For many adoptive families, the Adoption Tax Credit has been a great benefit in making adoption affordable. Families who finalize an adoption in 2010 may be able to take advantage of a tax credit $12,170 for qualifying adoption-related expenses. The 2010 credit will begin to phase out with a modified adjusted gross income of $182,520 and will completely phase out at a modified adjusted gross income of $222,520 or more.
Families who finalized an adoption 2009 may qualify for an Adoption Tax Credit of $12,150. Families should consult with a qualified tax expert to learn more about claiming the Adoption Tax Credit.
Call to Action - Adoption Tax Credit to Sunset in 2010
The Adoption Tax Credit has helped families across the nation grow their family through adoption and has helped countless children in need find a forever family of their own. However, the Adoption Tax Credit is set to sunset at the end of 2010, in which it will then revert back to its original dollar limit of $5,000 per adoption or $6,000 for the adoption of a child with special needs.
South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson has introduced H.R. 213 - The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009 to repeal the sunset of the Adoption Tax Credit. Adoptive families and adoption supporters are encouraged to contact Congress and voice their support of this important bill. To contact your congressman regarding support for H.R. 213, click here.
To learn more about the adoption tax credit, visit http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
moving forward
I am meeting up with some of my former co-workers for lunch today along with Julia. I am so excited to see them. It feels like 2 years since I have been gone from that job the company "eliminated" (but just distributed the work to my former immediate co-workers), yet it has only been just shy of 4 work weeks I was let go. I am meeting them at Qudoba for lunch and then I might head back to that former working place just to visit a few people. Maybe said they wanted me to come back with Julia later to see how big she has gotten. I might do that.
I have been making it my mission to coupon myself crazy. Today, I played the Qdoba craft 2 order to win a coupon and I did. Great timing because that is where we are going today. Sweet. Basically, Julia and I can pick two items off this craft 2 list and share them only for the cost of a drink! Now that is my kind of coupon bargains to find.
I start babysitting a little boy in March so that will help $-wise. Then this summer I plan on watching my niece. FUN. I love it.
Hubby got a bit of good news yesterday. He thought his work contract was up in June of this year, but it is actually up in Feb 2011. WOOOOOHOOOOOOO! Oh that was such a relief on our shoulders financially to think he has a job until then and not out of a job just 6 months after mine. I so hope he can get a perm job there, but at least we know we are able to make his contracting income until Feb 2011. I plan on paying off my car early and our other creditors by then so we can focus paying off our camper and his truck. Ahhhhhh. We had to take a hit on our 401K loans we did for adopting so this helps with the fact we are going to not get nearly the tax refund this year or even might not get one at all and could possibly owe for the first time ever. I hate it that we both lost our jobs within a year of each other, but at least our 401K loans are split into two different tax seasons so the defaults won't happen all this year for 2009 claims on tax hits. See, those loans had to be turned over into hardship withdrawals and we had to take the tax hits on them. Luckily we still had equitable balances in both of our 401K's that they can be turned over into IRA's now. Hubby did that a few months ago and I'll be able to open my IRA this month. So at least we can start building interest on those balances again and can start contributing to them again after we gather the funds to adopt again.
See, there I go. Thinking about adoption again. YES I AM. We are homestudy ready, now we just have to find the cash funds to sign with our agency again. Might be several months, but hey, it brings a smile to my face knowing we can do this again.
Ok, off to get ready to meet the girls for lunch.
I have been making it my mission to coupon myself crazy. Today, I played the Qdoba craft 2 order to win a coupon and I did. Great timing because that is where we are going today. Sweet. Basically, Julia and I can pick two items off this craft 2 list and share them only for the cost of a drink! Now that is my kind of coupon bargains to find.
I start babysitting a little boy in March so that will help $-wise. Then this summer I plan on watching my niece. FUN. I love it.
Hubby got a bit of good news yesterday. He thought his work contract was up in June of this year, but it is actually up in Feb 2011. WOOOOOHOOOOOOO! Oh that was such a relief on our shoulders financially to think he has a job until then and not out of a job just 6 months after mine. I so hope he can get a perm job there, but at least we know we are able to make his contracting income until Feb 2011. I plan on paying off my car early and our other creditors by then so we can focus paying off our camper and his truck. Ahhhhhh. We had to take a hit on our 401K loans we did for adopting so this helps with the fact we are going to not get nearly the tax refund this year or even might not get one at all and could possibly owe for the first time ever. I hate it that we both lost our jobs within a year of each other, but at least our 401K loans are split into two different tax seasons so the defaults won't happen all this year for 2009 claims on tax hits. See, those loans had to be turned over into hardship withdrawals and we had to take the tax hits on them. Luckily we still had equitable balances in both of our 401K's that they can be turned over into IRA's now. Hubby did that a few months ago and I'll be able to open my IRA this month. So at least we can start building interest on those balances again and can start contributing to them again after we gather the funds to adopt again.
