The other day I blogged about getting contacted about adopting a baby girl due in March in my own state. My hubby said 4 kids was our number, and 5 kids is a bit much for us.
So last night we were talking about something and he said, "you have 5 kids...."
And I stopped him mid-sentence and said "What?!?! You said that I have 5 kids! Does that mean we can submit our profile to this expectant mom?!"
Sorry, Charlie. No dice. :(
Boo.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Ultrasound
Open adoption is creating relationships I never would have dreamed about 5 or even 10 years ago! I had mentioned before that Cambria's birthparents are expecting again....and they are placing this new baby for adoption too. They have picked an adoptive family that lives closer to them, and I am facebook friends with the new adoptive mom. I have texted with her and talked to her on the phone. Really nice person she is, and I think she will be a great mom. Our children are going to be full birth siblings. Since I found out J was pregnant way back in June or July, I kept calling this new baby a girl. I just had a feeling. I was so bummed that this baby was going to be placed for adoption- my hubby said I was acting like I was the one who was going to be placing my child for adoption. It was almost as if I was losing a piece of my daughter. I wanted to keep the girls together, or at least in contact down the road. But now that I've talked to the new prospective adoptive mom, I have no doubt the girls will have contact throughout their lives. J had to go to the ER a while back, and told me she had an ultrasound done to make sure the baby was ok, and they couldn't be certain, but thought the baby was a girl. (I was right! A ha!) Then she sent me a letter telling me she picked out baby names for a boy and a girl. Wha? Wait~ I thought she said it was a girl! She said they weren't certain of the gender. I still felt in my gut the baby was a girl! She invited us to visit her and the new adoptive family in the hospital when she has the baby........Welcome to open adoption in 2013! And because of the kind of person I am, I would totally go if we didn't live on the other side of the country....I would love to get pictures of all of the 3 families coming together in the name of open adoption.
J told me that the new adoptive parents were going to take her to get a 3-D ultrasound the other day (truth be told, I was a wee bit jealous because I don't have any 3-D ultrasound pictures of Cambria...but as my ever sensible husband said....V, you have the baby...isn't that enough?) She said she would text me the pictures, and I could get them printed for Cambria's NC birthfamily scrapbook I have for her. So guess who sent me a text picture the day of the 3-D ultrasound exclaiming "It's a GIRL!!!"
The new adoptive mom. Yep! Not Cambria's birthmom. Interesting? I am so glad that the other adoptive mom and I have this kind of relationship already. I am so happy for her that she is finally going to be a mother. It's so weird how I feel so connected to them already because our daughters share the same blood. Even though my daughter doesn't share my blood! My daugher is going to have an abundance of siblings- biological and adopted. I'm happy for her and what the future holds.
J told me that the new adoptive parents were going to take her to get a 3-D ultrasound the other day (truth be told, I was a wee bit jealous because I don't have any 3-D ultrasound pictures of Cambria...but as my ever sensible husband said....V, you have the baby...isn't that enough?) She said she would text me the pictures, and I could get them printed for Cambria's NC birthfamily scrapbook I have for her. So guess who sent me a text picture the day of the 3-D ultrasound exclaiming "It's a GIRL!!!"
The new adoptive mom. Yep! Not Cambria's birthmom. Interesting? I am so glad that the other adoptive mom and I have this kind of relationship already. I am so happy for her that she is finally going to be a mother. It's so weird how I feel so connected to them already because our daughters share the same blood. Even though my daughter doesn't share my blood! My daugher is going to have an abundance of siblings- biological and adopted. I'm happy for her and what the future holds.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
She Looks Like You
Someone posted this on Facebook today, and I loved it. This happens to me too....ALL.THE.TIME! People are always telling me that Cambria looks like me. It makes me wonder, though, if we had had a biological daughter, would she have looked like me? My boys mostly look like Dave. Jacob looks like me more than the other two boys do. The funny thing is that Cambria probably looks more like me than a biological daughter would have! Cambria's birthparents really don't look anything like me, so it's interesting that she looks like me! We have the same blue eyes. But we didn't adopt her hoping that she would look like our family. I thought she would have much redder hair, because her birthbrother and birthgrandma do. Her birth father has strawberry-blonde/reddish hair.
