First Look At Baby Jansen!

There are few things more precious than that first glimpse of your baby! And while it may not look like much to you, I am absolutely, positively, 100% in love with that little profile! It may not tell me much...still don't know if we are expecting a son or daughter, still haven't seen the heart beat or felt any movement...but I have now connected with that little life - even if only through a photograph - and that has made this adoption all the more real! :)

This picture was taken on December 12th, and as I mentioned in a previous post, the due date has been moved up to June 11th at that time. So...according to my trusty Baby Center website, this means that the birth mother is in the 15th week of pregnancy and our baby is about the size of an apple. I love reading the baby center updates on our little one...makes me feel even more connected to our precious one! There's lots of information about what stage of development our little on is in...and I'm loving every bit of information I can get! :)

We are now waiting to find out when our home study will be scheduled - hopefully just after the first of the year (or as close as possible). As soon as that is done, I can start going with Janice (the birth mom) on her ultrasound appointments so I can see our precious little one in action! Please be praying that takes place soon - because I'm pretty sure the next visit will be the one where we could find out if we'll have another son or a daughter...that is if the baby cooperates! ;)

So many people have cast their votes on what the gender is of this baby...with the lions share going toward girl! I've had a few votes cast for a little boy...but they are definitely in the minority! So...I got to thinking (scary, I know!)...why not make a game-type fundraiser of it? Those who know me best know how much I love games! :) This game will be a sort of baby-pool. You will cast your vote for boy or girl at a cost of $2 per guess (yes, there are only two choices, but you can cast multiple votes). All money collected from this game will go toward our adoption fund! When the gender is detected, I will draw a name from the winning batch (if they tell us it's a girl, I'll draw from those who guessed girl & if it's a boy, I'll draw from those who guessed boy) and a prize will be awarded to the winner. Here's how it works:

• Go to PayPal and transfer $2 to my account (karaj927@hotmail.com) for every chance (i.e. $20 for 10 chances) & make a guess for each chance (put your guesses in the memo section when you transfer the money). For example, if you transfer $20, then you could cast 5 votes for a boy & 5 votes for a girl, or all of them in one or the other, or any combination of 10 votes that you like.
• ALTERNATE ENTRY: If you see me or David on a regular basis, you can give us the money for your chances (cash or check) and let us know what your votes are. :)
• You need to cast your votes at the time of payment - either by telling us directly, in an email, or as a note on PayPal. Written form is best - so, if you are handing them to us in person, please put your name, phone #, & guesses on a piece of paper and give us that with your payment. :)
• When the baby's gender is determined via ultrasound (or, in the event the baby won't cooperate at an ultrasound, at birth), then we will draw a name from the winning batch and award a prize at that time! :)
• ALL money collected from this game will go to our adoption fund...so not only are you having fun playing the game with a chance to win a prize, but you also help us raise the money we need to make this adoption financially possible!

We are also considering adding a birth date pool, since the due date is ever moving...but we'll wait and see how the gender pool goes first. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this with me. And if you have other ideas for fundraisers, please share them with me! We need to raise an average of $4,000+ per month to make sure we have all we need financially for this adoption!

Please share this with all your friends and family! The more we get the word out, the closer we get to our goal of bringing our baby home!

Thank you!