The Christian Crew

Oh My Word - this has to be one of the hardest things for most of us to do. Like how often do you meet someone you want to impress and just unload all things private and sacred in your life on them? Practically Never! The same goes for Being In the Adoption community/world. It's a HARD space full of judgement on all sides. And most of those things we all judge each other on, are irrelevant in nature! Who Cares if you are a stay at home or work at home mom or if you cook dinner ever single night for your kids with 3 different tastes. Who even cares if the expectant mom is living on a diet of kool-aid and Cheetos.  The THING I've learned through adopting 3 times is that YOU have to LET things GO that don't matter and you have to LOVE someone where they are at! You can't wish someone better or change the fact that the Adoptive parents let the kid read Goosebumps at age 9 when you think they are too young. Just Stop it. Let's focus on Building each other UP and se...

 I found this awesome site via FB! I wanted to see what projectcuddle.org was all about! And  I found out! This organization was set up to SAVE babies from abandonment. According to the site research, over 20,000 babies in the US are abandoned every year. Lots of them are not even saved , meaning they end up in places like trash cans, boxes, ally dumpsters and so on. Some are placed by the parents in hospitals, fire stations and other places via the Safe Haven Law. Learn how to be a Rescue( adoptive) Family  and SAVE a child while gaining a precious member of your family! The Big difference with this Org , is that they DO NOT CHARGE A THING!!! What? Is this TrUe?  Well, according to the site- you do your own home study thru a reputable agency ( I know you can get one in CO for about 1,850.), and plan on having money set aside for travel, baby needs and such(please see site for ALL info). I think this is a great org and I'm excited to get involved when I ...

So , its been 7.5 years since our first open adoption and here's where we stand with everyone.( at least from my vantage point)... Brielle's Birth mom, Kara, has a full open adoption relationship- we visit when we can ( she is two states away) . Her parents and siblings and grandparents all keep in touch. We all visit when we can which is at least once a year but we shoot for more. we last saw her and the family in June! We love and miss them and are sad they are so far away but that's life! We have our birth families stay in our home when they visit and we stay with them when the opportunity arises. ANd we look forward to planning a vacation together next couple of years! Brielle's Birth dad- Kyle is still keeping his distance and still keeping his eye on us through FB and this blog but, that's all he can do right now and we respect that. His parents want more communication but we need to figure this all out again- its been 7 years since we have seen them. th...

 So, before we made it over to my mom's for Christmas last year,  We stopped in for a visit with Jessica and her family! They spoiled the kids as well!  Jessica got the girls an ice cream maker!  Grandpa MAX giving snuggles!  Great Grandparents Phil and Mary-Jo!  Jessica ( g's beautiful birthmom) & gpa Max  ( her dad)  Aunt Morgan opening G's gifts for him!( yep good looks run in this family!)  Opening more gifts!  Gav loved his playmat from Jessica! I know this next baby will get some use out of it as well! So, as you can see - Open adoption for us WORKS wonderfully! I know it may not for every situation but, in ours it's perfect harmony ( most of the time)! You can never have too many people that love your kids, your family, you! As long as the people are healthy ( mentally, emotionally etc.) than i say bring it on! And i do remind the birth families that my KIDS don't NEED lots of ...

From Brielle's Birth Grandparents this weekend! We are SOOO EXCITED! Phil & Dawn are so awesome and we love them like they were our own. They adopted us when we adopted Brielle! And we adopted all of Kara's Family! We love you all and can't wait to see you Saturday! PS . OPEN ADOPTION ROCKS!

