Garden of Hope
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Posts posted by Garden of Hope
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We've made it past first base and are headed to second. We think we can complete all of the paperwork. . .Cathy
If we have a question or two about the application, should we post them here? Or, call Angela? If we should post them here, I'll go ahead and list them. If we should call, I'll do that. Please just let me know. Okay, here I go. . .
1. Would it be taken negatively if we stated "unknown" for the question regarding a parents' attitude towards adoption?
2. For the health statement/question, should we put something like "good/fair" or if there is a health issue list it?
3. For the description of retirement plans, should we list the specific type, amount, account number? Or, just the type?
4. Savings and investments, would this also include any life insurance policies with a cash value?
Thank you to whoever can assist us with these questions. We want to do everything we can to get past second base
Cathy and Brian
I think going to the source is always a good way to proceed. Talk to Angela and then answer all questions with total honesty.
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Welcome to the newest Abrazobabe, and Cornish son! Congratulations to all those who love him. He is a very wanted little boy and will have the love of so many people surrounding him throughout his life. What a blessing open adoption is to everyone involved.
YEE HA IT'S A BOY!! Congratulations!
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What a trend setter! Way cool!
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Congratulations on your blessed bundle and the brave birthparents who have placed their trust in you and their faith in God. Can't wait to see the pictures. Congratulations!!!
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Wow! Good for her. I wonder if she'll use cloth diapers with her son! (Thinking of the one sheet of tp suggestion she made recently)
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HALLELUIA!
Abrazo passed its annual, unannounced Licensing inspection today with flying colors.
Thanking God for a great staff, great clients, great cases and today's perfect score!
And we would expect nothing less. Congratulations!!! All your hard work paying off! Now, go home and have a margarita!
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I love Nathan's birthmom even though I've never met or spoken to her.
I love her because she chose not to end his life.
I love her because she chose to deliver him in a hospital with a social worker who cared.
I love her because she wished for him a mom who would "love him like her own."
I love her because she gave him intelligence and a sassy sense of humor.
I love her because she gave him the opportunity to live and become something special.
I love her because she gave him his dimples and his cleft chin.
I love her because I love her son.
I love her because without her we wouldn't be family. And that "we" includes her even if she's never seen or never heard. We are family and we love one another.
May God bless "M", Nathan's birthmom.
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What an accomplishment for Cassie and proud moments for the entire family!
Way to go Cassie!
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Why I love my children's birthparents:
Because they created three of the most wonderful human beings I know;
Because they had the strength of character to put the girls' needs above their own desires;
Because in the time the girls actually lived with them, they instilled in them an amazing ability to love and be loved;
Because they see the value of staying in our children's lives;
Because they are willing to help us do a better job of raising our children by sharing information;
Because I love my children with everything in my being, and everytime I look at them I see a little piece of our birthparents too!
Awesome!
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Congratulations Ewa and Andy and birthparents of Lilly Cate!
Thank you Mona for being the angel that you are in guiding the the newest Abrazo babe home.
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This was a birthday week two of our Happy Holiday Hopefuls (12/06) will never, ever forget.
The week began with their decision to walk away from a match that was looking increasingly ill-fated. They'd truly hoped things would work out, but they became certain their baby was elsewhere, and thus, made a decision to move on.
The Hopeful dad celebrated his birthday with his wife the next day, surely remembering at some point the loving mom in a country far away, with whom he spent his first hours of life, before his adoptive family came for him. He could never have imagined, last Wednesday, that the very best gift of all, the miracle he and his wife had longed for, was about to be delivered just two days later, in a western border town.
And this morning, another loving mother made the same decision for her child's life that his birthmom made for him, so that this afternoon, another couple could give the gift of the future to a precious little girl. May her days be bright and happy ones, and may this be only the beginning of a special and lifelong friendship between the two mothers and two fathers whose love for her is truly their gift to each other.
Congratulations to the newest Abrazo parents no longer waiting and the precious birthmom who made it all possible. Can't wait to hear all the details and see the beautiful pictures. Unbeknownst to you, I've been thinking about you all weekend and wondering! God bless you all.
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Praying for the birthmom, baby, agency, and potential new family for birthmom and baby.
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Thank you for your valued insight, Elaine. You are a resident expert on the adoption of a three year old. My heart was heavy as I read Elizabeth's description of family after family not even willing to consider the possibilities. How sad for everyone involved. I hope Elizabeth will let us know how this story "ends"/"begins",
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Congratulations to the newest mom repeating her loving decision accept placement and to the mom who made the loving decision to place. May God bless all in this wonderful joining of families.