See, there I go. Thinking about adoption again. YES I AM. We are homestudy ready, now we just have to find the cash funds to sign with our agency again. Might be several months, but hey, it brings a smile to my face knowing we can do this again.
Ok, off to get ready to meet the girls for lunch.
Monday, January 25, 2010
2 years 4 months old, she is!
I want to see her grow up, but yet I don't want time to pass so quickly. We waited so long to see her this little and I want her to stay my baby girl, my sweetheart; forever. She so deserves to grow big and strong and yet I want her to stay my little girl. I have given into the fact she is a toddler and not a baby (infant) anymore. Ha
She still calls hubby Daddio.
She is now crying when I put her to bed. This was never a problem before.
She is wearing a size 3T clothes and a size 7 or 7.5 shoe.
Today she spent a few hours with memaw carol while I went to the MO careers office to do my obligatory every 4 week check in and profile build.
She cried when memaw left.
She spent over 45 minutes sitting on her potty chair. (no, no production on there yet to celebrate).
She is in a gym class at the local YMCA and loves it.
She will have another adjustment when I start babysitting a little boy (friend of the family) in March.
She loved the day she spent with her cousin Friday. :)
She loves LOVES her stuffed animals. I'll have to try and get a picture of her crib later to show you.
There are so many things we keep saying we will write down that she says. One thing we are working on is she tells us what she wants and then says NOW at the end of the sentence. Oh boy, that will be stopping soon. I guess that was a bad habit she picked up from her cousins at my sisters (former babysitter to Julia). LOL
Swimming at the YMCA each week is one of her favorite things to do. We try and go up at least 2 times a week, but this week we missed it. I promise to take her again Friday evening. I need to find a new swim suit for her. The 3T I have for her is getting tight.
Her favorite food right now is Turkey dogs (hot dogs). She ate two the other day.
We need to put a lock up high on the screen doors to the house and the bathroom door. Can't get a minute of peace in there alone when she is awake.
She wants to go see Mickey Mouse. Ut-Oh. Looks like I need to start a savings plan for Walt Disney World for 2011. I think she will be old enough by then.
As we were eating dinner tonight, Julia came over to Daddio and called him by his first name. "Jeff, blah blah blah"... LOL Bahahahahaa She mimic'd me talking to him.
She still calls hubby Daddio.
She is now crying when I put her to bed. This was never a problem before.
She is wearing a size 3T clothes and a size 7 or 7.5 shoe.
Today she spent a few hours with memaw carol while I went to the MO careers office to do my obligatory every 4 week check in and profile build.
She cried when memaw left.
She spent over 45 minutes sitting on her potty chair. (no, no production on there yet to celebrate).
She is in a gym class at the local YMCA and loves it.
She will have another adjustment when I start babysitting a little boy (friend of the family) in March.
She loved the day she spent with her cousin Friday. :)
She loves LOVES her stuffed animals. I'll have to try and get a picture of her crib later to show you.
There are so many things we keep saying we will write down that she says. One thing we are working on is she tells us what she wants and then says NOW at the end of the sentence. Oh boy, that will be stopping soon. I guess that was a bad habit she picked up from her cousins at my sisters (former babysitter to Julia). LOL
Swimming at the YMCA each week is one of her favorite things to do. We try and go up at least 2 times a week, but this week we missed it. I promise to take her again Friday evening. I need to find a new swim suit for her. The 3T I have for her is getting tight.
Her favorite food right now is Turkey dogs (hot dogs). She ate two the other day.
We need to put a lock up high on the screen doors to the house and the bathroom door. Can't get a minute of peace in there alone when she is awake.
She wants to go see Mickey Mouse. Ut-Oh. Looks like I need to start a savings plan for Walt Disney World for 2011. I think she will be old enough by then.
As we were eating dinner tonight, Julia came over to Daddio and called him by his first name. "Jeff, blah blah blah"... LOL Bahahahahaa She mimic'd me talking to him.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
One of my goals in life......
