About face?

Time for another quarterly check in.  I can never believe how much time passes between posts, but nothing was new to report.  We took a bit of a mental break from the process, as it is very straining emotionally.  If you have not dealt with infertility, you are lucky.  I wouldn't wish it on my enemy.

The break from adoption helped clear our heads a bit.  It also allowed me the chance to do some more research on options.  We have added another path as a potential way to 'adopt,' embryo adoption!

Don't get us wrong- we would still love to talk to expectant mothers and be considered as adoptive parents.  But we also don't believe we should limit ourselves.  We have wanted to be parents for almost 7 years!  (Well, maybe 5 years for Matt.)

Embryo adoption (or donation, seem to be used interchangeably  occurs when a couple has remaining embryos from an IVF cycle.  When they are done having kids themselves, they have 3 options: donate to science, donate to an infertile couple, or have the embryos destroyed.  Without getting into the religious ramifications of those options, we obviously believe that donating to another couple is a fantastic idea!

As with traditional adoption, the donation can be anonymous through a clinic, or you can 'meet' people online and donate to them.  There are adoption agencies out there that now assist with donations as well, but of course they add in several thousand dollars worth of "program fees."   (Important note:  it is illegal to pay or be paid for embryos.  But call them 'program fees,' no problem.  ........)

Some of our considerations now include what clinics to look at (local ones have wait lists, there are some in FL, TN and CA that are well-known that do not, but you have to travel to them), finding donors ourselves (similar to finding our own match for traditional adoption), and whether we'd want an open or anonymous donation (leaning again towards open).  The best part about embryo donation is that the cost is significantly lower than using an adoption agency (about equal to the cost of a private adoption), and significantly cheaper than IVF as well.

So, we are looking into both options now, praying to make a connection with either an expectant mother or a couple looking to donate.  If you know of anyone who fits either bill, please contact us!

And thanks for reading our sporadic posts!

Dirty 30!

So this has been a fun month.  I turned 30, and Matt is still 29, so he has been counting down the days (for months now)!  haha  He loves to point out that I'm the older lady.  Ah well, I love 30!

Celebrating the big 3-0 with my aunt and family friend

One of the best parts of the month was my parents coming down to surprise me the weekend of my birthday!  They flew in (with another aunt and uncle) on Saturday, and had to fly back out on Sunday.  How lucky am I?!  Unfortunately, no pics of that day.

Another thing that I loved about this birthday, and want to make an annual thing was celebrating 30 by doing 30 Random Acts of Kindness.  This was nothing crazy or expensive, just 30 things to make someone else smile or have a good day.  One of my favorites was hiding a $1 bill in the toy bin at Dollar Tree.

Wish I could have seen the kid's face when they found this!

I also asked friends and family on Facebook to join in, and that was the best part--  hearing the stories of what others did.  People bought groceries for strangers, donated baby clothes to a new mom in need, volunteered, held doors, made things, and more.  It was awesome!

Vending machine money, care of Pam C.

Other than the big birthday, it's been a quiet month.  Matt and I both got sick again (after the flu in November, we thought we were good for this season!), so getting over that still.  Matt gets to go home in a few weeks for great friend's wedding.  And we can't wait for the Super Bowl this weekend, even though both of our teams (Giants and Panthers) didn't even make the playoffs this year.  Go commercials!

Team spirit, even though they lose a lot!

Merry Christmas!

We are still here, and still hoping to adopt!  But Life gets busy at times, and suddenly it has been two months since you have posted.  Whoops!

We love the holiday season- Christmas songs on the radio, baking, finding the perfect gift, time with family, etc.  It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

So what have we been up to this holiday season?

One thing that has become a tradition for us:  Adopting a child from Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.  I highly recommend it!  Kids that are less fortunate sign up, parents include clothing sizes and/or toys the child would like, and you can spend an amount you feel appropriate to get them nice gifts.  We are so looking forward to being able to buy clothes and toys for our own child(ren) someday, so this has been good practice!

The loot

We chose a little one year old boy, and I had to put stuff back because I was spending too much.  But so fun shopping for a little boy!  I can't wait to be the proud mama, out shopping or making gifts for her kids.  Some day soon!

Salvation Army Christmas Center

We happened to be taking our donation to the Christmas Center on the same day as the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.  On a day when things looked a lot darker than ever, it was amazing to see a full warehouse (former Walmart) filled with toys donated by the community.  This picture is only half of the space, there were rows and rows of bikes and other goodies in the other half.  There is still good in the world, and we need to focus on that!

******

Our happy tree

For the holidays, we were able to head back up to NY to see all of our family and friends, which was awesome!  We even got to see snow while we were there.  That was on the wishlist for sure.  We got to visit with Matt's family and mine, extended family, friends, had a fun Cousin's Night Out, and more. 

Newest member of the family!

We got to meet the first great-grandchild in my dad's family, and he was as cute as a button.  In a house filled with people, he slept comfortably, even as he was passed from aunt to uncle to cousin to grandma, etc.  Our families love kids, especially babies!

