February 20th, 2012
by Dena
Today we celebrate Joy’s birthday! I could go on and on about how I spent years begging for a sister only to be told, “No!”. My two younger brothers certainly put a damper on a desire for more children. I think they were wise in waiting until I was almost grown to have her, since I could do the majority of the night time feedings.
I was thinking of how different things were when she was born. I saved everyone’s green stamps to buy her first baby blanket. GREEN STAMPS! They went they way of the hard plastic yellow baby carrier and pinafore dresses.
The only tradition that stays in place is the birthday cake. Even though Joy is three hours away, I still celebrate her special day.
I’ve had the ick and really didn’t feel like doing a creative shot for her this year. Mainly, we toasted Joy and ate a cupcake.
Happy Birthday to Joy, whose legal name for the first year of her life was…Baby Girl. I wanted to name her Stevie Joy but I had no takers on that.
Happy Birthday, Baby Girl. And Many More.
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February 12th, 2012
by LanaJoy
As I’ve mentioned many, many times, I’m lazy when it comes to cooking. If there’s a shortcut, I’m going to take it. If there is no shortcut I’m going to MAKE one. This weekend I got a craving for snickerdoodles. I like a TON of cinnmon flavor, so I decided to cheat. Using the basic principle of the cake cookie recipe I’ve made a million times, I purchased a box of spice cake mix and decided to give it a try. I used:
- 1 box of spice cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
- sugar and cinnamon to roll cookies in
I mixed the first the ingredients by hand. If you use a mixer these will be tough and dog biscuits, so just hand mix. Then throw it in the fridge for at least an hour. Then take the cookie dough and roll it into balls about 1 1/2 inch and roll them in a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes on 350. They stay soft and delicious and I need to never make them again or I’m going to run the risk of eating all of them. It makes 20-24 cookies.
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February 1st, 2012
by Dena
I’ve been planning to write this for a while. Then I saw the link up to an open adoption roundtable discussion. Then, we got bad news.
The roundtable discussion is about how you deal with rude or awkward questions in the adoption world. We are on the adoptive parent side and yes, we hear stupid questions. Normally, I try to answer a vague answer and change the subject. Often we only share our open adoption details with other people involved in adoption because they seem to understand. I’ll just say that the rule of thumb in asking questions is, if it seems the least bit personal, deals with why, who, or was there….then don’t ask it. I don’t ask why your ex left you, who your dad was cheating with, or was there any truth to the fact that you got pregnant in the back seat of a car on prom night. Those are rude questions and I would hate for you to provoke me into asking them.
I think that people forget that real people are involved in adoption, with the children being the most important. The birth family has feelings as well and that family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins along with the parents. I have never met a birth family who did NOT love and adore the child who was placed for adoption. Never once. They have suffered a loss and they grieve that loss.
Speaking of loss, we are feeling it now. Boo’s grandfather is dying. We have had an open adoption with him pretty much from the start. This is the thing that I hate telling people because it opens up so many questions from people. But now he is at the end and it really is painful. The call tonight was the one that says we probably have time for one more visit.
So, the roundtable question…..I wonder how I will handle questions about this. I hope well enough that people see that adoption can be open and hopefully, it benefits those involved. Hopefully in a way that help Boo deal with this loss. Hopefully, I won’t have scared anyone away who knows Boo from checking on her and asking how she is handling this, or giving advice.
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February 1st, 2012
by Dena
These are from one year ago. Soon I will take a new set. I can’t wait to compare the changes. They are certainly there. I don’t really like change but it seems to coming at a rapid fire pace.
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