TexasFamily

This past weekend, we had the awesome experience of meeting Joshua's brother and sister (on his birthfather's side) and their mom. (They are now 15 and 13). They are such great kids, and we had a wonderful time meeting at Hot Springs, AR. We went to Magic Springs/Crystal Falls, ate lots of good food, played miniature golf, and explored historic Hot Springs together. We all agreed that it was just the beginning of many more fun times we hope to spend together. What wonderful news. Sounds like the weekend was great.

That is SO cute! I am sure that meant to world to Stacey and David!!! That is wonderful! I think that it great that y'all were able to Skype today.

That is wonderful y'all were able to connect! I am glad that the Skype chat session went well.

That is so great that Harrison is out of the hospital!

What a gorgeous boy!

Kara, What a wonderful way to connect and keep in touch with the first grandparents.

Congrats to the newsest family! May prayers, love and support surround all who love this little boy.

I must say I had chills when I read the announcement. Congrats to the newest family of 3 and prayers for the Birth-Mom and her family.

Congrats to the new family!

These are just a few lines of my daily/nightly prayers. They speak volumes in so many different ways. I think the prayers are beautiful.

Andrea- We are so sorry for your loss. We are praying for you and your family.

That is a great title.

Jocelyn, I think you are quite right about Skype. We Skype with our nephews that live in London once or twice a month. Now that they met us in person last November when they came to meet Alexander, they get all excited when they see us on the TV (Proir to meeting us they were a little shy, they are almost 3 now). We Skype through our televisions so Oscar and Noah love when they see us and Alexander.

We were cheering him on today! What a emotional win.

Deb, Our family was very suppotive. I think because I have openly discussed adoption since I was a teenager and Kevin and I discussed it in detail prior to us getting married. Kevin is from Scotland and they do not have Birth-Mother adoption there so we were worried about if his parents and brother would understand. We waited until his parents were here and explained everything to them in person. It took a couple of days and a few questions but they understood. His brother understood, too and was so happy for us. I loved that everyone in our famlies were so excited when we were able to meet Alexander's Birth-Mom in a couple of months ago. We were not able to meet her at placement so meeting her in February was very special for all of us. I think that education is the key and a book that we purchased several copies of and gave them to our family members really helped. In on it: What adoptive parents would like you to know about adoption (A guide for Relatives & Friends) by Elizabeth O'Toole Please let me know if you would like a copy of it. As I have a extra one and I am more than happy to pop it in the mail to you. Just PM your snail mail address and I can send it to you. Leah x

Congratulations!!!

Tracey, I could not agree more. I pray every morning, too for direction. I am trying to be a good listener Leah x

I just read this and I can not help but tear up. What a wonderful well-written story. I think I said the below passage a few times over the last few months to help educate people. "I'm so glad they made adoption plans," I said. "It was the answer to all my dreams. All I know is their birth mothers were very great women and I thank God for them everyday." I went on to explain that today, birth parents do not "give up" their children, they make plans and carefully choose who will parent their children. I also explained that the girls' adoption stories were theirs to share, not mine.

I would not watch anything with KK or her family. I so hope this does not become a show.

What a powerful story. Yes, there are a lot of stereo-types about Birth-Moms and Adoptive Parents. It makes me quite sad that some people have such a closed mind-set.

Congratulations to all who love this precious little girl!

Martha, What a beautiful story. Your friend is so thoughtful. When I first moved to Scotland almost 10 years ago (Yikes!), I was quite home-sick. About 6 months after living there I received a special package in the mail from my Mom. Her, my sister, my Aunts and my cousins had been meeting on the weekends to sew a quilt for me out of my old baby clothes. It was one the best gifts I had ever received and one of the best surprises ever. The quilt now hangs proudly in Alexander's room. Everytime, I look at it, I think about the love that went into making it. Thanks for sharing. Leah

Thanks for the links. I have never heard of imom.com. What a neat website.

One of the reasons we love our church is they have a Adoption Ministry. The person who leads the ministry is a Adoptive Mom herself and she has been wonderful in her support of us and our journey of becoming a family of 3.

Not too sure if there is where I should post this but I had to share. The other evening my Dad took us to dinner so he could see Alexander before he leaves for a month to Australia for work. We are at the restaurant and Alexander had his Gap Hoodie on. He was looking very cute. I come out of the bathroom and I head back to the table with my Dad leaning over Alexander's car seat saying...'Alexander, you look so cute in your hoodie! I have to take a picture and send it to Grandma'. I just started laughing so hard. I think it was the fact that my Dad was saying 'Hoodie'. It just cracked me up. He loves Alexander so much.