One Piece at a Time

For those of you that know me well, you know I am very nostalgic and crafty, especially when it comes to my kiddos.  I spent a lot of time getting ready for and documenting pregnancy and newborn months with each of our girls and tried to find ways to create keepsakes for them for when they're older.  Well, as we work towards adopting our son, I am once again looking for ways to document the time, effort, prayer, and in this case, the people that have gone into making him an Eddie.


Michael and I are generally very self-sufficient people and rarely ask for help, especially when it comes to money.  We know that God wouldn't put this calling in our hearts and not provide for us one way or another. We trust that it will all work out in His time and according to His plan.  Maybe you are a part of that plan, too. It is not easy for us to fundraise for our adoption, but we keep reminding each other that it's for our son.  It's to give this small orphan child a family, a home, and a hope for a better life. It's to give us one more sweet kiddo to love on and the girls another sibling to play with, argue with, and adore. We can't do it alone. It's going to take a lot of prayer, a lot of paperwork, a lot of guidance, and a lot of support from our village of family and friends. It's going to take a plan far bigger and better than any of ours.

In order to show our future son just how many people were lovingly involved in helping bring him home, I have created this puzzle that we will display in his room.  For this fundraiser, you can purchase a piece of the puzzle, either by purchasing one of my cookbooks, donating directly to our adoption fund, or contributing items/time for our garage sale we are planning for later in the summer. Have another idea of a way you can help? YOU ARE AWESOME! I am all for suggestions! Then we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece.  When it's done, we will frame it in an open back frame so we can take it down and show him every single person that played a part in this chapter of his life story.  Right now, it's all going towards the $5,100 that we have due at the completion of our home study. (which will be very soon! EEEEK!)

This is what the finished puzzle will look like.

The left side represents his Bulgarian heritage,

 the adoption symbol with #VillageofUs that helped him find his forever family (us!),

and the country that he will be a citizen of once he's an Eddie!

Annalyn drew the family portrait including her brother

and the quote is one of my favorites since my heart has been

dreaming of this little kiddo for awhile now.

The blue star background matches the décor we've always

had in our nursery that will be his room.

Here's what we have so far!  So many more still to fill in!!

Who wants to be a part of our son's story? Please consider purchasing a piece (there's no set cost, anything helps and is so appreciated!) and please, please, please share this on your social media so we hit our goal of selling all 252 pieces by the time our home study is done.  I will be sure to post lots of updates to show our progress! Asking for help is tough, but advocating for an orphan that will someday be our son makes it a whole lot easier to swallow my pride and lean on our village.

 

Here's what each piece will look like once they are all claimed!

You better believe you will get a picture of your puzzle piece with lots of thank you's and !!!!'s