It's a gorgeous day outside and I'm getting ready to sequester myself to the basement to work on organizing and tagging items for a garage sale we are going to do this fall. Our hope is to get donations from people we know to sell while simultaneously taking advantage of an increase in traffic to our area during a particular weekend and raise a good chunk of change to put towards our adoption expenses.
We are welcoming donations and if you are in the Central Ohio area, please think of us when you are doing your Spring cleaning this year! Instead of dropping things off at Goodwill or the Salvation Army, give me a call instead!
I also plan on having baked goods/drinks at the sale and if I get any bigger ticket items, I will be selling raffle tickets for them to be won!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
194 days: vans and kids
I cried as we pulled out of the dealership a few days ago driving our new-to-us minivan.
Many times I've heard people saying how depressed they were when they had to get a minivan or how they would never get a minivan because it'd be like a part of themselves dying... apparently because it's just that uncool.
That totally wasn't me.
I was crying tears of joy because the minivan is the ultimate Mom status and that's what I fought for for three years and coveted all of my life. I'm ecstatic about my beautiful (and more luxurious than my car!*) red minivan and I can't wait to have excuses to drive it around town.**
I also can't wait to fill it up with more children.
While driving to pick up my niece from school the other day, we passed a foster care/adoption treatment center that has a sign out front that said, "We had to turn away 4 children today because we didn't have anyone to call." I, of course, got teary-eyed immediately and when I pointed it out to Neal, he got sad as well.***
I would really like to do foster care some day, especially if years from now private adoption has never panned out. My cousin and his wife are fostering two boys right now and I just think it's so awesome. Ups and downs and heartbreak, absolutely, but totally worth it in the end.
*especialy more luxurious than my car since mine is currently scattered in bits and pieces all over our garage while Neal rebuilds the engine. Yes, he's so cool he can do that kind of stuff.
**I actually ran errands today with two 10-month-olds during nap time. They ended up doing great, though at first I wasn't sure if I was being adventurous and brave or just stupid!
***When something touches Neal emotionally, the hair on his arms stand up. It's so friggin' cute. :)
Many times I've heard people saying how depressed they were when they had to get a minivan or how they would never get a minivan because it'd be like a part of themselves dying... apparently because it's just that uncool.
That totally wasn't me.
I was crying tears of joy because the minivan is the ultimate Mom status and that's what I fought for for three years and coveted all of my life. I'm ecstatic about my beautiful (and more luxurious than my car!*) red minivan and I can't wait to have excuses to drive it around town.**
I also can't wait to fill it up with more children.
While driving to pick up my niece from school the other day, we passed a foster care/adoption treatment center that has a sign out front that said, "We had to turn away 4 children today because we didn't have anyone to call." I, of course, got teary-eyed immediately and when I pointed it out to Neal, he got sad as well.***
I would really like to do foster care some day, especially if years from now private adoption has never panned out. My cousin and his wife are fostering two boys right now and I just think it's so awesome. Ups and downs and heartbreak, absolutely, but totally worth it in the end.
*especialy more luxurious than my car since mine is currently scattered in bits and pieces all over our garage while Neal rebuilds the engine. Yes, he's so cool he can do that kind of stuff.
**I actually ran errands today with two 10-month-olds during nap time. They ended up doing great, though at first I wasn't sure if I was being adventurous and brave or just stupid!
***When something touches Neal emotionally, the hair on his arms stand up. It's so friggin' cute. :)
Monday, March 22, 2010
173 Days
The pastor never called us back about the 3-week-old baby. After hearing some of the details, I knew it was a long shot, but a return phone call would have been nice anyway. Oh, well. At least he's aware of us and knows how to get ahold of us now. Private adoption really is all about networking!
I really have no other news on the adoption front. I've given out our cards to everyone I know and even some I don't. I've been too busy with babysitting and chasing around little ones and fighting a cold that I haven't been reading blogs or looking into more networking possibilities. We're definitely in a "wait and see" mode right now.
