Please help us spread the word :-) See post below for our official profile link. Thank you so SO much for coming to visit!!

Our Adoption Profile is now LIVE!!!! AHHHH It has taken MONTHS to get it up and it is finally done :-) I totally cried when I got the E-Mail that it was up. There was a little mix-up with some pictures but hopefully it will be ironed out soon. We are SOOO Excited!! One step closer to finding them :-) Please feel free to share! Here it is.....

OUR ADOPTION PROFILE LINK

We are some huge Believers in OPEN ADOPTION. It is the road of Adoption that has felt so right with us from Day 1. We teach our boys about their history of love & don't want them to have any missing pieces of their story. 

Our oldest son is now 5 years old and is very knowledgeable on his story. Being adopted is something he is proud of. Any time he hears the name Lauren, he makes sure to tell that person that that is HIS Birth Momma's name. He loves to claim her :-)

 Ever since our kids were babies, their Birth Families have been with us. They are on our walls (in photos) and in our books. They are in our stories and on our computers. We want our kids to know them and love them as we do. We want our kids to feel comfortable to talk to us about their Birth Parents and feel comfortable reaching out to them whenever they want to. We want them to feel secure in their adoptions and have NO doubt just how loved they are. 

Now we know for some this isn't ideal. For us though it is. We are very secure in our role as their parents. From early on we knew we had a choice to make in times of jealousy or insecurity. We could either succumb to it, or push past it and CHOOSE to nurture the healthy goodness of what adoption can become. Was it always easy.... No. But we never quit. 

I have heard lots of stories of Adoptive Families promising openness and then going back on their word. That kills me. I just don't get it and feel sorry for them for missing out on getting to know some really great women. (Their child's Birth Mothers) 

In order for Open Adoption to work, it requires a mutual want from everyone involved.... Birth and Adoptive Families. It requires always giving the Benefit of the Doubt, COMMUNICATION even when its hard, Respect, and they ability to sustain each other. I know I will never be our boys Biological Mother. I know I will never know what is like to have carried them inside my body and make musical harmony with our heartbeats. However even though that part of my child's life will never be me, I am SO glad and so thankful it is them. 

We truly believe if our Birth Families were not supposed to be part of our lives then our kids would have come to us directly. The relationship with a Birth Mom is unlike any other I have ever had. It is so deep and sacred. We didn't just adopt our boys, we adopted their Birth Families too... and in return they adopted us right back. I love them. I can not imagine life without them. Our relationships with them have evolved into so much more than just the strings of adoption. We remind them often that we are never going anywhere and we never will. We are permeant.  

Next week we are driving all across America and visiting both Boys Birth Families. We can't even wait!!! I talked to Sawyer's Birth Momma for an hour and a half a few days ago and we made some plans... and talked about lots of other things. 

SO how OPEN are we? We are open to all the possibilities and then some :-) There is always room for MORE Love!

Our Boys have beautiful minds. They are sooooo great in many ways and have learned to use their senses to magnify their capabilities well. They still have fears of monsters in the dark but who doesn't ;-) Fear is not a bad thing to have. We believe in our kids and it is so beautiful to see them believe in themselves. Spread your wings little ones..... the world is yours to explore.

  Jamison is SOOO strong!!

 After play time we had pizza and cupcakes and Cake!!

Make a wish!!!  He wanted me to make his cake with EXTRA sprinkles.

 PRESENTS!!

 The next day (his actual Birthday) he woke up to find tons of little dinosaur footprints all over the house!! Brett and I had stayed up the night before and cut lots of footprints that led him on a journey to find his last present.... A ROBORAPTOR!! (Video to Come)

Then we had Birthday Breakfast and went to church. 

It has been an awesome Birthday Weekend Celebration. 

I found this on another Adoptive Mother's facebook page. A lot of it hit really close to home for me. I LOVE adoption with all my heart even though it has not always been easy. We face different battles to grow our families that most but with every battle it has brought me more LOVE and APPRECIATION for the family we have created. I don't take a single second or a single piece of our children for granted. 

