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Dear Birthmom, an Honest Letter from my Side of Adoption
I wrote this to our birthmom many years ago, but the years have brought a few changes to my perspective and unfortunately tragic changes to our circumstances. Have you ever had a letter you wanted to write, but knew you could never send it? It would be too real, too raw, too vulnerable? stir up too much drama? What about talk to someone who is out of your life? Sometimes, I have so many things I’d like to say specifically to our daughter’s birthmom due to our unique circumstances. This is not a letter to any birthmom. That would be easier to write. Birthmothers make a tremendously bold choice to…
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Adoption – Getting Started
If you’re considering adoption, getting started doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are a few tips based on our family’s journey. Adoption – Getting Started Decide your time frame for really starting the adoption process. We spent 2-3 months researching before taking the first step. During the research process, decide on a budget and financing. Start saving money at first glimmer of choosing adoption to build your family. Most agency adoptions cost between $20,000-40,000, you may be able to find the agency’s basic costs outlined online which will help you formulate a budget and choose an agency. You can raise funds, get a loan, and expect a tax rebate. Research…
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3 Reasons Having Children Will Not Make You Happy
Thinking of having children? Are you wistful at the sight of a swaddle blanket? Hopeful while gazing at bumper guards and high chairs? Delirious for tiny dresses with delightfully adorable matching shoes? We crave these pieces of parenting, but will having children make you happy? Oh, the ache for a baby. It can be something that swallows us whole. After my hysterectomy, I sobbed at my sister’s baby shower. Her children were prayerfully conceived after miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, and several rounds of fertility treatments. I certainly didn’t begrudge her having the twins, but I mourned the children I would never carry. Fast forward 4 years, and we were preparing…
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World’s Biggest Birthday Bash
And YOU are invited to be part of the celebration! turning this day into one of joy. “Birthdays should be joyful occasions when parents celebrate the accomplishments their children have made in the past year, often talking of how they’re “growing up too fast”. For us, that’s not the case. For our family, each birthday is a painful reminder of the decline we will continue to see if something doesn’t happen soon. Turning 5 years old should not be so bittersweet, and I know come November 16th, the tears will flow. We made it a point early on not to cry in front of our children, especially Eliza’s big brother,…
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Fairy Tale Proposal and Happily Ever After
It didn’t start as a fairy tale proposal! It started with a traffic stop. April 6, 2006, I got pulled over by the sheriff. Alarmed, I couldn’t imagine then how this event would change my life. But it did. In 2016, I was so excited to sit in the very spot of this momentous encounter with our sheriff with my daughter and watch this video of her daddy’s surprise return from Iraq which had a bigger twist than I realized. I was stunned. I had no idea what was happening. Until I watched the reply, I wasn’t even sure what I said – on NBC, MSNBC and now YouTube! Now…
