My very first everything!!

By the title you can see that I am a first timer here. First time blogging, first time posting, and first time adopting :) It's so funny that I have all these thoughts in my head but I start typing and my mind draws a blank. I would chalk it up to performance anxiety but I know at this very moment not one soul knows about me, this blog and how I am connected to Cliff. There should be no pressure just me and the keys but there is this pressure. This blog is so very important- It is my chance to do just what the title of my blog means.. build our village for Cliff. More on that in a minute.

First let me tell you a little about us. My name is Lisa and I have a wonderful husband named Dave. We have 4 boys.. yes 4 boys that range in age from almost 22 down to 2 1/2. Trevor is the oldest and currently is serving in the Navy stationed in Hawaii- I know how horrible is that? Cody is next and will be turning 18. He will be graduating this year from High School and then on to college. Ryan is 14 and will be getting confirmed and graduating from our parochial school. And last but certainly not least is Jacob. Jake is almost 2 1/2 and has that extra special something that some people refer to as T21. His days are filled with kisses, hugs and getting told no it seems all the time. We are currently working on trying to get him to walk and attempting to say momma. So far he is taking a few steps and his momma is actually him blowing raspberries in my face... What a character!! That's us in a nutshell.. we aren't social butterflies, community activists or well to do. We are just a typical family with typical issues who fell in love with a perfect little boy who needs a voice.. a boy who needs a village.

So now you can see where I am going with this blog. You have heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Well for Cliff the more appropriate saying would be that it takes a village to bring him home. We want him.. we LOVE him but I am going to be honest we are going to need some help. Luckily for Cliff and for us he came with a village. I was made aware of this village through a blog on facebook in which my little Cliff had a button stating he had a Christmas warrior who raised over $9,000 for Cliff's grant. I headed over to her blog and read what she wrote and it touched me. I already wanted to be Cliffs momma, I wanted to rock him to sleep, take care of him when he is sick and show him a life outside of an orphanage. To see that this woman who knew she could not adopt him but could use her blog in such a way to help him it moved me. I visited that page after I verbally committed and Auntie Jeanette thank you for being part of Cliff's village.

So here I was ready to dive headfirst. I asked a few people about the actual process and realized that I would have to cover some upfront costs. Calculating the upfront costs, I realized I would be short the amount needed to begin the process. Now enters another important member of Cliff's village. I received an email from a woman that I met on a message board. I had never met this woman in person and it had been quite some time since I had even been on that board. In fact, I never really saw any posts from her on facebook, which now I understand it to be that she is just a very private person. She had been given money at Christmas time and the stipulation was that she do something good with it and not put it in savings. This beautiful woman and her husband gifted the money to us!! She wishes to remain anonymous but I know she will be following me on this journey so thank you Aunt Anonymous and Uncle Anonymous for joining Cliff's village.

So what do I need? I want a BIG village, I need a BIG village. Yes I do have to raise an additional $15,000 to bring Cliff home. It really stinks that a mother can FREELY toss a child aside because they deem them imperfect but it costs real money for a family that deems that child perfect and wanted. But that is neither here nor there. The reality is that a village consists of many aspects. As much as I need people to run right over to Cliff's donation page and donate, I also need ideas and lots of them. I am not creative and have stated that my husband and I are not social butterflies. Fundraising for me is like a fish being out of water. I need help and lots of it. One last thing I need but certainly an important one is prayers. My faith has gotten me this far and although at times during this process I am sure my faith will be tested I am counting on my village to see me through. So please will you help me build Cliff's village? Will you help us bring him home to where he is loved?