"Dear Mom of an Adopted Child,
I met you in adoption education class. I met you at the agency. I met you at my son’s school. I met you online. I met you on purpose. I met you by accident.

It doesn’t matter. The thing is, I knew you right away. I recognize the fierce determination. The grit. The fight. Because everything about what you have was a decision, and nothing about what you have was easy. You are the kind of woman who Makes.Things.Happen. After all, you made this happen, this family you have.
Maybe you prayed for it. Maybe you had to convince a partner it was the right thing. Maybe you did it alone. Maybe people told you to just be happy with what you had before. Maybe someone told you it simply wasn’t in God’s plans for you to have a child, this child whose hair you now brush lightly from his face. Maybe someone warned you about what happened to their cousin’s neighbor’s friend. Maybe you ignored them.
Maybe you planned for it for years. Maybe an opportunity dropped into your lap. Maybe you depleted your life-savings for it. Maybe it was not your first choice. But maybe it was.
Regardless, I know you. And I see how you hold on so tight. Sometimes too tight. Because that’s what we do, isn’t it?
I know about all those books you read back then. The ones everyone reads about sleep patterns and cloth versus disposable, yes, but the extra ones, too. About dealing with attachment disorders, breast milk banks, babies born addicted to alcohol, cocaine, meth. About cognitive delays, language deficiencies. About counseling support services, tax and insurance issues, open adoption pros and cons, legal rights.

I know about the fingerprinting, the background checks, the credit reports, the interviews, the references. I know about the classes, so many classes. I know the frustration of the never-ending paperwork. The hours of going over finances, of having garage sales and bake sales and whatever-it-takes sales to raise money to afford it all.
I know how you never lost sight of what you wanted.
I know about the match call, the soaring of everything inside you to cloud-height, even higher. And then the tucking of that away because, well, these things fall through, you know.
Maybe you told your mother, a few close friends. Maybe you shouted it to the world. Maybe you allowed yourself to decorate a baby’s room, buy a car seat. Maybe you bought a soft blanket, just that one blanket, and held it to your cheek every night.
I know about your home visits. I know about your knuckles, cracked and bleeding, from cleaning every square inch of your home the night before. I know about you burning the coffee cake and trying to fix your mascara before the social worker rang the doorbell.
And I know about the followup visits, when you hadn’t slept in three weeks because the baby had colic. I know how you wanted so badly to show that you had it all together, even though you were back to working more-than-full-time, maybe without maternity leave, without the family and casseroles and welcome-home balloons and plants.
And I’ve seen you in foreign countries, strange lands, staying in dirty hotels, taking weeks away from work, struggling to understand what’s being promised and what’s not. Struggling to offer your love to a little one who is unsettled and afraid. Waiting, wishing, greeting, loving, flying, nesting, coming home.
I’ve seen you down the street at the hospital when a baby was born, trying to figure out where you belong in the scene that’s emerging. I’ve seen your face as you hear a nurse whisper to the birthmother that she doesn’t have to go through with this. I’ve seen you trying so hard to give this birthmother all of your respect and patience and compassion in those moments—while you bite your lip and close your eyes, not knowing if she will change her mind, if this has all been a dream coming to an abrupt end in a sterile environment. Not knowing if this is your time. Not knowing so much.
I’ve seen you look down into a newborn infant’s eyes, wondering if he’s really yours, wondering if you can quiet your mind and good sense long enough to give yourself over completely.
And then, to have the child in your arms, at home, that first night. His little fingers curled around yours. His warm heart beating against yours.
I know that bliss. The perfect, guarded, hopeful bliss.
I also know about you on adoption day. The nerves that morning, the judge, the formality, the relief, the joy. The letting out of a breath maybe you didn’t even know you were holding for months. Months.
I’ve seen you meet your child’s birthparents and grandparents weeks or years down the road. I’ve seen you share your child with strangers who have his nose, his smile … people who love him because he’s one of them. I’ve seen you hold him in the evenings after those visits, when he’s shaken and confused and really just wants a stuffed animal and to rest his head on your shoulder.
I’ve seen you worry when your child brings home a family tree project from school. Or a request to bring in photos of him and his dad, so that the class can compare traits that are passed down, like blue eyes or square chins. I know you worry, because you can protect your child from a lot of things — but you can’t protect him from being different in a world so intent on celebrating sameness.
I’ve seen you at the doctor’s office, filling out medical histories, leaving blanks, question marks, hoping the little blanks don’t turn into big problems later on.
I’ve seen you answer all of the tough questions, the questions that have to do with why, and love, and how much, and where, and who, and how come, mama? How come?
I’ve seen you wonder how you’ll react the first time you hear the dreaded, “You’re not my real mom.” And I’ve seen you smile softly in the face of that question, remaining calm and loving, until you lock yourself in the bathroom and muffle your soft cries with the sound of the shower.
I’ve seen you cringe just a little when someone says your child is lucky to have you. Because you know with all your being it is the other way around.
But most of all, I want you to know that I’ve seen you look into your child’s eyes. And while you will never see a reflection of your own eyes there, you see something that’s just as powerful: A reflection of your complete and unstoppable love for this person who grew in the midst of your tears and laughter, and who, if torn from you, would be like losing yourself.
--Kathy Lynn Harris"

