Todd went to Pennsylvania this morning. His Aunt's husband passed away earlier this week & he's meeting his family up there. My best friend from college & her mom came down from South Carolina today. They wanted to come see the pond. Cindy wrote a really wonderful birth-mother letter. She & her husband, John, asked Todd & me to take care of their son last year after he was born - if something should happen to them. She wrote about that in the letter and it was touching!
Tonight, my friend Cecilia came by & brought her daughter Cristina over. Cristina is 7 3/4 years old. She and I hung around the pond and IN the pond for awhile playing with the fish. Then a hawk swooped down. (I saw one earlier today with a squirrel in it's talons.) Cristina & I set up a barrier around the pond with chairs so that the hawk couldn't swoop down and get the fish. We're inside now watching High School Musical and playing with the cats. Cristina asked if I could be her aunt. sure!
I should go.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Some more letters
I need to write and request some more letters of support (the effort I did last weekend didn't cover all of my family... some people got the request / others did not... so the ones that didn't get letters think that I didn't want them to write something up on our behalf. NOT TRUE!) I'll send out 3 or 4 more tonight to make sure I've got everyone covered.
But - I really post on the blog tonight b/c I got in a few more letters today from friends. One from the neighbor's girlfriend, Connie, who we've known for several years... and two letters from a life-long friend, Susan, and her husband, Chad. One was to me from her. The other was to Todd and me from the two of them. Susan was one of the first people who we told that we were pursuing adoption -- and she's been so excited and encouraging. She's the best!
Later. C
But - I really post on the blog tonight b/c I got in a few more letters today from friends. One from the neighbor's girlfriend, Connie, who we've known for several years... and two letters from a life-long friend, Susan, and her husband, Chad. One was to me from her. The other was to Todd and me from the two of them. Susan was one of the first people who we told that we were pursuing adoption -- and she's been so excited and encouraging. She's the best!
Later. C
Sunday, August 19, 2007
the end of a busy weekend...
It's Sunday night & we're winding down. We had a busy weekend!
Saturday, I volunteered at a Teacher's Supply Storehouse event -- a place where businesses donate left over products / supplies... and teachers can come "shop" for free stuff that they can use in their classroom. I hadn't ever gone before & I wanted to check it out. It's a neat concept / a great way to use items that can't be recycled. Saves them from going into a landfill. I had a neighborhood planning meeting, we ran errands, then we cleaned house for a little while b/c we had company coming over Saturday night.
Paul & Roberta, former next-door neighbors came because we asked to talk to them about their adoption experiences. They adopted two children: one a boy who's now 8 years old and a girl who is 4. They started out at an agency and ended up getting both children through independent adoption. (Much like the couple who we talked to a couple of weeks ago.) I think it helped us become more resolute about our decision to "cast a wide net" amongst friends, family, colleagues and get the word on the street that we're interested in adoption... see what happens... then go through an agency. Also, they said something nice, too, about how they feel about their kids. They don't think about the fact that they didn't have the kids on their own. They actually "forget" that the kids are adopted. They're theirs through and through. (The pond & fish were a real hit with their kids.)
When we got home from dinner, we noticed that a neighbor had dropped off a letter. A young couple who lives around the corner from us - who have a toddler - wrote a beautiful letter for us to put on the website. We enjoy hanging out with them / they're a fun couple... he flies for a living & is out a lot. We hope to spend more time with them (Karen & Brandon) and their son as the years go on. Maybe our kids will play together one day?
This morning, we had people over for brunch. A couple of other architecture couples, the twin sister of one of the architects, and all of their kids (4 plus one infant). The sister, Naomi, and I have become close over the years because she was going through IVF right before I was and we talked a lot (although she lived in Michigan at the time). She has a beautiful daughter as a result of her IVF procedure... but she told me today that she would consider adoption rather than go through the medical stuff again... because "now" is the part where you get the love from the child and it's the most rewarding. I thought that was nice to hear. The kids played baseball, bocce, ran around the yard, swung in the hammock, and - of course - ran around the pond and stream. So far, kids LOVE it! We had 10 - 12 dragon flies buzzing around today. It was the most we had seen so far.
Finally, the weekend came to a close with a tour of the house and dinner up on the square with the parents of a friend of mine from high school who died in a car crash our senior year. I've kept in touch with them ever since and about every year or two, we get together to catch up, but we write and send emails to one another a lot more often. They hadn't seen the house or pond, nor been to our great little square. Joyce & Danny also brought over a really touching letter for us to put on the website.