Toy time

Most of the ladies in my mom's side of the fam

Grandma and Grandpa P enjoying the moment

Excited to see snow, just wish it was not on the drive home!

It was a great visit, and went by too fast as usual.  Time to start planning the next visit!

As for the adoption, we have still been keeping our ears open to any situations that may come up.  We've had some good suggestions recently to contact schools or pediatrician offices, so I may send a letter out to area offices soon.  I also learned that the department of health runs teen health centers throughout the area, which also could be a good resource.  Keep praying for us!

Merry Christmas!

Happenings

Hi there,

I can't believe how slow I am to post again sometimes!  It has been quiet on the adoption front, as we continue to try to find the perfect adoption situation.  Please continue to keep us in mind, and to share our story with others! :)

So what has been going on in our lives?

This summer we...

Saw Coldplay in concert-  Amazing amazing amazing show!

Crowd shot, everyone was given neon sticks that went to the music

Celebrated our sixth anniversary!

Nice glass of wine before a DELISH dinner!

Celebrated Matt's 29th birthday!

He loves some lobstah!

We also recently checked out another Panthers home game.  Check out the awesome photobomb by the couple sitting behind us:

And with Halloween coming up tomorrow, we are ready to welcome some Trick or Treaters.  Can't wait to take our kids out someday :)  My mom is a decorating freak when it comes to the holidays, and it is safe to say I inherited that gene!

Homemade, thank you very much!
 

 We also have been doing some projects at the house.  The biggest one?  Getting rid of a 6 person hot tub that was fun, but probably not kid-friendly.  It hadn't been used much in the past year, due to a small leak.  We tried to give it away on Craigslist and SalVal/Good Will/Habitat for Humanity/etc, but when that didn't work, it was time to get busy!

My handy man!

Much better!  And bigger!

So that's what we have been up to!  Just enjoying life before we have a newborn to take care of :)  But can't wait til that time comes.

Just checking in

Hi blog world,

Not too much to report today.  We have started talking to more potential adoption situations recently, but most have not yet made the decision of if they want to place at all, or raise the baby themselves. We totally respect that, and are trying to share our story, but also give them info about adoption in general. I've mentioned before how hard it is to find out real info on adoption, and apparently it can be just as hard for the expectant parents.  Hopefully we are earning some adoption karma points by helping others out! :)

Other than that, we are pumped for FOOTBALL. SEASON!!! It's not just the games, it is fall, cooler weather (thank God!), decorating the house for the season, etc. I'll have to post a pic later of the Cookies n Cream Cheese Ball Football I'm making for the game today. Yum!

Hope to return someday soon with an awesome adoption update!

Suggestion Box

With this post, I am (yet again) reaching out for help from anyone who may read this blog from time to time.  We want to leave no stone unturned in regards to getting the word out.  So if you were in our shoes, what would you do to share your story?

Some places we have tried, and continue to try, are:
-www.parentprofiles.com
-www.adoption.com (forums)
-Newsap
-Craigslist (very cautious with this, as we know the risk of scam is high)
-Other free advertising sites (Beta.com, Creativeloafing.com, etc)
-Letter sent out to over 100 obstetricians in NC
-Email sent out (yesterday) to 25 area churches so far.  Will continue to send out in waves to more churches throughout the state
-Facebook page
-Facebook updates on our own pages, so that our network sees it
-emails to family and friends
-YouTube video
-Flyers posted around NC and NY (Thanks Irons fam :) )
-Hopingtoadopt.org
-Business cards
-Posting on sites such as thebump.com, babycenter.com, pregnancy-info.com
-Working with adoption attorney

Working with an agency is out for us, for several reasons listed here. But do you have any ideas of people we could reach out to, or other places we should advertise?

Thanks as always for all of the support! :)

No news is... no news

The wait is pretty killer, and it has only been 5 or 6 weeks since we got our home study back.  Bleh!  Adoption is certainly not easy.  It takes its toll on every relationship you have... 

We are trying to think of ways to keep busy, while waiting for 'the call.'  What are some things we should try before summer ends?  I need to make a summer bucket list, so that once it is over, I don't feel like I worked the whole summer away ;)

Our 6 year anniversary is coming up in early September, it is amazing how time flies!  The Democratic National Convention will be here that first week of September, so I am hoping Matt will get some time off from work to avoid all of the craziness.  I've already been told we get the whole week off at my office!

Oh, and Matt's 29th birthday was August 2nd.  We went out to dinner that night to Red Lobster, yum!  He has great memories of going there when he was younger, with his mom.  I am glad we got to pig out and honor memories at the same time!  I got him a helmet video camera for his motorcycle helmet or mountain biking helmet.  It can also be attached to the handle bars.  He's loved taking videos of the ride around town.  He can even turn the camera around to face him as he drives, which leads to some pretty funny footage.  I'll have to see if I can upload a small video on here!

Keep praying for us, and keeping us in mind if you hear anything!