My 2 Favorite Things

Look at me go;  two adoption posts in a row!  

These are my two favorite things about adoption:

T-Man and his birth mom V

We were privileged to share a guest post here.
Thanks Dawn-Marie for showing our family a little love!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Some light reading for my friends of adoption

I was searching for some type of cute angel story to place in the gift baskets we gave out to our neighbors this Christmas.  I ran across this AMAZING adoption story and it brought me to tears a couple of times as I read it.  It's a tad lengthy, but so worth reading.

Enjoy ...

Angels, Prayers, and the Christmas Miracle

(p.s. I searched for some short angel story for days with no luck ... The neighbors ended up with an angel hair pasta recipe and a box of angel hair pasta in their gift baskets instead!)

We Play with Our Food

We encourage playing with your food at our house.

T-Man's Word in Cheez-it Scrabble Crackers:
Pronounced: "wuh-ove" and yes, he spelled it and put it together himself. He's AMAZING! Other words he can spell: Mississippi, stop, bump (these construction signs are all over our town!), his first, middle, and last name, tree, water, go, on, off, yes, no, mom, dad, hat (and all words that rhyme with it). I feel we're going to be in big trouble when this little boy gets into school. He's going to be the trouble maker because he'll be so bored. Daddy is teaching him how to add and all about quantum-mechanics. Did I even spell that right? I'll have to go ask T-Man :)

Mommy's word:
Trying to stay positive as we continue to hope for a second adoption miracle! Sometimes the waiting can just eat away at you. We are so looking forward to our 10-year anniversary trip to Sundance, Utah WITH T-Man (his first airplane ride) at the end of September. Life is good! Pictures will certainly be shared early October.

Definition of Self Portrait

Apparently in "Mommy School" we need to cover the definition of Self-Portrait again. One of us thinks the definition is not "to paint a picture of oneself", but rather "to paint oneself."

Our Thoughts on Open Adoption

According to T-Man, this is known as an "upper-case" chair (his own design, by the way). One chair is a "lower-case chair", a second on top makes it bigger which equals an "upper-case" chair. It's amazing to observe how his almost 3 year old mind thinks!

If you would have asked us in the beginning of our adoption journey if we wanted an open adoption, you most likely would have heard something like, "Ummm, no thank-you". We didn't know much about adoption or openness in adoption and have learned the majority of what we know "along the way".

When we met our son's birth mother and later discussed how open we wanted our adoption relationship to be, our hearts changed and softened. She was giving us a part of her heart -- her child -- her son -- and she deserves so, so much. We agreed to letters, pictures, email, and to the exchanging of gifts. That has since expanded into quarterly visits, phone calls, holiday gifts, quick cell-phone calls just to say "Hi", you name it. Not all open adoptions are like this or can be like this. We understand each others "boundaries" -- We are very blessed.

Last week, T-Man said, "I need to say 'Hi' to V." So we picked up the phone and he did just that. During a prayer the other night I asked to please bless V. At the end T-Man corrected me and added that we needed to bless her parents and sister! (Once again, I stand corrected) Ask us now if we want an open adoption. You will hear something like, "We wouldn't want it any other way!"

Thank you V!

"If a mother and father can love more than one child,
then certainly a child
can love more than one mother or father."
~Author Unknown

We are so grateful for our open adoption.
T-Man has so many people that love him, I lose count.
I hope as he grows and learns about adoption
that he will draw strength from this.

Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

• We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.
• "Doubt indulged soon becomes doubt realized." ~ Frances Ridley Hanergal Our minds can make up stories faster than we can refute them. It's better not to let them get a head start!
  

Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

flickr

• Remember that everyone you meet wears an invisible sign. It reads, "Notice me. Make me feel Important."
  

• "It's the unseen things that are the most important." ~Manilla Longan Most of our waking hours are spent dealing with the visible world. Yet, if we really stop to think about it, it's the unseen that most affects our lives - our spirituality, our dreams, our HOPES, our friendships, our loving, our meanings of life. Ultimately, these are what really count!
  

Henri J. M. Nouwen: All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope.

Allan K. Chalmers: The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Christopher Reeve: Once you choose hope, anything's possible.

Erik H. Erikson: Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.

Molly Ivins: I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.

For the Love of Birthparents . . .

"A Birthmother puts the needs of her child above the wants of her heart." ~Skye Hardwick, founder of "Lifemothers"

Birthmothers4adoption Blog

iChooseAdoption.org

Adoption Video - Tamra's Story



Each Life

Birthmother Baskets

BIRTHMOTHER
B is for the bravery of putting your child first
I is for the interest you have in your child
R is for remaining true to what you believed is best
T is for the tears you shedH is for the hours you spend pondering adoption
M is for the months you were pregnant
O is for the overwhelming and mixed emotions
T is for the terrific woman you are
H is for the honor you deserve
E is for the experience of labor
R is for the reward of choosing life
by Leslie Gallimore of Charlotte Pregnancy Center (as published in the July 2004 BirthMom Buds Bulletin)

Gianna Jessen pt. 1
Gianna Jessen pt. 2

Celebrating Birth Mothers