Born From My Heart

One of the not so fun sides of adoption is when you get blindsided by unplanned-for expenses.  I think I am a little more sensitive to the money portion of it simply because one of the (many) biggest insults of infertility in general is how much it can cost to become a parent and that unfairness has aggravated me from my very first bill at the reproductive endocrinologist (fertility clinic).   But we've dealt with it and moved forward regardless and somehow made it work. Then I got a call this past Monday (not from the birth parents) and the gist of it was, oh by the way, we forgot to tell you about this expense and we'll be needing $2,300 before the birth.  *GULP* We are less than 9 weeks away from the due date and you didn't think to warn me of this potential expense?!?!  Awesome.  So, Saturday is phase one of fund raising with a yard sale.  I have mounds and mounds and mounds of pink clothes that obviously won't be getting used again with the next ba...

Naming our soon to be baby boy is proving to be quite a difficult task.  The names I love, my husband hates.  The one name he keeps threatening me with is never going to happen so I really wish he'd stop bringing it up!  LOL  Naming Reagan was a piece of cake, Emily did it for us so all we had to do was follow along.  I keep asking her to name this one too but so far she hasn't.  So, I continue to throw out names and my husband continues to shoot them down and here we sit with less than 10 weeks until his due date and he doesn't yet have a name.  To make matters worse, I seem to have a new favorite every other day although I have noticed two names that make repeat appearances as favorites so I am hoping to get my husband to agree to one of those.  Ah well, maybe one day soon the little one will have a name.  Stay tuned...

Reagan is very into opposites right now.  It is really fun to see what she knows.  I had recently bought her a book on opposites and am extra happy to read it to her now that she's decided that is the topic of choice.  We play the opposite game all the time.  Her favorite is Up and Down.  She'll say "Mommy, Mommy. Uuuuuup" and point her little hands up.  Then she'll say "Doooooooown" and point her hands down.  Then we giggle and repeat about 100 times.  Earlier tonight she surprised me with a new one.  She was sitting behind me on the couch and we were playing the fake scare me game (she thinks scaring and being scared are totally hilarious) when she gently pushed me forward.  She said "Pushhhhhh" while she was doing it.  Then she grabbed my shirt and pulled me back up saying "Pullllllllll".  And we did that about 100 times (no need for crunches for me tonight! LOL).  I am so impressed with how much she knows. Another fa...

So I have a secret.  A secret I've had since November.  It's a pretty awesome secret too.  A few people knew about the secret but not yet "the world".  Keeping secrets is fun and frustrating at the same time.  Thankfully something happened today and I don't have to keep the secret anymore. I am sure that some people might have a few guesses by now.  Probably had a guess or two just from reading the post title.  Some may even be right but probably more are wrong than are right.  But the ones that are wrong are most likely close, very close.  This secret is so AWESOME and so perfect and I can't even believe how lucky we are.  I am sure that by now y'all are thinking out with it already!  So okay, out with it.  I just wanted a little extra build up to fill the post preview. :-) Back in November we got a phone call from Reagan's birth parents.  They informed us they were expecting another baby due in May and that they want...

Woo-hoo!  It's Friday!!  I have a few small home improvements projects on my agenda plus making time for some fun this weekend.  I hope everyone enjoys theirs! Now on to 5QF with  Mama M ! 1. Have you worn the same outfit more than one day in a row? Yup!  Happens quite a lot on the weekends (well, as long as the clothes don't get gross from the first day).  I tend to pick favorites and then I want to be in that outfit all the time.  LOL 2. If you had to choose any LARGE city to live in, which would it be? In or near?  Does Orlando count?!  LOL  I suppose if it had to be IN a city larger than Orlando I would choose...um...hmm...(looking at a wikipedia list of the largest cities...Istanbul was Constantinople...) OH!  Got it!  Madrid!  Definately Madrid.  I love Spain! 3. Fly or drive with the kids on vacation? Either/or is fine with me although my recent actual vacations involved both.  Reaga...

Lately I have seen many news stories that identify the mom as the adoptive mother when it has zero pertinence to the story itself.  That bugs me.  It wouldn't bother me as much if every other story always identifed parents by HOW they became parents yet it seems the reporters like to throw in the term adoptive as if that makes any difference whatsoever.  Occasionally that can provide added details to a story (as in, if speaking of the act of adoption) but usually it means nothing and most times it seems as if it is being used to discount the role of the mom or the bond between mother and child.  When will they get it that the mom is the mom.  Period .  HOW she became the mom doesn't really matter.  The other irritating thing is when people ask a mom who became a mom via adoption about her child's "real" parents.  Hmmm.  Real parents?  As opposed to fake ones?  As opposed to make believe ones?...

Here are a few updates to catch me back up. 1. Reagan still has her paci for nap and night time (and during the occasional public meltdown). She went 3 nights without it and then began demanding it again. I probably could have forced the issue but we all know my soft spot for pacis and her dad is no help to be the strong one there either. So, maybe one day she’ll be paci free. 2. The diaper debacle . Well we seem to have found a combination that works. For nap and nighttime we put a Pull-Up on OVER her diaper (as opposed to instead of her diaper like we had tried) and make sure she is in a one-piece sleeper with the zipper pinned up. It’s a good thing that works because we were so tired of changing that crib! 3. I’ve learned not to ask Reagan open-ended ‘what do you want to eat’ questions because the answer that way is always “ Chicken, fries !” Meaning of course, nuggets and French fries. Instead I give her a choice between 2 things or I just ask her if she wants the 1 thing. I...