Monthly Archives: July 2014

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Butler County Waiting Children

butler countySomething I have recently been proud to take on is volunteering for my county’s Children’s Services.  The children that are waiting for their forever homes were in great need of updated profile pictures for the adoption website.  As a photographer and adoptive mother, what better way to donate my time and ability than to provide them with new portraits!  Now that I have photographed a lot of them, I want to share them with you.  If you are looking to expand your family and have love and nurturing to provide.  I hope you will consider these wonderful children!

For more information on the children listed below, please contact Butler County Children’s Services and speak to a social worker or adoption specialist.  Please share this page with everyone you know.  We need to find these wonderful kids their forever homes.  While I had the pleasure of spending time with them for their portraits, I learned just how wonderful these kids are.  Yes, they may need some special care to adjust to a new environment, but they are loving, polite and charismatic kids who eagerly want to be adopted!

300 N. Fair Ave.
Hamilton, OH 45011
Phone 800-792-3854
Email: jonesc18@odjfs.state.oh.us

Website: Butler County Children Services

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Christina

 

 

 

 

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Colin

 

 

 

 

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Dezarri

 

 

 

 

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Lanay

 

 

 

 

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Denessa (purple) and Anna (blue) are sisters.

 

 

 

 

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Samantha

 

 

 

 

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Mercedes

 

 

 

 

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Nakia

 

 

 

 

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David

 

 

 

 

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Randall

 

 

 

 

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Dylan

 

 

 

 

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Miguel

 

 

 

 

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Davontay

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Radio Interview – Adoption Perspectives

The Adoption Perspectives radio show, out of Denver and sponsored by Parker Adventist Hospital, is hosted by a new friend and fellow adoptive mom who is in some of the same adoption groups with me. She invited me to be a guest on her show and I am so honored to have the opportunity! Thank you Rebecca Vahle for having me on your amazing segment!

Big shout out to all our friends and family who are standing by our side. They processed our infertility and while they may not have understood it at first, they became our biggest supporters in our adoption journey. My sister in law for instance, became our cheerleader and a shoulder to cry on when things were tough.  We had many people in our corner, giving advice or just supporting us and loving us in our journey.  These people ached with us when we experienced our first failed match, as they too were losing a child they were eager to love.  Although hesitant to open up to the possibility of having our second match actually happen, they did and we were blessed with the joy of Ezra.  All of our family has welcomed his first family into ours with open arms.  Thank you, to all of you!

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Positive Vs. Honest Adoption Language – Adoption.com

PositivevsHonestLanguage-28 In this crazy journey through life, we are in a constant frenzy of education in how the ways of the world work. Adoption language receives no escape in this evolution. Adoption has been a part of history from the earliest days. Adoption of family members through death or other reasons was common. In tribes, parenting as a village was normal. As adoption became a more formal practice, guardianship took on new roles. From the recent history of closed adoptions being the norm, we have now replaced it with open adoptions. Open adoptions favor the child and have had many studies showing the benefits in helping birth parents and people who were adopted gain insight, healing, and acceptance.

One thing that also evolves in adoption is the language used.  To read the rest of the article, visit adoption.com.

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Adoption Perspectives – Radio Show

imageThe amazing Rebecca Vahle invited me to be a guest on her radio show called Adoption Perspectives. Rebecca is an Adoption Liason at a hospital, Parker Adventist in Denver. She works very hard to improve the ethics of adoption and I am honored to have gotten to know her. 

I’d love your support, prayers and listening today at 11:00 am MST (1:00 pm EST my time). You can stream Adoption Perspectives radio show online here: http://www.670kltt.com/Homepage/14824138

If you miss the show, it will be archieved next week on YouTube, so I’ll post it then as well. 

 

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Top 15 Things to Look for in an Adoption Agency – Adoption.com

Top15Agency-10-300x150Learning about adoption was overwhelming for me. You are not alone in feeling that way!  Looking for an adoption agency is not any exception. In our journey we contacted at least half a dozen agencies and read countless articles online trying to figure out where to start and what to expect. We were not just in distress about how long we had been trying for a baby, but then we learned that we could have anywhere from days to several years on the “waiting list” for a baby, too. Factor in the cost associated with agency adoption, and we were bewildered. We had no idea how to select the best adoption agency that would meet our needs. Looking at the fact that there are tons of adoption agencies that can put on a great advertising front, but operate very unethically, we were scared we would be out time and money that we wouldn’t be able to ever get back and could potentially stop us from adopting if we suffered any loss.

While there are many other things, including the gut feelings you get when talking to them, these are a great starting point for fielding your options.  For the rest of this article, please click here to read it at Adoption.com.

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Closing an Open Adoption – Adoption.com

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Some people may think that closing an open adoption is okay. They may think that promising an open adoption is just a means to becoming parents and that closing it has no effect on the child. After all, closed adoptions used to be the norm, and open adoption agreements often aren’t even legally enforceable. I often hear people state that they would only close the adoption if the environment for an open adoption became unhealthy. And while I too am guilty of making this statement, I think the phrase “closing the adoption” needs to be looked at closer.

Here are some ways to look at your open adoption and get through the struggles that may be plaguing your relationship with the birth family before just writing off the relationship with them.  To read the rest of the article, please click here to visit Adoption.com.