I don’t know how many of you out there are American Idol fans, but I am and tune in most of the time. All the annoying auditions are over, America’s voted, and we are into the top final twelve. One was sent home at the end of the show Wednesday night.

For those of you who don’t watch much Idol, once you get to the final 12 contestants, each week is a themed week and the contestants have to perform a song that fits in with that theme or genre of music. This week’s theme was Dianna Ross songs and she came earlier in the week and worked with each of the... more

Yesterday was my birthday and my husband and I took an afternoon away from the kids to celebrate. We went out to do some shopping (my favorite thing not his) and we went out to eat.

Even when we are not together my children are always on my mind, and with them I also find myself thinking of their birthfamilies. Most of the purchases I made were baby items for my son Carson’s birthmother who is expecting a new baby in May. Since I do not know if this will be a boy or a girl I found some really cute things in yellow and green. We bought the softest... more

Today the rain is coming down, the sky grey and somber. I am so tired of cold drab days and am so very ready for spring to arrive. While I know that the rain today is preparing the earth for that burst of life I so desperately want to see, it is hard none the less to sit here today in this dark, dreary place.

Some days I find myself sitting, waiting and thinking about a more “beautiful spring” in the world of adoption as well. The days when the sky is over cast and dark are many in this poorly understood and isolating corner of the human... more

The “M” word – not a bad word but one of the sweetest words in the English language or any language for that matter. The word "Mommy" (or any of it's variations) is music to a Mother's ears. Every Mother longs to hear her child call her Mom. It’s validating.

But for birthmoms, hearing our birth children say Mommy for the first time can be hard because they aren’t calling us Mommy; they are calling someone else Mommy.

I was very unprepared for the pain I would feel the first time I heard Charlie say “Mommy.” It was heartbreaking. At first,... more

Today was our second snow day in a row here! This came as a major shock to my system as our little private school (The Die Hard Academy) almost NEVER has ONE snow day let alone two in a row. This is one for the history books, because I do not remember it before and doubt it will ever happen again. I already knew with all three kiddos at home I was not going to get any real work done, and I readied myself for some cabin-fever to come.

We had a lazy little Valentine’s day. I made red, heart shape pancakes with strawberry jam in between them.... more

Most of my posts have been about how great my kids are (they are), how challenging, but rewarding knowing their birthparents can be, and all those interesting little things about being a family by way of adoption. I realize now that I have forgotten to talk about one of the most important people in this whole story, The Good Guy who is my husband Jim.

When we first married eighteen (oh my gosh! How long?) years ago, the story of our future together was anybody’s guess. Of course we were in love, but many predicted that this “kind”... more