Babysitting is going well. We're getting to know each other and H's cues and I think it's going to work out great. Her parents got me an extra car seat so with the weather getting better we'll be able to go to the park and bike trail this summer... once I get up the nerve to venture out of the house with the two of them. (And on the rare occassion that they are both up from their afternoon naps with time left to do anything before she gets picked up!) I'm considering going to laptime at the library on Wednesday...
Kasen had someone flip a switch on in him the other day. He just all of a sudden started cruising on furniture, waving, saying "hi" and "uh oh," and I think he signed "eat" to me. Today I saw him rolling his ball down the hallway and crawling after it and caught him standing on the back of his walker... he's a climber!
I really have no other news on the adoption front. I've given out our cards to everyone I know and even some I don't. I've been too busy with babysitting and chasing around little ones and fighting a cold that I haven't been reading blogs or looking into more networking possibilities. We're definitely in a "wait and see" mode right now.
Babysitting is going well. We're getting to know each other and H's cues and I think it's going to work out great. Her parents got me an extra car seat so with the weather getting better we'll be able to go to the park and bike trail this summer... once I get up the nerve to venture out of the house with the two of them. (And on the rare occassion that they are both up from their afternoon naps with time left to do anything before she gets picked up!) I'm considering going to laptime at the library on Wednesday...
Kasen had someone flip a switch on in him the other day. He just all of a sudden started cruising on furniture, waving, saying "hi" and "uh oh," and I think he signed "eat" to me. Today I saw him rolling his ball down the hallway and crawling after it and caught him standing on the back of his walker... he's a climber!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
158 Days
I suck at ICLW. Every time I join, it's during a time when I have a little free time to update and read and comment and then by the time ICLW actually rolls around, I don't even have time to update. I'm lame.
I have been a social butterfly lately which translates into no time to update. Just this week on top of Kasen care, housework and my gym schedule, I had two playdates, trips to Cosi, Dawes Arboretum, the bike trail, the dog park, the grocery store, and a job interview. (Can you tell the weather is getting better?!)
All fun times, but the biggest news of them all is the job interview. Starting tomorrow, I'm babysitting a little girl who is 11 days younger than Kasen! I will have her Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each week. I had considered babysitting in the past but it was out of the question during our three years of trying to get pregnant.*
Babysitting crossed my mind again during pregnancy and I thought maybe I could start doing it at some point once I got settled into mommyhood. I didn't actively start looking for anything and figured if the right situation presented itself, I'd think about it more seriously. When I received an e-mail from a friend last week about someone she knew who was looking for a part-time babysitter, I thought, "Hmm..." The situation seems perfect: It's only part-time so I can still stick to my gym schedule; I'll have Friday/Saturdays off which is Neal's weekends and still leaves Thursdays for errands; she's the same age as Kasen so I have all age-appropriate toys and he'll have a playmate. The extra money is going to go into my "I Will Get A Minivan This Year" fund so I'm stoked about that! We're very excited to watch her, too... her parents seem very sweet and she seems laid back like Kasen so hopefully I won't have my hands too full!
*It was way too heartbreaking to really be around kids during our TTC years. A co-worker (who knew we were struggling to get pregnant) practically shoved her newborn grandson into my arms at work one day. It took everything in me not to throw up and start crying right there. It literally hurt to touch him and I distinctly remembering wanting him out of my arms like right now. I cried in the bathroom after they left.
I have been a social butterfly lately which translates into no time to update. Just this week on top of Kasen care, housework and my gym schedule, I had two playdates, trips to Cosi, Dawes Arboretum, the bike trail, the dog park, the grocery store, and a job interview. (Can you tell the weather is getting better?!)
