tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347369045573886652024-03-05T13:35:57.505-08:00One LessThe story of our family's adoptionDani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-21794578073019835782013-06-04T07:17:00.002-07:002013-06-04T07:40:59.807-07:00Update
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>"Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way; though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand." Psalm 37:23-24</strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've waited almost 9 months to tell this story. It's painful. It makes me angry. I cried, the ugly cry and I needed to figure out how to explain what we experienced without tarnishing the reputation of adoption. I feel that I'm a testament of the goodness of adoption so I, in no way, would want to deter anyone from adopting if they feel called but this is our story, I'm proud to share it, we will build our family through adoption and if anyone personally knows us who's reading this, my stubbornness becomes electric in times like this. Electric. So after months of training, time away from our boys, 1/2 a homestudy we closed (in October) our file with the agency that we were contracted with. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Without going in to a million details, because is the morning and I'm drinking coffee not a bloody mary, the expectations of our agency drastically changed. We weren't naive, we had full understanding of their policies, took a lot of time making our decision and they changed things on not just us, but everyone. Not little changes, but big changes. They weren't changes that helped the foster children, they weren't changes that protected them from abuse, neglect and trauma and they sure has heck weren't changes that we were made aware of during our training. Basically, these were changes that protected the agency from any further prosecution because of abuse cases in their own foster homes. As my husband said, in his businessman mind, "they're doing a risk assessment on us". They, as it appeared to us, were in the business of covering their asses, no protecting children. So, after our first homestudy, meeting in October, learning about the news changes in the agency in those moments with the social worker, we decided that it would be a disservice to our biological children and to all of our hearts to continue with them. I lost my shit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had so many failures already. If we got back 2 years about and sift through posts, although I can find beauty and hope in them, we have struggled to grow our family through adoption. As my husband says, we don't really have to know why, we just have to keep on working. (his work ethic is impeccable) It's true but at the time, we had no plan. I'm a planner, I plan things, it's my job. I have three kids under 7, it's sorta what I do. You feel me? No plan. Zero plan. I haven't had those types of feelings to process with children around. We had to tell the kids, we had to deal with the fact that our goal we'd been working towards, was disintegrating. We had to tell family, and friends that we had no plan. I'm pretty good at expressing my feelings and I'm still struggling to find words. Have you ever just sat there and cried? I did. Not because I was angry, because we wanted those foster kids. WE wanted them. Just normal folks, willing to change the dynamic of our family and try to put those kids back together with the pieces that we had for them and we were excited to do it. Knowing all the struggles ahead. We were ready and they thought we were a risk. So we had some healing to do to say the least. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After 6 months or so after closing the file with the agency we decided to move along, completing our homestudy for domestic adoption. We knew we'd need it and just getting it over with was our primary goal. I really wasn't in the mood to talk about our childhood trauma much anymore so getting that done and over with was a number one priority. After we completed it, it was a big weight off our shoulders and we felt like we could really move on in finding how to build our family. Just recently, we've put in another, and hopefully our last, paperwork in with an agency here in Texas for the adoption of one or possibly a sibling group of kiddos through the state of Texas. We, have a plan folks, feeling good about it. We prayed a lot, A LOT, we talked about it with the boys and we're ready to get this show on the road. So...here we go again. ( insert Whitesnake song here, minus girl on car from the music video). Thank you Jesus. </span></span><br />Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-46569273640938628702012-09-24T21:35:00.002-07:002012-09-24T21:35:28.659-07:00Why should we be when we already are? I have spent tireless hours in our swagger wagon the past few weeks now that school has started. Three back packs. Three lunchboxes. One nap mat. Six snacks. Three water bottles. I could go on and on. If you asked me when I was 22 and right out of college if I saw myself doing that 10 years later what do you think I would have said? I would have said "sure". I'm not sure if it's because of my parents or my environment, but I never had this yearning to make a lot of money, to marry some big wig or have a powerful job. In college I never even thought about how much money I'd have to make to survive and I didn't even realize math majors existed until I met my husband. I never knew what I wanted to be. I guess I had this inkling that I didn't have to be anything because I was already something and I just had to wait it out.<br />
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When Chris and I had our first son, I could tell he was just like me even as an infant. It was my first time experiencing similar characteristics in my entire life since I'm adopted and it was amazing to see me in him. He was and still is, bubbly, talkative, emotional, creative, and empathetic. He has this sense about him, knowing that other people's feelings are important. Making sure they feel loved is important. It made me realize that I don't have to be anything because I am me, just for him and his brothers. It was the first time in my life when I realized what God needed me to be. Selfless. It's what all mothers are really called to be. My birthmother, the few hours I got to spend with her before I was brought to my mother, selfless. My mother, adopting a child knowing it would bring complications to her own family, selfless. Mama Mary, accepting the ultimate challenge of giving birth to The Son of Man and watching him die on a cross, beautifully and perfectly selfless. I wanna be like that.<br />
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When we experienced our first adoption that fell through last year I was angry, I did my "ugly cry" a lot. We had named her Faith, she was just perfect, so much hair, tiny little long fingers that I knew wrapped around her brother's fingers would be a blessing to us. We couldn't imagine the birthmom keeping her because she had previously placed 4 other children for adoption. But she wasn't our blessing, in fact she wasn't ours at all and we were called to be selfless. That's a hard lesson to teach but we did it and are thankful for God's grace and mercy because we know there's more to come.<br />
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So, one day in one of the "go to gymnastics, stop at Chic fil A and then head to teeball" nights, we were going around saying what we wanted to be when were grew up. I always go first, because I'm the boss, and I tell them I'm not a grown up yet so I still have time to think about it. James, a scientist. Henry...we can just hope that he's not doing something dangerous, and Lucas said he just wanted to be himself. I think that's the perfect answer. We should all have that answer. Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-88224810340481405372012-09-15T19:30:00.001-07:002012-09-15T19:30:22.410-07:00Oh snap...that's finished!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7IwHSVWyArmZ2iszyEQ2fWkbG3n68yrG59oEsK1wsFSZspqtinYrjhWG65O6cc91W3JTI6h56NBHXtcTk09MKOVpGJkal0u7gBqU_Lxl2bxe9cwQ1e1QAZzz-SReRKJ_dssPqEXa6w/s1600/blog+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7IwHSVWyArmZ2iszyEQ2fWkbG3n68yrG59oEsK1wsFSZspqtinYrjhWG65O6cc91W3JTI6h56NBHXtcTk09MKOVpGJkal0u7gBqU_Lxl2bxe9cwQ1e1QAZzz-SReRKJ_dssPqEXa6w/s320/blog+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a>Four wonderful words. We're done with training. Holy crap, I feel like this is a huge step forward because we have worked so hard to get here! We still of course have to get our homestudy completed but after 40 hours of trauma, neglect, sexual abuse, CPR, first aid and psychotropic medication training I feel like we've accomplished a really big step. We met a few other families on Friday who were in very similar situations with young biological children and they were also fostering to adopt so it felt really good to feel like we weren't the only ones out there. It's really easy to feel like you don't have support but it's been really important to us to keep in contact with our agency, and they've been great so far. We're also really thankful for the prayers of our friends family as we went through our training so THANK YOU!!! So here's the deal....</div>
