SpoonFullofJelly

Welcome We are now parents! Our son was born October 3rd. His newborn nature was one of calmness I would say. Well, he was calm as long as his arms were left to cuddle his face. He was swaddled differently than the other babies in the NICU because he just wouldn't have his arms tied down. After a little bout of jaundice, he came home on day 4. About Him He was a long baby at birth, 21.5 inches and at his one month appointment, he was classified in the 95th percentile. His long feet and hands are constantly moving no matter if he is in the crib, the swing, or on in your lap. New Normal We have been home for eight weeks and everything has been a whirlwind. Babies certainly change a household and our son is no different.  He is currently sleeping 4 straight hours at night. Then he wakes for a feeding and a changing then goes back to sleep for another 3-4 hours. That rotation began around week 4 for him. I used a very helpful app. I will provide a review later. Waiting W...

Before I get started, I wanted to state that rather you are for or against adoption grants, know that this is merely tips to help you prepare for that road. Funds related to adoption is super controversial, but at the end of the day, they do exist. Before jumping in with both feet, check out what they require and YOU decide rather it's the right road for you. Thinking of applying for grants to fund your adoption? Here are a couple tips that you will need to think about before you get started. Lay out your household finances. If you have yet to figure how much money you and your partner bring home and how much it costs to run a household, now is the time to do it. Almost every grant wants a peek into your personal finances. One grant wanted to know how much we spent on food, gas, rent and car notes. It gets personal folks so be prepared. Make Copies Early Most grants want a copy of your tax return for the past 2 years. They also want a picture of you, your fami...

Open adoption has become a sore spot in my family. For those that are new to my corner of the blog world, welcome. I'm Lauren Maruki and I have been writing about all the bumps in my road from living and travelling internationally to infertility and now adoption of our first child. Hubby and I both have adopted cousins. Hubby's cousins are now adults, and mine are all under the age 12. Open adoption was a topic of discussion a couple weeks ago at a family event. To our surprise, my mother discovered that my cousins do not have an open adoption with their birth family. I had wondered if that door was shut. Now I am wondering if it was accidentally shut or purposefully shut. I want an open adoption. I want to continue to learn not only about the birth mother, but the birth father, the birth grandparents, the aunts, the uncles and all the crazy cousins. Those people make up my child. Those people have traits that my child will possess. The traits will be the key to perso...

All of the home study paperwork is done. Now we wait! Each and every week someone asks how we are doing and where we are in the process. All we can say is, "We are waiting". Infertility and adoption is all about waiting. You wait each month to see if you are pregnant, you wait each cycle for the next try, and then you wait to figure out the next step. When you are adopting, you are waiting on papers to be approved, waiting for meetings, and then waiting to be matched. There is nothing you can do that will make the time go faster. Patience is my flaw. My generation and the proceeding ones are not good at waiting. I can wait when I have a time frame but to wait for an unspecified amount of time to receive information that may or may not be an end to the means, is beyond my level of patience. I should provide some wonderful suggestions on how to wait, and how to deal. Isn't that what blogging is all about? People provide tips and tricks to overcome the situation that...

November is National Adoption Month!  Someone knows someone whom has been touched by adoption. The more you speak up, the more you learn about other's stories. It is a selfless feat to adopt someone into your heart and home. Adoption comes in many forms. There is adoption of a step-child, grandparent, national adoption, international adoption, foster care adoption and more. There are a million and one ways to create a family, or care for a loved one. Adoption is one way, it is our way. My hubby and I are so excited to learn about the path that is ahead of us.We are currently receiving our last home study meeting today. It is a day of excitement as we take another step forward to meeting our future child. My task for everyone is to embrace someone who is mulling over the decision to place their child for adoption. Don't shame someone who already did. Don't spread negativity about those who were adopted by a new family or waiting to be adopted. Never ever forget ...

I f you have ever thought of adopting a baby or child, take a moment to run these thoughts through your mind. Grab some paper and jot down notes if you need to. I suggest that you revisit these questions more than once. This rocky, long, emotional road is full of ups and downs and your answers could change. Disclaimer: Just my two cents on what one must ponder when considering adoption. I am not an expert of the adoption process, but questions similar to these, among many others, were asked of us by a therapist that specializes in reproductive therapy. Yup, that's a thing! 1. Review your relationship/marriage. If you are adopting because you want more children, make sure that you and your spouse are spending enough quality time together, working on you. Make sure you are enjoying the ups and downs of life together before adding another child to the mix. If you are adopting after discovering infertility, take the time to acknowledge what you use to enjoy before you began tryin...