All fun times, but the biggest news of them all is the job interview. Starting tomorrow, I'm babysitting a little girl who is 11 days younger than Kasen! I will have her Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each week. I had considered babysitting in the past but it was out of the question during our three years of trying to get pregnant.*
Babysitting crossed my mind again during pregnancy and I thought maybe I could start doing it at some point once I got settled into mommyhood. I didn't actively start looking for anything and figured if the right situation presented itself, I'd think about it more seriously. When I received an e-mail from a friend last week about someone she knew who was looking for a part-time babysitter, I thought, "Hmm..." The situation seems perfect: It's only part-time so I can still stick to my gym schedule; I'll have Friday/Saturdays off which is Neal's weekends and still leaves Thursdays for errands; she's the same age as Kasen so I have all age-appropriate toys and he'll have a playmate. The extra money is going to go into my "I Will Get A Minivan This Year" fund so I'm stoked about that! We're very excited to watch her, too... her parents seem very sweet and she seems laid back like Kasen so hopefully I won't have my hands too full!
*It was way too heartbreaking to really be around kids during our TTC years. A co-worker (who knew we were struggling to get pregnant) practically shoved her newborn grandson into my arms at work one day. It took everything in me not to throw up and start crying right there. It literally hurt to touch him and I distinctly remembering wanting him out of my arms like right now. I cried in the bathroom after they left.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
144 Days: ICLW!
Hello ICLWers!
-I'm 31, married to Neal for almost 5 years.
-PCOS w/ insulin resistance and severe male factor. 3 years of TTC, 4 failed IUIs, 5 rounds of Clomid, IVF w/ ICSI turned into our son, Kasen, who was born in June 2009. He's awesome and we are totally ready to add more to our family!
-Co-worker of Neal's knew we were talking about adopting in the future and put us in touch with someone he knew who was considering adoption for her baby. (aka Situation #1) Though she decided to parent, this got us started on the private adoption path and showed us that home studies can be done in two weeks for $300.
-Started networking on our own and were called this month about a Situation #2: Newborn girl in Texas. Currently waiting for more news but not feeling very hopeful that it's all going to work out at this time.
For those who don't know what ICLW is, it stands for International Comment Leaving Week and was started in the Infertility/Adoption/Loss blogging community as a way to get to know one another and lend support. It happens once a month and anybody can join in! (See link in sidebar!)
-I'm 31, married to Neal for almost 5 years.
-PCOS w/ insulin resistance and severe male factor. 3 years of TTC, 4 failed IUIs, 5 rounds of Clomid, IVF w/ ICSI turned into our son, Kasen, who was born in June 2009. He's awesome and we are totally ready to add more to our family!
-Co-worker of Neal's knew we were talking about adopting in the future and put us in touch with someone he knew who was considering adoption for her baby. (aka Situation #1) Though she decided to parent, this got us started on the private adoption path and showed us that home studies can be done in two weeks for $300.
-Started networking on our own and were called this month about a Situation #2: Newborn girl in Texas. Currently waiting for more news but not feeling very hopeful that it's all going to work out at this time.
For those who don't know what ICLW is, it stands for International Comment Leaving Week and was started in the Infertility/Adoption/Loss blogging community as a way to get to know one another and lend support. It happens once a month and anybody can join in! (See link in sidebar!)
Friday, February 19, 2010
142 Days: beautiful blogger award
No new news on the adoption... I still haven't received a call back so, um, yeah. More waiting and seeing!
But - thank you, Baby Interrupted, who nominated me for The Beautiful Blogger award! How fun!
The rules of this award are:
•Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
•Copy the award and place it in your blog.
•Link the person who nominated you for this award.
•Tell us 7 interesting things about you.
•Nominate 7 bloggers.
•Post the links to the 7 bloggers you nominate.
1. I can't do accents. No matter which ones I try to do, they all come off sounding slightly Southern, and even that sucks. Heck, I can barely speak English sometimes. My words come out all jumbled... luckily, my husband totally knows what I mean. At least he claims to...
