Silent Auction Sneak Peek!

We have gotten some amazing items and services donated for our Big Silent Auction and I just couldn't wait to share until Wednesday so we are having a sneak peek of the items we have so far. Check them out and get ready to start bidding on Wednesday August 8th at 12:01AM Mountain Time bidding is open until 12:00PM Saturday August 11th. 

Click on button above to see items

Tastefully Simple Fundraiser

Can I just tell you how much the love and support from so many I have never even met has been totally overwhelming me. A friend of my {Amazing} friend Taryn is hosting a Tastefully Simple Fundraiser event for our family.  20% of all purchases are being donated to our adoption and that's just awesome. So check out the site and do a little shopping and help bring our little Levi home at the same time! 


Now here's the specifics on what to do: 
All orders are placed online and get shipped directly to your home. So, it doesn't matter where you live. Tastefully Simple offers a wide variety of delicious and easy to prepare foods. The products also make great gifts! Here's how to order:

1. Visit Karen's Tastefully Simple website at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/kkeene2 to shop. 

2. Click on Shop Our Products and add the items you wish to purchase to your cart. 

3. Check out. Click on Find Host/Event and search for Fortner Family. Make sure you specify Fortner Family as the host, so your order will go onto the fundraiser.

4. Pay with any major credit card. Items will be shipped directly to your home within 10 business days.

If you prefer not to place orders online, you can email your order and contact information to Karen Keene at klkeene@tampabay.rr.com, and she can arrange with you to make your payment by check or over the phone. Make sure your orders are placed by Wed, Aug 22. 

Here's a few suggestions from me to wet your appetite. 

 CRAZY FOR COCONUT™ MACAROON BAR MIX look really good! 

PERFECTLY POTATO CHEDDAR SOUP MIX  looks yummy.  

Or maybe a refreshing   CARAMEL MOCHA FRAPPÉ MIX

or for you grilling folk, some POMEGRANATE CHIPOTLE SAUCE

Sandals and Jewelry {With A Purpose}

Wanna see what I got for my birthday? 

From my hubby and his family :)

Let me introduce you to my new Sseko Sandals. These aren't just a cute pair of everyday sandals but these were hand made by beautiful young women in Uganda. Women who desire to become doctors, lawyers, politicians, writers and teachers. These young women are committed to furthering their education by attending a University and with this opportunity to earn money for their tuition, they will . 


I love how cute and unique these sandals are.  I am having fun learning and coming up with different ties to make them my own.  You can get various color straps to switch the look too. I picked out these pretty turquoise straps and brown straps too. They even have a custom wedding line...hmm.. if I could do it over again I would have chosen these over my flip flops I wore! 

{It's not as easy as you may think to take a picture of your own wrist}....

Here's my other present from my little sister. She ordered this from 31Bits. This bracelet was also made by women living in Uganda. Women with hopes and dreams for themselves and their family. With opportunities like this they can flourish and help provide for their family. These beads are made from scraps of paper. Seriously. There are various styles of bracelets and necklaces available. Check out their stories here. 

It's really amazing to wear something that was made by a woman half a world away from me. A woman who really is not that different than me other than by circumstance. They want to learn. They want to have purpose. They love their children. They want to support their families the best they can. 

I love having purpose in gifts. Both giving and receiving. 

Join The Party

What betters than a baby shower? 

 An online baby shower! No weird games where you have to eat baby food or look at melted candy bar diapers... 

My bloggy friend Lara has been a huge source of encouragement for me and is always straight up honest when helping me along this crazy adoption journey. They are welcoming home a little boy from Uganda any day now and everyone wants to love on them in these last stages of bringing little "A" home. Instead of burp cloths and diaper genies what they really need is funds to help purchase plane tickets and visa costs, because in all honesty adoption is down right expensive....

But that's not all! Those who "attend" this party are entered to win an awesome prize... 

That's the best baby shower prize I have ever seen.... 

So click on the link above and check out how you can help bring this sweet little guy home to his family! 

Helping Seth Get His New Bed

What a smile! This is Seth and I have shared about this sweet little guy before here. I am friends with his wonderful mama Melissa. I am writing again to spread awareness about congenital human cytomegalovirus also known as CMV. Congenital meaning "born with". Before he was even born, unknowingly to his parents, he contracted a virus that ravaged his tiny little body and left him with a long list of medical issues. Read his story here to get a glimpse of what this tough little guy has endured in his life so far.  

But don't be discouraged! This beautiful child is full of life and has a wonderful family and support system. He is making progress but with that they need help caring for his specific needs. He is now able to get into a crawling position on his hands and knees (Go Seth!). However, Seth is strong and has recently given himself a black eye after launching himself forward and hit the crib bars!

