The Christian Crew

On Smitten-By ! Please feel free to read all about our open adoption and how i feel about it!

Yep, I've said time after time that I chose to be on God's rollercoaster on how our family is to come to us! I've consigned my will over to Him who knows greater than me, than anyone of what we need when we need it! So, I'm happily (and yet with reservation) announcing that I'm Pregnant!!! Yep about 12 weeks( this friday) and feeling sick and nauseaous! It's horribly good! I cannot tell you how shocked i was considering 5 of my past 6 pregnancies have ended in miscarriage around 4-6 weeks and one at 13.5 weeks! I've been married 10 years this July and i guess the Lord wants this pregnancy to succeed but, I'm still nervous. I think once the baby is here- i will be done being nervous! In some ways having infertility issues and then getting pregnant is like adoption- you just don't believe its happening until it finally does happen! You trick your mind into thinking all kinds of things on why it wont happen then are pleasantly surprised when it does...

If you haven't registered yet- Do it now! This is going to be fabulous and full of great speakers, classes and food! You will get to meet many FC workers, adoption managers from various agencies and, birth parents and birth families and other adoptive couples. And we are excited to have YOU and your experiences shared throughout this event! The Domino Foundation is sending Andrea from SLC to speak about trans-racial adoption support, which i won't miss! Tamra Dawn Hyde , a birth mother and spokeswoman for itsaboutlove.org will be our keynote speaker! We have a fabulous line up of other great speakers and teachers as well! Siesta lunch break for 2 hours with lunch provided each day, babysitting for the whole event for your entire family for only 10.! Games and activities at lunch and great connections to be made here( 2 years ago, a couple ended up meeting the birth mom to be of their daughter at this event- magic but no guarantees on it happening for you!!!) JU...

Setting up the Room has been an adventure... One of the crib screws got stuck ( it was the wrong screw) we had a friend pry it out and then we put in the right one! I've moved the furniture about 6 times so far. I used Aria's old Crib, our old Lay-Z-Boy and a few pillows i had in storage. I got the bedding from a sweet lady off CL. The Crib skirt, quilt, 5 wall decor pieces, night light, lamp( not pictured, bumper, 2 valances, breathable bumper( not pictured), musical things that hangs over the crib and a diaper stacker for 20.! Yeah, score, i know! I bought the toddler bed off CL a year or so ago for 45. ( retails for 175.) And i just ordered some cute wall vinyl for the room off ETSY... The giraffe will go on the crib wall and this saying will go over the window in chocolate brown! I think it's fitting b/c no matter where or what we are born into- we can go any which way we choose to go in life! Dr. Seuss in a Genius! Now... to get a rad rug and to tackle this closet. ...

I've been thinking about this as I've been moving boxes around, unpacking and decluttering! It takes a while to really feel AT HOME in your new space. Its nothing you can rush, or it just ends up frustrating you to no end! The same goes with your birth parent relationships... Remember when (if you've had this already) you first started communications with your child's birth parents? You'd respond in a timely manner, thinking things through before you said or wrote them. You'd spend hours thinking about them and how they were doing. Sometimes when AC's ( adoptive couples) RUSH to UNLOAD on a EP ( expectant parent) it scares them away. NO one likes every bit of info thrust onto them about anyone. TAKE IT SLOW. Don't avoid topics, just don't feel the need to pour it all out at once. Communication is also like planting new seeds. If you give it the right soil( timing) and the right amount of nourishment (trust) something good is bound to spring forth! I...

Yep, that's what unpacking is. I'm totally surround by boxes in a much larger house with an incredibly busy husband who cant seem to find anytime to help. So, I'm conquering it all little by little. Today is the girls room tomorrow its half the boxes in the living room downstairs...and so on! My hopes are to plant a few seeds here and get the garden ready and to enjoy this change of pace in life. After our annual conference last weekend, i really felt many of the speakers reaching out to all of us and giving us needed direction and focus to work on being better parents and responsible citizens in our communities.... President Monson urged members to avoid the distractions of life and remember the things that are of greatest importance: family, service, and living the gospel. Dallin H. Oaks said: “Perhaps the most familiar and most important examples of unselfish service and sacrifice are performed in our families,” said Elder Oaks. Many also demonstrate unselfishnes...

Recently, there has been a mixed bag of emotions being thrown around FB and blogs and such ( what's new, right?) about Couples who have bio children and choose to pursue or even look into adoption. I fully understand that we all grieve in different ways and in different times in our process. I'm not asking anyone to speed through their emotions or telling you that what your thinking/ feeling is wrong. I just want you to take a moment to stop before you criticize, or throw out harmful words b/c you are so full of emotion and the desire to have a child. People have that same desire to serve and love and raise a child, regardless if they have children or not. Who are you to say things that make no sense at all like... " if you adopt a child and you already have kids, then that's one less baby for a couple without kids to have!" " why can't you just be grateful for what you have been given?" " Why don't you adopt an older kid from foster care- ...