Since we're fostering to adopt we have a couple of choices of what we could do. The first option is straight up fostering. The goal of fostering is reunification with the parents so we're 100% sure that we're not going to be doing that. Another option, would be for us to be in the "legal risk" program where the goal of the placement would be finding adoptive parents but there would still be a period of 18-22 that it could take for the parental rights to be relinquished. The last option is for emergency placements. With emergency placements you can just get a call, no knowing anything about the child, and it they try to figure out the plan for the child while they're in your custody. We're thinking right now, we'll be doing legal risk since it would give us the best option for a placement to stick. Next step is we schedule our fire inspection with the county and get our homestudy scheduled. We'll be ready to roll end of October...can't believe it. Keep up the prayers that everything goes as planned and we don't have any hiccups! High five everyone!!Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-49204065707816925802012-07-22T07:26:00.000-07:002012-07-22T07:26:19.991-07:00We All Have a Story<span style="font-size: medium;">But those who hope in the Lord will renew their
strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not
grow weary, they will walk and not faint. <span style="font-size: small;">(Isaiah 40:31)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">In our first training class this month our trainer's first question to all of us was "why do you want to foster or adopt??" When it came my turn I, of course answering for both Chris and I, said, "I was adopted". It seemed appropriate but wasn't completely true.We had a story, just like everyone else in the room and we just weren't willing to completely divulge it. Training has been rough at times. I think the hardest part was our entire evening on Shaken Baby Syndrome and SIDS. I've had this burn inside of me ever since I was little, that "you can't scare me" or "you won't make me back down" personality trait that made me stay planted and I remember praying as I was sitting there asking the Lord to keep me still and to listen. It's important to hear the stories, to know the abuse because it will help us understand possibly behaviors of our future child. Chris had to walk out and take a minute before he could really talk about the information that night and that's ok, we all needed a minute that night. To tell you the truth, after deciding to adopt through CPS we had very little support from family and friends. For us, a bit shocking, but not completely surprising. Most asked WHY?? Why adopt one of "these children"? Why would you put your family, especially the boys, through something possibly traumatic and painful just to add a child to your family...we already have three kiddos right? "Are you willing to...? "What will happen if....?" "Are you ready for....?" These seem to be normal questions but what it's made us realize is, no matter who's questioning us, the only validation that we need is God's. We don't have to explain to everyone why we're doing what we're doing. We don't have to explain why our daughter will not be "second best" because she was a foster child before an adopted child. We don't have to explain why our daughter will be in our home because we know God's plan for us and we have comfort knowing that he's gotten us this far. I'm glad I was given a stubborn personality because I could easily try to appease everyone, but no this mama. You're setting us up for failure? For tears? I don't think so. We will flourish, we will grow we'll have road blocks and barriers but they won't be bigger than Him. You see, we rest in that. I wish I had had the courage that night to tell my story, the story of my birth mother, my family, my children and the beauty that we have found in knowing that our God is bigger than any of our pain and suffering. So we're choosing to praise Him everyday for the children we already have, for the ability to have babysitters all month twice a week so we can do our training, for our awesome trainer Angela from Spaulding, for the time we get to sit together and actually talk about the important things in our life, for our new home, for all of the prayers from friends and family, and for each other. Praise is a choice and we're choosing to praise Him through everything. </span></span>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-23477834315946698732012-05-31T11:50:00.002-07:002012-05-31T11:50:58.458-07:00I Giggle When I'm NervousThe past six months since we've been back in Houston sort of feels like we've been white water rafting with no oars. Jumping from side to side, making sure we're afloat but having fun at the same time. It use to feel scary but now we're use to it and have learned to lean into our faith. We know The Lord is always there in the boat giggling at us. The other day Chris commented on my giggle. "Uh, oh...that's your nervous laugh." I had to admit. I was nervous. We had been waiting for the approval of our agency app and now that we had been approved and our training was scheduled I was hit with this wave of emotion, and that emotion was anxiety. How was I, the "emotional one", going to handle talking about psychotropic drugs, sexual abuse, neglect, attachment disorders and rage for 6 hours a week? I mean crap! I teared up at the information session! This is ALL BEFORE the home study. I really needed to pull it together. I needed some quiet. I needed to process my feelings and I needed to pray. We all needed to pray, so that's exactly what we did. We don't have all the answers to our questions, I still giggle a lot, but we have great friends that giggle with us, sons who make us smile even in the mist of the waves, one who always has his hands up on the ride and a BIG God. Bigger than our anxieties, bigger than our fears and way bigger than our raft. We start our training June 5th!! Please be in prayer with us!!Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-27019111523363047872012-05-03T10:46:00.000-07:002012-05-03T10:46:59.099-07:00It is well with my soulLast night I was at mass with a good friend of mine. I couldn't take my eyes off of the beautiful children in front of me, the three oldest of five, singing their hearts in praises to our loving God. My mind, normally filled with anxieties, was peaceful and our hopes for more children seemed much closer than they did just hours before I had walked into that church. We had gotten a call that we're scheduled for our state training and home study in the months of June and July which would have us ready for placement the beginning of August. My mind exploded and we sort of giggled in nervousness but we're "high fiver's" and it was a really good high five yesterday. We're scheduled, that's big. We can totally pull this off and the idea of four, possibly five kiddos makes me smile. Such a gift to us from none other than God himself. Please be in reverent prayer with us for our training and homestudy to go well, for the child or children who'll be placed with us and for the comfort and peace of the biological family members. It is well with my soul.Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-48819777909026542002012-01-28T11:57:00.000-08:002012-01-28T11:57:09.296-08:00Too Many ButsI feel like we've been in limbo one too many times but I know that this time won't be the last. Part of the adoption process is just that, not knowing what's going to happen or when you'll receive your placement. Because of our recent change of plans we knew there would be a different sort of emotional challenge that we have been trying to prepare for. Children who are placed by CPS are placed for a reason. They've been neglected, abused, hurt by someone who is suppose to love them unconditionally. I'm not sure there's really a way to begin to understand that, but we're trying to wrap our minds around it. We also know that with the amount of children in the state of Texas, close to 6000 that we'd have a placement quickly. Unfortunately, we got a really big BUT after we we heard that were had been approved this week. My brother passed away back in Sept and because there has been a death in the family we were told that we'd have to wait 7 mo's to even begin our training. Although I understand a waiting period for "life changing events", I felt I had the obligation to at least try and explain my family dynamics to them. Long story short, I ended up crying on the phone with them and passed off the communication with them to Chris...my brave and less emotional husband :). So, he called yesterday and they do feel that our situation is different than any other that they've really experienced so we're hopeful to have the decision appealed and start our training. It's hard not to feel like a Mama Bear, knowing that our daughter is out there somewhere waiting for us. We want to protect her but know she has a struggle ahead. It kills us to think that we'd have to wait for her to be in an abusive situation for 7 more months just because of my brother's passing. We're trying to remember to praise God this weekend for the great kiddos we have and be thankful for their health, empathy, compassion so when our daughter arrives, we'll be there to love on her.Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-31872640529155823362012-01-13T10:51:00.000-08:002012-01-13T11:12:42.006-08:00Reality Check<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhiHl02W0x8KGMklEiKQsIbfwGUXafNo7jQDrLwxG_rtXDonoMzgXogsXV_I0qm4xxLPvhSThYCz3uzKTisqrOORF7_tvZnv38K9cM2Q28QeJNsLYFrfLs2DK2W7_y9DDuXD4HzbUuw/s1600/adoption+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhiHl02W0x8KGMklEiKQsIbfwGUXafNo7jQDrLwxG_rtXDonoMzgXogsXV_I0qm4xxLPvhSThYCz3uzKTisqrOORF7_tvZnv38K9cM2Q28QeJNsLYFrfLs2DK2W7_y9DDuXD4HzbUuw/s320/adoption+photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>"You'll be dealing with emotional abuse for sure. For instance one of our children's father would lay her down behind the back tires and put his truck in reverse. He'd spin his tires to make her think he was going to run over her...you know, things like that." R. had been doing these meetings for almost thirty years. Speaking to prospective parents about foster care and adoption. I turned to Chris and said, "that could be our daughter." It starts to get really easy to not notice the amount of pain around you. The amount of children who need homes. We have nice cars to distract us, nice homes, happy smiling kiddos, warm food, high fives, an awesome church community. For a short amount of time I think I forgot how messed up our world really is. Chris and I made the prayerful decision to begin the process for adoption through the State of Texas a big change from where we started. We knew that starting this process would mean dealing with the effects of abuse and neglect. It's a biggie...the effects are usually life long companions to the children and there is loads of research that shows that children adopted from the state just don't do well. Scary? Sure...from our perspective most things are. Meeting new friends is scary, trying new foods, helping friends through grief is scary but we do it and it makes us stronger. It gives us tools to do things that are more challenging later on down the road. So we'll do it and God's gonna walk us through our emotions. He's the peanut butter in our PB sandwich. Right in the middle. So we're putting in our preliminary paperwork to get started. After that we have training hours that we'll have to fulfill and in that time we'll have our home study completed. It's a short amount of time, normally 120 days from start to finish then our caseworker will begin to find a child that will fit our family. We needed to remind ourselves that we're not looking for the "perfect" child. Just like our kids don't ask for the "perfect" parents. There's no such thing. We just know how to love each other, for now, that's enough. We're all God's children...thank goodness He takes care of the perfect part.Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-28774221433981958042012-01-11T10:55:00.000-08:002012-01-11T10:55:42.108-08:00When's My Sister Coming Home?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0NA8ahnVkF7Vhku449T_TniNmMIVwdEqnloQC46maIb-HTQfB8O3IhCDRa-xG_Q-YacsNhy7xb4COTcrV5FJYfZgQ11gTgaj5bfXFaFucYJlwEcq77onFYl0_MK_Fn8lm7Wwoao5UQ/s1600/IMG_0487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk0NA8ahnVkF7Vhku449T_TniNmMIVwdEqnloQC46maIb-HTQfB8O3IhCDRa-xG_Q-YacsNhy7xb4COTcrV5FJYfZgQ11gTgaj5bfXFaFucYJlwEcq77onFYl0_MK_Fn8lm7Wwoao5UQ/s320/IMG_0487.JPG" width="320" /></a>It was quite on Sunday afternoon, not the scary quiet when you know your kids are really doing something terrible, but good quiet. The weather was phenomenal, had the windows open and the kid were playing in the backyard. Our middle son, who's four, ran in with pink cheeks and grabbed a juice to reboot so he could go jump on the trampoline some more. He's jumped over to me and asked a very simple and frank question. "When is my sister coming home?" Chris and just looked at each other, not ready to answer the question. He saw us take the car seat out of the car, not head to the hospital and put the baby girl clothes back in the garage. I knew he was thinking about her. We all do at some point. As honest as we could be we've told our boys that she'll be here. That God is good and in His timing we'll see her. We tell them that God asks lots of things of us. To be patient, kind to people who others would assume to be outcasts. He never promises that we won't hurt, or suffer or cry. But He's there to walk us through our sorrow. Our oldest two would really love to have a sister. It started out as a calling for Chris and I to extend our family and it's blossomed into our family needing her. We have a meeting tomorrow about adopting our daughter. I feels to be a familiar place, but different at the same time. Our skin is tougher, our expectations are different and we've surrendered this to Jesus. Time to be molded and shaped into what we need to be for all of them. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-57497681616499270422012-01-03T09:33:00.000-08:002012-01-03T09:38:21.589-08:00Today We're Happy<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEienhJMTevhmW8MW2N-ATeqXIrDEIF1G2IkuLDswKF45Tb7DN2dj2d0lzYBL6XqhYG024FwLAvAPGYaLiK6Y48_3Um8ysxj1Dm94fg72duAvXiGSJOaUj4tpQAvo0cM-gQ1ru8-sMqq4A/s1600/love+this+picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEienhJMTevhmW8MW2N-ATeqXIrDEIF1G2IkuLDswKF45Tb7DN2dj2d0lzYBL6XqhYG024FwLAvAPGYaLiK6Y48_3Um8ysxj1Dm94fg72duAvXiGSJOaUj4tpQAvo0cM-gQ1ru8-sMqq4A/s320/love+this+picture.jpg" width="320" /></a>This is not an inspirational, “this is my New Year’s resolution” post. I actually don’t really do resolutions. I have a really bad short term memory so things like that are useless. I use most of my brain power to remember more important things like what I’m cooking for dinner or what happened on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. I just feel like I haven’t written anything down in such a long time and so many people have asked or emailed about our adoption. The past six months, maybe longer we’ve had a lot going on. I’ve had it all categorically organized in my head but the past months have proven to be quite emotionally challenging and to be perfectly honest I think I needed a little time to process and reflect. Bottom line we’ve had major changes in our lives. We’ve dealt with a divorce in my family, mental illness, the death of my brother, a big move and of course the last adoption that fell through. I like to think that my eternal optimism gets me through most things in life and to some people it would seem like everything, for me, is a grain of salt. But things such as these can’t be grains; they’re more like boulders that you’re continually rolling uphill with three kids on your back. You can’t stop moving them because they’ll roll right over you. I actually find it very interesting parenting and having children during times of sadness or trauma. I remember loosing a very close friend of mine in college and I was able to take the time, be introspective, to walk to the chapel on campus and pray, say the rosary or just sit there when I needed to. With children you have to make the choice. You can be honest and describe your emotions or you can hide them and cry in the bathroom, laundry room or your car when you’re alone. We chose the first option. I think of our short journey of almost 10 years and there’s one thing that we’ve always done. Cope with things together and that’s what we do now, just as a family. Feelings are feelings, it’s good to teach children how to describe them and remind them that God is faithful. We learn through our tears and our sadness. He never told we’d always be happy but He always says He’ll be there for us, we just have to call on Him. </div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">So with that said, there’s definitely hasn’t been a lack of joy the past 6 months. Chris got a phenomenal job that he loves and we’ve moved back to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Houston</place></city>. The kids are happier than ever and we feel settled and surrounded by friends and family. Chris is able to spend more time at home with us and it seems like there’s a big weight that has been lifted off his shoulders. I’m so very proud of him and I can tell he’s much happier and most importantly, proud of himself. We live just 20 minutes from my sister and nieces and nephew who I’m very close with so it’s such a blessing to be near them. We’re also back at our old church and we absolutely love it there. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We did a lot of praying the past six months, as a family and individually. We had to put the adoption on the back burner because of the move but we prayed and asked for guidance on how to move forward because it was really hard on our hearts dealing with the last possible adoption. I think it was harder than I ever wanted to admit. So we just let it sit for a little bit until we felt ready to move forward. So we’re ready…we’re changing things up a bit and can’t really explain much as this point but let’s just say I have butterflies. We have an adoption meeting next week so I’ll post more about it then but as always, we appreciate all of the prayers and support from our family and friends. We always remember you and are so thankful. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-34101314423397712152011-08-29T09:48:00.000-07:002011-08-29T09:50:19.693-07:00I had to tell myself to "shut up" yesterday...<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/S9qt1gFRVEI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>"Jesus never asked us to be comfortable, and if we are, we're not where we need to be. He asked us to make choices that could be painful, that could disrupt relationships, to help people everyone else judges, He calls us to stretch ourselves because then we can truly be disciples." ~Fr. Tom</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I have never pulled out my phone in church but yesterday I didn't bring a pen for notes. Thank goodness I'm a professional texter because I was able to get that quote quickly in my phone before leaped into the cavern where I keep random thoughts. Chris had taken the boys to Children's Liturgy like he always does, God bless him, and I was sitting there along listening to Fr. Tom speak directly to me. I had faith that morning that I was going to hear something that would lift me up. I'm normally a really positive person but the few days before mass I will admit, I was sort of a wreck, bursting into tears when the boys would go upstairs to play and not talking too much, which is a sure fire way to know something's really wrong with me :). </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Crazily enough for the second time this year, we were approached by a birth mother to possibly adopt her daughter. It hasn't been through our agency either time but through a family member or a dear friend (you know who you are). I won't go into too many details because we still don't know if we'll be adopting the child, but Chris and I have been overwhelmed with all of the prayers and support from our family and friends. We hadn't heard from the birth family for a couple of days so a<span style="background-color: yellow;">fter </span>throwing a pretty big pity party on Saturday I ended up telling myself to "shut up". I was being ridiculous. Someone was deciding to hand over their sweet little 7 lb. 8 oz. perfect little baby girl to us and I was sitting on the floor of my bathroom crying because I was being impatient. That baby may or may not be ours. We're preparing that it won't be and to move on with our agency but one thing's for sure...we better get use to it. Waiting is a part of the process. It completely sucks, but birth mothers need their time and we have to stand strong in our faith. I read back through my earlier post about how "God is big enough". I forgot that pretty quickly. It was time to shut up and listen. So we prayed. Ok, so we prayed, then we went our for sushi and a movie, but we prayed like we had never prayed before. </div><br />
Sunday came around and we still hadn't gotten word from the birth family, in fact we haven't heard from them at all, and we had a strong sense of peace about the situation. All of our friends and family had been praying and I know that their prayers helped soothe our souls that morning and then I got to listen to Fr. Tom. On the drive to church I had a feeling that something would be great about his homily that day. I was right. It was a confirmation of everything we had been feeling about our decision to adopt. A call to do exactly what we're suppose to do, stretch ourselves, not be "comfortable" in our lives and to do things that most people would see as potentially painful. Chris and I know what we've been called to do, it's not the easiest thing in the worlds but He's going to stretch us and mold us into the people that we're meant to be. I have a really wise friend who's an adoptive mom herself and I emailed her last week to let her know what was going on. I told her I just needed advice, I didn't know what to say or pray or do to be honest. She just told me to pray, "that God's will be done." So that's what we've been doing. Thanks again for everyone's prayers, thoughts, texts and calls. If we get an update I'll be sure to let you know. Until then, we've got three amazing little boys who's smiles and hugs make us feel like a million bucks. How quickly we forget our blessings sometimes. I need to count them more. Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-77240755784857602492011-08-19T06:42:00.000-07:002011-08-19T06:42:41.875-07:00An Honest Question<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">“Why do you have to adopt a black baby”? I’ve gotten this question numerous times. Normally it’s from a family member or friend that is honestly concerned about our family dynamics but I’m not sure it really sunk in for them until the past few weeks wrapping up our homestudy. (BIG YAY ALMOST FINISHED!!!) I really never thought about why NOT to have a transracial family. I see it as such a shame to have children sitting in foster care mostly because of their race and the fear that they’d disrupt or not be the “perfect” fit for a family. I think we’ve just got to the point in choosing a program, when we decided to adopt a child who is least likely to get adopted. Unfortunately, that would be African American babies. One day we’ll have to sit down and explain to our daughter about her adoption, she’ll one day know and hopefully understand why other little girls just like her don’t have a mommy and daddy, big brothers and grandparents that love her so much and processed through "the system" because they were the same color as her. I don't have the perfect words right now, but sometimes "perfect" isn't really what you need. I will never say we have a perfect family. My boys don’t eat veggies, we throw tantrums (even me), my 15 mo old still takes a bottle, and we sometimes say things we don’t mean but… We love hard and try to remember that God didn’t make us perfect He made us to be His hands and feet. Hands and feet get dirty, they get bruised, scraped, burned and calloused…but He cleans them, washes them off and everyday they’re just like new. Thank God for new days, each day is a blessing with our perfectly imperfect family and our little girl will have a special place in it whenever she gets here. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-61005468032632642272011-08-03T07:16:00.000-07:002011-08-03T07:16:50.958-07:00Beach Bums <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdW7NV3_TUtxNFTP1GO5o1urmZhE3Uc3F1f5vJi9YUhyndW9lWQEouplxOzwcYRsXDw3BmxGQv2RGM6atBZj39TYnzN2VV5-yVpjfdfvJy2fVkSZCu-i5PtjL-ZdcOWMJ5pGMiT-JHxw/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdW7NV3_TUtxNFTP1GO5o1urmZhE3Uc3F1f5vJi9YUhyndW9lWQEouplxOzwcYRsXDw3BmxGQv2RGM6atBZj39TYnzN2VV5-yVpjfdfvJy2fVkSZCu-i5PtjL-ZdcOWMJ5pGMiT-JHxw/s320/009.JPG" t$="true" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris always shows lots of excitement when he's<br />