So, he needs a new big boy bed. Not just any bed, but a very special bed for a very special boy. Two major issues that keep Seth from being safe as he sleeps are his seizures and his lack of ability to see. He has a tendency to bang his head and injure himself when he wakes up and is playing in his crib. He has also had seizures in the night that have caused him to whack himself pretty hard, and as he grows & becomes stronger, the injuries will become worse. The Courtney Bed is a great solution to these problems. It is padded and completely enclosed in mesh, so that a person cannot fall out of it or wander during the night. This bed is expensive. and is not covered by insurance. However, the creator/seller of this bed is willing to lower the cost to $4000. So far they have raised $3000 and have approximately 8 weeks to raise the remaining $1000. 

Please consider helping this wonderful family by making a tax deductible donation here and keeping them in your prayers. 

Meet Seth

I would like to introduce you to Seth John Asher. This happy boy belongs to my friend Melissa and he is such a joy. This little one is blessed to be born into a wonderful family who love and support him daily. I wanted to share Seth's story and encourage others to support their family in prayer, encouragement, and financial help. Please visit their blog HERE and see how you can help this beautiful little boy. 

From Seth's Mommy:

Seth's Story

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

On June 22, 2009, a big, beautiful red headed boy came into this cold, harsh world. It was an easy delivery, a fast (and natural!) event - after so many months of waiting, we welcomed 9 pound 1 ounce Seth John Asher with happy, loving arms! Seth was perfect. He cried, he was pink, he ate well and slept well. He was such a blessing and a gift! Our daughter, Sydney, now had a baby brother, and we had a son! After a few very rough weeks for our family, we finally had our precious, beautiful boy...and for a moment, all was right with the world.

On June 23, 2009, roughly 18 hours after his birth, Seth was whisked away to the newborn nursery with what the nurse called "delayed breathing". Shortly after that, he was taken to the NICU with low O2 levels. Seth was placed on oxygen, and at this time it was discovered he had an enlarged liver & spleen. All they could tell us was that it meant he was fighting some sort of infection. "Do you have cats?" became a popular question. No, we dont have cats. Please dont ask us that anymore.

June 24th-25th were spent testing. Bloodwork, urine, MRI, ultrasounds - Friday, the 26th, Seth had an MRI of his brain, where they discovered extensive calcifications. We were told this was indicative of him having contracted CMV in utero. CMV? We had never even heard of it. By Saturday, the results were in and Seth was officially diagnosed with congenital human cytomegalovirus. Congenital means "born with". cCMV. Our son had contracted a virus while still in the safety of the womb, a virus that had ravaged his small body...and we never even had a clue.

The list of "abnormal" was long. Seth had breathing issues, low platelets, enlarged liver & spleen, severe kidney reflux, two holes in his heart & extensive brain calcifications, as well as a small cerebrum & cerebellum and underdeveloped optic nerve in his left eye. His prognosis was mixed. One doctor said he may have some learning disabilities, one said he would never be anything close to "normal". He spent 11 days in the NICU and then we took him home....to a world of fear, anxiety, guilt, sadness, wonder. Google became our best friend as well as our biggest enemy. We couldnt understand it - here was this horrible virus that can wreak so much havoc on an unborn baby, and we had never even heard of it!? And what would this mean for our precious boy, what would his future hold? We wanted to believe cCMV would not define our son, that cCMV would not define his life. We still believe that.

Today, Seth is a joy. Each day is a gift, and we are so thankful for his presence in our lives. It's been a hard 20 months, and it has flown by. Seth has had multiple surgeries - two for the kidney reflux as well as placement of ear tubes. He has had a total of 11 urinary tract infections. He has been diagnosed with mixed cerebral palsy, optic nerve hypoplasia and cortical vision impairment. He is legally blind.

Seth has been dealing with infantile spasms - or West Syndrome - for a little over a year now. He has been on every medication possible in an attempt to control his seizures. Ninety-eight percent of the time, this particular seizure disorder will develop into another kind of seizure disorder. We are prepared for a life of seizure medications for Seth. It's hard to watch him spasm, it's hard to wake up in the morning to find blood on his sheets and his clothes, and know he bit something during a nighttime seizure. Sometimes, it's scary too. There are so many things we cannot fix, so many things we have to simply watch our boy go through. We love him and yet we cant "fix" him, no matter how much we want to. We cant take his pain and make it our own, we cant give him our eyes with which to see the world or our legs with which to walk. That just wasnt meant to be.

Seth has physical, occupational, feeding and speech therapies once a week. He rolls over both ways, claps, plays with toys. He laughs, babbles, responds to touch & the sound of our voices. He has perfect hearing - supersonic, we call it - and we are so thankful for that. We are working on getting him to sit up and to crawl, as well as eat solid foods. We have watched him gradually but continuously fall off the charts in weight....our once roly poly big guy is now quite skinny, he doesnt have any extra chub to spare anymore. But he's still beautiful. He's still precious. He still an amazing, wonderful gift from God.

God is bigger than CMV. He is bigger than seizures, CVI, kidney reflux. We know that with one wave of his mighty hand he could heal our baby. We pray that he would, but we know that God's plan for Seth's life is so much bigger than anything we could dream of. We are just thankful that he has seen fit to choose us for Seth...that we get to share our lives with this incredible boy.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me".

~ 2 Corinthians 12:9