Niece Day!!

About once a month, we are lucky enough to babysit our 1.5 year old niece for an entire day.  We had so much fun!

Our dogs are so good with her.  She has started trying to pick them up and pull on their ears. They don't even react.

She loved playing with the Connect Four.

At the neighborhood park.  She loved the slide.

Cuddling with her uncle's stuffed monkey before nap time.

Hanging with Maya

Today was our friend Jada's 4th birthday.  (She is the girl that Laura is holding in our Dear Birthmother letter).    We got the chance to also hang out with Maya, her little sister.  We could not think of a more perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon at the park.

Jumbotron

I have been lucky recently to spend a lot of time with my 7 year old niece.  Every holiday that we get together, I always make a point of hanging out with her since she is the only kid who is between 1.5 years old and 18 in our family.  So, when my cheerleaders had a kids camp, I wanted to make sure she came.  Her grandpa said that, "Aiyana really likes you and jumped at the chance to spend a whole day with you." :)  So here she is, a little lost in the routine, at the kids camp.

A few days later, we were invited to go to the Sharks game with her and her family.  We were having such a good time that we made the Jumbotron!  

After we ended up on the screen, I got lots of texts from friends who saw us on the Jumbotron.  So fun!

Aiyana is amazing with our 1.5 year old niece.  I know she will be so good with our child one day too.

The Holidays

Now that the Christmas tree and decorations are put away, I have time to reflect on how incredible the holiday season was for me as a child.  I remember driving around a looking at Christmas lights, putting Christmas songs on the stereo and decorating the tree.  Each year we get an ornament that reflects something important to us at that point in our lives.  I love taking out all of the ornaments and remembering sports I played, trips I took, and things that I loved.  It takes us all day to tell stories and decorate the tree.

Every year, I looked forward to baking cookies with my mom.  I have collected most of the family recipes over the years and am excited to continue the traditions of having cinnamon bread and egg casserole on Christmas morning, homemade Chex mix in the afternoon, and Auntie Mae's cookies with homemade pie after dinner.

With some of the guests at the Christmas eve Open House - 2006

I always loved our family's open house on Christmas eve, where friends and family dropped by to celebrate with us, having dinner, and then going to the late night candlelight service at church.

As soon as we got home, we would put out cookies, milk, and carrots (for the reindeer).  I would carefully write a note to Santa and would be so excited the next morning to read what he wrote back to me.

Our Christmas boots in 1987

Christmas 2012 - Esteban is excited to teach a child to fly a kite with his new monkey kite from his boot

Each morning, we would empty our Christmas boots (made by my grandfather).  Included in the stash was always a jigsaw puzzle that we would spend the day working on.  After lunch, we always played card games or dominoes and laughed for hours.














In our family, gift wrapping was almost as important as what was inside.  Not only were the packages beautiful, but each year one gift would often include a scavenger hunt or another similar way to make us laugh as we unwrapped.

My mother and I by the tree - 2004

We can hardly wait to have a child that we can spend Christmas with and introduce them to all of the family traditions and memories.

Christmas 2012 Family picture in our Christmas sweaters

Visiting my parents on Christmas 2012

Christmas with my grandmother - 2001

We are in circulation!!!

We are so excited that we are in circulation!  That means that, at any moment, we could get a phone call or email from a birthmother.  We are so excited to start a family and to meet someone who will become a part of our extended family.  I carry my phone with me everywhere, just hoping that it will ring!

Dear Birthmother Letter approved!!!

Our Dear Birthmother has been officially approved.  The copies are ordered and will arrive on November 7.  As of later today, all other paperwork will be in.  That means that in just a matter of days, we will be officially in the pool and we could make a match at any time.  The average time from joining the pool to match is 14.8 months, so we are still probably in for a long wait, but we are excited that any time my phone rings, we could be meeting the mother of our child!  We cannot wait to be parents and to get to know the mother that will become so important to us.

My adoption

As we get closer to getting into adoption circulation, my mom decided to send over a picture of my own adoption.  This really caused me to  think about what my adoption has meant to me.  I have always known that I was adopted.  My parents made it clear to me that they wanted a little girl.  My mom always tells the story of how she was so excited when she got the call that she dropped the pan of chicken that she was making on the ground.  I understood that I was loved and that I was chosen, even if I didn't quite understand it.  In my head, I thought that I was in a little cage like a pet store and that my parents chose me from there.  Regardless of how I came into the family, I knew that I was glad to be a part of it.

Check it out.  My parents in all of their 70's glory on my adoption day.

My adoption was closed.  I did not have the opportunity to meet my birth mother until I was twenty.  I will never be able to meet my birth father.  When I grew up, I wasn't able to know why I was placed for adoption or anything about my past.  Whenever a teacher asked for my ethnic background or my doctor asked for my medical history, I didn't have any answers.  When I was twenty, I was allowed to search with my parents' permission.  My mom understood that I wasn't looking to replace them, but because I really wanted to know more about who I was and where I came from.  She said, "Laura, you can never have too many people who love you."  When I met my birthmother, Cheryl, I learned that she had spent her whole life wondering if I was okay.  She carried around guilt that I was angry at her (I wasn't).  It upset me to learn that she was feeling guilt that she didn't need to feel.  I was okay.  I love my parents.  I wish that I could have told her that many years earlier. 

This experience makes me so supportive of the idea of open adoption.  My future child can never have too many people that love him/her.  I really look forward to expanding our family and friends to include our child's birthparents.  I think it is best for the birthparent, me, and most importantly, for my future child.