[sherryk]

Hi everyone!

My family has driven 1500 miles to go to a family reunion! I am so excited to introduce my cousins, aunts, uncles to our daughter who we've had in our home for 4 years! (My immediate family has met her - since she has come into our home, just not extended family.)

We have four children - our youngest being adopted. At our last reunion 5 years ago, my cousin's wife and I were talking about adoption and how we both wanted to pursue it...well, they haven't - yet - but only a month after that reunion, we started the process. Nine months later, I had a beautiful 9 month-old daughter! Since then, my other daughter Brittany and I wrote a book about the experience ("My Special Someone" - you can find it at http://www.adoptionshop.com ) and now are just so excited for our extended family to meet Grace! AND they are excited to meet her!!

Anyway, I want to encourage all of you that have dreams of a child - it will happen, take heart and have faith!!!

Blessings,
sherryk

P.S. Tell us your summer plans and how it includes your dream of adoption!

[sherryk]

anyone...

[Dibby]

So far, I plan to continue to agonize over the waiting process. I have been starting to think about the nursery, and DH continues to placate me with words while he withholds the check book, saying "We really need to wait until all the adoption expenses come in...we just can't afford anything extra until we have to......" etc.

As far as the adoption dream goes, it seems like a distant reality (I keep dreaming though) and I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop! I do NOT wait well. I look forward to introducing our daughter or son to the world, including family and friends and just hope and pray that it happens soon or I will have no hair left!!

Dibby

[brandydawn]

I continue to keep myself busy so the time continues to pass quickly.

I am also planning the nursery without money at this time, I make quite a few notes and reference stores or web sites that I want to visit later.

We picked out a name for our little girl (we are adopting from Guatemala) and already immediate family is referring to her by her name (we don't even have the referal yet!).

We decided on a froggy theme for the nursery, I found the cutest crib bedding at www.babybedding.com and I am going to build the room around it.

My 13 year old nephew has quite a talent for art and is going to help me paint little frogs on the wall.

Regards
Brandy

[wlbooklady]

We brought our son to his first family reunion last August when he was one. My Mom's family is from WVA -- we joke about them being "Hillbillies" -- and my son is multiracial, so we were a little nervous, but it went fine. Everyone was very nice and curious, but not in an obnoxious way. I do have cousins who are biracial -- one of my uncles married a Korean woman after the war -- and the wife of one of them was very nice and talked to us a lot. I did feel very proud and happy to be able to take him!We'll be going again this year! Ours is an open adoption, and our son's birthmother also has a family reunion. She gave us a t-shirt for him from her family's reunion, which I thought was very sweet, and I'll save it for him.
For those of you still waiting, the only thing I found that helped was keeping busy! We're preparing to adopt for the second time, so the pressure's not quite the same, but I'm keeping busy this time by repainting the whole house (I figure once I have two little ones, I won't have the time for a long while!) and getting our son's room ready so that he'll be in his big boy room before th new baby comes. Hang in there!