BBQ Dinner Fundraiser/Gender Reveal Party

We had a GREAT event last night! If you were there, you know how AMAZING the food was! If you weren't, you missed out on some of the best BBQ I have EVER put in my mouth...and I grew up in Alabama - so I KNOW good BBQ when I taste it! ;) The precious people behind the counter in the picture above are the reason we were able to have this event...and I'm so thankful for them - not only for doing this for us, but also for their love, prayers, and friendship!

Christopher got to taste-test one of the brownies before dinner...he totally approved! And with good reason...they were just as yummy as the rest of the dinner! :) We had BBQ sandwiches with your choice of cole slaw, potato salad, & baked beans for the adults and hot dogs with chips for the kids...dessert for everyone was either a brownie (with or without nuts) or rice crispie treat (pink or blue)! They went all-out for us and we are SO blessed!!! :)

For some added fun, we had Girl/Boy buckets that people could donate a little extra if they wanted to guess girl or boy (or both, as some did). According to the tally from the jars just before the big reveal...we were 8 to 7 for a girl! ;)

We also have several Silent Auction items that are still up for bid...if you are on Facebook, check them all out on my Facebook page (link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3561084505728.165627.1231284826&type=1).

We had lots of friends who came out to support us...these pictures were taken at the beginning of our event, so not everyone is represented...but we are extremely thankful for each and every one who came! :)

Not surprisingly, we had a BIG rush of people come in right around 6:30...which was our scheduled time for the reveal! Those who came early were chomping at the bit as I started getting minute-by-minute updates of how close we were getting to that time! Once we got the 6:30 rush in the door, we were ready for the BIG REVEAL!!! :)

David gave a great speech before Christopher opened the box, thanking everyone for their help and giving an update on the birth mom and how God is working in her life, too! We found out when we went for the ultrasound that Christopher's older half-sister (who was nine when he was born & had been asking questions about God at the time) is a Christian who only listens to Christian music and only hangs out with her Christian friends & is having an influence on the birth mom, as well. Because she had been asking questions about God, we gave her a Bible when Christopher was born, so we were excited to hear the fruits of this gift. :)

Finally, the moment came and Christopher opened the box revealing a "Baby Boy" balloon! :)

Christopher may look a little surprised in these pictures...but he actually helped pick out the balloon! The morning of the event, the first two words out of Christopher's mouth when he woke up were, "TELL. MEEEE!!!" ;) So, we went ahead and told him he was having a brother. His response was, "NOT a sister????" But, it didn't take him long to warm up to the idea of a brother! He's already planning what he's going to teach his little brother! :)

We are about 98% set on a name for Christopher's little brother. We had been tossing around Jayden, Matthew, and David as potential names (with David being a middle name, so as not to confuse him with his Daddy). Jayden means "The Lord has heard" - which is certainly appropriate because God has heard the prayers of so many who have prayed for this baby! Matthew means "Gift from God" - which he certainly is! David means "Dearly Loved" - and this little boy certainly is loved by so many already! So...we've decided to give him all 3 names...which is appropriate since Christopher also has 3 names other than his last name! So, Christopher's little brother will (most likely) be Jayden Matthew David Jansen & we'll call him Jayden (or JJ for short). :)

For those of you wondering how we did at the fundraiser, we raised $1,172 (not counting the silent auction, which is still going on)! :) So...we just need $2,172 to have everything we need for the adoption to be financially complete and we have until little Jayden is born to raise that money. :)

It's a...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know...that's not what you were hoping I would say...but it is what it is! ;) I have had MANY people try to crack me and discover the gender...several sure they know what our baby is...some of them right, others not.

I think our best decision was to not tell Christopher...because when they can't get it out of me, their next question is, "Does Christopher know?" I am very relieved to say that he doesn't because then I don't have to worry about HIM facing the same questioning. ;)

We were planning to tell him...but the day before the ultrasound, I asked Christopher if he could keep a secret if we told him. His response was, "Sure! I can keep a secret...but I can tell my friends, right?" LOL! That's when we knew telling him the gender before our big reveal wouldn't be such a good idea!