Sunday, at the closing hymn at church was the Star Spangled Banner and as i snuggled Gavin in his sling, I belted out this heavenly ANTHEM with some gusto and joy! There were about 300+ people there so, only about 50 people could actually hear me. I LOVE our anthem and our country! Even in these hard and difficult times- I'd take living here over any other country any day! We are so blessed beyond belief. I'm grateful for religious freedoms and the God Given Agency we are born with to make our own choices! I'm ever indebted to our birth parents who made the most difficult of choices to give their children a fighting chance at success in this world and in a family unit. The way GOD ordained it! I am grateful for our troops who fight and serve and protect both past and present. We love and miss Jessie L and Brent H. - you are my family and friends! Both past and present heros served in many big and small roles in our military and we should always be praising their names ...

lest ye be judged... Where am i going with this post? Well, in a few directions but these ones specifically The role of an adoption advocate ( referred to as AA) is NOT to COAX people into wanting to adopt a baby or to convince women to place their child with others ! The Primary ROLE of an AA is : To impart one's love of adoption, the testimony of what adoption is to you, to educate, dispel adoption myths and unify others in this great miraculous process. And even though we and others may be hoping to adopt- it is not really our duty to TELL others what they should do , or cast judgment upon someone b/c they choose to parent instead of place! AP's should be very wise to not be pushy with their unwed pregnant associates. They need to understand that we all have our agency and opinions and they will all be very different. And no potential birth mom should feel obligated or guilt tripped into placing their baby- if that is not where their heart is leading them to! Here's a...

By our KEyNOtE SPEaKeR Kelsey Stewart! Adoptee asks a Tough ?

We have been getting ready for this Adoption Conference . Brandon will be speaking in the Adoptee Panel and I will be teaching the Adoption Advocacy Class. I have also been getting stuff rounded up for the door prizes, adoption arts display and more! I ordered some sweet binks from my friend Danielle - including this one! (PS- I'm the 1st person to ever put this on a bink) my friends Joelle & Almina took me to a place I've been longing to go- D Bar desserts owned by Keegan Gerhard and his wife. He is A Food Network Chef and Judge of almost EVERY CHALLENGE show on that channel. He made me a special egg-free dessert that night! Such a great place and great guy too! Last Saturday, Dara and I made this cake for her daughter Claire's Birthday! We had tons of fun. I made the tree, lots of leaves on both layers, some polka dots and flower centers! We had a blast making this! we added tons of cosmic sparkles:) So much fun!!! We are doing well- all of us are healthy and ha...

blogs about his feelings and experiences as he goes through this process! Such a great guy!!! READ IT HERE!

...of opinions don't just run rampant in the WORLD, they are all over the adoption community too. Take today.... I'm in the park and see this cute chinese baby being put into her swing. I look up and her mother is white, which generally leads to adoption ?'s that are always positive and not too intrusive b/c you never know where someone stands. Our conversation led to Brielle's adoption situation and the lady says"I think open adoptions are all about the birth parents- they are uneccessary and there is no REAL study that supports the " this is best for the child" bit! And you know - you can close your adoption at anytime don't you?"I'd never chose that so, we had to go foreign". I cited the ONE study i knew about and said the good and the bad about it but, ultimately- it stated the Obvious...when children know more about their adoptions and things are open- it's not a mystery or a secret...leads to healthier self esteem/ worth...an...

To Our Thanksgiving Visit with The Birth Family:) This is the Majority of Kara's Family. Great, Great Grandma couldn't make it that night! Dawn and Phil are Kara's Parents in the middle with the girls and Jr.! They are Grandma Dawn and Grandpa Phil to us now:) You can never have too much love! Grandpa Phil is such an amazing Man and great with all his Grand kids. Aria just LOVES getting tickled! And her laugh is addicting too! Brielle's Birth family is so amazing. I was talking with Dawn ( below) the other night and she said " You know , we really adopted you guys when you adopted Brielle!" We honestly feel like family and our love for them is just as strong as the love we have for our families- just different b/c they chose us and we chose them! We LOVE open adoption! Aria tries to get GPA PHIL back and tries to tickle him! It's so funny how little kids think they know how to tickle adults. So cute! Kara ( Brielle's tummy momma) and her baby boy...

We had our Colorado FSA meeting yesterday and we have so many COOL things in the works and underway and on our events calendar... Like a 5k run for Adoption , Our Regional Conference , Making Birth Parent Valentine's , Parade floats and so much more:) It makes me giddy with excitement to think about all that FSA is doing! So proud of the gang for all they do! Good Job Everyone!

little Madison!!! This is Jessica's Baby Girl! She is a birthmom placing with Jeff and Ciara! And has been so good to her mommies!!! Can't wait to see her again. Jessica had her today! She had a pretty fast labor and delivery and many visitors:) This family will be LOVED by all!!! I LOVE OPEN ADOPTIONS! Congrats Jessica, Ciara & Jeff! You are all so blessed. God has sent an angel to us today!!!