All of this support from friends, neighbors, co-workers has been great. It seems that we feel a little bit better about our decision every day. It IS the right thing to do!
(Side note: We love our house... especially when it's clean!)
Goodnight, C
Saturday, I volunteered at a Teacher's Supply Storehouse event -- a place where businesses donate left over products / supplies... and teachers can come "shop" for free stuff that they can use in their classroom. I hadn't ever gone before & I wanted to check it out. It's a neat concept / a great way to use items that can't be recycled. Saves them from going into a landfill. I had a neighborhood planning meeting, we ran errands, then we cleaned house for a little while b/c we had company coming over Saturday night.
Paul & Roberta, former next-door neighbors came because we asked to talk to them about their adoption experiences. They adopted two children: one a boy who's now 8 years old and a girl who is 4. They started out at an agency and ended up getting both children through independent adoption. (Much like the couple who we talked to a couple of weeks ago.) I think it helped us become more resolute about our decision to "cast a wide net" amongst friends, family, colleagues and get the word on the street that we're interested in adoption... see what happens... then go through an agency. Also, they said something nice, too, about how they feel about their kids. They don't think about the fact that they didn't have the kids on their own. They actually "forget" that the kids are adopted. They're theirs through and through. (The pond & fish were a real hit with their kids.)
When we got home from dinner, we noticed that a neighbor had dropped off a letter. A young couple who lives around the corner from us - who have a toddler - wrote a beautiful letter for us to put on the website. We enjoy hanging out with them / they're a fun couple... he flies for a living & is out a lot. We hope to spend more time with them (Karen & Brandon) and their son as the years go on. Maybe our kids will play together one day?
This morning, we had people over for brunch. A couple of other architecture couples, the twin sister of one of the architects, and all of their kids (4 plus one infant). The sister, Naomi, and I have become close over the years because she was going through IVF right before I was and we talked a lot (although she lived in Michigan at the time). She has a beautiful daughter as a result of her IVF procedure... but she told me today that she would consider adoption rather than go through the medical stuff again... because "now" is the part where you get the love from the child and it's the most rewarding. I thought that was nice to hear. The kids played baseball, bocce, ran around the yard, swung in the hammock, and - of course - ran around the pond and stream. So far, kids LOVE it! We had 10 - 12 dragon flies buzzing around today. It was the most we had seen so far.
Finally, the weekend came to a close with a tour of the house and dinner up on the square with the parents of a friend of mine from high school who died in a car crash our senior year. I've kept in touch with them ever since and about every year or two, we get together to catch up, but we write and send emails to one another a lot more often. They hadn't seen the house or pond, nor been to our great little square. Joyce & Danny also brought over a really touching letter for us to put on the website.
All of this support from friends, neighbors, co-workers has been great. It seems that we feel a little bit better about our decision every day. It IS the right thing to do!
(Side note: We love our house... especially when it's clean!)
Goodnight, C
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tuesday Night
I got home late tonight - I went to Katy's house to have dinner / see her 2 year old son.
He started out shy, but we played for awhile & he warmed up. He's a really cute kid. (He really liked my kitty-cat shoes, too... he'd walk around meowing.)
So, I have a little time to check emails - and I got a couple of really nice, encouraging emails as well as a great voicemail on the answering machine. (We sent out more cards and emails over the weekend.) Oh - and we got our first card today to scan onto the website. (Thanks, Kelly!!) I'm excited to get this effort rolling. I have an offering from a neighbor to help set up some WYSIWYG website stuff -- and was told it's better / more creative than using HTML. Thanks Eric!!! I can't wait to lay this thing out / come up with a look. And - our friend Bob, in San Fran offered to help with some web stuff too. I think with Eric's technical help and Bob's creativity... we should have a great site. I should start "storyboarding" it soon. I'll post a link at some point.
We are really touched so far by people's willingness to help (in writing letters / sending encouragement / offering to assist with web stuff). It feels like there's a big group of folks who WANT us to become parents! yay.
goodnight.
c
He started out shy, but we played for awhile & he warmed up. He's a really cute kid. (He really liked my kitty-cat shoes, too... he'd walk around meowing.)
