Jocelyn

I feel your pain. I bought a new winter coat this year and last. I finally like the one I found this year but it's a little snug in certain areas...ugh. At least your colder weather is not 3 degrees (which is the temp in MN right now). Since there isn't an "it's colder than blankety blank blank" smiley face, I will use with one. haha! Nice to see you posting again Mari!

That is amazing. Congrats Jim & Beth on your expanding family!!

Carissa, we didn't exactly have a BOG when Micah came along but I would say it was similar in many ways. We talked to M the first time on a Monday, she was in the hospital on bed rest because her water broke early around 27 weeks. By Thursday she was telling us she wanted to match, we did paperwork on Friday, and ended up deciding to fly to Houston on Saturday...all while having our 2.5 year old Landon to worry about too. In our case my parents live in the same town and my mom was able to drop what she needed to keep Landon starting that Saturday. We flew on Saturday, met M & N on Sunday, and she delivered early Monday morning. Placement occurred on that Wednesday and the next day Scott flew home and he and my dad drove back to Texas with Landon. I will say that I think it's best to find someone to help with Gabriel if this comes up for you. It was nice to not have to worry about Landon because as you've already noted, he has too much energy too and we wanted to dedicate our time to M & N because we were really just started to know each other. It is a balancing act but I think it's good to get things lined up and find someone you can trust if it's not going to work out for your parents to come. We had reached out to other relatives that could come to Texas if something didn't work for my parents to help with Landon. Do you have friends nearby that could take Gabriel for a couple days if this came up for you guys? Or even take care of him for 1 day while your parents travel to where you are? When Micah was finally discharged from the Houston hospital after spending 9 weeks there we ran into a new issue of how to travel home with him and get our van back home. We considered driving but with little sleep of caring for a newborn again that was a terrible idea. My brother-in-law ended up suggesting that he fly down and drive with Scott back to MN and I would fly with Micah home. I bring this up because we hadn't even considered asking him for that help so sometimes if you reach out to friends and family you may be surprised at what people can offer to help with.

Happy Birthday Mari!

Congratulations to the new family!

What an awesome announcement. Welcome to the world Baby Avery!

Congrats to the newly expanded family and welcome to the world Baby Amelia!

Congrats and welcome Baby Hannah!

Very sad, sending prayers for Jose's family...

Welcome Chrissy! Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s

Amen!!

Mari, happy 80th to your mom! That is very sweet about your granddaughter. You and Lala and always in her heart, I'm sure, but it's nice to hear that she thinks of you and asks about you all as well!

Sending prayers for the White family... Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s

Congrats to the newly formed family!

Mari, I'm not sure when you changed your profile pic but just wanted to say that I love it!

Congrats to the newly formed family and welcome to the world Baby Nehemiah! Tiny baby boys are very special! Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s

Mari, hang in there as they seek a diagnosis for you. It is so tough when the answer they thought doesn't pan out and they start having to do other tests to rule things out. You are strong and can lean on your daughter and family and your Abrazo family for support!

Congratulations to the newly expanded family! Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s

Mari, sending you lots of prayers and thoughts as you get through these tests. No matter what is discovered please lean on us to listen and help you through.

Very exciting and hope that it works out for you to attend the July orientation!

Hi Matt & Katie - way to get the ball rolling with this! We have two boys adopted through Abrazo. We attended orientation in Feb 2010 and took placement of our first child in July 2010. For our second we attended orientation in April 2012 and took placement in January 2013, we had one failed placement this time around. The journey to our two kids was very different from each other as no two are alike. But Abrazo was there to help us along the way and taught us how important open adoption is. We are in regular contact with both of our kids' birthfamilies and love it. It feels completely natural and, as others have said, I wouldn't want it any other way! I also like the support that they provide for the expectants mothers that come to them. One of the things that drew us to Abrazo was the personal attention we felt we'd get from going with a smaller agency and we have felt supported when we needed it, and I know they provide the same to the birthfamilies. As I've gotten deeper in this forum, it also provides a wealth of info on any topic and there are a number of birthmoms that post here as well. I've learned so much from them and it helps me navigate the ever growing/changing relationships with our kids' birthfamilies. We only looked at larger agencies in MN where we are from but something drew us to Abrazo and I recommend this agency to anyone I know that is adopting. In adoption, as Karen mentioned, it's a leap of faith. Follow your gut instinct and go from there. Good luck and ask away for ANY questions you have!

Congrats to the newly expanded family! Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s

Gave me chills reading this. A good lesson for all of us to take a moment and center ourselves for us, not for anyone else. Prayers for you and your daughter... Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s

Congratulations to the wonderful family forever joined today for this sweet little girl! Jocelyn 1st-N-10 and BGE&s