Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Adoption Stories

I just discovered a show on the Discovery Health Channel. It's called Adoption Stories. Similar to A Baby Story or Birth Day, but it focuses on the adopting family. Occasionally A Baby Story will do a show on adoption, but it is rare. So, it's nice to see a show that focuses just on adoption. From the few shows I have seen, it appears to focus on international adoption as opposed to domestic adoption. It also shows birthparents, and often shows the meetings between birthparents and adoptive parents. It's been very interesting so far...

Friday, February 23, 2007

Excited for our friends

A friend of ours (actually, the friend who told us about our facilition center) emailed me earlier today- they got the call that a birthmother wanted to speak to them. And, they were the birthmother's #1 pick. She emailed me back a bit later, and they are matched! I am so excited for them! Their baby to be is due in May. Wow, it really does happen fast :)

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Dr Phil, adoption scams

Dr Phil did a show about Adoption Scams today.

I did not watch it, I knew what it was going to be about. But I will say that is the #1 reason for working with an agency or facilitator that is reputable. Some people skip that step to do it on their own, and unfortunately scams like this happen :( Some people are cruel to prey on those who have gone through so much emotionally. There are a few bad people like that out there that give adoption a bad name.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Decorating the Nursery

We added a few new wall decorations to the nursery, so I thought I'd share...



The wall plaque says "I am a dream come true". Oh my, how true that is....





My mom painted these sailboat pictures for us. We'll put our little one's name in between the pictures, over the crib.





These sailboat hooks match perfectly! You can see how clothes are accumulating in the closet- we want to be prepared when our little one arrives :)

understanding

On one message board I am on, there was a poll: What will you do if you can't have kids?

and the answers...

"Just adopt"
"If we can't have kids, it wasn't meant to be, we'll travel the world"
"we'll be the funnest aunt and uncle out there"
"if all else fails, we'll adopt"


These are the same people who act as if those adoptive parents "gave up". A few of those folks said things like "adopted kids are going to be screwed up- that it's genetic- there is something wrong with them."


It never ceases to amaze me how some people (not all, and fortunately not any in my close circle of friends and family) view adoption. I feel bad for those who are close minded enough not to learn more about what a wonderful option it is. I'll admit, we had a slight clue (we were considering adopting at least one child), so we didn't go into it totally blind. But wow, there is so much mis- information or negative perceptions out there. And the die hard IF people appear to look down on or judge those who choose to adopt. For some people, they choose adoption as their first choice. Not everyone adopts because they have fertility issues.


I was discussing it on another chat board with a girl who is adopted. She is in the process of now going through adoption herself. She said that she's heard it all, and being an adopted child, people don't realize how hurtful they can be. She said she is blessed to know adoption first hand, and that those prejudices and biases have never even been a part of her thought process.


Not every birthparent out there is horrible, messed up, or suffering mental problems. There are many out there who want a better life for their child. Something they cannot provide. What's so wrong with that? I admire the person who recognizes this, and does what is best for all involved. Unfortunately though, most often it's the negative stuff you hear regarding terminating parental rights.


The girl I was chatting with, she and her brother, a cousin, and a good friend were all adopted. And they all turned out perfectly fine. They went to good colleges, and are very succesful in their lives. This is typically the norm, you just don't hear about it as much.


As she, and a few other "adoptive parents" friends of mine all agree, our role is to be an educator, a teacher. As adoptive parents we will be advocating for change and education for the rest of our lives...


We are very fortunate in that those in our close circle of real life friends and family are very open to adoption, and very excited to see our family grow :)


Now, if we would only get the call...... ;)

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sometimes you need a baby fix

Waiting can be hard. We're so ready- just bring on the baby! We have names picked out, we have furniture, clothes, etc. All we need is the kiddo (s).

We were fortunate enough to see our nieces today, and get our baby fix. One is 4 months today, the other is 14 months today. Ah, so nice to hold those babies, play with them... enjoy them and see their smiles. They really have great personalities, and always smile when they see us.