Here we are on her very 1st birthday!!
This is Zack and Cambria. I think they look kinda similar in this picture. Big brother was giving her a ride on her Princess car! So sweet!
Above all, it doesn't really matter to us if Cambria looks like us or not. We love her so much. It is cool to see how God orchestrates everything and builds our families for us! I've read so many adoption stories/articles/blogs, and one thing I've read over and over again from adoptees is if they didn't look like their adoptive families, then they felt out of place and felt like they didn't quite fit in. So at least Cambria won't feel that way.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am beyond thankful for my husband, kids, adoption blessing, parents, family, and ibu.profen....I can take it after my grueling Cross.fit workouts when my legs are beyond hurting! HA!
Here we are on her very 1st birthday!!
This is Zack and Cambria. I think they look kinda similar in this picture. Big brother was giving her a ride on her Princess car! So sweet!
Above all, it doesn't really matter to us if Cambria looks like us or not. We love her so much. It is cool to see how God orchestrates everything and builds our families for us! I've read so many adoption stories/articles/blogs, and one thing I've read over and over again from adoptees is if they didn't look like their adoptive families, then they felt out of place and felt like they didn't quite fit in. So at least Cambria won't feel that way.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am beyond thankful for my husband, kids, adoption blessing, parents, family, and ibu.profen....I can take it after my grueling Cross.fit workouts when my legs are beyond hurting! HA!
Monday, November 25, 2013
Interesting Phone Call
This past Saturday was National Adoption Day! I saw this saying somewhere, and I love it: "Adoption done right is a beautiful thing".
Last Thursday, I got a call from this adoption attorney's office that I had sent profile books to 2 years ago. They called me last August or September (before Cambria was born) to see if we wanted to be presented to 3 expectant mothers who were making an adoption plan. I said yes. The birth moms said no....to us. Sigh, more rejection. Then I got contacted a few more times around the same time to be shown to expectant mothers. Either we felt it wasn't a good fit, or we weren't chosen. I remember saying that even though these birth moms didn't choose us, that I felt like our time was coming...we were getting close. How right I was! Cambria was born on 9/23 and was placed in our arms on 9/26. Coincidentally, 9/26 was the same date of my bridal shower! (But in 1998!) I haven't heard another peep from that adoption attorney's office since...... and truth be told, I was so busy with a newborn and 4 kids and life in general that I forgot to call and tell them we adopted a daughter, and to take us off the list.
Fast forward to this past Thursday, I was walking out of the post office after mailing a package to Cambria's birthmom...it is her full biological brother's birthday this week. My phone rang and it was the adoption attorney's office calling to see if we wanted to be presented to an expectant mom who is having a girl and is due in March. She is due 3 days after Cambria's birthmom. Weird? Coincidence? I really wanted to say yes. My hubby said no. "Remember Vicki? We adopted our baby girl! We are done growing our family." Besides, our home study expired in July and we didn't even consider renewing it because our family felt complete. Also, if we were to adopt again, I would want to adopt the baby that Cambria's birth mom is pregnant with right now. I would want to keep the sisters together.
Still......I told her I'd talk to the hubs and call her back! Gah! I would LOVE to have 2 daughters! I would love for Cambria to have a little sister to play with....and they would be almost 18 months apart. I even called our home study agency to see how hard it would be to renew our home study now that it has expired. I got their voicemail. Was that a sign? (You know how I am a firm believer in signs!) OK so then there's the issue of cost. One reason I didn't even bring up to Cambria's birthmom adopting her new baby is because of the high cost of this adoption- more than Cambria's. This other case is a fraction of the typical adoption cost. My hubby's response to that? We just got Cambria off of bottles and formula and threw the bottles out and gave all of her baby stuff she has outgrown away! And 5 kids is a lot. Sigh.... yes, yes I know that. I think if I didn't, I would be pressing D a lot harder to let us be presented to this expectant mom. The case sounded pretty perfect for us, and she lives in my state! No ICPC or plane tickets or hotel rooms with a newborn!
