Jim and Carine Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) With an awesome name like Tropical Smootie - I think you'll fit in perfectly here!!! Welcome. Edited June 17, 2012 by Jim and Carine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHSegura Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Welcome! Each step in the adoption process is exciting and nerve wracking all at once! You'll find a lot of support here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasFamily Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 We just sent in our application, so now it's pins & needles time for the next little while. It seems like each form is kind of like clearing a hurdle in a race. Sure, hurdles aren't a cakewalk, but with each hurdle jumped a wonderful Finish Line comes closer & closer into view! I love your sign in name. Congrats on sending in your application. We are looking forward to following your journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven&Melissa Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Welcome! What's your name? We're looking forward to cheering you on along your journey! It's really neat to look back on this thread and see who spoke up and said hello, then think about the babies they have today! Both Allie and Marae from the past few pages have sweet baby girls now! Looking forward to getting to know you better and good luck with this part of the journey! Keep posting and sharing your thoughts and feelings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jocelyn Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Welcome tropicalsmootie, I bet there is a story behind your forum name! We're also looking forward to getting to know you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRACEB Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Welcome Tropical Smootie! You have come to a place of support, knowledge and family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalsmootie Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Thank you for the warm welcome everyone! This forum is such a wonderful place to be inspired and to learn. My husband & I haven't looked at the instructions on posting a photo/info, but we will do that soon & will make it a point to be active here as well. For now, I guess it looks like we are in the witness protection program. We wait for a decision on our application & most likely will freak out every time an unknown number pops up on caller ID. LOL As for the name, the story isn't all that remarkable I'm afraid. It just stuck with us for a few years after misspelling it while playing Guitar Hero. Leslie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPJ Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Welcome Leslie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John & Airi Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Wishing you a wonderful journey, Leslie! We look forward to hearing more as you take each step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven&Melissa Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 As for the name, the story isn't all that remarkable I'm afraid. It just stuck with us for a few years after misspelling it while playing Guitar Hero. Leslie We've had a couple of things stick with us from funny misspellings. Welcome to the forum, Leslie. Please send me a private message if you have any trouble figuring out how to add your photo. Basically, if you just go to your profile, there's a black box in the top right that says "edit my profile." There are lots of options from there that you can choose to personalize your profile (including a photo for your profile page, an avatar, your location, and a signature... so we can see your name and your husband's name, and where you are in the process!) What part of the country are you from? It's such a different process when you have support and an extended family around you. The forum is great for that, so I'm glad you're here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDP21 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Welcome, Leslie! Looking forward to following your journey as it unfolds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasFamily Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Leslie, I love Guitar Hero! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalsmootie Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Reading through this particular topic & some of the topics surrounding, it's hard to tell if anyone else is at the exact same stage of "the checklist" as we are. It's very encouraging to see the majority of folks are in the "been there, done that" category and are simply choosing to participate in the forum with the people looking to follow in their footsteps. When friends & family find out what you are doing, it's amazing how quickly many of them race to the attic to search for baby clothes regardless of how long ago they had children using them. It will be interesting to see if anyone goes wayyy back and comes up with Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake, or (gasp) Charlie's Angels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven&Melissa Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Reading through this particular topic & some of the topics surrounding, it's hard to tell if anyone else is at the exact same stage of "the checklist" as we are. It's very encouraging to see the majority of folks are in the "been there, done that" category and are simply choosing to participate in the forum with the people looking to follow in their footsteps. When friends & family find out what you are doing, it's amazing how quickly many of them race to the attic to search for baby clothes regardless of how long ago they had children using them. It will be interesting to see if anyone goes wayyy back and comes up with Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake, or (gasp) Charlie's Angels. From what I've noticed over the past couple of years on the forum is that people don't usually jump in before orientation. We sure did and I read everything I could get my hands on. I can tell you that being prepared throughout this experience and making knowledge your best friend works strongly in your favor. It makes you more confident and committed to your decisions. The "been there, done that" group of folks not only stick around to be there for people looking to follow in their footsteps, but we all gain strength from each other. Adoption - especially open adoption - isn't easy and we all learn from each other. We're here to celebrate each other's successes and provide support when things are hard. We hold regional meet-ups and Abrazo holds a camp in the summertime. This extended family gives our children a way to stay connected to other children who share a similar history. One of the many reasons that we'll stick with Abrazo as we grow our family is because of this forum and what it provides. I wish more people would jump in at the same phase you're in. It can only work in your favor! Few things in life are more important or monumental than this. I think it deserves more focus and determination than anything and the forum is a wealth of information that can make you not only a better parent, but a better friend to the woman who brings your child into this world. