September Update and Deadline

Hey, everyone! I realize it's been over a month since I've blogged! Things have been crazy busy around here, which honestly, has been good... We're still no further up on the waitlist than we were last month, unfortunately. :( But I'm trusting God and know that His timing is absolutely perfect, even if it's not what I want... Knowing He has it under control is comforting to me...

So, on August 12, Michael and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! It's been a great 6 years and I'm so thankful to have gotten to spend it with him. I'm frequently reminded why I love him so much, from the little things like seeing him serve God, watching him grow as the spiritual leader of our household and watching him interact with Ilana and Aydan. Seeing him as such an amazing daddy or seeing him help out in the nursery at church makes me fall in love with him all over again. I swear that man has an amazing gift with precious little ones and it makes me realize how lucky I am to be able to be going through this adoption journey with him... For him to be so on fire for adoption that he's already thinking ahead to our future adoptions makes me love him all the more! God had a great reason for putting the two of us together and in the words of Sid, the sloth, "He completes me!" :)

We were also busy last month with helping organize our church's 5K, starting homeschool with Ilana (she's starting 1st grade curriculum this year! :( *sniff, sniff* My baby girl is growing up WAY too fast) , planning for our homeschool co-op, and poor Michael has been working lots. He's been getting lots of overtime, which is nice, especially if he has to take unpaid leave to travel to Ethiopia, but boy do we miss him!

In the adoption world... Like I said, we haven't made any progress on the waitlist, but we did get our first round of vaccines... Well, actually I did... Thanks to the good ol' Marine Corps, all Michael needed was some oral vaccines (Typhoid). I, on the other hand, needs everything, even a tetanus shot. Since I needed so many, they're splitting them into 3 sessions.... Leave it to me to get the weird reactions, though! I swear, if there's a 1% chance of getting ANYTHING, I'll be the one to get it! I don't even know if it was a normal reaction or not, but a few hours after getting the shots, my arm began to go numb and for a few days, I could feel the muscle and insides of my arm (which was sore), but I could not feel anything from the outside! I could pinch to the point of drawing blood, but not feel a thing. It was actually pretty cool!

Also, just a quick reminder, because I know many forgot when the end date was and have asked. Our matching grant through Hand in Hand is ending SOON! For those who don't know, this is the last of the needed funds to be fully, 100% funded for our adoption - all $28,000! Hand in Hand will match any amount, up to $2500, for a total of $5000!! As of last Friday, we had only a little over $800 raised. If you feel led to give, we would be SO thankful! You have until tomorrow to send write out a check to Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. and send it to the following address:

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. 

Michael and Amanda Nunez

18524 Juniper Street 

Gardner, KS  66030-9147

ALL CHECKS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY TOMORROW, 

SEPTEMBER 8, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT GO TO OUR FUND!

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who has given since our adoption journey has started. We are so forever grateful for all the thoughts, prayers, encouragement, and donations. I know it's cliche to say we couldn't do it without you all, but we seriously couldn't have...  God has used so many people to help us through this journey and I know I will never be able to fully explain our gratitude and thanks. This journey has been so humbling for the both of us, especially in the money aspect. Neither Michael or I have ever been ones to ask for money and I'll be honest, it has been difficult. VERY difficult, especially knowing what some think or have said. I just want to make sure people realize just how thankful we are... My biggest fear is for people to not know how appreciative we are. For not only the donations, but for the thoughts and prayers along the way, and most of all, the overwhelming support from our friends and family and even people we have never met. It's incredible, and again, so humbling... I feel like thanks is not enough, but please know and remember how much we love and appreciate you all....