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Elaine

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Everything posted by Elaine

  1. DrMom, I love your analogy! That was beautiful!!! Elaine
  2. Congratulations to the DDSJ family that now has a new little bundle! What an exciting time!!! Elaine
  3. Yea, Grace Ann! I think she will be a good big sis and a great helper to her Mommy too!!!! Love, Elaine
  4. I can see how this would be a great fear. We are on searching for baby #1, but I have always thought that we would like more than one child too. My Mom is an only child and so is my husband. Both were very lonely at times growing up. Mom says she begged her parents for years to have another baby. What my Mom didn't understand as a child was that her parents suffered with infertility. It took my grandparents 10 years (using no birthcontrol) to have my Mom. Since Melissa Merritt and her husband Chris are wanting to start their search for baby #2...I have been thinking about this subject. It makes me think about when Mickey and I get ready to expand our family and give our child a sibling. I know this has to be difficult...especially when you have a really wonderful relationship with your birthfamily. I know that I have heard before," Love is not divided...it is multiplied." That saying makes me think of adding a new baby to the family. Although, your time may be divided between two children...your love is not. I wish all of you beginnning this new adventure the best of luck! You all are in my hearts and prayers as are your birthfamilies! Elaine
  5. Amy, Congrats on getting your application in! That is wonderful. Hopefully, you will get to go to Orientation this summer. My husband and I attended the March Orientation, and we had a blast. Have a safe trip to College Station. I have relatives there too! Elaine
  6. Windycity that was beautifully written. Thank you for sharing your story and your insight. I enjoyed reading it! Elaine
  7. Good evening and welcome to the forum! I agree with Christina. My husband and I are fairly new to the process, and someone recommended us buying and reading "The Open Adoption Experience". I ordered it off amazon.com, and it is a very informative book. It will definately be able to answer many questions you have about Open Adoption. The book is a little lengthy but not hard to read/understand. I enjoyed it! Elaine
  8. Congratulations, Rosalie!!! I know that your girls are thrilled! I laughed out loud when you said that your youngest keeps calling him Orlando! That is so cute!!! Maybe that can be his little nickname since that is where you all were headed before you got "the call". Best wishes with your new little bundle! I am very happy for you. Elaine
  9. Oh my goodness! This is WONDERFUL news! You are right...it truly is an answered prayer! I am so happy for you. God is good! Love, Elaine p.s. I think between me and you...we keep God pretty busy!
  10. Well, I am a 28 year old third grade school teacher. I have been teaching school for 5 years now. I enjoy lots of different activities. Growing up my favorite thing to do in warm weather was to go swimming. My parents had a fishing boat and a ski boat...so needless to say we were constantly at the lake. I have so many good memories of eating cheese puffs with "water wrinkled" little mitts, fresh air blowing through my hair, and feeling happy to be alive and in the moment! As a teenager I life guarded and taught swim lessons at the local pool. When I was in college I took a scuba diving class and am now a certified PADI diver. I am also an artistic south paw. I enjoy painting with oils, photography, and playing with my cats, Rose and Vivi. Mickey (my hubby) is a 32 year old fifth grade school teacher. He loves history, theology, and philosophy. Our house is full of books on ever topic. That is his passion...reading. I have a funny story to share about the extent of his book collection. Once Mickey and I were at Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. For those of you not familiar with the Nashville area, Opry Mills is a HUGE outlet mall that was built on the sight of the former Opryland Amusement Park. Anyhow, they have a ton of stores in this mall. Mickey went to Barnes and Noble and bought a book on...drum roll, please... "How To Fold Napkins".......... . YES, I am very serious!!!! He bought a hardback book on "How To Fold Napkins"!!! I couldn't make up something that bizarre if I tried. When I asked him why a "how to book on napkin folding" he was like,"Well, we don't have a book like that! I have always wondered how they fold napkins in such fancy ways...". This book is probably used by people that arrange fancy dinner parties at the Biltmore estate or the White House or something like that. So we went into a Men's store afterwards and the clerk saw Mickey had a book with him. She was trying to strike up a conversation and make a sale. So the lady asked Mickey what kind of book he had bought. He quickly and quite proudly announced that it was