Hero Hearts for Brave

Only 1 day left to order. All orders will be turned in on Thursday morning, 11 AM EST, so that the shirts can be printed and shipped out in time for Valentine's Day!!! 

In honor of Heart Defect Awareness Week coming up, and in honor of Valentine's Day, and especially in honor of my 3 heart boys and remembrance of my sweet baby boy, I introduce to you Hero Hearts for Brave. All profits from these shirts will go towards helping us bring our 10 year old son with an unrepaired severe heart defect home from China.

I hope that you will buy one of these shirts for the Heart Hero/Heart Warrior in your life, while spreading heart defect awareness, and all while helping us bring our 10 year old son, Brave, home. Due to him being an orphan, his complex heart defect has gone unrepaired and he has now developed severe pulmonary hypertension. He is receiving zero medical care in China. In fact, he has been labeled as terminal in China, so there is nothing that will be done for him there. Every day he waits, there is the risk that he could leave this earth never knowing the love of a family. Please consider buying a shirt and helping us bring our son HOME so that he can receive the medical care he so desperately needs! 

Our dossier (all of our adoption paperwork) was sent to China last week. Our agency expects us to have our dossier logged into the system soon, at which time they will request an expedite due to our son, Brave's, health. We have already been expediting this side of the adoption with the help of our cardiac team in Boston. We could potentially be traveling to China to bring our son and daughter home in March if the medical expedite goes smoothly!!!

We are currently short approximately $16,000 to bring them both home. That alone seems like such an overwhelming task, but it is nothing in comparison to what our heart warriors go through every day. They are AMAZING heroes, and I am so proud to call 4 of them mine. 

 Isaac: HLHS, Hypoplastic Branch Pulmonary Arteries/MAPCAS, COA, BAV

Max: TOF/PA, Hypoplastic Branch Pulmonary Arteries/MAPCAS

 

Koah: COA (functionally interrupted aortic arch), BAV

Brave: TGA, VSD, severe PH

One in 100 children are born with a Congenital Heart Defect. Some say it is one in 110, and some say there are even more than one in 100. Whichever way you call it, that is a whole lot of children who are born with heart defects every. single. day. CHD has already claimed far too many lives, including our baby boy, Isaac.

Our sweet boy, Isaac, knew he was fiercely loved every second of every day, but our son, Brave, has faced this heart world ALONE for 10 years. He has had no one to fight for him.....no one to be his voice. PLEASE help us get to our son, Brave, before it is too late!!!!!!!

So, here are the details of the shirts. The baseball raglans are a soft poly/cotton blend. They are available in toddler sizes (size 2, 3, 4, and 5/6) as well as Youth Sizes (S (6/8), M (10/12), and L (14/16)). They are available in the following colors: Vintage Heather/Vintage Red, Vintage Heather/Vintage Pink, and Vintage Heather/Vintage Navy. The 3/4 sleeve baseball raglan shirts are $30 with FREE domestic shipping. The bodysuits are also a soft vintage heather poly/cotton blend. They are a front design only. They are available in infant sizes (6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months) and in vintage red, vintage pink, or vintage navy. The bodysuits are $25 with FREE domestic shipping. You can purchase the shirts using the buttons on the right side of our blog.

In order to get these shirts out in time for Valentine's Day, I will only be taking orders until 11AM EST this Thursday morning, January 29th.  That will allow time for the shirts to be printed and then shipped out. PLEASE, PLEASE share these shirts with your friends and help us bring BRAVE HOME!!!!!!