I have always loved receiving help on challenges I have had in life. I would seek out the different avenues through local contact and online to gain knowledge or just support for any challenge of work, marriage, home life and most of all one of those (read: MAJOR) challenges was going through years of infertility, miscarriages and starting the process of adoption.
I always want to research, investigate and prepare for something we will invest in our lives for a long time, possibly FOREVER. I want to be the most prepared to step up to the challenge of saving time, money and emotions in it all. Then I promised myself I would turn that good fortune of information around and give it out to others so they can reap the benefits of being able to make it through their plan in life also with the most efficient course to attain their goals. An outreach of sorts.
Today, I received a call from my former infertility and adoption counselor asking us to consider helping out a couple she had in one of her session today with information about our journey into adoption. I was able to provide them with the name and numbers to our adoption attorney, another adoption attorney and our adoption agency, A Gift of Hope Adoptions. I gave our counselor the ok to have that couple call me if they need to just chat about information they are gathering. I hope to also put them in touch with the local IAS support group in town. There are so many resources in town and on line that I know they can benefit from. I hope they call, but if not, I know I have given them very useful information to start their journey of information gathering for adopting.
One of the first reading materials I bought for the process of research was Adoptive Families Magazine. (No, they are not paying me to advertise this.) I was able to gather lots of information on what to look for as in agencies, costs, steps to take for the home study and lawyers. I was able to read hopeful stories about others that had gone through infertility and attained their ultimate goal of becoming parents through adoption. I finally had hope. I also attended the now IAS group for support and information on how to start our home study and what costs we were looking at and what to expect in our journey.
I always feel very good in being able to turn my knowledge around and help others in their journey to build that dream family. Yes, we are a family of our dreams, but we are still working on building that dream family of 4. Our home study is ready to go and we wait until we know if our tax return will help us in that ability to resign with our adoption agency we used to adopt our daughter through or if we might consider changing our home study over for foster to adopt program. We wait to see.
I am not a professional counselor, just a woman that has experienced it all in real life and I can share my story with you. Some sad points, yes, but ultimately the joyful process of adopting our daughter through open domestic infant adoption.
I am so thankful for those professionals and peers out there (you know who you are!) that have helped me be in a position to be able to help others in their journey too.
For that, I am THANKFUL!
I always want to research, investigate and prepare for something we will invest in our lives for a long time, possibly FOREVER. I want to be the most prepared to step up to the challenge of saving time, money and emotions in it all. Then I promised myself I would turn that good fortune of information around and give it out to others so they can reap the benefits of being able to make it through their plan in life also with the most efficient course to attain their goals. An outreach of sorts.
Today, I received a call from my former infertility and adoption counselor asking us to consider helping out a couple she had in one of her session today with information about our journey into adoption. I was able to provide them with the name and numbers to our adoption attorney, another adoption attorney and our adoption agency, A Gift of Hope Adoptions. I gave our counselor the ok to have that couple call me if they need to just chat about information they are gathering. I hope to also put them in touch with the local IAS support group in town. There are so many resources in town and on line that I know they can benefit from. I hope they call, but if not, I know I have given them very useful information to start their journey of information gathering for adopting.
One of the first reading materials I bought for the process of research was Adoptive Families Magazine. (No, they are not paying me to advertise this.) I was able to gather lots of information on what to look for as in agencies, costs, steps to take for the home study and lawyers. I was able to read hopeful stories about others that had gone through infertility and attained their ultimate goal of becoming parents through adoption. I finally had hope. I also attended the now IAS group for support and information on how to start our home study and what costs we were looking at and what to expect in our journey.
I always feel very good in being able to turn my knowledge around and help others in their journey to build that dream family. Yes, we are a family of our dreams, but we are still working on building that dream family of 4. Our home study is ready to go and we wait until we know if our tax return will help us in that ability to resign with our adoption agency we used to adopt our daughter through or if we might consider changing our home study over for foster to adopt program. We wait to see.
I am not a professional counselor, just a woman that has experienced it all in real life and I can share my story with you. Some sad points, yes, but ultimately the joyful process of adopting our daughter through open domestic infant adoption.
I am so thankful for those professionals and peers out there (you know who you are!) that have helped me be in a position to be able to help others in their journey too.