But then the other part of me says "Then Cami wouldn't be my baby anymore." And I really want her to be my baby forever and not take that away from her.
Oh well, it was food for thought. If this whole adoption experience has taught me anything (besides patience!), it was this: all through the waiting period, I was worried nobody would pick us and we would never get to adopt a baby girl. Well, we were in fact chosen several times, and all the other cases didn't work out for one reason or another. Even after Cambria was in our home, I have been contacted multiple times about either being chosen already or being presented to another expectant mom. We would have eventually adopted our daughter. I wish I had believed that beforehand, and saved myself all the worry. So to anyone who is still in the waiting period: have faith. It will happen. The baby that was meant to be yours will find you.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Cami will be old enough this year to eat the yummy turkey and all the fixin's! :)
Last Thursday, I got a call from this adoption attorney's office that I had sent profile books to 2 years ago. They called me last August or September (before Cambria was born) to see if we wanted to be presented to 3 expectant mothers who were making an adoption plan. I said yes. The birth moms said no....to us. Sigh, more rejection. Then I got contacted a few more times around the same time to be shown to expectant mothers. Either we felt it wasn't a good fit, or we weren't chosen. I remember saying that even though these birth moms didn't choose us, that I felt like our time was coming...we were getting close. How right I was! Cambria was born on 9/23 and was placed in our arms on 9/26. Coincidentally, 9/26 was the same date of my bridal shower! (But in 1998!) I haven't heard another peep from that adoption attorney's office since...... and truth be told, I was so busy with a newborn and 4 kids and life in general that I forgot to call and tell them we adopted a daughter, and to take us off the list.
Fast forward to this past Thursday, I was walking out of the post office after mailing a package to Cambria's birthmom...it is her full biological brother's birthday this week. My phone rang and it was the adoption attorney's office calling to see if we wanted to be presented to an expectant mom who is having a girl and is due in March. She is due 3 days after Cambria's birthmom. Weird? Coincidence? I really wanted to say yes. My hubby said no. "Remember Vicki? We adopted our baby girl! We are done growing our family." Besides, our home study expired in July and we didn't even consider renewing it because our family felt complete. Also, if we were to adopt again, I would want to adopt the baby that Cambria's birth mom is pregnant with right now. I would want to keep the sisters together.
Still......I told her I'd talk to the hubs and call her back! Gah! I would LOVE to have 2 daughters! I would love for Cambria to have a little sister to play with....and they would be almost 18 months apart. I even called our home study agency to see how hard it would be to renew our home study now that it has expired. I got their voicemail. Was that a sign? (You know how I am a firm believer in signs!) OK so then there's the issue of cost. One reason I didn't even bring up to Cambria's birthmom adopting her new baby is because of the high cost of this adoption- more than Cambria's. This other case is a fraction of the typical adoption cost. My hubby's response to that? We just got Cambria off of bottles and formula and threw the bottles out and gave all of her baby stuff she has outgrown away! And 5 kids is a lot. Sigh.... yes, yes I know that. I think if I didn't, I would be pressing D a lot harder to let us be presented to this expectant mom. The case sounded pretty perfect for us, and she lives in my state! No ICPC or plane tickets or hotel rooms with a newborn!
But then the other part of me says "Then Cami wouldn't be my baby anymore." And I really want her to be my baby forever and not take that away from her.