Infinitely More dōTERRA Oil Fundraiser

Guest blogger post by Karissa over at Infinitely More dōTERRA
http://www.mydoterra.com/infinitelymore/

Hello Everyone! I just want to take a moment to introduce myself and what this fundraiser is all about. My name is Karissa, and I am SO excited to be a part of this adoption journey even in just this very small way. Adoption is close to my heart, as two of our kids are adopted internationally, and I have been trying to find ways to help in process families long term. So I am super excited to share a bit about how I plan to do so! I recently signed up with doTerra essential oils….mainly because I was extremely curious and I wanted to try them out with a discount! I tend to be a skeptic, and don’t just jump on board with something quickly, so I’ve taken the past four months to learn as much as possible about these oils, while putting them to the truest test I know – using them in my own daily life. I was hesitant at first, but I cannot express how much they have changed our lives and now I can’t stop sharing about them! My goal, if I found them to be helpful, was to use this as a way to help adoptive families raise funds. So….for the next 30 days…ALL of my profits will go directly to the Wetherington family! It’s super simple…you just click on the link below.

http://www.mydoterra.com/infinitelymore/

We also have a fb group page to serve as a resource for you ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/bravelyeverafteroil/ ). Please feel free to ask questions…I am more than happy to help you find what may change your life. What are the main health problems/concerns that you have? Are there things you’ve given up on….just decided to live and deal with? That was so me, and now I am finding answers when I could not before!
One last thing…for everyone who places an order in the next 30 days, your name will be entered to win a personalized necklace or soap from the samples here –
Personalized Necklace = https://picasaweb.google.com/1037737…/PersonalizedNecklaces…
Here are a few examples of the many necklaces available:

Personalized Soap = https://picasaweb.google.com/1037737200384…/PersonalizedSoap

And here are a couple examples of the personalized soap:

Come and join our facebook group and learn more about what dōTERRA essential oils can do for you!!! https://www.facebook.com/groups/bravelyeverafteroil/

Be the Voice

Order was turned in Friday, January 23rd.

We received our Supplement 3 approval today (our approval from the US government)! Since we are medically expediting due to Brave's health, our government officer emailed us the approval right away so we wouldn't have to wait for it to come in the mail. It looks like we will be DTC (dossier to China) one week from today, and from there, because of the medical expedite, things should move VERY quickly. 

Just recently, the Chinese government changed their prices for logging in a dossier. Since our dossier (our pile of adoption documents) will be submitted to the Chinese government after January 1st, our fees for our dossier have increased in price. In order for our dossier to be sent to China on Monday, we have a very large check covering our dossier, as well as some international processing/agency fees, that needs to be written by Friday and overnighted to our agency. We cannot afford for our dossier to be delayed. Every day that our son waits is a huge risk that his heart could deteriorate beyond repair.

Right now, we are fighting for his very life. I am working day and night to make sure that money never stands in the way of getting to him as quickly as possible. We are his voice, and we will fight for him with everything we have.We will do everything we can to make sure that he at least has a chance at life.

And so, introducing my newest design to help us raise those funds as quickly as possible. I am very excited about this design, and I hope you love it as much as I do.

"Be the voice for those who have no voice."

 

  

 

  

Each shirt includes FREE domestic shipping. They are available in 3 different styles, a triblend v-neck, a triblend 3/4 sleeve raglan, and a triblend flowy dolman. These are the softest shirts you will likely ever own. They are extremely high quality. You will not be disappointed!

Now, for the details...

The triblend v-necks are $26 with FREE domestic shipping. They are a unisex sizing and EXTREMELY soft!

The triblend 3/4 sleeve raglans are $29 with FREE domestic shipping. They are a unisex sizing and EXTREMELY soft!

The flowy dolmans are $29 with FREE domestic shipping. They are a women's fit sizing and EXTREMELY soft! They are roomy at the top and more fitted at the waist. Some people think they run small and some think they run true to size. I size up when ordering this shirt because I like a little more room in my waist.

You can order the shirts using the payment buttons on the right hand side of our blog. Please order a shirt or two and share these shirts with your friends.

Of course, if you prefer to just donate to help us bring Brave and Ever (Saige) home, we won't stop you, haha. You can do so using the top right button on our blog.

Thank you for helping us BE THE VOICE for Brave and Ever!!!!

Spirit Lead Me

Exciting things are beginning to happen in our adoption journey to Brave and Ever! We are on a race to bring Brave home, and we are fully aware of how desperate the situation is!

As I think of the journey we are on in our lives, both the past journeys, and the present journey, the words to the song "Oceans", by Hillsong, settle deep into my heart.