A few weekends ago Hubby and I held a yard sale at a family member's home. We were blessed to receive clothing, furniture and even paintings from others. We spent a couple weeks cleaning, and folding before we packed up the items and headed east. We stocked the yard with a ton of furniture at 8am and began selling. It was a very interesting day. People spotted our bright pink poster boards and headed over. There were many people that stopped by just to hear that we were adopting a baby. The best moment of the day was when a delivery man turned around just for our sale. He walked around the sale without saying much. My gazed watched him as he stopped at nearly every piece of furniture. He walked up to me and said "I just want to donate because its wonderful to see a young couple adopting." he got back in his truck and drove off. There is always a small reminder to let us know that this decision to open our home is bigger than us. Donations were given and items we pur...

I have to take a moment to give thanks to a friend from church. She has been a ray of sunshine as I struggled through the infertility path. She has a few friends that have walked my path over the past few years and knew exactly how to approach me. Of course she figured out that I have a blog and read through so many posts before she spoke up to me. I was embarrassed at first because I knew I ranted about being around a ton of pregnant women and she happened to be pregnant. But my dear friend didnt seemed bothered by it. She was just concerned about my welfare and feelings. This summer my dear friend brought me to tears. She was happy that Hubby and I moved forward with the decision to adopt. She was moved by the thought that we are excited to begin a different and new chapter in our lives. She then went on to mention my post on being too proud to beg for help. She went on to explain that she had helped her friend raise money for her adoption and that many people want to help me. She ...

I am so excited!  Hubby's cousin and wife brought a new home and they wanted to furnish the home with new items. They are selling nearly everything and Hubby and I get to keep all the proceeds! Hubby and I were over the moon when his cousin suggested giving us all the proceeds back in early June. We were beyond thrilled because we are in desperate need to raise funds to adopt. Once we mentioned it to a few other people, we started to get donations. People want us to sell their items and keep the money. How wonderful is that? We were initially aiming to receive around $500 from the sales, but my cousin-in-love said that we were aiming way too low. She estimates $1500! Well an accountant can go toe to toe with a lawyer, but this is a case close matter. I rather take the $1500 estimate. So wish us luck as we sell all that we can on Saturday, July 16th! We will be one step closer to our first down payment for our adoption!

Deep in the loads of paperwork to be approved to adopt a child, is a set of questions, a ton of questions. We have to dive deep into our inner most thoughts and dreams to capture on paper what we want, where we will go and most importantly, who we are. We dedicated Sundays to tackling all the adoption paperwork and family. It's time set aside to learning about this road that so many secretly walked down. We knew that there was more to just receiving a child, that perhaps we needed to know who we are so that we can explain it to others. One small question created a huge, week long discussion. So we took a stab at it to create our slogan: "We are a kind, hugging couple that spends quality time camping, reading, coloring, living minimally, traveling the world, and eating gluten free all while being children of God." Dare I say that was a run on sentence? Perhaps, but it encompasses all that we have become over the past eleven years together. We have fought a good fight a...

As an adult we commit to so many activities, obligations and even people. We commit our money, our time and even possessions. The hardest to commit is our hearts. It the first place we protect and hide when there's love, tragedy or sadness. The heart keeps us alive, and not just physically. Its the pumping station to refuel yourself with what makes you happy, energized, and fulfilled. Hubby and I have committed our hearts to adopting a baby! In May, we looked over all the different adoption agencies that we visited and contacted since August 2014. It was time to look through a open door rather than pry open a closed door. We knew it was a good decision to hold off on using a donor six months prior. The road became clear. We often referred to adoption as plan C. It is not our last resort- going without a family is our last resort. We called it plan C because it was a plan that required Caution . Caution for both families involved. It was not a process that Hubby and I can do s...

Two weeks ago I was chopping pineapples with a friend from church. We flew from one topic to the next during our two day shopping trip and 4 hour brunch prep. I got to learn a brand new side to her and her life. She, like many women had a hard time getting pregnant. She lost a baby in the first trimester and it took another two years to conceive again. I finally opened up and told another person, that Hubby and I have been battling infertility for 5 years. Holding back my tears, I placed on a smile and explained how we are just defeated for trying so much. I explained our road and how we are dead broke. I told her that we are on to plan C, adoption. I went on to explain that its so expensive that I'm surprised it's legal. She told me that a family member of her's adopted 10 years ago and everyone chipped in. She gets it! She knows what it's like to go years and years without something that you worked and prayed for. She even had a family member to go through the same ...

Back in April, I ran into a lady from church going into a meeting. I wanted to ask her if we can meet to discuss adoption. At the time, she was holding her adopted daughter and I didn't know if she had revealed this to her or not so I said "I heard that you can help me with a-d-o-p-t-i-o-n info." The lady responded and said "Oh, yes. You don't have to spell it out. 'A' knows all about adoption." 'A' turns and says "I'm adopted!" She went on to explain that her mom got her from the hospital a few hours away. Well last week, 'A' walks up to me at the end of the church service and asks "Are you going to adopt?" I was floored and caught off guard. How did this 5 year old remember a short conversation more than 4 months ago? She has seen me a number of times since then and she never spoke a word about the conversation, until that day. I told her that I went to a meeting to learn all about it and we will adopt a ba...