That's not to say he hasn't tried! He, right along with EVERYONE ELSE, has been trying to catch clues in our conversations about the baby to discover the gender. If we make any reference to a girl, he asks..."So, it's a sister?" and if we make any reference to a boy, he asks, "So, it's a brother?" When we won't budge, it's usually followed by, "C'mon...you can tell me! Just whisper it in my ear!" ;)

Today, I was simultaneously fielding questions from Christopher and a friend. Christopher overheard me chuckling at a text message I was getting from a friend who was trying to get it out of me. My friend Kelly was trying to figure it out by asking if we had names picked out...so I told her we have a few, but nothing definite yet...so she tries a different way by asking, "Going with something like Conner or Shelly?" After a few more similar tries, she said, "Why don't you give me your top five names and I'll help decide." So...I gave her our potential names...for a girl, Kristina Kathryn or Kathryn Grace and for a boy, Matthew David or Caleb Matthew (by the way, this is by no means an exhaustive list). She told me I was a tough nut to crack...it was at this point Christopher said I should tell her to give up because I wouldn't even tell him! LOL!

The best part was when Kelly sent me a picture showing me she's put the date of the BBQ Dinner/Fundraiser in her calendar so she can text me then to find out! LOVE IT!!!

So...if you are in town and want to be among the first to know, come to our BBQ Dinner/Fundraiser on March 26th (follow the link for more details).

Here's Lookin' At You, Kid! ;)

P.S. The pictures in this post are from our last ultrasound...but they do NOT show any identifying info on the gender! Sorry! ;)

Smoked BBQ Dinner/Adoption Fundraiser & Celebration!

We finally found our location! The church I referenced in my previous post agreed to let us have our BBQ Dinner/Adoption Fundraiser at their church! We are so thankful!!! :)

As you can see above, our BBQ Dinner will be on Monday, March 26th from 5-8pm at Cypress Woods Presbyterian Church. If you need directions, just let us know! :)

We will have a Silent Auction, like we did at our Spaghetti Dinner...so if you know of anyone who has something to donate for this silent auction, please let us know and/or pass along our email address to them! We will be posting pictures of the items before the fundraiser...so we need to get the items before that if possible. :) We also need to know the approximate value of the items being donated so that we can put that on the bid sheets. If the person donating an item for the silent auction has a business card, we would be happy to put some out by the auction item(s) - which could result in future business! :)

Though we don't yet know if we are having a girl or boy...if the baby cooperates at the ultrasound, we will know by the dinner and are planning a great reveal! I saw online somewhere that a family did this at their baby shower. The idea is to put either pink or blue balloons (depending on gender) in a box and seal the box before the party. This couple also painted the box with chalkboard paint so that guests could make their prediction before the box was opened. When the box is opened, the color of the balloons identify the gender of the baby (pink for girl, blue for boy). It sounded like a fun idea...so we are going to do that at our fundraiser! After our fundraiser is over, we will reveal the gender on here for those of you who are unable to attend. :)

We only have $4, 384 left to raise to complete this adoption...so we are hoping that by the time this fundraiser is over, we will have all we need financially to make this adoption happen! We put complete trust in God to move this mountain...we've seen Him at work already and look forward to seeing how He will finish! :)

Location, Location, Location!

Who knew finding a location for an event could be so hard? Way back when we had our Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, we has some precious friends offer to do a BBQ Dinner Fundraiser for us. My only job was finding a location to host it...easy enough, right? That's what I thought, too! But...I soon found out that it wasn't quite so easy. I won't go into all the pitfalls of responses I received from my attempts at finding a location...there's just no need and I'd rather ask for your prayers that our potential location works out! :)

The pastor of a local church is in our Classical Conversations Homeschool Community (and we volunteered together in Good News Club at Big Cypress Elementary last school year). He asked me yesterday how things were coming along with our adoption. I mentioned in our conversation that we were still trying to find a location for our BBQ Dinner/Fundraiser. He asked how many I thought might attend. Judging by our spaghetti dinner, I gave him an estimate & thought that was the end of the conversation...but he came back later and said he thought his church might be able to help us out! He emailed me a form for use of the church and I filled it out & emailed it back to him. Hopefully we will hear soon if the deacons approve our request...and if they do, then I'll be announcing all the details and looking for silent auction items! :)

If this works out, we are looking at doing the dinner on Monday, March 19th or Tuesday, March 20th...so save those dates, please pray God provides the perfect place (either this church or another location) and stay tuned for more details! :)