Oh well, it was food for thought. If this whole adoption experience has taught me anything (besides patience!), it was this: all through the waiting period, I was worried nobody would pick us and we would never get to adopt a baby girl. Well, we were in fact chosen several times, and all the other cases didn't work out for one reason or another. Even after Cambria was in our home, I have been contacted multiple times about either being chosen already or being presented to another expectant mom. We would have eventually adopted our daughter. I wish I had believed that beforehand, and saved myself all the worry. So to anyone who is still in the waiting period: have faith. It will happen. The baby that was meant to be yours will find you.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Cami will be old enough this year to eat the yummy turkey and all the fixin's! :)
Monday, November 18, 2013
20 Years
This Friday (in case I forget to post on Friday- which is highly likely! HA!) will be our 20 year anniversary of being a couple! Of course I have no pictures to post today. I suck at that, and I am sorry! We met on a blind date. He was college roommates with my friend from high school. I actually could have met him about a year before that when my high school friend invited me to go out for his 21st birthday party to a bar with a huge group of people. I had a boyfriend at the time, and he was only 20, so he couldn't go. So, I stayed home with him. Anyways, I found out years later that my hubby was actually out with the group that night! Dave and I grew up in Ohio about an hour away from each other, but met in Tucson at the University of AZ! He was friends in college with a bunch of people that I went to high school with. So at my 10 year high school reunion, he actually knew quite a bit of people there!
When I met him, I told him I was "career woman"....I was going to become a doctor (which I did), and I didn't want to get married or have kids. His response? "Ever???"
Fast forward 15 years down the road....to 2008.......we have 3 kids, and I am begging him for a 4th! LOL! Never say never! Ever! :)
And.....I am unemployed~ a stay-at-home-mom!
That man can put up with me like noone else! He is my rock. Always is the voice of reason and calmness.
And the best part? He is an amazing dad. Even better than I dreamed he'd be! My kids are so lucky that he is their dad.
Oh! One more memory. So when I turned 30, I finally felt that clock ticking...that urge to be a mommy. And when it showed up, it was ticking very LOUDLY! I remember tapping my watch and saying, "I want a baby! Like 9 months from today!" His response? "I was ready 6 months ago!"
I'll see if I can cough up some pictures- circa 1993 by Friday! :)
When I met him, I told him I was "career woman"....I was going to become a doctor (which I did), and I didn't want to get married or have kids. His response? "Ever???"
Fast forward 15 years down the road....to 2008.......we have 3 kids, and I am begging him for a 4th! LOL! Never say never! Ever! :)
And.....I am unemployed~ a stay-at-home-mom!
That man can put up with me like noone else! He is my rock. Always is the voice of reason and calmness.
And the best part? He is an amazing dad. Even better than I dreamed he'd be! My kids are so lucky that he is their dad.
Oh! One more memory. So when I turned 30, I finally felt that clock ticking...that urge to be a mommy. And when it showed up, it was ticking very LOUDLY! I remember tapping my watch and saying, "I want a baby! Like 9 months from today!" His response? "I was ready 6 months ago!"
I'll see if I can cough up some pictures- circa 1993 by Friday! :)
Monday, November 11, 2013
Happy Anniversary!
OK, I'm already off to a good start with posting more pictures on this blog! :)
Last month was our 15 year anniversary! The picture on the left was taken on the boat cruise from our honeymoon in FIJI! Isn't that water so amazingly blue?! And the picture on the right was taken on my back deck. We don't look too much different (read: older!) do we?!?!
Happy 15 years, baby! Here's to 15 more!
My Best Girl
This is so true! I always call Cami "my best girl"!
I am so blessed to get to be her mother. I love her so much. I saw this little poster thing on FB. But I have been good and haven't posted anything on FB this month! It's going by faster than I expected. And I haven't really posted much on my other FB page that I have for Cambria's birth family either. I've been really busy enjoying life (except for when I'm hit with a migraine). I've been having fun spending time with my family and friends.
Today is Veteran's day! Happy Veteran's day to all the veterans....thank you for your service.-- this includes my hubby! Who knew I had my own little veteran under the same roof as me?!