2. I'm one of those people who is terrified of the dentist. As in, I have to have valium before I go in to chill me out thanks to a few really bad and painful experiences. I even called my insurance company recently to find out if they would cover anesthesia and was very bummed to find out they will only cover it for surgeries. So - valium it is!
3. I got Neal into the Twilight series. He fell in love with it and was always all randomly, "Every time I look at our dog, I think of Jacob." or "When I see Kasen doing -fill in the blank- I imagine Renesmee doing that." Just today he pointed out that the lady fitting us for our new glasses had very Alice-like qualities... and he was so right! I love my husband. He's got a girlish bone in his body somewhere and he's not ashamed of it!
4. I love The X-Files. Me and my friend were even extras and ended up on one of the episodes! Yeah, totally awesome.
Here's a shot from our scene. That's the back of David Duchovny's head taking up the left part of the shot. I'm the blonde right next to his head and my friend is next to me!
5. I love reading and have already read 6 books this year. I'm so thrilled that we live within 5-10 minutes of two separate library systems. If one doesn't have something I want, the other one usually does! I'm also excited to start going back to story time... Kasen really liked it but we stopped going during flu season because he wasn't old enough to be vaccinated.
6. I've started liking going to the gym. It really is addictive if you stick to it! I've been going three times a week to Zumba, yoga and Body Pump but am now working on adding another Body Pump into my routine. My parents come 2-3 times a week to watch Kasen so I can go... and so they can get their Kasen fix!
7. I can't wait for the weather to get better because we have really nice parks around here as well as a bike trail. Poor Max misses his walks and hasn't been for a bike ride in almost 2 years. (Yes, we taught him to heel to a bike - he loves it!) For Christmas, my parents got us a bike trailer to pull kids in, so once it warms up, we are all hitting the trail for a ride and a picnic!
And the nominations are...
Egg Drop Post (private adoption)
Losing the Baby Wait (agency adoption - just matched!)
Heart Cries (parenting after adoption)
Life According to Leah (international adoption)
Birth Mom Missions (birth mom)
Full Circle (foster adoption)
No End in Sight Except Heaven (childhood cancer)
But - thank you, Baby Interrupted, who nominated me for The Beautiful Blogger award! How fun!
The rules of this award are:
•Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
•Copy the award and place it in your blog.
•Link the person who nominated you for this award.
•Tell us 7 interesting things about you.
•Nominate 7 bloggers.
•Post the links to the 7 bloggers you nominate.
1. I can't do accents. No matter which ones I try to do, they all come off sounding slightly Southern, and even that sucks. Heck, I can barely speak English sometimes. My words come out all jumbled... luckily, my husband totally knows what I mean. At least he claims to...
2. I'm one of those people who is terrified of the dentist. As in, I have to have valium before I go in to chill me out thanks to a few really bad and painful experiences. I even called my insurance company recently to find out if they would cover anesthesia and was very bummed to find out they will only cover it for surgeries. So - valium it is!
3. I got Neal into the Twilight series. He fell in love with it and was always all randomly, "Every time I look at our dog, I think of Jacob." or "When I see Kasen doing -fill in the blank- I imagine Renesmee doing that." Just today he pointed out that the lady fitting us for our new glasses had very Alice-like qualities... and he was so right! I love my husband. He's got a girlish bone in his body somewhere and he's not ashamed of it!
4. I love The X-Files. Me and my friend were even extras and ended up on one of the episodes! Yeah, totally awesome.
Here's a shot from our scene. That's the back of David Duchovny's head taking up the left part of the shot. I'm the blonde right next to his head and my friend is next to me!
5. I love reading and have already read 6 books this year. I'm so thrilled that we live within 5-10 minutes of two separate library systems. If one doesn't have something I want, the other one usually does! I'm also excited to start going back to story time... Kasen really liked it but we stopped going during flu season because he wasn't old enough to be vaccinated.
6. I've started liking going to the gym. It really is addictive if you stick to it! I've been going three times a week to Zumba, yoga and Body Pump but am now working on adding another Body Pump into my routine. My parents come 2-3 times a week to watch Kasen so I can go... and so they can get their Kasen fix!