a "How To Fold Napkins" book. The clerk started laughing hysterically like Mickey was such a jokester...and then she realized he was serious!!!! She started stammering and such. It was hilarious!!! By this point I was howling and Mickey was pouting. I am sorry. I love to laugh, and he was just asking for it!!! After she realized that he really had bought a book on folding napkins...I think she thought he was gay. Well, that was funny to me too! When I get to laughing like I did that day Mickey just tries to whisk me away! We ended up going home after that big fiasco! HA HA HA. I still find it funny! Well, I said all of that to prove that our book collection is extensive and somewhat amusing! Mickey also likes to lift weights, jog, watch movies, play video games, and dote on Rose and Vivi (our cats). We enjoy lots of time together too. Monday night is always our "date night". We don't answer the phone or make plans with other couples on that night. It is just reserved for the two of us! Do I hear "Let's Get It On" playing in the background.....just kidding!!! Several of our friends live around Nashville so we stay pretty busy. I can say that in the 4.5 years that we have been married we have had so much fun together. Lots of time spent with friends and family and plenty of alone time too. I look forward to sharing our lives with our child. Elaine
  11. Melissa, I am sorry! I had hoped for better news. I wondered off and on all day about how it went. I agree with Cath. I would try asking someone "above" the person you spoke with today. The worse thing they can say is No...so you don't have anything to lose. Do any adoption advocate companies have any pull outside of their own? I mean do some adoption advocates intervene in situations like this? Like Dave Thomas was such a proactive adoption advocate. I wonder if you have to work for a company like Wendy's to be able to benefit from his efforts? I don't know if this even makes any sense. I am so tired I am about to drop! I will try to collect my thoughts. If I can think of a way to word my thoughts to make them make better sense, then I will post again. Sorry! Elaine
  12. HAAA! Chris is right! They do not know the wrath that awaits them! Wish I could be a fly on the wall when that call is made. Phew! Good luck! I will be thinking about you tomorrow. Let us know how it goes. Love, Elaine
  13. Elaine

    INQUIRY

    Congratulations, Mary! My husband and I just started the process back in January! We are all set to go to the March orientation weekend. Best wishes on your journey. Keep us posted on your progress!!! Elaine
  14. What an emotional story! All involved will be in my thoughts and prayers! I wish the best for all of them. Elaine
  15. I can not get over this "flood" of brand new little people!!! I am so excited for each and everyone of you! May God bless you and your new family! Love, Elaine
  16. Good evening and welcome to the forum! My husband and I just mailed off our application a week ago, so the infertility letter is still fresh in my mind. I called my gynecologist's office and asked to speak to one of her nurses. I told her that my husband and I were adopting, and we needed a letter from my doctor. My doctor typed up a nice note stating that she has been my gyn. since 2001. She also stated that she was the one that diagnosed me as being infertile. I had the Dr. office mail me the letter ASAP. That was easier then driving approx. 45 minutes (one way to her office) to pick it up. As we all know most doctors are very busy and occassionally they may "drop the ball". I knew taking the time to type up a letter for me was not at the top of their priority list, but it was at the top of mine! I figured "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" and called them every other day until I had the letter in hand. I also told them from the first call (concerning the infertility letter) that my adoption paperwork could not be mailed off until I had that letter in hand. That seemed to prompt them to do it a little faster as well. I made a copy of the letter from my doctor (as well as all of my other documents) before mailing my application off. I just wanted to make sure if anything ever happened (in the mail) that I had a back up copy of everything. Hope this helps. Again, welcome to the forum! I have found it so helpful in chatting with others that are/have been in my shoes. I look forward everyday to logging on and seeing what is new! Keep us posted on how things are going. Are you all coming to the March orientation? My husband and I are attending that one. Sincerely, Elaine
  17. Mickey and I are a childless couple, and we are willing to adopt a child of full Hispanic descent. You should be receiving our application packet either today or tomorrow. Hopefully, you will have room for us at the March orientation! Our fingers are crossed!!! We are looking so forward to hearing from you when our information is received! Talk to you soon. Elaine