driving for long periods of time in the car. </td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last month Chris and I decided that we'd take the boys on their first "offical" family vacation and drive to Pensacola to visit my cousins, aunts and uncles for a week. Most people don't really see the fun in driving 12 hours in the car with three boys under six, but I was so darn excited. I think I was more excited then they were and by the time we were in the car to take off I think we may have let out some squeals. I can't begin to tell you how much my husband enjoyed that. *insert sarcasm* There's just something about roadtrips that make my heart happy and allow me to not think about looming decisions, laundry, baseboards and cleaning my kitchen. Roadtrips are fun especially when you're final destination is the beach. This trip was really important to me for other reasons as well. It was sort of like a mission to come full circle, start a new leaf, give lots of hugs and begin to learn about people that I've only heard about in stories. It was time to put faces to names, and what better place to do that than Florida. To explain my family and it's structure I hontestly think most people need a flow chart so please be advised that it's confusing. I always enjoy watching people's faces when I try to explain it...the who's who and what not. I think when I was around 20, the flowchart idea popped into my head...still haven't done it. I think I should laminate one and stick it in my wallet in case of emergencies LOL! Anyway, back to the beach, I mean heaven, I mean the beach... </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsudEwZjFkI3PaJyDuNo_aaq5OpOBk09FYQOW9bOmt95N0bRP19dBzwbVOwwzVgYxlDab6fVY3haW0DuXIYxxefROgxks96jwP3taiq0X0Hev5AS7x2o5QtxlOatfX3aj1397J3tsAXQ/s1600/188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsudEwZjFkI3PaJyDuNo_aaq5OpOBk09FYQOW9bOmt95N0bRP19dBzwbVOwwzVgYxlDab6fVY3haW0DuXIYxxefROgxks96jwP3taiq0X0Hev5AS7x2o5QtxlOatfX3aj1397J3tsAXQ/s320/188.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sky was beautiful...every night!<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I'd say that Pensacola is where a lot of things culminate for me as a person. My birthmother met my birthfather there, so in a way my story kind of begins in Florida. We decided to drive there after meeting my cousin and aunt at my little brother's wedding and I immediately fell in love with their humor, personalities, love for food and fabulous sense of style ;). Luckily my birthmother decided to come down too so we were preparing for really exciting time together and I couldn't wait to soak up the time with them. I felt like I had thirty years of catching up to do but strangely enough it felt like we had grown up together. I kept thinking I had some "remember when's" or "that was so funny when's" to talk about but we were just starting to create those. I was excited to finally have cousins, to have aunts and uncles who laughed like me, a connection to my family that hadn't been able to occur until now, for my boys and husband to meet new family members and most importantly the ability to see God's Grace in action. There's no one else who could have pulled this craziness off. Is it confusing, yes, of course, but you know what, I don't care. Really....I don't. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UNx-aB8UnF0Um6yXQcaP7_r-w4ddx1boFpFBsN0omVFtbNQkXo4kK4x1BJ9rI-MYaFG_ELWiV7d5jE_gRybPEtM_ww3jCn1ErQfwBfIsu3L1GWY34Ar_ZtWV4_3ZoS8WkIqnahq6Ew/s1600/477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UNx-aB8UnF0Um6yXQcaP7_r-w4ddx1boFpFBsN0omVFtbNQkXo4kK4x1BJ9rI-MYaFG_ELWiV7d5jE_gRybPEtM_ww3jCn1ErQfwBfIsu3L1GWY34Ar_ZtWV4_3ZoS8WkIqnahq6Ew/s320/477.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cousins and aunt </td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One of the biggest things that as been affirmed in our adoption process is that Chris and I are going to have to make decisions that are best for our family. There are many people who probably have panic attacks thinking about having four children. There are people out there who couldn't imagine adopting a child and there are adopted children who have no interest in learning about their birth family. I am not one of those people. Chris was giggling as we were talking about this post last night and I think he joked about how lucky we'll be that our daughter won't have my stubborness. Funny, funny...I hope she does. Sometimes it's a good character trait to have. I'm not going to promise that we won't cry behind closed doors about her having a relationship with her birth family if that's what she wants and we definitely won't promise that we'll have all the right words to explain everything to her. We will say that there are lots of people that love her and if she wants, we can all just be beach bums...</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-6130662460448705832011-07-16T19:27:00.000-07:002011-07-16T19:27:16.069-07:00Life is Complicated...Period.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffFwtLqt1rtIE6z58lD77-lor5rS5Y8YY_qnKFvJaLwWkX6MSZcNUbpGrxO48wGvQohJudF48eKRxaLEn9s9UggcsLdQagA_VN8mD9O_r5W1Os6aEfs0jVRsIusWeSyLlQMUSJ1QccQ/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffFwtLqt1rtIE6z58lD77-lor5rS5Y8YY_qnKFvJaLwWkX6MSZcNUbpGrxO48wGvQohJudF48eKRxaLEn9s9UggcsLdQagA_VN8mD9O_r5W1Os6aEfs0jVRsIusWeSyLlQMUSJ1QccQ/s320/blog.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My sweet husband</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I like to think of this blog as something for our daughter. Something she can read at night for comfort, something to look back on and read when she's excited, sad or confused, and something to help her understand that we loved her before she was here with us. I know one day, sooner than we think, she'll be running around the backyard with the boys and Henry will be spraying her with the hose, if I raise her well, she'll be screaming at him and probably spraying him back within minutes, sticking up for herself like a good girl should. Crazy to think that Henry will be a big brother but when I've imagined our family, I've always envisioned it with her in it. I want her to know that. Now that our adoption is in full swing it's become more important for me to understand mine. It wasn't something that was spoken of a lot when I was little. There were no "right" words but really that's just a cliche and everyone knows cliches are totally annoying. I knew the basics, the outline of "my story" but when you're little you don't realize how all the pieces moved and the emotions that shifted them here and there. It seems the pieces have come full circle. In a couple of days I'll be visiting the place where I was born. It will be the first time in 31 years that I'll be there. Chris said he was nervous for me, I never really thought of being nervous...it takes a lot to wreck my nerves but then I remembered that I was just a baby. A baby like my own who was newborn, small, teeny tiny hands and feet, just like my babies and I had to leave. I never really thought about what my birthmother was feeling at that point until I became a mother myself. I hurt for her, literally hurt, because I love her so much. We share a special bond most people don't really understand. I have never wondered "what if" or "why" because I just know that God's plan is just that. Not ours. Going back will be strange, but I wouldn't want to go with anyone else. Of course Chris would be nervous for me. He feels all the nerves so that I don't have to, a burden I sometimes forget about. I forget how much he knows me, what he knows and I remembered last night how much he really cares about my heart. He wants to protect my heart the way I want to protect our daughters. I don't want her to hurt but I know she will. So, that's why we'll keep writing, hoping to ease her sorrow and fill her heart with love and happiness. The blessing of adoption is that you realize that God's love is bigger than any tear, sorrow, pain or triumph. He transforms us, gives us Grace to see ourselves in Him and understand that we our His child and we're linked together by His love. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-86652178281622117542011-07-12T06:22:00.000-07:002011-07-12T08:10:04.647-07:00Little Blessings<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I love watching people’s reactions to the idea of adoption. To me, it was just second nature and I couldn't imagine not doing it. My husband definitely didn't have that kind of reaction but is now really excited about it. It just seemed like the thing to do for our family, knowing the amount of little blessings who needed forever mommies and daddies. We've gotten really powerful reactions of hopefulness as well as questions like, “why would you want to do that???”