Aria is just getting over bronchitis and I'm not too happy about that. It all started when she caught a cold from some kids i sat a few days back. All 3 were hacking up. Then A gets a cold and B but, only Aria's turned into nasty bronchitis. Such is life- she is on the mend now! And is mostly happy lil' girl! We've pulled out the Halloween Decorations and i must admit... I'm a total Scaredy Cat! I can't do the cob webs, skulls and ghosts. I prefer fall leaves, pumpkins and other gourds, stalks of wheat, hay and just a few jack-o-lanterns. I know it's because of childhood bad dreams and i just don't like putting a BAD-ish or scary things around me or giving off a Yucky image of fright! So not me! I never dressed up as a dead something or other. I think i was only a witch once and that was the scariest thing i ever was. I was a gypsy, a grandma, Jazmin, cheerleader, princess, etc... Nothing really spooky ever! Sorry to disappoint anyone but that's how ...

So, i made up our flier for the Nov. Fireside( later evening meeting) and I'm inviting all people in the area to come to it! This will feature everyone involved in the adoption triad: Birth mother, adoptive couple, adoptee and special musical number and refreshments. Many ?'s will be answered for those of you who know little about what ADOPTION really is all about- in this era! I'm a rookie flier designer but, I was what they had to work with! Hopefully, it gets the message across!

I swear... I wish i knew all the answers but, I honestly DON'T! I'm not a liar or pretender and i don't say things that i don't mean. The reason i bring this up is b/c Kids these days feel this NEED to be accepted and SAY YES to everything- even if it means putting themselves in harms way just to feel some sort of belonging to something or someone. I have to hand it to some parents who have done all they can do but, what is comes down to is... I'm NOT going to BE that kind of parent ! I'm not going to overlook BAD friends or questionable visitors in my kids lives! I don't think you take a backseat approach to teens either... YOU stay involved. YOU love them even if They haven't figured out who they want to BE yet! Unconditional love (not enabling) is truly what kids and teens need. I 'm not ready to parent teens right now but, I am ready to HELP those around me get through stuff they aren't ready for- that has been inflicted on them by their pa...

Our profile is on itsaboutlove.org officially now. Just look our names up or click on the sidebar link to our profile:) We are getting a new family pic soon. This one is from last Nov. and Brandon HATES how he looks. He says he looks plump. whatever! My man looks great now!!!

So last Saturday, i finally got to SING in CO! You see the first time i was supposed to sing a solo- i ended up in the hospital 1.5 days before. That's the day we found the cyst. The next time i was supposed to sing for my ward (4 weeks later) but... I got laryngitis (lost my voice). I kept thinking " God must be saving my voice for a more opportune moment, i guess. SO, last Saturday after i took Jessica's pictures at 8am, coached v-ball at 9 am, I SANG at A baptism of a new friend! It went well enough and i am no longer afraid to perform again. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when i couldn't sing those other times. Though some people may think singing at a Baptism is just so-so, I think It's one of the most important times in someones life! And i Hope to use my voice more often to bring joy and the spirit into many upcoming meetings and gatherings! This Saturday... Our girls team won their 3rd V-ball game! Only 5 girls made it today but It was so fun and ...

As of late... I've been helping the Denver Metro Are get ready for a Fireside on Adoption in early Nov.. If you are saying "what the heck is a fireside? " here's your answer- It's a meeting normally later in the evening where testimony is shared (back in the old days- it was done around a fire) on basic gospel truths with detailed personal experiences and stories- It's a more intimate setting than that of Full fledged Church service! This one happens to be on Adoption! The speakers will be an adoptive couple,a birth mother, an adoptee and special music about adoption will be performed! So far most everything is falling into place for it too. If you are just checking out my blog and interested in adoption in any respect- shoot me an email and I'll shoot you over the details. These are open to those not of our faith and in our church too! I've also been contacting HS's to do presentations in their family and consumer sciences classes or child devel...