Media Monday: Families Supporting Adoption fireside

In honor of National Adoption Awareness month, Families Supporting Adoption (FSA) hosted a special fireside to celebrate adoption! We had three speakers, and a special musical number with a slide show. The whole night was great!!

(For a few highlights from last year's fireside, check out this post)

The first speaker was a friend of ours that was adopted when she was a baby. She shared a great quote that said something like "in the end, love was stronger than blood". She talked about how grateful she was to her birth mom (who she has never met and knows very little about) because she gave her a chance to be raised in the family she was supposed to be in. She also talked about when her parents adopted both of her younger sisters and how she "instantly" loved them so much. Love isn't limited to a blood relation, but for those that are willing to open their hearts, it can be shared with anyone. This is especially true for adoption.

The second speaker was a birth mom that placed her baby with our friends. She was so honest and open about the highs and lows of placing a baby for adoption. We loved that she was so full of love, not just for her baby, but also for the adoptive parents. She talked about how she knew when she saw the adoptive couple that they were the parents for her child. She was so selfless during labor, because she wanted to let the adoptive mom experience the birth of a child. She was an amazing, fun and loving woman!

The third speaker was our friend that adopted the baby placed by the second speaker. It was so awesome to hear both sides of the story. We were very touched by the love that the birth parents and adoptive couple had for each other, and we loved that they gave each other a huge hug after they spoke. She was so sincere about the struggles of infertility and coming to grips with adoption for their family. She was so emotional when she talked about her open relationship with the birth mom and her love for her boy.

The special musical number was "Something Perfect" by Michael McLean. Our friend did a great job singing! The lyrics are so awesome and very applicable to adoption. There was a slide show during the song with pics of adoptive couples in the area, birth parents, kids and activities from FSA.

The whole night was amazing! It was so great to celebrate adoption and the way that it blesses the lives of all those involved!

List of Thanks

As we sit here watching the Macy's day parade, smelling the delicious apple crisp fresh out of the oven, w can't help but think of all the things that I we are thankful for. There is a huge long list, but we will just post the top few.

1. Always at the top of the list is our loving Heavenly Father. He always listens to every prayer we offer and loves us with an immense love that we can't even fathom. He blesses us daily!

2. We can't help but be thankful for the two amazing people that have changed our lives forever, by giving us the chance to raise baby Chase. J and A, we give thanks every day for your selfless love and our friendship. You are like angels to us!!!

3. Chase. We could go on and on. He woke up cooing this morning after sleeping all night. What a dream. It made us smile and our hearts overflow with love to hear him cooing and to see him smiling. There is no greater blessing!

4. Caden. He is so much fun, is learning so much and is so helpful. He is the best big brother ever!! He loves Chase and always wants to be with him. He always talks to him, makes him smile, tells others about him, etc.

5. Russ. I get to take over now! Russ is such a patient, loving, forgiving, understanding, fun husband. He is an awesome husband that loves both of his boys. He always comes home and immediately takes Chase into his arms. Then, he plays sports with Caden. I couldn't ask for more! I love him so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Media Monday: Adoption Story Time

In honor of National Adoption Awareness month, Families Supporting Adoption (FSA) got a local library to host a special story time all about adoption. It was awesome!! The librarian read a few children's books about adoption, including A Mother for Choco (one of our faves, see our review here). A ton of friends from FSA were there and it was so fun to chat with all of them and to let the kids play together. I love the opportunity to let other people see just how amazing adoption is and to create some positive views of adoption!

FSA also hosted a fireside to celebrate adoption. More on that next Monday!

Media Monday: A Beautiful Disaster

I came across this wonderful blog post, which is a letter from a birth mom written to her daughter. It is so sincere, honest and beautiful. I just loved it!

Here is the link: http://missmandapassarelli.blogspot.com/2011/11/dear-hannah-letter-from-your-birth.html

Here are a few of our favorite quotes:
"I gave you a better life then I could have given you at the time. I gave you two wonderful parents and a big sister to take care of you. I gave you happiness and the opportunity to excel and follow your dreams."

"But I am so glad we have this beautiful thing together. Its like our two families have become one. A very unique and special one. It is so wonderful that your parents let this be so open and honest."

"So again Hannah, I LOVE YOU. WE LOVE YOU. Please do not ever forget that. Placing you for adoption wasn't easy, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but it was the best thing I ever did for you. You mean the world to me, beautiful."

Our Thoughts: This letter is so sweet! We love so much about it. We love that Amanda (the birth mom) is so honest that placing her daughter for adoption was the hardest thing, but also the best thing. We love that she has an open relationship with the adoptive couple. We love how it says that their two families have become one. Chase's birth parents (J and A) will forever be a part of our family because we share something so unique, precious and beautiful. This letter from the birth parent is a must read!

Media Monday: The Red Blanket

The Red Blanket by Eliza Thomas.

We gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Here is a summary from Adoptive Families:
Children adopted anywhere will cuddle up to this story of a little girl, a loving single mom, and the cozy blanket that eased their transition from strangers to family.

The story of PanPan’s adoption is told from her mother’s perspective. As she explains her desire for a child, her sadness is palpable, but there’s no self-pity. Adoption can solve this problem, so Thomas gets down to work. When she receives her referral for PanPan, she buys all the usual baby gear plus a soft red blanket, perfect for cuddling. Into the suitcase it goes, and Thomas heads for China.

At the orphanage, deliriously happy with her new baby in her arms, Thomas notices that PanPan won’t meet her gaze. Building attachment will take time and effort, consistency, faith, and patience. In their hotel room, Thomas talks encouragingly about their new life together, but she recalls, “you weren’t listening. Instead, you looked around the room at the chair, the bed, the bureau….You looked everywhere but at me.”

After a day of rejection, Thomas remembers the red blanket tucked away in her suitcase and cuddles her daughter in it. At last, with PanPan snuggled in the warm folds of that soft blanket, the two begin to bond.

Our Thoughts: This book is about international adoption and does a good job of relating to what the mom and the child are feeling. There is no father present in the story, which is sad. We love the idea of having a special blanket for the child to hold and cherish.

Halloween Festivities

We LOVE Halloween! It is such a fun time of year! We have many traditions, parties and fun costumes to look forward to.

We went to a local garden center pumpkin patch, that had a hay maze, corn to play in and lots of fun games (and bounce houses!)
I love how Caden totally tackled this thing in the bounce house! Makes me so proud!
Our good friends invited us to a Halloween party with tractor rides, games, trick-or-treating, great food and great company! This year, Caden was Luigi and Chase was Toad.We love carving and decorating pumpkins! I think this was Caden's last year to paint his pumpkin. He painted the names of all the family on there.
(including Chase! What a sweet brother!)Russ was beyond excited to do a Calvin and Hobbes themed pumpkin this year!
We went trick-or-treating at Russ' work. Caden was so excited! Chase was the star of the day, because everyone LOVED seeing him!
We have an annual Mystery Dinner, but that will get its own post. Stay tuned for fun pics!

Our church has a fall festival every year with a chili cook-off, festival games and then a trunk-or-treat for the kids. Russ dressed up as Mario and I was Princess Peach.
I took the kids to the park on Halloween to get pics in their costumes. Too cute!