We had an incredible time last night with the most amazing people at our Hoping4baby fundraiser!! It was heartwarming, humbling, and exhilirating all at the same time. Thank you to John and Mallie for organizing this amazing event and for ALL of the long hours of work that you put into it. We had friends everywhere helping and we just can't thank you all enough. The feeling of having you all in "our corner" is one of the precious gifts of this process of adoption. We feel touched by each of you and your generosity in a way that we just don't know how to describe. Although insufficient, we just want to says THANK YOU!
We were able to raise over $2,200 and it was FUN! After our baby is with us, won't it be great to have a party like that every year to honor all of you who helped us achieve our dream? It will be an honor to share our baby with each of you.
We'll post some pictures soon :) Thank you again!!
With love, gratitude,and hope,
Tamara and Tony
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
2 Days Away
It's only 2 days now before our big fundraiser!! We are working hard to get everything ready - raffle, auction, cornhole (we call it bags) tournament, tables, chairs, and of course FOOD! It is going to be a fun time. Our friend Mike downloaded 10 hours of rocking dance music, the bounce house is going up, Cornhole tournament starts at 6:30 and everyone is invited! We already have over 100 RSVP's and they keep coming.
We feel so loved and supported that it woke me up early the other morning. Those who know me well know that I love to sleep :). Well, yesterday morning I woke before my alarm which is set for 6am. It was dark and the birds were not awake yet. As I was waking, I saw an image clearly in my mind. The funny thing about images is that they come from within your body, so when you are present to them, they are really more than a visual picture. This image was also a feeling, an awareness and a message.
I "saw" myself cradling our newborn baby in my arms. Tony had his arms around me and all around the three of us, I saw what was like a sea of hearts. I don't really mean literally hearts, although that is how my mind assigned a visual image to it after a moment, but beings, hundreds upon hundreds of people, souls?, surrounding us like ripples in a pond surround the pebble that falls in the center.
An absolutely beautiful tide of gratitude rose up within me and spilled out as tears.
A dear friend shared this verse with me this week.
With love, hope, and gratitude,
Tamara
We feel so loved and supported that it woke me up early the other morning. Those who know me well know that I love to sleep :). Well, yesterday morning I woke before my alarm which is set for 6am. It was dark and the birds were not awake yet. As I was waking, I saw an image clearly in my mind. The funny thing about images is that they come from within your body, so when you are present to them, they are really more than a visual picture. This image was also a feeling, an awareness and a message.
I "saw" myself cradling our newborn baby in my arms. Tony had his arms around me and all around the three of us, I saw what was like a sea of hearts. I don't really mean literally hearts, although that is how my mind assigned a visual image to it after a moment, but beings, hundreds upon hundreds of people, souls?, surrounding us like ripples in a pond surround the pebble that falls in the center.
An absolutely beautiful tide of gratitude rose up within me and spilled out as tears.
A dear friend shared this verse with me this week.
For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you'. -Isaiah 41:13I can feel His grace through all of you. Thank you for your help with bringing a baby into our lives.
With love, hope, and gratitude,
Tamara
Friday, September 9, 2011
Parents Moving Down
We are excited this week because we will soon get to be with my parents MUCH more! My parents announced this week that they are going to move to Florida! I could not be happier - this is amazing news. I always imagined having my mom around when I had a baby - and now I will! Of course, the timeline on both counts is still uncertain, but it will be sooner than later in the long run. It has been 12 years since we lived in the same town and it is LONG enough!
While learning about grief and loss in teh adopted child, I revisit some of the grief and loss that I experienced as a child because since I was five and my parents were divorced, I always lived away from at least one of my parents. It's a challenging thing to make sense of when you're a child. I know that it all worked out for the best in the long run (they are both still married to the wonderful people they met after they broke up). I would not trade ANY of my parents (and I'm blessed to have 4) for anything. I can only say that being apart from ALL of them these past 12 years has been difficult for me and I feel already, with the prospect of them moving closer, a little gap closing inside. A healing begin. A soothing spring cleansing something inside.
Our baby will be blessed to have four grandparents right here in Sarasota and for that, my eyes tear up and my chest heaves. It is an amazing blessing!
And looking at this picture from a few years ago - it will be much warmer for them and the "critters". :)
With love and hope,
Tamara
While learning about grief and loss in teh adopted child, I revisit some of the grief and loss that I experienced as a child because since I was five and my parents were divorced, I always lived away from at least one of my parents. It's a challenging thing to make sense of when you're a child. I know that it all worked out for the best in the long run (they are both still married to the wonderful people they met after they broke up). I would not trade ANY of my parents (and I'm blessed to have 4) for anything. I can only say that being apart from ALL of them these past 12 years has been difficult for me and I feel already, with the prospect of them moving closer, a little gap closing inside. A healing begin. A soothing spring cleansing something inside.
Our baby will be blessed to have four grandparents right here in Sarasota and for that, my eyes tear up and my chest heaves. It is an amazing blessing!
And looking at this picture from a few years ago - it will be much warmer for them and the "critters". :)
With love and hope,
Tamara
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Cranes in the Mail
Yesterday evening, I invited our friends over to visit and we found a box on the front porch! The return address said, "Everyone...Ferndale, WA". We opened it up and Oak squealed because the colors were so beautiful. He begged me to dump the box out so we could look at them all. It was wonderful to feel the incredible energy that poured from the box as we looked at each one and decided which ones were our favorite. Three year olds are wonderful :). He decided how some of them were related based on their colors - "this one is the baby, this one is his mommy and his daddy" and so on. Many many thanks to Susan, Mom, and Everyone in the family in Ferndale!!! We are so blessed to receive such a beautiful box of hope cranes. Thank you.
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