only has to look at our happy trio of dogs to see that we'll be awesome parents! 

Interviews: The scariest part. The social worker will put us under those bright interrogation lights asking difficult questions- this will happen with us together and as individuals. This part will be more of a review of our autobiographies, a follow-up of our home walk-through to ensure safety (fire evacuation plans, child safety equipment, etc.), and showing where our child(ren)'s bedroom will be - right next to ours.

This home study process should be a smooth, but lengthy ride for us. We are looking forward to completing this part of the adoption process and moving on to the next.

Last, BUT NOT LEAST, we want to give love to one of our greatest friends, Tate Tullier and his wife, Sarah, for doing these fun adoption photos. We are excited to share the pictures, but here is one of the photos.. for now!

      
Much love, 
Brooke & Brian  

::Tupperware Fundraiser::

Here's a quick note of information regarding one of our new adoption fundraisers via Tupperware at http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/home.  Be sure you see our name on the page, The Sipek Family Adoption, to shop for new kitchen essentials and we will receive 40% of your sales for our adoption. :)

 Thank you in advance for your support! 

Brooke & Brian