. I remember someone close to us asking that question. At first I was really hurt and confused about why they had the nerve to ask such a question but then I realized that some people really don’t see adoption as an option for their family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I use to cry sometime thinking about all the children who don’t have forever families to celebrate their life with them. There are so many things to celebrate when you’re little, you know…all the firsts. The first time you smile, first steps, first time you lost a tooth and walked yourself to the classroom, or tied their shoes all by themselves. Can’t imagine all the little ones who don’t realize what blessings they are. I don’t care if you have one child or seven, you should know there’s just something about them that makes your heart jump, your voice get higher and your lips curl up into a grin. The kids waiting for forever families are special too, they're just waiting for us to tell them. My mother always told me that one of the best gifts that you can give your children is a brother or sister but she forgot to mention that it’s one of the best gifts for the parents too. Our children keep us young at heart, their laughs, contagious, their little voices are like symphonies and it’s not because I had them from my womb, it’s because they're children. God made them all like that on purpose; He knows what He’s doing. So, we’ll trust that. I’m sure we’ll get all kinds of weird and stupid questions about where our daughter came from as well as curious looks when we go out to dinner but I will be nothing but proud of our family. I'll answer their questions and I have a feeling I’ll answer them as honest as their questions pop out of their mouths. I’ve been known to have little patience for adults because it’s all used up on my children…this will be interesting but we’d rather have an interesting life than boring. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-5736707513551783252011-07-03T21:00:00.000-07:002011-07-03T21:00:25.786-07:00I can see the light!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIUnnL_4_F5OGu-FKpawOiQ9qebJQEMBW67iQYObBdvKq-kwN7p76O_3M_RaoykIdtFQd2nE-HdXyF0cBKFyZ5zY-RSJlGwUjITc6cwvYup5M-Iy2DPc8jniQvFLYqK8heDz9TzYLubQ/s1600/173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIUnnL_4_F5OGu-FKpawOiQ9qebJQEMBW67iQYObBdvKq-kwN7p76O_3M_RaoykIdtFQd2nE-HdXyF0cBKFyZ5zY-RSJlGwUjITc6cwvYup5M-Iy2DPc8jniQvFLYqK8heDz9TzYLubQ/s320/173.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Chris and I received our homestudy packet over a month ago and immediately the anxiety of social workers coming to our home overwhelmed me. Not only did we have to come to terms with our birthmother choosing us to adopt her daughter, but we also had to digest the fact that we had to be "studied". My stubborn "Mama Bear" instinct wanted to throw the papers out the window and scream out my car window, "I already have three kids!!!!!!!! I KNOW how to be a parent!" But thankfully, I've calmed my sharp tongue and understand that it's just the process. Everything has its process. So I aggressively started getting all of our papers together, resumes, tax info, financial info, birth certificates, but there was one thing that I totally just didn't want to do. My "autobiography". Thirty five questions about my upbringing, my strategies as a parent, my life's vision, my relationships with family members (that's an entire book all to itself), ect. ect. I sort of had the Toys R' Us Kids song going on in the back of my head and began realizing how much of an adult I really was and how serious the next few months really are becoming. So while my kids were still and quiet during nap time one afternoon, I got the writer's itch. I grabbed my amazingly organized notebook with my sticky tabbed sticky notes and began to answer, and answer and answer. So I finished my autobiography and I have to say it was not only helpful for myself, in remembering where I came from, but it also gave me the chance to show where I want to be and what kind of family I wanted to create with my husband. So, Chris is finishing up his autobiography tonight and once that's all done we'll compile everything we'll be ready for our home visit. I have to say that I'm glad I had the chance to do my autobiography but remember...I do already know how to be a parent :).Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-15686837520886172052011-06-17T06:18:00.000-07:002011-06-17T06:18:03.831-07:00Hard questions...harder answers<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OQINZN0M3lyBb5aH4pYVuk8CGYuwFN-47V2QMMm-Mb5Mvqm7ND-Uk6TguD7FhcIpT2xSwFQeRt8xTxuibh_1eLX5jJXqclUH7QsEjC9M5wIrDYow9P1BJMeaJJmkrYK_M0MKOCIQJw/s1600/lucas%2527+headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OQINZN0M3lyBb5aH4pYVuk8CGYuwFN-47V2QMMm-Mb5Mvqm7ND-Uk6TguD7FhcIpT2xSwFQeRt8xTxuibh_1eLX5jJXqclUH7QsEjC9M5wIrDYow9P1BJMeaJJmkrYK_M0MKOCIQJw/s320/lucas%2527+headshot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>"Mommy, why does God make tornadoes?". Lucas has asked questions about forces of nature after evening prayer for the past three weeks wondering why God would let things like that happen. We were stuck in our bedroom closet on and off a few weeks ago because of tornado warnings so naturally, with his soft little heart, he got concerned. To top it off, we had also gone through a huge hurricane right before we moved here to the DFW area and that reminded him of it. Poor thing. Personally, I love it because it gives me a chance to use my degree (heehee...), have really positive conversations with my boys and get in touch with where their precious little heads are. Lucas also asks lots of questions about my adoption. He knows that I'm adopted, knows my birthmother (his Meme) and naturally has questions about where I came from, how it all worked out and how I got here to be his mommy. Hard and complicated questions. I will be there first person to admit that I don't have all the right answers. We do our best though and I guess what it comes down to is that there will always be hard questions and talking about them is better than not talking about them. I admit to the boys that I don't know everything (shocker, don't tell my husband) but if we talk and pray about things we can "find out together". Doing things together are always more interesting. I have to give props to my husband this post because Sunday is Father's Day. Without sounding cliche, I am blessed to have one of the most amazing husband's and father to our boys. He's kindness, patience and ability to juggle his family and work amazes me. Being one of three boys it will be very interesting seeing him with is little girl, covered in tutus, pears and tiny shoes. I'm sure he dreams about that every night like I do, NOT! Bottom line, I'm remembering our blessings this week. The boys, questions asked, questions answered, our lives in motion, our baby girl and the time we'll all share together in this short moment we call life.Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-54669879468248353442011-06-02T19:31:00.001-07:002011-06-02T19:31:48.142-07:00At a loss for words. Yes...it's me.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Words, I just can’t seem to find the right ones these days. I personally find words incredibly important and I try to use them carefully. They shape your character; build people up, cut you to the core and transform beauty into something tangible. One day, our daughter will read this blog and she’ll be able to hear our uncensored thoughts and prayers for her. Why she’s been in our hearts and dreams since the beginning, the love of her brothers and the hard work and courageousness of her birthmother. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:3 that “careful words make for a careful life”. How amazingly careful we need to be, not just with our words, but our actions. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Chris and I, as well as my sisters and a few friends, have been working on our “lifebook” that will be sent to the agency for birthmothers to look through. This will be their peek into our family’s life and their first experience with us as a family. Included in the lifebook is a letter, from us. A letter telling her why we should be her daughter’s parents. How do I do that? Normally, I can bust our songs, papers, blog posts pretty quickly and if it takes over 10 min or so they’re usually really bad. Unfortunately, every time I start the letter I get stuck at the same part, Dear “blank” Yup…that’s basically all I’ve got. