tksimmons02

Not necessarily! There are social workers here who work on TX standards for those of us going through Abrazo. They would be more than happy to "get you up to date" I'm sure!

Stacie, I couldn't agree with you more. Makenzie is 19 months old now, and she is SO MUCH more fun now than in the beginning. We hope to adopt an older child next time, and we have discussed this situation, but the timing is just not right for us. Makenzie had a 5 minute tantrum this morning because I made her wear a sweater (it was 40 degrees outside). I couldn't handle two more in that mindset right now. However, if I was still a PIW, I would jump on this. What a blessing these children will be to some wonderful family.

Prayers for these sweet children to find their loving forever home soon.

Congratulations on your newest Abrazo Angel Ericka and Keith!! Have fun showing your baby sister "the ropes" Briton! Prayers for healing and peace for this special BP.

Congratulations! Enjoy your time with your precious BP's in San Antonio!! How wonderful!!

CONGRATULATIONS Nita, Walker, and Camille!! How wonderful!!

Congratulations on your precious daughter. Enjoy spending time with her precious birth family.

It is also my understanding that the tax credit is NOT given to you in the form of a refund check. You must apply extra deductions through your employer to reap the benefit of the extra $. It is accumulated over the year, not immediately returned.

Parenting is difficult and unpredictable business no matter how your family is formed. My mother still can't figure out what happened to the three of us!

I love it!!! Definitely a good addition to our baby book.

HOORAH!!! Congratulations on your much loved baby girl! Enjoy every moment!

Congratulations to both families on their beautiful new additions. Prayers for peace and comfort are lifted for their amazing first mothers.

Sending up a prayer for whatever families may be dealing with the backlash of these difficult decisions right now.

Welcome Ashleigh! There is at least one family from AR and a HUGE Memphis contingent. We'd love to have you at one of our MAMS meetings if you live close (see the United States of Adoption section of the Forum. It lists all the regional groups.) Good luck on your new journey!

You laugh Adam, but I had a mother look at me very disapprovingly at the grocery store yesterday over that artificial stuff. Makenzie asked for some popsicles and I grabbed a box without looking at them. The woman's son asked for some popsicles too. She said "No honey, we don't eat those artificial things in our house. They cause cancer." Big FROWN directed at me. I was SO TEMPTED to hand one to Makenzie and one to her poor son! My basket was piled high with fresh fruits and veggies for Makenzie, but everyone needs a little break sometimes. Popsicles are Dr. recommended for soar throats too. Elizabeth, You should create a top ten list of ridiculous things people say on their applications.

This breaks my heart!!! How sad for the entire family!! The poor child is losing his first family, and his poor BP lost him altogether. I will keep this precious angel in my prayers tonight.

Congratulations!! Enjoy these days getting to know your new daughter!

Congratulations!! What a wonderful story and loving heritage for this lucky little boy!

Can any social worker update your homestudy, or does it have to be the same one? I ask because Jay has been offered some positions out of town, which we have considered, and it will figure into our decision with his next offer.

Not right, but it sure does make for catchy headlines and juicy gossip. That's all I hear when people find out that we have an open adoption, "Aren't you afraid of...". I'm sure that's all internationa adopters hear "Aren't you glad that....didn't happen?" I think that adoption is frightening to the general public. People act like infertility is catching, or some kind of disease to be pitied. Worse than pity, is the, "Oh, that's such a wonderful thing you did" routine. BARF! I created my family differently from yours, but not with different motives! I just want to be a MOM, not a SAVIOR. It upsets me that the adoption community doesn't pull together more. We all created families through adoption. It doesn't matter if we went across country borders or across county borders, it's still adoption, and it's a wonderful thing. We can't expect the general public to start "getting it" until we ourselves "get it" and pull together to defend our families and the way they were formed.

Oh, how I wish we were ready! He's too precious. Praying for this sweet baby tonight. May he find all that he deserves and so much more. May his precious birthfamily find the peace they need.

What a cool interview. Jamie Lee seems like one of those moms you'd just want to hang out with. I really appreciated her honesty. I loved her books before adoption entered our vocabulary.

True? False? Inspiring? Outrageous? How sad that those words left my lips this morning. I was defending our decision to see our BP to my mother when I uttered the phrase. My mother is TERRIFIED of Makenzie's BP's. Mom is certain that the biological pull will be such that MAkenzie will want nothing to do with us if she knows her bio. side. In fact, the "meaning" was my mother's argument exactly. I have never worried about a "biological" pull for Makenzie. As far as I can tell, the more people that love her the better. It certainly takes a village to raise a child today, and the bigger the village, the happier the child. I pray my mom figures this out someday.

Congratulations Nicole & Brian!!! Gabriella, enjoy being a big sister!

It will be easier than you think. We were nervous too when we told our parents. Jay's were pretty supportive, although trepidatious. My mother was NOT supportive, but she loves Makenzie dearly. (She desperately wants me to have biological children. Not sure why, she just does.) There are some great books out there to give families about adoption. There are some great articles in your Abrazo binder too. Anything you can leave behind would be good. Jay's parents felt more comfortable about it after they read the articles we left from our Abrazo binder. Sending good thoughts your way!! Feel free to PM me if you need some extra support!