I am blogging less and less frequently lately. My days are jam-packed~ in a good way! My oldest son's fall travel baseball team won the championship game last weekend! How cool is that! Zack played catcher this season and was a wall behind the plate, if I do say so myself! He played 3rd base in his regular spring Little League season and during the All Stars tournaments this summer.
I have been terrible about posting pictures to this blog. It takes forever to post pictures on here. It is so much easier to post them to FB or Instagram. Sorry. I love to see people's pictures on other blogs, so I will work on posting more pictures on this blog.
My migraines have been really bad since the middle of July. August is usually a bad headache month, but September was wicked too, and October was chock full of headaches too. I went to the neurologist, and we decided to try Bo.tox for my migraines. I never wear make-up (except for once a year when we have our family Christmas pictures taken! HA!) and I never do cosmetic/plastic procedures like those lip or filler injecctions, so I am really doing the Bo.tox for my migraines. It's been 2 weeks, and the full effect of the med is supposed to kick in by today. I'm crossing my fingers that this works and I can have some relief. That's another reason I haven't been blogging as much....plagued with headaches, and not in the mood to sit in front of the computer and type..
The weather has been so amazing here lately! I am sinking into this false sense of security about the weather....that it is going to be this nice forever, and not get cold and snow soon!
OK, I'm talking about the weather now....it's time to go! Lol! No, actually I'm going to go drive Jacob to his friend's birthday party.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Halloween/ Facebook
I hope everyone had a great Halloween!
The kids were a minion (Zack and a bunch of his friends dressed up as a group of minions!), a Clone Trooper, a red ninja, and a bumble bee! So cute! (See picture collage below.)
I made a decision to not post or comment on Facebook for the month of November. GASP! I know! haha! It was a huge time suck. 2 years ago, I was eating so many cupcakes that on Nov. 1st I put myself into cupcake rehab. This year, I've decided to do FB rehab. I can still read stuff other people post and respond to private messages (because to ignore them would be just plain rude!!) Plus, local friends sometimes post stuff and invites on FB to get together, and I wouldn't wanna miss fun get-togethers! That being said, I will still post pictures on my other FB account that is for Cambria's birth family.
Plus, do you know what November is? National Adoption Month! I love adoption and the blessing it gave me and my family.
I will instead spend the time I normally would have spent on Facebook training seriously for this half-marathon I crazily signed myself up to do! It's Jan. 19th and it's the Disney.land Tinker.bell Half marathon. I'm running it with my BFF Missy from med school. I can't believe I let her talk me into this! HA! I did 4.3 miles yesterday on the treadmill while Cambria was napping. I would love to run outdoors more, but for now I have to settle for the treadmill while she is napping. Hey, at least I have the TV to stare at and get to watch my favoite mystery detective shows!
The kids were a minion (Zack and a bunch of his friends dressed up as a group of minions!), a Clone Trooper, a red ninja, and a bumble bee! So cute! (See picture collage below.)
I made a decision to not post or comment on Facebook for the month of November. GASP! I know! haha! It was a huge time suck. 2 years ago, I was eating so many cupcakes that on Nov. 1st I put myself into cupcake rehab. This year, I've decided to do FB rehab. I can still read stuff other people post and respond to private messages (because to ignore them would be just plain rude!!) Plus, local friends sometimes post stuff and invites on FB to get together, and I wouldn't wanna miss fun get-togethers! That being said, I will still post pictures on my other FB account that is for Cambria's birth family.
Plus, do you know what November is? National Adoption Month! I love adoption and the blessing it gave me and my family.
I will instead spend the time I normally would have spent on Facebook training seriously for this half-marathon I crazily signed myself up to do! It's Jan. 19th and it's the Disney.land Tinker.bell Half marathon. I'm running it with my BFF Missy from med school. I can't believe I let her talk me into this! HA! I did 4.3 miles yesterday on the treadmill while Cambria was napping. I would love to run outdoors more, but for now I have to settle for the treadmill while she is napping. Hey, at least I have the TV to stare at and get to watch my favoite mystery detective shows!
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