7. I can't wait for the weather to get better because we have really nice parks around here as well as a bike trail. Poor Max misses his walks and hasn't been for a bike ride in almost 2 years. (Yes, we taught him to heel to a bike - he loves it!) For Christmas, my parents got us a bike trailer to pull kids in, so once it warms up, we are all hitting the trail for a ride and a picnic!
And the nominations are...
Egg Drop Post (private adoption)
Losing the Baby Wait (agency adoption - just matched!)
Heart Cries (parenting after adoption)
Life According to Leah (international adoption)
Birth Mom Missions (birth mom)
Full Circle (foster adoption)
No End in Sight Except Heaven (childhood cancer)
Monday, February 15, 2010
138 Days: Cryptic
So I'm going to be kind of cryptic because I want to respect the privacy of those involved and not come off as talking about their business... especially when what I'm going on is heresay at this point. Needless to say, I may come back and edit this post if I say something that turns out to be completely wrong.
I'm still waiting for a return call from my contact, a pastor in Columbus (we'll call him Pastor T), but I did talk to my neighbor after he talked to him the other day.
Baby J is in emergency foster care in Texas because both of her parents are in jail and her grandparents cannot take her. I believe Baby J is now at the point that they are looking for extended family to take her.
Having foster care already involved definitely throws up a red flag for us... we are not approved to adopt from the foster care system. I don't know when "emergency foster care" goes from being a temporary thing to actually being in the foster care system. Because her parents are in jail, they may have automatically terminated their parental rights... I have no idea how that works with those incarcerated. (I do know that if they will be in jail for two years or more, then their rights can be involuntarily terminated.) If their rights haven't been terminated, I believe there's a chance that we could do private adoption between us and them, again depending on what the laws are for inmates. My attorney suggested that I contact an attorney in the county she is in to get basic things answered,* but I don't know where she is yet. Anyone have any insight to this type of stuff?
I don't know how Pastor T knows this family, but there are other things going on that he is looking into so even if we can't get Baby J, something else may work out. I hope to hear from him today, but if I don't, I'm going to call him again tomorrow.
*I know, you're thinking "isn't that something your attorney should be doing...?" Not necessarily. With private adoption, the adoptive parents (APs) do the majority of the footwork, especially with basic things like getting questions answered. The more we do, the less fees the attorney has to take out of the retainer. So far all advice and stuff he's given us has been free!
I'm still waiting for a return call from my contact, a pastor in Columbus (we'll call him Pastor T), but I did talk to my neighbor after he talked to him the other day.
Baby J is in emergency foster care in Texas because both of her parents are in jail and her grandparents cannot take her. I believe Baby J is now at the point that they are looking for extended family to take her.
Having foster care already involved definitely throws up a red flag for us... we are not approved to adopt from the foster care system. I don't know when "emergency foster care" goes from being a temporary thing to actually being in the foster care system. Because her parents are in jail, they may have automatically terminated their parental rights... I have no idea how that works with those incarcerated. (I do know that if they will be in jail for two years or more, then their rights can be involuntarily terminated.) If their rights haven't been terminated, I believe there's a chance that we could do private adoption between us and them, again depending on what the laws are for inmates. My attorney suggested that I contact an attorney in the county she is in to get basic things answered,* but I don't know where she is yet. Anyone have any insight to this type of stuff?
I don't know how Pastor T knows this family, but there are other things going on that he is looking into so even if we can't get Baby J, something else may work out. I hope to hear from him today, but if I don't, I'm going to call him again tomorrow.
*I know, you're thinking "isn't that something your attorney should be doing...?" Not necessarily. With private adoption, the adoptive parents (APs) do the majority of the footwork, especially with basic things like getting questions answered. The more we do, the less fees the attorney has to take out of the retainer. So far all advice and stuff he's given us has been free!
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