Thursday, September 15, 2011

Getting Our Hopes Up

hotairballoon1

My dear friend Katie sent me a link to this post.  And it has gotten me thinking. 

Our family is growing.  You can’t see it yet, but we are. 

So many times I have hoped for our baby, but not allowed myself to get too excited yet.  Adoption has quite a mysterious gestation period.  I haven’t wanted to get my hopes up too high when we very likely have a long wait ahead of us.  We could potentially be parents in a few months… or a few years.   

But what good is it to have your hopes down?

I don’t know how long we have to wait to find our baby. 

I do know that he or she is coming.  I have felt it. 

So I have let myself do a little planning.  We decided on a theme for the nursery, one that will work for a baby boy or baby girl.  And I made some vintage hot air balloon models to hang from the ceiling.  They make me so happy.  It was so much fun to make something for our baby. 

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Sometimes people don’t know how to react when we tell them we are adopting.  They know, as we do, that sometimes failed placements happen and sometimes adoption can be hard.  Some well-meaning individuals have felt the need to warn us of possible worst-case scenarios.  But you don’t tell someone who announces their pregnancy, “You, know, you might have a miscarriage.”  You are happy for them and hopeful that all will go well.

There might be some bumps in the road.  However, I believe that things will work out.  I would rather live with positivity than with fear or skepticism.  We’re choosing to take problems as they come, rather than fretting about what might be.  We are not naïve, just optimistic. 

It’s a much happier way of being. 

16 comments:

  1. Amen. And those hot air balloons are absolutely adorable. Please feel free to come and decorate our home any time you darn well please. After all, not decorating my dorm room pink was my biggest college regret too.

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  2. I love the balloons! What a beautiful idea. And I reeeally cringed when people would feel the need to "educate" us on the risks of adoption using some, second-hand adoption-horror-story. I often wondered if they also told their pregnant friends about miscarriage-horror stories as well.

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  3. PS: I loved your comment of "Adoption has quite a mysterious gestation period." Yes, yes it does. :)

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  4. Whitney!! Oh for goodness sakes! You are so cute! Those balloons are TOO DIE FOR!! SO CUTE!! I might steal the idea...is that ok? The meaning behind them just makes them even more lovely! You keep your hopes high...things really are looking up!

    Your writing style lately shows that you are hopeful and looking on the bright side...it makes me happy and I can't help but smile to read all your clever comments:) (I also loved the "mysterious gestation period" and "one college regret")

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  5. Definitely the way to be! I love the quote by Jeffrey R. Holland:
    "No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."
    I think it's true with everything...might as well look on the bright side!

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  6. Um...LOVE IT! I agree that the hot air balloon theme is adorable. Also, I love that you are decorating your nursery. I think it will help you feel closer to your baby as you think about all the time you will spend together in that room soon, instead of dwelling on this time that you are spending apart.

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  7. I love them! Are the 'balloons' part of the hot air balloons bouncy balls?

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  8. I love this line of thinking! Thank you for putting your pep out there! :)

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  9. It's hard to keep hopes up when the wait drags on ... I know. The balloons are wonderful and will make a lovely decoration in the nursery. I made my first baby quilt for the same reasons ... to rally Hope and let myself believe for a while.I hope your wait ends soon. Keeping fingers crossed for all of us in the waiting circle.

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  10. I absolutely love this post! I am a birthmother myself. (to a little girl who actually turned 5 today!) Of course adoption can be - well, is - a painful process, but so is having your own children and raising them. Not sure what sort of adoption you and your husband are hoping for - I just found your blog lol - but I have an open adoption with my little girl's parents and it has been an absolutely amazing experience for all of us. They have become more like family to me than my own family is =) I love the balloon theme, it's got meaning along with being super cute ;) Yay for staying positive!

    http://perpetuallove.net

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  11. I love the balloons! How did you make them? They're seriously so beautiful! And I love your perspective. Definitely a better way of being.

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  12. I just stumbled onto your blog from u-create crafts and love it. My heart goes out to you, I have also struggled with infertility. I am so excited for you to adopt! I'm also excited to keep up on your blog :) Thanks for sharing your experience!

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  13. You are so right - positivity is the way to go! If you believe that it'll happen then it surely will. I LOVE these baloons and would so love to know how you made them - Tutorial please!!!

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  14. The hot air balloons are adorable! You are so talented and creative! And you will make such a wonderful mother. I continue to pray for you, and of course, I would be excited to gain a new grandchild! Love ya.

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  15. I absolutely loved being "paper pregnant" and even convinced my husband of my frozen yogurt "cravings" :)

    The sweet day a crying wiggly pink baby is lovingly placed into your arms makes all that time of waiting & hope SO worth the heartache... suddenly those 2 years (7 years in our case) didn't seem so long, afterall :) Stay busy and look forward to that day but enjoy the journey... it will be sooner than you know it, I'm sure. And squeeze in those going OUT nights now! lol Best of luck to you two!

    Love,
    an adoptive momma of a now 15 month old :)

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  16. I LOVE the balloons!!!!!!! And I totally echo your thoughts about adoption.

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