We had a difficult task to do today. My dad and aunts have been sorting through my grandmother's house. Splitting up everything. Deciding who should get what and where it should go. My sisters each brought their daughters, and Mike and I met them and my aunts in the house. It was the first time I'd been in the house since the funeral. And it was something I needed to do. It sure did help to have the babies there. They really helped us a lot. Mike spent time with the older one while the "girls" except for the older niece all toured the house, sharing memories, looking at things. I held the little one, and that really helped me a lot. Being slightly distracted helped me get through it better.

Then we all went out to dinner. I had older baby duty, got to sit next to her, and keep her entertained while we ate. She is so much fun :) The both are. Seeing the grins on their faces, when we talk to them, hold them, smile at them, it really gives you a great feeling. They have wonderful personalities.

And we got our baby fix for a day or two :)

Fortunately, I have lots of friends with babies, and two nieces and two nephews, so we have plenty of kiddos around when we need a baby fix.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Our blog got referenced

Our blog got referenced in www.alittlepregnant.com yesterday. It's in the comments section - posted by Carol at Feb 16, 2007 3:44:11 PM.

It's the first "here". And yeah, of course one cheesy person posted some not so great stuff in the comment of my blog after that, but what do you expect- there really are all kinds of people out there..... Some intended to start more of a debate, or said some not so nice things as well, not exactly what I was going for there...

And, most likely they don't know (or haven't bothered to learn) the struggles that we went through with infertility. But we've moved on, and are in a great place for us.

As another commenter, "Andrea" on another blog said "I know cardinal rule No. 1 of commenting on blogs is to remember that this is someone's blog -- someone who has all the rights in the world to say whatever he/she damn well pleases." Obviously not everyone follows that logic ;)

Saturday, February 10, 2007

weekend plans

Today and tomorrow are the Annual Valentine Cookie Decorating party. It's gotten so big, I throw them on both Sat and Sun now :)

Our nephew is going to come over and spend the night. He is coming for the cookie party today, and then will spend tonight and tomorrow night. He's going to be my cookie decorating expert for Sunday's party :)

We put a few things up on the wall in the nursery. I'll take pictures and post them tonight or tomorrow. We have a ways to go decorating wise, but it's a start :)

Friday, February 09, 2007

holding pattern

Well, nothing new to report here. We're just waiting, waiting, waiting. We have some friends coming over this weekend for a Valentine cookie deocrating party, and one of our nephews is going to spend the weekend here. I am hoping to maybe get some stuff up on the walls in the nursery. We'll see...

Monday, February 05, 2007

new website profile

When we revised our profiles, we were told that we could change up our online portion too. We were a little delayed in it, but we did get it done last week. Apparently you only can change it when you revise your profile, otherwise you have to pay for any changes to the site.

You can see our changes here.

Our thumbnail section wasn't changed. We didn't have guidelines for it, and apparently what we sent in was too similar to the old one, and above the word limit, so that didn't get changed. Oh well, maybe next time our profiles are reworked we can get it changed.

We are pleased though. We finished it and emailed it in late last week. They updated it and posted it today :)

Friday, February 02, 2007

Caught in the act

Precious has found a new place to catnap....


I went in to put something in the nursery, and was surprised to see her there. That's new for her, we guess she is making sure it's nice and comfy for when our little one arrives ;)

Thursday, February 01, 2007

time goes by

Nothing new to report around here lately. We received an email back from our coordinator- they don't need any more profiles. They are all set with our contact numbers. Nothing new to report, talk to you next month. Ah, well.

We need to tweak the online portion of our website. They offered us the opportunity to change it if we want, so we might as well see what we can do. I guess that will be our next project.

We'd also like to possibly put some pictures up on the wall of the nursery this weekend. Do a little work in there, see what we can do. There really isn't too much we can do now, just sit and wait, but a little decorating might be theraputic.

We've both been fighting colds this week. I guess the flu shot didn't work this year. I've been sick more in the months of Dec, Jan, and now Feb than I have in a long time.....