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Those words have proved so true. In the midst of the deepest waters, in the most difficult of times, in the times when I have been surrounded by fear and overwhelmed with grief, it is in those times that I have felt His presence and His grace in a much more real way. This path that we have walked has not been easy, but it is through those hard times that we have learned the most about God, about trust, and about love, and about faith. When all else fails, He will never fail. It is because of this that we can face whatever may lie ahead on this new journey. The road ahead of us with Brave may be long, and it will likely be hard, but it is there in those difficult times when my greatest fear will meet his overwhelming grace. He has never failed us, and He won't start now. And so....

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior  

Our newest fundraiser to bring Brave and Ever home: 

 

Now, for the details. You can purchase the shirts on the right hand side of this blog. All shirts include FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING!!!! These are GREAT high quality shirts. I will take orders for approximately one week. The order will be turned in on Friday, December 12th, and then I should receive the order about 1 week after the orders end. I will then ship them out to you the next business day.

Heather Navy V-neck

Unisex Sizing

$25 with free shipping

Marble Red Dolman/ Marble Blue Dolman/ Navy Dolman

Women's Fit 

$29 with free shipping

To me, this shirt runs small, so I size up two sizes with this style of shirt. 

 

Grey/Navy Triblend Raglan

Unisex Sizing

$29 with free shipping

White fleck/Navy Triblend Raglan

Unisex Sizing

$29 with free shipping

Dark Red Triblend and Navy Triblend Sweatshirts

Unisex Sizing

$39 with free shipping

Please consider buying a shirt and helping us bring Brave and Ever HOME!!!!!

The Rescued

Sometimes, people are under the impression that there must be something special about families who willingly choose to adopt, especially when we are talking about adopting children with special needs. But, I want to set the record straight......there is absolutely nothing special about us....NOTHING! We are not heroic. We are not rescuers. We are not deserving of praise or special recognition. We are just parents who realized what an incredible blessing children with special needs are to a family. We are just parents who decided to say yes to following God's heart in caring for His children. We are just parents whose hearts were broken by the things that break God's heart. 

“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes…” – David Platt, “Radical”

Adoption is not a call for special families, but a call for willing families. It is a call for families who realize the depths of what God did for us when He adopted us.

"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." Ephesians 1:5

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."" Romans 8:15

God loved us. He chose us. He didn't leave us where we were. He came to us. He met us in our deepest need. He wanted us. He pursued us no matter the cost. He adopted us into His family and gave us His name. He gave us all of the rights as His son and His daughter. 

Adoption is a small tangible representation of what He did for us. It has NOTHING to do with us, and EVERYTHING to do with Him!

And now, introducing our newest fundraiser to help us bring Brave and Ever home. Each shirt has been hand designed with one of my favorite adoption quotes. There are several different styles available. These shirts are very high quality, and each shirt includes free domestic shipping!

 

Now for the shirt details. All prices include FREE shipping withing the US. You can pay for and order the shirts on the right side of our blog. The shirt orders will run for one week. Once the order ends, it will take approximately 2 weeks for the shirts to come in so that I can ship them out to you. Thank you for helping us bring BRAVE and EVER HOME!!!! The details, pricing, and size chart for the shirts are below.

"The Rescued"   Flowy Draped Dolman Sleeve Tee
Women's Fit
$29 (with free shipping in the US)

Here is a size chart for the Dolman. I feel like this shirt runs small. I typically order up two sizes on this shirt for the fit that I like.

"The Rescued" Gray/Navy Triblend 3/4 Sleeve Raglan
Unisex Fit
$29 with FREE domestic shipping

 

"The Rescued" Navy Triblend T-Shirt
Modern Fit/ Unisex Sizing
50% poly, 25% cotton, 25% rayon
$25 with FREE domestic shipping

"The Rescued" Cardinal T-Shirt
Unisex Sizing
100% superior combed and ring spun cotton
$25 with FREE domestic shipping

Thank you for helping us bring Brave and Ever HOME!!!!!