So, I have a little time to check emails - and I got a couple of really nice, encouraging emails as well as a great voicemail on the answering machine. (We sent out more cards and emails over the weekend.) Oh - and we got our first card today to scan onto the website. (Thanks, Kelly!!) I'm excited to get this effort rolling. I have an offering from a neighbor to help set up some WYSIWYG website stuff -- and was told it's better / more creative than using HTML. Thanks Eric!!! I can't wait to lay this thing out / come up with a look. And - our friend Bob, in San Fran offered to help with some web stuff too. I think with Eric's technical help and Bob's creativity... we should have a great site. I should start "storyboarding" it soon. I'll post a link at some point.
We are really touched so far by people's willingness to help (in writing letters / sending encouragement / offering to assist with web stuff). It feels like there's a big group of folks who WANT us to become parents! yay.
goodnight.
c
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Biomimicry & Chihuly
Todd worked all day today (Saturday)... so Connie (a neighbor's girlfriend) and I drove up to north GA mountains to go to a pond store. Todd & I were there last weekend for my company retreat / checked out the store & found a sale on Lotus plants. We have been wanting a lotus for awhile. The leaves have this coating on them that repels water. You can drop a handful of water on a leaf and it will hold it & eventually tip over / spill out. It's fun to play with.
Ok. Here's something that I think is absolutely AMAZING. Scientists are studying the Lotus leaf to learn how it repels water so well. They are applying this information to products (Georgia Tech researchers are making a coating for solar panels so that they don't get dirty or scummy and eventually degrade the ability to collect solar energy. This technology will be applied to building glass so that building owners won't have to hire window washers to scale up high-rise buidlings to clean windows. I bet that eventually car paints will be made out of this coating so that you don't have to wash them?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_effect
There's a movement called Biomimicry that studies nature to emulate properties (check out http://www.biomimicry.net/ for information.) The Lotus leaf research falls into that category. Scientists are studying geckos feets because they're stickier than anything else. Some carpet manufacturers are looking at using this technology to make carpets stick to the floor without using adhesives. So so cool! Check out the biomimicry website if you can. You won't be disappointed!
The Lotus plant that we bought today will have a yellow bloom on it when it eventually flowers. We also bought this Arrowhead plant that has graceful stems. Todd says that I like it because it looks like a Chihuly (blown glass) piece of art. Honestly - it does. It looks sort of like this one's stems: http://www.chihuly.com/ikebana/garden009.html
I'm rambling, but one of our FAVORITE art exhibits was the Chihuly "Gardens in Glass" exhibit that we saw when we travelled to Chicago. Ever since then, we've been huge fans of his plant pieces. (the baskets & bowls are cool, but the plant pieces - set amongst real plants and flowers is absolutely breathtaking. Check out one of his garden exhibits - if you ever get the chance.)
One last thing that we bought today: a set of 4 little kids chairs -- those old-timey school chairs. I have a thing for chairs (Todd says we have too many)... but they're really unique and I got the set for 20 bucks. I will probably paint them & stick them in the kid's room around an art table or something. (one day!)
I'm going to run. I'll check back in a day or two.
C
Ok. Here's something that I think is absolutely AMAZING. Scientists are studying the Lotus leaf to learn how it repels water so well. They are applying this information to products (Georgia Tech researchers are making a coating for solar panels so that they don't get dirty or scummy and eventually degrade the ability to collect solar energy. This technology will be applied to building glass so that building owners won't have to hire window washers to scale up high-rise buidlings to clean windows. I bet that eventually car paints will be made out of this coating so that you don't have to wash them?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_effect
There's a movement called Biomimicry that studies nature to emulate properties (check out http://www.biomimicry.net/ for information.) The Lotus leaf research falls into that category. Scientists are studying geckos feets because they're stickier than anything else. Some carpet manufacturers are looking at using this technology to make carpets stick to the floor without using adhesives. So so cool! Check out the biomimicry website if you can. You won't be disappointed!
The Lotus plant that we bought today will have a yellow bloom on it when it eventually flowers. We also bought this Arrowhead plant that has graceful stems. Todd says that I like it because it looks like a Chihuly (blown glass) piece of art. Honestly - it does. It looks sort of like this one's stems: http://www.chihuly.com/ikebana/garden009.html
I'm rambling, but one of our FAVORITE art exhibits was the Chihuly "Gardens in Glass" exhibit that we saw when we travelled to Chicago. Ever since then, we've been huge fans of his plant pieces. (the baskets & bowls are cool, but the plant pieces - set amongst real plants and flowers is absolutely breathtaking. Check out one of his garden exhibits - if you ever get the chance.)
One last thing that we bought today: a set of 4 little kids chairs -- those old-timey school chairs. I have a thing for chairs (Todd says we have too many)... but they're really unique and I got the set for 20 bucks. I will probably paint them & stick them in the kid's room around an art table or something. (one day!)