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethAnn Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Few things in life are more important or monumental than this. I think it deserves more focus and determination than anything and the forum is a wealth of information that can make you not only a better parent, but a better friend to the woman who brings your child into this world. That was so unexpectedly beautiful it brought a lump to my throat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalsmootie Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 While we are waiting, we are heeding the advice we've seen posted over & over...read then do some more reading. While one of us is reading the "Dear Birthmother" book, the other is reading "The Open Adoption Experience." So many people have said that the days can actually fly by, so if we are lucky enough to be included in the Abrazo family, we want to be as prepared as we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen&scott Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Cheering you on...keep on going! You'll get there, in just the right amount of time. Hugs from Texas. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDP21 Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Sounds like you are doing great! Just keep up the good work. If you're looking for other book suggestions (just to keep you really busy ), Jim and I both loved Making Room in Your Hearts because it has so many real life examples of how open adoption works for all different situations. I actually just lent it to a friend of mine who was considering adoption and she and her husband loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica281 Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Great job on getting ahead on your reading, there is not such thing as being too prepared! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasFamily Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 While we are waiting, we are heeding the advice we've seen posted over & over...read then do some more reading. While one of us is reading the "Dear Birthmother" book, the other is reading "The Open Adoption Experience." So many people have said that the days can actually fly by, so if we are lucky enough to be included in the Abrazo family, we want to be as prepared as we can. Both of those books are great reads. I think it is wonderful that y'all are getting prepared for a wonderful journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalsmootie Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Stepped away from the books this afternoon to look at interior paint samples at Lowe's. Where have I been? Am I the last to know that the world has several dozen shades of yellow? If we didn't have to be elsewhere, I think we could've taken 20 or 30 minutes splitting hairs between light sun kissed yellow & medium-light sun kissed yellow. Maybe my vision is lacking, but they looked the same to me. We appreciate everyone taking time to offer encouragement & reading suggestions! We are REALLY hoping that we will be busy with required reading before we can tackle anything else from our list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPJ Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Leslie- Where are ya'll from? Keep posting. Yellow is one of may fav colors....cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalsmootie Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Well, today was an exceptionally wonderful day. Tim and I got the call we were hoping for! We were invited to orientation in August and are booking our flight from Memphis now! This is such an exciting time and we feel so blessed. Now we will work to finish everything up with our home study before orientation! On a side note, the yellow turned out beautifully. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven&Melissa Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Well, today was an exceptionally wonderful day. Tim and I got the call we were hoping for! We were invited to orientation in August and are booking our flight from Memphis now! This is such an exciting time and we feel so blessed. Now we will work to finish everything up with our home study before orientation! On a side note, the yellow turned out beautifully. YAY! Congratulations!!! You must have been so excited! Your journey is officially starting. You should start a journal as soon as you can... it's these early days that I wish I'd documented better here on the forum. It's a perspective we don't get good insight into nearly enough - though the last couple of orientation groups have jumped in and started early journals!! Are you guys in Memphis?? There are a ton of us here. We'd love to meet you guys if I read your post right and you guys are Memphians! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy&Craig Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Well, today was an exceptionally wonderful day. Tim and I got the call we were hoping for! We were invited to orientation in August and are booking our flight from Memphis now! This is such an exciting time and we feel so blessed. Now we will work to finish everything up with our home study before orientation! On a side note, the yellow turned out beautifully. That is great news! It always feels good to have something to look forward to, especially when it's the steps that will bring a child into your lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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