 I have always wanted to be Alice in Wonderland so this was my lucky year. 

 On all my wondering I found the one and only Waldo!!

 Alice smoked Waldo in the worm digging contest. LOL

 The cute buddies dressed up as a Power Ranger and a Oompa Loompa. To see Last Years AMAZING costumes click HERE!! (Seriously you will die with cuteness overload.) 

 We decided to finally carve our huge pumpkin. 

 J-Dawg couldn't get enough of the pumpkin guts. 

 BOO

 On Halloween Night it was 30 degrees so decided to make J-Dawg a chicken and add some layers to his costume to keep him snuggly. He is such a cute little chicken!! 

 The boys loved Trick-or-Treating and brought home LOADS of candy!! 

    At times "They" feel so close. At times we feel like we should be doing more to find them but what??? we don't even know. They are on our minds and we are glad that they are. We don't know why there have been SOOO many delays and hang ups but we trust that it will work out. Hopefully our paths will cross soon.... at just the right time. We are very mindful of them and the waiting has given us time to feel God's tenderness for them already. For that we are grateful. There is something "different" about this adoption but I don't know what. I feel like there is something very specific and sacred about it. 

   Patience is something that we have had to learn. Those that know our story know that we had to wait a long time to grow our family. Even though at that time we hated every second of waiting, it was SO worth it in the end. It was so hard to be patient when we had no answers and couldn't make sense of the waiting. However, we learned that if we would have just trusted Heavenly Father all along then it could have saved us a lot of heartache. He was in the details all along and we just didn't know it. Just as he is in the details now.       
  We do wonder how things our going on "their" end. What's their story? Where are they at in their journey? Is she scared? At Peace? Can they "feel" our love yet? We so hope that they are surrounded by lots of love...earthly and heavenly. 

     We don't know when or where things will come together but if we really trust him, and we do, it doesn't really matter what we don't understand.

"We must unrush our pace for connections and compassion to take place."

 Our Friends the Colby's met us there and it was so fun to see them :-)

We did some hiking and the boys got tired so super dad came up with this plan. 

An old stone bridge. 

Yeah... it was eye candy.

 This is so tender. He wanted to make sure Brother didn't fall. 

 While we were out there, we decided to tour the Ben & Jerry's factory and get some free ice cream. Yummy!!

 I have the best ear horns ever. 

 On the last day we went to Stowe, VT and I got to tour the Von Trapp Family Lodge and hear the TRUE story of the Von Trapp Family. Everyone that knows me well knows I LOVE the Sound of Music. It was very interesting and inspiring. 

 This is a real Von Trapp. She is Kristina Von Trapp and shes is the grand daughter of Maria and Georg Von Trapp. How awesome and lucky is she?!