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just don’t have the words. It’s almost like I had them but when I begin to write, they start to disappear into the place that holds all of my sock matches. I know that one night, I’m sure at two in the morning, it’ll come to me and I’ll pop out of bed like I did in college writing songs, and grab my journal and pen and begin to write. So, for now, we’ll be praying for the right words. Careful words of encouragement, courage, health, promise and mostly love. I’d like to thank my friend Jen for sharing her “birthmother letter” with me today. It’s pretty special to read something so sincere, hopeful, uplifting and encouraging. I hope our letter expresses how careful we’ll be with our sweet daughter. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-82094382690579810182011-05-30T06:57:00.000-07:002011-05-30T06:57:18.064-07:00Family Is What You Make of It<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQwtBBbowB78EgbynzXroYQ8Tz31DFx9ReiQTGIXiukK-GcjxEqv2RNRoLFRM8A4D9yG66MMIF8tFjy6dvCPRpWzW_X44CSaYAJolwi-bRhhy6TGb36cdkBBknNN5Gzr1V6PvSh4KhQ/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnQwtBBbowB78EgbynzXroYQ8Tz31DFx9ReiQTGIXiukK-GcjxEqv2RNRoLFRM8A4D9yG66MMIF8tFjy6dvCPRpWzW_X44CSaYAJolwi-bRhhy6TGb36cdkBBknNN5Gzr1V6PvSh4KhQ/s320/009.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Adoption is such an beautiful journey. I was blessed to be able to meet some of my extended family this weekend for my little brother’s wedding. It was amazing to see similarities through and through that I recognized from myself. Unless you’re adopted, you can’t understand what it feels like to come back together with a family who, although you didn’t grow up with, has the same laugh, mannerisms, humor and love. I remember in my first post I was extremely nervous about sharing a blog about our adoption journey because of how close it was to my heart and it really began with my heart in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Ethiopia</place></country-region>. Now it’s just here, with me with little pieces in tiny places around this country with people whom I’m blessed to call family. If I have learned anything through my own personal journey, it’s that family is what you want it to be. It’s up to you, you have the control and surrounding yourself with loving people leads you to where you need to be. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately this will lead us to <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">Georgia</country-region></place>, where we know we’re suppose to go to pick up our sweet little baby girl. On a lighter note, we’re looking for name suggestions…Chris’ rules, no stones, colors or flowers. That lowers my suggestions down to….NONE! Hoping everyone has a safe Memorial Day! </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-85696604465075874292011-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:002011-05-23T20:45:25.497-07:00The Beginning of our Lifebook<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWqnWHk7hqZhB4VYvDL_A3jXYGUYMx8eJymkpB-JQdokk5KzPXMx0wsRi9NXZB4SVWxgET96El9El9NLdkz3b3nj-kgPt0TDgwIRNA9_pfBwU-FWu9WGHsydlbvmFkwIxnzVW4l1toA/s1600/249059_10150248815178134_699563133_8790367_5726651_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWqnWHk7hqZhB4VYvDL_A3jXYGUYMx8eJymkpB-JQdokk5KzPXMx0wsRi9NXZB4SVWxgET96El9El9NLdkz3b3nj-kgPt0TDgwIRNA9_pfBwU-FWu9WGHsydlbvmFkwIxnzVW4l1toA/s320/249059_10150248815178134_699563133_8790367_5726651_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>This week began the, in my opinion, overwhelming task of creating a "lifebook" for our baby girl. I couldn't help but think that this is something that one, our daughter will be looking at for the rest of her life, and two, the book that will more than likely decide our future. Birthmothers will be looking through it to figure out what our family is all about and why we should be honored to become her child's parents.No pressure or anything. Psh... Although I consider myself a very creative person, I'm no scrapbooker... I have friends who are and I envy their craftiness and skill at matting, detailing and displaying all the pictures of their kids lives, but uploading to Shutterfly is really the best I can do. I was totally fine with that until I had to create our daughter's "lifebook". Luckily (silver lining) I take an ENORMOUS amount of pictures and have very helpful friends and family. I ended up at Michael's with Henry one afternoon to pick up everything I needed and I didn't realize the amount of isles there were for scrapbooking material. Paper, borders, sticky things that you use to make things stick to other things, stencils, stickers, blah blah blah blah....my mind turned to mush and I needed help ASAP. I ended up calling my sister in law who is a super dooper scrapbooker and with Henry screaming in the background the gave me a quick list and I grabbed what I could and got the heck out of dodge. Thank you Naomi...you saved my sanity. My sister Ellen came over tonight and we got started and finished 5 or so pages. *pat on back* I got to thinking about my baby book my mom made for me. She kept every single baby check up form. She updated every month's milestones and even had to add pages to it because she didn't have enough room to fit every bit of information. She also blessed me with this poem and it's written in the front page of my baby book...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9o6_oxmhkElEpDEXtkbAS20GQ2Aoo5zldEB3OIjUEkKXkZF9e4-10iMRkh8acIYZKWceotCo67GTBVJ4qEZI9HothnS1GhG96b-_aBiOn2Rukl9o_3ZSZytO9fSuEW1lwG7VXLSq-g/s1600/My_HipstaPrint_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9o6_oxmhkElEpDEXtkbAS20GQ2Aoo5zldEB3OIjUEkKXkZF9e4-10iMRkh8acIYZKWceotCo67GTBVJ4qEZI9HothnS1GhG96b-_aBiOn2Rukl9o_3ZSZytO9fSuEW1lwG7VXLSq-g/s320/My_HipstaPrint_0.jpg" width="320" /></a>"Adopted"</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A gift undeserved. A sweet cry in this world of goods bought and sold. She's Epiphany, a baby who comes without my labor. It was a strange trip in the night, it seems we prayed her into existence. She began in the will of my heart, the mother in me leaps to this awaiting babe and I ask the world to sway so she may sleep.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">By: Her Mama</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Funny how your perspective can change in just a few minutes. Thanks Mama.</div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-2094719025673977132011-05-18T20:24:00.000-07:002011-05-18T20:24:55.733-07:00He Prepared Me<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsbp0TXX1YzEpNAWM_74BZwZYSA6iw_oyXIhWXYV9Ie9enZR8OWU8JebfX768VFcL9DfXkLB-NgbxMnnPRN04sKJ-DcZ9B46B7ruJofIye6cPJpKMQbNMxCAs0Utn5IAEs2_pqpX-4hw/s1600/us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsbp0TXX1YzEpNAWM_74BZwZYSA6iw_oyXIhWXYV9Ie9enZR8OWU8JebfX768VFcL9DfXkLB-NgbxMnnPRN04sKJ-DcZ9B46B7ruJofIye6cPJpKMQbNMxCAs0Utn5IAEs2_pqpX-4hw/s320/us.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I have been waiting...and waiting to post this blog post. The past two weeks have been filled with a lot of tears, laughter and smiles and I find it so amazing that everything that we do, on a daily basis, has meaning. Our thoughts, our actions, our interactions with people that we meet ALL have meaning and a higher correlation than we can't really imagine or grasp. I'll first go back to the beginning, the VERY beginning. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was adopted. Born from, what I believe to be one of the most courageous women I've been blessed to know, and placed into a family who has loved, cared and made me into the woman and mother that I am today. Even as a small child I always knew I would be a mother and adopt. My child's heart felt I was "chosen" into my family and my loyalty stemmed from knowing that they didn't have to take me. They could have said "no" but I was chosen, picked up when I was 6 weeks from Alabama and brought to Texas. What I didn't know at the time, was that I had two brothers. We grew up without each other and although I wouldn't change a thing about my family, there is a load of emotional baggage that goes along with being adopted and balancing your love for your family while also yearning to know who you came from. Children need to know where they came from and I decided a long time ago that I couldn't handle anymore emotional baggage. I have always felt like I have had little pieces of my heart in different places and I couldn't quite put them all together. I didn't want anymore pieces farther away from where they needed to be, right here with me. This is one of the biggest reasons why we chose not to look into domestic adoption. Little did I know that God had been preparing my heart for the past thirty years and I didn't even know it. </div><br />
