Tears from the Heart

YAY!! I finally got the help I needed to finish our letter!! The good news is that it was easy for my friend to figure out....the bad news, I pretty much have to redo all my pages since I created them in the wrong resolution....oops!!

Well, with the re-creation of these pages I found myself googling adoption quotes and saying and found this one, which is so VERY, VERY true....it brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy because its how I feel as an adopted person.

Luck
I didn't come from out of my mother.
I don't have my father's green eyes.
No one in my family looks like me.
People are always surprised.

I think we're a happier family
Than if we were all kings and queens.
We're so lucky we all found each other.
That's what being adopted means.

--"Luck" by Pamela Espeland and Marilyn Nelson (Waniek), from The Cat Walked Through the Casserole

Here is another one that I just LOVE:

Legacy of an Adopted Child
Once there were two women who never knew each other
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother

Two different lives shaped to make you one
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun

The first one gave you life, and the second one taught you how to live it
The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name
One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears

One made an adoption plan, that was all that she could do
The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

Now, which of these two women, Are you the product of?
Both, my darling, Both, Just two different types of love.

--Unknown

We are getting closer and closer everyday.....once we complete the Birthmother letter we will submit it to AdoptHelp and then we wait......
While we wait, we will be painting the nursery.....I'll post pictures when we start and when we finish so you can see what we decided to do. Thanks for all your support!! =0)

Letter update and Nursery ideas

Many of you have been asking about our letter....it's going GREAT but on hold. I'm struggling with the Photoshop program, so until I can get 1 of my fabulous friends to come help me...it'll sit unfinished. =0)

Since I have quite a bit of free time (haha), I've been researching uni-sex nurseries. Why uni-sex?? Most birthmoms will not find out the sex of the baby they are giving up since it can be an attatchment issue....so most adoptive parents won't know the sex of their baby until the baby is born. I have to say that, this day in age, MOST people find out the sex of the baby and so that means that MOST of the nursery ideas are specific to a boy or girl....it's been hard to find good ideas for greens and yellows. I've found a couple of different ideas that we like. Take a look and let me know what you think.

This is our #1 favorite idea - Color and all

My 2nd choice, not Dan's - The color combo of yellow and black & white

I thought this was cute and different...but not sure if it's uni-sex enough

Birthmother Letter

We are in the process of writing our Birthmother (Bm) Letter. This is a letter that will be shown to "matching" Bms as an introduction to us. It's full of pictures along with who we are as a couple and as individuals. We have a good rough draft going. Our letter must also be creative...meaning: full of pictures and color to show our personalities. I am currently using Photoshop to create a digital scrapbook for our letter. Here are a couple of pages (they are still in the works so bare with me....plus I'm still learning how to use Photoshop and scrapbook)!! Our (personal) deadline, the firm doesn't create a deadline it's purely up to us, to complete the letter is the beginning of July.

These are still "works in progress"

AdoptHelp has GREAT stats for placement. Once a Bm letter is completed and approved the average wait is 6 months for bringing home our lil' Locklear. Another stat of theirs is their placement stat: In 2009 they had 132 adoptive parents enter the program and 124 newborns placed. =0)

The Beginning

Hello friends and family!! Since we have so many of you asking about our adoption, we thought we would create a blog so you may receive updates.

As most of you may know, we have started the process for a domestic adoption for a newborn. We have picked the firm of who we will go through to adopt....drum roll please....AdoptHelp. They are out of the bay area of California. They are a law firm that specializes in domestic newborn adoptions. They have been great to work with and are very friendly!! We chose AdoptHelp because once a Birthmom signs up with them, AdoptHelp will walk them through their pregnancy and all the milestones prior to "matching" with Adoptive parents. Once the Birthmom hits her 3rd trimester and has a clear understanding of adoption and that they are fully committed to adoption, AdoptHelp will introduce the Adoptive parents.

The way the process works: We complete a (lengthy) questionnaire about who we prefer for a Birthmother and child....everything from race to sex to drug/alcohol use. The Birthmother will do the same and AdoptHelp will review all questionnaires and then "match" us with a Birthmom. The Birthmom will have 3 Adoptive parents to preview and choose from. Once "matched" we will meet....which our Birthmom could be here in Idaho or she could be clear across the country....you never know. If it is long distance then we will meet via phone & photos.

We are pretty thrilled to go through such an amazing journey for our lil' Locklear!!