I'm going to run. I'll check back in a day or two.
C
Friday, August 10, 2007
I ended up sending out some letters to people to ask if they will write a letter on our behalf. I mailed out 6. Emailed out about the same. Hand-delivered about 8 to neighbors.
Already, I am bowled over by some of the emails and calls that I've gotten already. We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors.
Already, I am bowled over by some of the emails and calls that I've gotten already. We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Hi. I thought that I'd start up another one of these blogs. It's been 5 or more years since I did this the last time. Back then, we were just beginning the quest to start a family with fertility stuff... and we let a few people in on the blog (family, mostly) to keep up with our daily news. Unfortunately, that whole process didn't work for us (we tried a lot of stuff off and on for the past 5 years) and we decided last week to begin the process to pursue adoption.
We've talked briefly with a couple we know who have adopted and the main point of advice that they gave us: don't be shy about letting people know you want to adopt. You need to put yourself out there. So - this may be a good forum for that. We'll see.
We haven't done a lot of research yet. I've been reading a book which seems to be really negative (I think I'm going to stop reading it) and I've been reading some things on the web.
Last week, we met a couple at a dinner % concert who were talking about adoption so we dove into the conversation. They gave us a couple of websites to check into. Admittedly - I haven't checked the website on their agency yet. (I don't think I'm ready to look at agencies right now.)
Tonight, we just got back from the home of another couple who we didn't know but was also really open to talking about adoption. I found Julie's contact on a website that I was searching around on. She offered to pass along some information and talk to us / answer some questions. Since she lived close, we decided to go ahead and set it up. She and Mike were very informative and told us a bit about their experiences with independent adoptions, working with an agency, working with an adoption consultant, and working with an attorney. I walked away with a stack of papers about an inch high... and I have a list of "good" books to read. (She suggested that I burn the negative book I was reading... which I will likely do!)
I'm planning on working on a flier and a website so that we can get the word out. I could probably contact 300-500 people to cast a wide net for us and be on the lookout. Todd could probably contact another 200 or more people. If you're reading this blog -- you'll likely get the email or the flier that we'll want you to distribute to prospective birth parents you may know, school principals, councelors, baby-related medical professionals, etc. Stay tuned for that important document & link!
Already, I have a great line of support. My childhood friend, Susan, is making it her mission to help us get this done. She's already sent me some great websites and some data from a social worker that she knows. (Can you imagine the flood of info we could potentially gather once we cast that net? It's overwhelming and incredible -- just thinking about the potential!)
Well, I'll stop rambling. I should crash now & get some sleep.
Goodnight.
-candice
We've talked briefly with a couple we know who have adopted and the main point of advice that they gave us: don't be shy about letting people know you want to adopt. You need to put yourself out there. So - this may be a good forum for that. We'll see.
We haven't done a lot of research yet. I've been reading a book which seems to be really negative (I think I'm going to stop reading it) and I've been reading some things on the web.
Last week, we met a couple at a dinner % concert who were talking about adoption so we dove into the conversation. They gave us a couple of websites to check into. Admittedly - I haven't checked the website on their agency yet. (I don't think I'm ready to look at agencies right now.)
Tonight, we just got back from the home of another couple who we didn't know but was also really open to talking about adoption. I found Julie's contact on a website that I was searching around on. She offered to pass along some information and talk to us / answer some questions. Since she lived close, we decided to go ahead and set it up. She and Mike were very informative and told us a bit about their experiences with independent adoptions, working with an agency, working with an adoption consultant, and working with an attorney. I walked away with a stack of papers about an inch high... and I have a list of "good" books to read. (She suggested that I burn the negative book I was reading... which I will likely do!)
I'm planning on working on a flier and a website so that we can get the word out. I could probably contact 300-500 people to cast a wide net for us and be on the lookout. Todd could probably contact another 200 or more people. If you're reading this blog -- you'll likely get the email or the flier that we'll want you to distribute to prospective birth parents you may know, school principals, councelors, baby-related medical professionals, etc. Stay tuned for that important document & link!
Already, I have a great line of support. My childhood friend, Susan, is making it her mission to help us get this done. She's already sent me some great websites and some data from a social worker that she knows. (Can you imagine the flood of info we could potentially gather once we cast that net? It's overwhelming and incredible -- just thinking about the potential!)
Well, I'll stop rambling. I should crash now & get some sleep.
Goodnight.
-candice
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