  18. Angie, I had actually wondered the same thing. I am not in the medical field so my thoughts on it were like...hare lip, cleft palete, birth marks, etc. My husband and I were afraid on some questions that we were being "to picky", but they want you to be honest. Just answer the questions the best you can. Sometimes going with your first instinct is your true response. When we over analyze things many times we confuse ourselves. Good luck with your qpplication. Which orientation are you going to? Elaine
  19. Hey guys! I had a faculty meeting after school, so I just caught the tail end of Dr. Phil. I was hoping I would see an update on the little boy from India. I wondered after the first show why she (the adopted mom) was not more guarded in being so blunt about the abhorrence she felt for her adopted son. That was very bizarre. I know sometimes with editing a person can be cast in a bad light...but no one made her say "I don't love him", "I tell him he is stupid", "I tell him that I wish we hadn't adopted him", "I wish we could give him back", etc. Then, I finally thought that maybe she actually hoped to sabotage her position as his adopted mother. Maybe she hoped that the state would come and take him away after the show aired. I don't know. I was very relieved today to see her treating her son like a son. I just hope it was genuine. I wondered if she watched the show of herself (from the first time) and nearly had an aneurism! I have heard people on T.V. say before that watching themselves on the tube is a big wake up call. Whatever the reason for her change of heart, praise God! That little boy deserves the best! Elaine
  20. I am also a proud Tennesseean, and I want to say Congratulations!!! I am sorry for the loss of your Daddy, but I am so happy to hear that your Little Angel has finally arrived. Enjoy this blessed time in your life! Best Wishes, Elaine
  21. Good evening! I wanted to ask a question about adoption books. My husband and I have two nephews (ages 5 and 9). I would like to find a good book(s) concerning adoption that maybe could help children understand adoption better. It could either be a children's book about adoption or an adult book concerning adoption (that their Mom could read and help answer any questions they might have). I have seen on the forum at least three books that come highly recommended for couples adopting, but I have not run across any that seem geared towards extended family. I believe that my older nephew has a pretty good grasp on what adoption is, but I am not sure that the little one understands very well. We do have adopted cousins on both sides of our family, but they live far off...so my nephews don't have a close relationship with them. We have all experienced people (related to us or otherwise) that ask questions concerning adoption in a rude fashion. I would just like to get a book that helps educate family (and children) on what type of language to use when speaking of/to an adopted family member, etc. I want my nephews (and any other family/friends) to feel free to ask questions about our experience(s) concerning our children, but I do not want to be turned-off by really intrusive questions or negative wording they might use. I guess, I am hoping that there is a really good book out there that would take care of some of these concerns for me. I know there will always be people that ask/say hurtful things, but I hope to nip some of it in the bud concerning relatives. If there is a way that I can help to educate them, then that would be super! Has anyone experienced nieces, nephews, etc. that are jealous (of the new adopted baby) and got off to a rough start? I do not know how our nephews will react to not being the only grandchildren anymore. I just hope and pray that any disagreements they have with their cousins will not be "below the belt"...concerning adoption (i.e. You are not really our cousin!; You are not really Poppa and Grandmama's grandchild!, etc.). That is one reason I would like to find a good book now (before the baby comes). Hopefully, the boys will be better prepared and understand adoption better. I really do not think that this will be much of an issue (with my nephews), but I just would rather be safe than sorry! Any suggestions/comments are very much appreciated. Thanks!!!
  22. I am just wondering if anyone else is watching Dr. Phil right now? I am tearing up about this poor little boy (that was adopted from India). His adoptive Mom tells him he is stupid and that she wishes they had never adopted him. She wants to send him back!!! I am appalled!!!!!!!! I am going to keep watching in the hope that a positive adoption story will be shared. Please pray for this little boy and his adopted parents. He is a special needs child that needs lots of love. I pray that his adoptive parents will find acceptance and bond with him. The more I watch the more shocked I am! Oh, me!!! What do you all think? Let's hope the rest of the show is uplifting and shows adoption in a positive light. Elaine
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