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Are you going to have contact in the future?
I hope so....we made it clear that we'd love to stay in contact, but she did not give us an answer either way. I know we will stay in contact with her mother (Jonas' birthgrandmother). We are just so excited that we got to spend this special day with "R". It is a day we will never forget!
All very positive. With the open door you have with Jonas' birthgrandmother and the positive experience of the reunion, all things are possible. What a blessing.
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I am prefacing this illustration by saying I am not in any way being glib or insensitive, but I see a parallel in the two situations.
When I was divorcing, a friend told me that losing someone in divorce is harder than losing someone to death. In divorce, that person goes on and has a new life that doesn't include you. One might look back and wish they had chosen a different path or imagine how things would have been different had they chosen to handle things in a different way. Point: it is a choice, opportunities to second guess the decision and face guilt are enormous. In death, there is closure--no choices. In death, we believe that we will be reunited with our loved ones and will have a "relationship" on a whole different plain. In divorce, that's probably not likely.
Both are filled with grief, loss of control, and just plain pain. But, I think the illustration, perhaps, can help us better understand how they are different.
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That's wonderful, Trisha!! Don't worry about crying. Tears cleanse the soul and heal the heart. What a blessing Jonas and all the other members of the triad have received in this reunion of possibilities!
I'll be praying that it exceeds all your expectations.
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Aw shucks! Thanks for all the kind words about Cassie's project. The next paragraph was about something in the present (but it could be from anytime in her middle school years). She wrote about when we went to Camp Abrazo in 2004 and when she met her birthparents for the first time in 10 years. She is very proud of her adoption ... a few weeks ago she came home from school very upset. When I asked her what happened she told me her Science teacher said something like "if you don't do well in this class your parents mightl put you up for adoption". I emailed the teacher and told him how upset she was and that we embrace adoption in our house, etc. etc. and I asked him not to use this phrase ever again. He wrote me back and said he didn't use it at all, but Cassie insists that he did, so I guess he just felt dumb about it and decided to deny it. I have to say I love Cassie's passion. There is another boy in that same class who is also adopted, but never discusses it and Cassie asks me all the time why he won't talk about his adoption. I just tell her maybe he doesn't have an open adoption. I'm so glad we do!Wow, Karen.
What an inappropriate statement for anyone to make and most especially a teacher. Obviously, the teacher knows that he has students who are adopted and proud of it. What an insensitive oaf!! He obviously needs to be educated on postive adoption language, open adoption, and how to be an intelligent, positive member of the teaching profession. UGH!!! Cassie is so fortunate that you have given her the gift of her history in all it's beautiful glory. I feel very badly for the other child who may not have had that experience. SO sad.
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What a glorious "past"! I know Cassie's teacher, classmates, and family were spellbound to hear her tale and proud as can be of her talents as a writer and proud adoptee!
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Isn't life glorious?! Yours is a truly amazing and beautiful story. And Elizabeth, who always knows exactly what to say, helped us all celebrate with you!
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Congratulations Cameo and Denny. What a beautiful way in which God has knit these two families together. Meant to be, I would say.
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Informed, proactive, love may not conquer all, but it can assure that proud, beautiful, productive children of rainbow families grow into confident, caring, productive, adults who are proud and beautiful, too.
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first thing international adopters do is to strip their new Chinese babies of the only things that are familiar to them, in order to dress them in Gap clothes and slather them with American skin products, all so foreign at a time when children most need the comfort of that which smells and feels and sounds and looks familiar.
I don't know if this common among all countries and orphanages, but it seems as though when my sister adopted her daughter two years ago and her son in January, that the officials asked the adoptive parents to leave the clothing that the child was wearing. They were also asked to bring 10 new outfits to leave with the orphanage. It seems as though it may be a situation of the orphanage administration not having enough extra clothing to allow the children to leave with "orphanage property". That is my guess. I'm hoping it's not a plot to rob these precious children of the comfort of their familiar smells and feels. I know that would never be the intention of my sister and her husband, who did learn basic phrases in Russian and have a friend who speaks Russian fluently come and talk and sing to their daughter to give her that comfort and familiar sound.
Baby Announcements 2007
in New Arrivals
Posted
Congratulations to both of the new families!