While We Anxiously Wait

In the coming months, while we anxiously wait for our referral we will be focusing on educating ourselves more on Ethiopia and adjustment for our new arrival.  We will also be organizing some fundraising events to help fund our adoption.  Fundraising will be a big part of helping us in bringing our baby girl home.  We are truly blessed with many amazing people in our lives who ask how they can help.  We have had some who donated to us already and have had one successful fundraiser so far.  Our amazing friend Stacey M. hosted a "Thirty One" party some months back and offered a percentage of my sales.  We made nearly $300!!  That was amazing.  We can not thank her enough for taking the time to do this for us.

Here is a run down of what we have been doing and what are in the works...

Just Love ~ We found this amazing company called "Just Love Coffee".  This is an amazing company that has a passion for coffee and helping people raise money for things such as adoption.  So we have created a store front for you to order yummy coffee that can be delivered right to your house and every bag you purchase proceeds goes to our adoption.  You can shop at our storefront HERE or by clicking on the "Just Love" link on the side bar. 

Adoption T-Shirts ~ We are also very excited to give you a sneak peek of our personalized Kratzer Adoption T-shirts that Ryan and I designed ourselves.  I have become friends with a great guy who owns Steve Costume Signs in Saline.  I work with him on CL's school spirit wear, they do great work and will be doing the printing for our shirts.  We will be taking orders for the shirts in late January early February.

Some fun events in the works that we are really excited about and hope you will join us!

• Family Bowling Event
• Euchre Party
• Photography Session Promotions with Yours Truly :-)

Again,  thank you for following us on our amazing adoption journey. 
Thank You and God Bless...XO

Finally a Waiting Family!!

Finally a much needed update!!  Sorry it has been awhile.  We have spent the past months preparing documents for our Dossier.  If you have gone through an adoption you know very well.  If not, let me just share with you...A LOT OF PAPER WORK, Dr. appointments, finger prints, personal referral letters, passports and on and on :-)  I must say, although it took some time to gather it all, it went pretty smooth.  For me, it was more the anxiety of making sure everything was done right.  It can be overwhelming to have a list of requirements and a stack of documents in front of you and just hope you did not miss anything.  Especially anything that may take some time to get.  All went well though and we only needed to fix some small things PHEW!

The Great News...We are finally a waiting family!! WhooHoo!!  Our Dossier was sent to Ethiopia on December 12th.  We are #45 on the list.  The estimated wait time for us is 7-9 months.  It sounds funny but we are so excited to be waiting "officially".  It seems so far away, but in reality time goes by so quickly and CL keeps us busy so it will probably be here before we know it.  We are filled with so much excitement and butterflies just thinking of the moment that we get a referral.

I will do much better in posting in our blog in the coming months.  We are thrilled to share our journey with you!!

Terms and Process...

We are often asked about our process and time frame of our adoption.  Quick and easy answer...lots of paper work and waiting :-) As we post to update you on our journey you will hear us use some terms that are most likely unfamiliar to you.  Here is a quick overview of the process, along with some common terms you will come across.  I will try my best to stay on top of explaining different things as they come up along the way.

*Home Study* ~ A detailed written report of our family compiled and prepared by a social worker.

*Dossier* ~ The set of documents that we prepare and send to Ethiopia to be put on the waiting list.

*USCIS* ~ United States Customs and Immigration Services - they will help us obtain a Visa to bring our child home. Also approve us by the US gov't to adopt.

*Referral* ~ The photo and information on our child that we will receive several months after we've been on the waiting list. This is when we find out who our little one is!

~First Trip to Ethiopia~ where we will accept parental rights and be declared her parents by the Ethiopian government.

~US Embassy appointment~ where the US Government must agree that we are her parents and she can come home with us.

~Second trip to Ethiopia~ When we bring our new baby home!! YAY!!

Hope that is helpful!

Inside an Adoptive Parents Heart

I saw this on a fellow adoptive Mom's Facebook page.  Love it, so true and had to share!


You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth. (2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

Why Ethiopia?

I am sure many have that lingering question..."Why did they pick Ethiopia?"
First, let's start with the statistics...

~There are over 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia

~44% of the population is under that age of 15

~1 in 10 children die before their 1st birthday

~1 in 6 children die before their 5th birthday

~60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

So the better question is...WHY NOT?

At the first informational meeting Ryan and I attended at our adoption agency we were open to our options. Knowing there was much to know about domestic and international adoption. But I have to be honest, we went into the meeting looking to mainly get information on Domestic Adoption. We never imagined how we would feel when we walked out of there.

They cover it all at those meetings, and I am grateful that they do! They show videos from all countries for us to see. After the 1 minute Ethiopia video was shown we felt a strong connection with the country and the orphans there. We can not fully explain how we felt or exactly what lead us there but it just felt "right". God put this in our hearts for a reason.

We have since done much research to be sure this was the right decision for our family. The feeling in our hearts just gets stronger with everything we learn about adoption and Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is a beautiful country! Every time I see a video I am amazed by the way the children make me feel. The poverty and conditions that they live in are so extreme but I always notice the smiles on their faces and the love they show towards one another.

We are so excited for our journey and look forward to experiencing the amazing life change that I am sure our adoption and Ethiopia will have on us.

Here is the 1 minute video that has started us on our journey :-)

Our Decision to Adopt

Welcome to our Blog! I am Kim...a Daughter, a Sister, an Aunt, a friend to many, and best of all "A WIFE" and "A MOM". I cherish my family and all of my friends (old and new) more than anything. My Husband, Ryan is a kind, gentle and loving man. Truly an amazing Husband and Father (he definitely spoils us). Our Son, Clayton, just turned 8. He is a kind hearted, loving, outgoing and friendly boy that is always ready to make someone laugh.


This July Ryan and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. Two years into our marriage came our biggest blessing of all, Clayton! We have enjoyed every minute of being parents since Clayton was born (yes, even those challenging times).

We never imagined that our journey to grow our family after having Clayton was going to be a long, emotional road. We have gone through years of trying (the traditional way), then many unsuccessful infertility treatments and unfortunately endured many losses. After much talk, research and MANY prayers we decided to explore adoption. We feel so blessed that we opened our hearts to adoption. After attending a meeting at our adoption agency we knew then that adoption was right for our family. We immediately felt the excitement! We feel that Clayton is old enough to be a huge part of this decision, and he is more than excited too! In fact I would love to share a story with you...
One day (Clayton was almost 7) he had mentioned to me that sometimes he gets sad that everyone he knows has a sibling and he doesn't. After taking a deep breath to prevent myself from breaking into tears, I chatted with him about how we need to trust in God's plan for us. Whether it is the three of us, or we get blessed with a baby in my belly or blessed with a baby through adoption. His response was "Well Mom, if you do not get a baby in your belly by time I am 8, it is time for us to adopt". **Big Smiles** of course! What an amazing little dude I have. No doubt in my mind that he would love a sibling no matter how they came into our lives.

God works in amazing ways! Can't help but wonder if he was sending me a message that day, through Clayton :-)

Well, finally, we are excited to announce that our adoption journey has started...WHOO HOOO!!!

Hope you will follow our journey :-)