For that, I am THANKFUL!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
turning the big 40 and being a mother... what it all means to me
I turn 4o today. This is a huge birthday for me because when I was teen, I saw my mom turn 40 and oh thought she was an oldie but goodie at 40.
The parts of town that I come from you don't just say FORTY you say it with a south side accent of FARTY... OH LORDY SHE IS FARTY! Ahhhhhahahahahaha. Yup, I am joining the pristine club, the wise club and filled with many true friends that are turning 40 and or have already joined in a few weeks, months or even years ago ... So mom, I am so sorry for having called you an old Fart. FARTY IS FABULOUS!
I had grand ideas of being a mom of 3 by now, but heck, I am counting my blessings and saying thanks for my beautiful daughter brought to us through adoption and maybe when I am later in my 40th year we can adopt again. Heck, we are home study ready.
This is what makes me smile all the time now (even after many miscarriages and heartaches trying to conceive and it never held on.
SHE MAKES ME!
And thanks to my wonderful Husband, Jeff
13 is my lucky number so I will play the lottery tonight with that number heavily played. LOL
Cheers to another great year.
The parts of town that I come from you don't just say FORTY you say it with a south side accent of FARTY... OH LORDY SHE IS FARTY! Ahhhhhahahahahaha. Yup, I am joining the pristine club, the wise club and filled with many true friends that are turning 40 and or have already joined in a few weeks, months or even years ago ... So mom, I am so sorry for having called you an old Fart. FARTY IS FABULOUS!
I had grand ideas of being a mom of 3 by now, but heck, I am counting my blessings and saying thanks for my beautiful daughter brought to us through adoption and maybe when I am later in my 40th year we can adopt again. Heck, we are home study ready.
This is what makes me smile all the time now (even after many miscarriages and heartaches trying to conceive and it never held on.
SHE MAKES ME!And thanks to my wonderful Husband, Jeff
13 is my lucky number so I will play the lottery tonight with that number heavily played. LOL
Cheers to another great year.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
slideshow sunday
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=3cc0b347c43994486d96e1&skin_id=601
I was so blessed to have been in the delivery room when our daughter was
born. Thanks to her birthmother! Here is a little video hubby put
together when she was weeelittle. We can't wait to adopt again to build
our family and make Julia a big sister.
I was so blessed to have been in the delivery room when our daughter was
born. Thanks to her birthmother! Here is a little video hubby put
together when she was weeelittle. We can't wait to adopt again to build
our family and make Julia a big sister.
Monday, January 04, 2010
making promises to myself, no resolutions
No, I am no good at resolutions. Sure, you might say resolutions and promises are the same, but to me they are not. I can keep a promise to myself better than a resolution. I can't exactly explain that, but it works for me.
This year I promise to make a cleaning agenda. A calendar of sorts to clean the rooms in the house on a weekly basis. I recently read on another blog that you can create zones and basically that is what I plan on doing. Having 2 dogs (lab mixes) and two 7 month old kittens in the house requires we vacuum every other day at minimum so that won't change. I will add in more dusting, scrubbing the bathroom down (including that tub the child bathes in) on a weekly or near that basis. I need to de-clutter and that will come to a head in the next week when I finish buying more storage bins for her toys and downsizing the amount of toys she has in the living room (we only live in a 2 bedroom with finished basement ) and the family room downstairs. Yard Sale will happen in either March or April. No excuses! I have a full utility room downstairs with 18 gallon totes with all her clothes and toys in them and I need to make more room for more items down there. Bargains galore I have for girl clothes and shoes and toys to sell.
so off to make my list of zones.
Do you do this if you are a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM)?
This year I promise to make a cleaning agenda. A calendar of sorts to clean the rooms in the house on a weekly basis. I recently read on another blog that you can create zones and basically that is what I plan on doing. Having 2 dogs (lab mixes) and two 7 month old kittens in the house requires we vacuum every other day at minimum so that won't change. I will add in more dusting, scrubbing the bathroom down (including that tub the child bathes in) on a weekly or near that basis. I need to de-clutter and that will come to a head in the next week when I finish buying more storage bins for her toys and downsizing the amount of toys she has in the living room (we only live in a 2 bedroom with finished basement ) and the family room downstairs. Yard Sale will happen in either March or April. No excuses! I have a full utility room downstairs with 18 gallon totes with all her clothes and toys in them and I need to make more room for more items down there. Bargains galore I have for girl clothes and shoes and toys to sell.
so off to make my list of zones.
Do you do this if you are a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM)?
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