The Pursuit of Happyness!

First of all, Happy New Year! I hope 2009 brings good health and happiness to all my friends!!! We are ringing in 2009 rather quietly this year. A snowstorm, cold weather and high winds have diverted our plans. Rather than going to dinner and having my in laws watching the kids, we choose to stay home. I cooked a Ravioli dinner and my older daughter and I made brownies. We're making a little party out of it!

Today I realized total bliss. My two girls were playing together and laughing. They were riding little cars up and down the hallway (in our house, none the less). Just to see them finally interacting together and laughing, warmed my heart and made me feel like the luckiest woman alive. Since I was a little child, I dreamed of being a mother of two, and watching them play together and enjoy each other as siblings. I know with a gap of four plus years between my kids, it might take time for that to happen, but today, I could say it really did for the first time. There were days when I thought I would never have one child, let alone two. To see them play together today was priceless.

Ten or even twenty years ago, a good New Year's Eve was going out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, drinking up a storm, partying till the wee hours of the morning, booking a hotel room for the night, dressing up in our best clothes. Now a good New Year's Eve is home with the kids, eating snacks, watching them play and watching Shrek on TV. Our lives have really changed-I know for the better!

I never knew the simple things in life could make me so happy! For those of you pursuing adoption, I hope 2009 is the year you welcome a little one to your home. Do not give up your pursuit of happyness! Here is a picture of my girls playing today...thanks for allowing me to indulge.

Busy, busy, busy thanks to the Holidays!

The holidays are right at our heels. I have all my presents bought and 99% of them wrapped. I am in pretty good shape this year and spend the next couple of days doing odds and ends for the holidays!

I can't find a couple of presents (hope they turn up), I bought them and misplaced them! I have a couple of holiday parties to go to. I hope to make some cookies with my older daughter. All in all, nothing I can't handle!

It snowed yesterday and it's going to snow again tomorrow. I know it helps some people get into the spirit, but I am not a fan of snow. Good thing my shopping is all done! I guess I should start thinking about Florida or Arizona now! LOL!

Here's our holiday card! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that 2009 brings peace, good health and prosperity to all!

"A home for the Holidays" adoption special airs 12/23

Be sure to tune in to this annual special which airs on CBS on Tuesday 12/23 at 8 PM Eastern time. I will tune in with my kleenex!

http://www.washingt onpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/ 12/11/AR20081211 02242.html

Stars Align for Adoption

By Susan C. Young Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, December 14, 2008; Y03

Faith Hill watched the TV monitor as the story unfolded of one child's journey from foster care to a loving home, then walked out on the stage to sing "There You'll Be" and instantly choked up with tears.

"Oh, mercy. I had to start over, which never happens," Hill said about her experience taping this year's CBS holiday special on adoption. "As an adopted child, I really have a place in my soul for these children. You'd have to be made of wood not to feel the emotional impact of these stories."

Hill's husband, Tim McGraw, as well as Melissa Etheridge, Jamie Foxx and Gavin Rossdale, are among the performers featured on "The 10th Annual A Home for the Holidays With Faith Hill," airing Tuesday.

Musical performances and personal stories from celebrities frame segments focusing primarily on families who have appeared on the holiday show during the past decade.

One segment tells the story of Frederick Millner of Santa Clarita, Calif., who stayed in foster care until he was 18. Millner, who with his wife adopted a young boy in foster care, said, "I tell my son how much I love him every day. There was always an outline to my life, but my wife and son are the light that has filled the darkness."

These heart-tugging segments even affected the hard-rocking Etheridge.

"I ended up in tears by the end of the show," said Etheridge, who adopted her four children. "TV can be so cynical and stale, but every year this program reaches out and you see the results and see those children getting adopted. . . . It's a total 10-hankie show."

Betsy and David Miles of Richmond, who adopted 9-year-old Katy, recount how they were asked to consider a 14-year-old boy, Haisten, as a temporary placement. (The average age for foster care adoption is 8, and older children are often harder to place.) The couple eventually adopted Haisten.

Older children aren't as appealing to people who want to adopt, said Hill, 41, who was adopted as an infant. "It's easy to forget in this world of excess, shock value and getting the most bang for the buck that the simplest things in life are the ones most valued," Hill said.

"A Home for the Holidays" is presented by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which was established in 1992 by the late Thomas, the founder of Wendy's restaurants, who also was an adopted child.

In the United States foster care system, about 129,000 children are eligible for adoption, according to a January report by the Department of Health and Human Services.

This may be the result of misconceptions about adopting foster children, including the idea that they are more likely to be juvenile delinquents, said Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

"That couldn't be further from the truth. These are kids who had a rough start in life and need a supportive family," Soronen said. "And there's a lingering sense that the biological families can reclaim these children, but that's not true."

For some, it seems as though a program such as this puts children on parade for the holidays. But Soronen said the holiday-themed special just nudges people into making a commitment they've probably been considering for some time.

As Hill talked about her own Christmas plans -- spending time with family and friends, baking cookies -- her husband chimed in from the background that they'll be watching football. After a quick laugh, she said this is what she wants for these foster children -- the kind of family she has now, and the family she had growing up.

"I was always very grateful that I had my family -- my two brothers and my parents, who now have been married for 52 years," she said.

Hill and McGraw's children -- Gracie, 11, Maggie, 10, and Audrey, 7 -- know their mom was adopted and their father was raised by a stepfather who adopted him.

"We never forget that there are children who don't have families, who have to move from one location to another, never sure if they will get pulled out of a situation," Hill said. "This program makes the gap smaller between people who want to adopt and the children who are waiting to find a permanent home."

"A Home for the Holidays" airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Where are women considering adoption looking for adoptinve parents?

I can't figure out where women are looking, when it comes to finding adoptive parents for the baby they are carrying. I thought adoptions were an even split between networking, newspaper ads and online matches. It seems that networking still is the most common way for a birthmother to find adoptive parents, at least that's what my adoption attorneys say.

Since Parent profiles no longer accepts NY families (and CA families), where do women search when considering finding adoptive parents? I can tell you first hand that these online adoption sites that couples are paying good money too every month are not working. I look at my clients stats online and they ARE NOT getting hits from these paid sites. It's pretty much a waste of money (and hope)! Newspaper ads are expensive, but do produce some results.

I still believe you have to network though brochures, adoption cards, letters, email, social networking and in person networking. Don't be afraid to network again in 3-6 months.

Another family created!

Well, this week brought good news. A friend of mine and her husband have adopted a baby boy born earlier this week. They had a rocky road that included a failed adopted earlier in 2009. This baby was due a few weeks ago and I think everyone was getting antsy! Paperwork will be signed soon and they are very excited.

They are such a wonderful couple and will make excellent parents. We met because this summer I their networking adoption card in my local cultural center. I emailed them to offer my support and wish them luck. She lives in another part of NY, but a relative who lives near me actually put the card up. We struck up an online friendship and were emailing almost daily with the latest on their adoption journey. October proved to be lucky for them, when they were picked by the birthparents of their son.

A few weeks ago, I went to an adoption conference and they were the first to greet me when I walked in the door! I got to talk to the new Mom today who sounded more excited than anything else! I can't wait to see pictures of their new arrival.

Just another example of how perseverance never fails and it is all worthwhile in the end! They baby that was meant to be theirs is now their son!