Fast forward to a couple of months ago. Application in. Checks written. Ethiopia slows their cases down 90%. We were shocked but hopeful and two days later we were given to opportunity to consider a domestic adoption through a friend who was having a baby girl. All of the emotions came rushing back to me about all the reasons why I couldn't handle it as a mother. How could I balance all of my feelings and thoughts, do the right thing for the baby as well as my other three children who have been waiting anxiously for a sister and what if, God forbid, she wouldn't sign over her rights and we'd have to giver her back? Then what? I was broken and I didn't even have her yet. I kept thinking "But Lord? Why are you bringing this up? We have plans, we have a good plan! What's wrong with our plan God?". He was preparing us. The adoption didn't happen obviously but Chris and I couldn't help but wonder what He wanted us to do. So we prayed. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So last week, Chris asked me to check with our agency to see what the status was for Ethiopia. We were extremely worried about the waiting period and we determined that we needed a plan "B". "I know you've always said that you don't want to do a domestic adoption Danielle, but why don't you do some research and just see what's out there". I didn't know where to start but I assured him that I'd see what I could find and get back with him so we could really figure out what we needed to do. The next day I found An Open Door Adoption Agency based out of Georgia from an adoption update email I had received. I scrolled through their African American infant program guidelines and sent over the information to Chris. He asked me to email the director and the next weekend we started filling out our application. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Such a different program than what we were expecting. The birth mothers choose us to adopt their baby, such an amazing feeling that someone "chooses" us just as I was "chosen". We'll get to travel to pick up our daughter with our three sons as well as be in contact with her birth mother. THIS is what God was preparing me for. We feel like we know what we're doing and have such a sense of peace about how we're completing our family. All of the questions, baggage, tears, more questions and balancing brought us here...to be the parent our daughter needs us to be. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>At dinner the other week, my oldest was asking me what his sister's name was. I told him that she didn't have a name yet and he looked at me as if I had turned into a monster. "She's gotta have a name mom!", he screamed at my younger son. "Let's name her Lilly", he said. "Lilly-Grace!" James screamed. I like it...it's got my vote.Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-12779814165657791542011-04-20T08:15:00.000-07:002011-04-20T08:15:34.476-07:00An Easter Story<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/E2KNvuscKRA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Our family practices Lent which is 40 days of fasting, prayer and mindfulness of the story of Christ's passion. This was a special year for us because we noticed that our boys were really able to sit for evening prayer and even lead us in prayer which truly melted out hearts. We'd pray every evening for speical things that they boys would think of. Lucas would say "thank you" to Jesus for the rain, flowers, family and friends. James would usually pray for the firemen that put out fires. (he's into firetrucks at the moment) All appropriate things for their age. I also try to do morning prayer with the boys by myself on the way to school. One morning after we prayed together Lucas was having trouble figuring out what to thank Jesus for. I told him I had the same trouble sometimes. Prayer is hard, especially when you're suffering, in pain, anxious or even happy. I struggle with getting the "right" words or loosing focus on what we need to be thankful for. Finally, after pausing for a moment, Lucas said, "I think I want to pray to be more like Jesus". "I think that's a perfect prayer", I said. Simply perfect. Our five year old hit the nail on the head. and that became our family's prayer that day for the rest of Lent. We want to be more like Him. Everyday. Matt Maher is one of my favorite praise and worship artists and his song "Christ Is Risen" has been playing over and over at our house this Lent. Happy Easter everyone!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-46018078662504954102011-03-31T08:13:00.000-07:002011-03-31T08:15:10.782-07:00Ethiopia or Bust!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBcsXmoc_lip2F1_h2Ufo7S2EyxXCnaKDpj87D5xlNRUQ9s86mxDnbzQosxOCb6C6QmLC9bACAaG1dWI6FmORNn5IPeyfSctoWcqiCPVEYF2CYTvD1GnMnHnPOMTmH7xST_dGzfIXmA/s1600/IMG_3702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBcsXmoc_lip2F1_h2Ufo7S2EyxXCnaKDpj87D5xlNRUQ9s86mxDnbzQosxOCb6C6QmLC9bACAaG1dWI6FmORNn5IPeyfSctoWcqiCPVEYF2CYTvD1GnMnHnPOMTmH7xST_dGzfIXmA/s320/IMG_3702.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzgLnoZdDyaUbm9Ha7y_B0sMHu8ufIWJQrrZ0UIRbyo6FnY8XSWYs_Hz9KAzaghzNhyphenhyphen3EUut1u7zV373dWXUic_XjgLQLVnxrfw42o9BgV6tR0y1haVezvNBqQa1LuP07B4J3WoHnBA/s1600/IMG_3823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzgLnoZdDyaUbm9Ha7y_B0sMHu8ufIWJQrrZ0UIRbyo6FnY8XSWYs_Hz9KAzaghzNhyphenhyphen3EUut1u7zV373dWXUic_XjgLQLVnxrfw42o9BgV6tR0y1haVezvNBqQa1LuP07B4J3WoHnBA/s320/IMG_3823.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">First, let me say that I never ate a casserole until I married my husband :) They seemed silly to me and hard to make healthy. Chris loves casseroles though so I started working with them when we first got married. When we decided to adopt we wanted to do fundraising but in a way that gave up the ability to give back to the people that were giving us donations. Cooking/baking was my very first thought because I love to do both. Being a mother of three, I completely understood the challenges of everyday life and getting food on the table without fussiness, tantrums and stress. Casseroles. I decided to sell them. So I brainstormed with my friend Michelle (I like to call her my friend but she's actually Chris' cousin) and we planned a menu out, my friend Eryn helped me with business cards, and Ethiopia or Bust was born. Selling casseroles and baked goods to help fund our adoption. It's gone well so far, maybe three or so orders a week. SO, if you're interested you can order from the blog our check out the website <a href="http://www.ethiopiaorbust.webs.com/">http://www.ethiopiaorbust.webs.com/</a>. I'm trying to add a couple of new dishes to the menu this week so they'll be up soon! If you've already ordered from us, thank you so much! We have been so blessed with an outpouring of support from friends and family. </div></div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-63482905858685561412011-03-15T07:33:00.000-07:002011-03-15T07:33:48.789-07:00We are hopeful<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJn1K9ou8ouTmUELGJmFKdBpkYIWthO0mHgSapp1Uoq_opffGpajshpLCkBdms1xe05PQ4lqTLc5gOZGWhS_2ijfk-xyPVWtE0RcYPaHtKwFrcYGfugV8hYQHNHusFBzuq3pTkWfnGSA/s1600/IMG_3706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJn1K9ou8ouTmUELGJmFKdBpkYIWthO0mHgSapp1Uoq_opffGpajshpLCkBdms1xe05PQ4lqTLc5gOZGWhS_2ijfk-xyPVWtE0RcYPaHtKwFrcYGfugV8hYQHNHusFBzuq3pTkWfnGSA/s320/IMG_3706.JPG" width="213" /></a>You know when you think you're sick and you google every side effect you have, diagnosing yourself with all kinds of crazy conditions? Everyone knows it's bad to do that! BUT I know I end up doing it every time I feel funny or can't get into the Dr. right away :). I think it's kind of the same thing with this adoption business. I've stopped checking all the message boards and blogs. I randomly check the facebook updates but stick a fork in me, I'm done. It's making us crazy. We're staying positive over here in the Noonan house. We've heard rumblings of court cases going up to 20 a day which is awesome and we're taking every day as a positive and closer step to our sweet baby girl. Enjoying the days with our boys but always praying for Ethiopia, the orphans and for the patience of Job. The other day we were saying our morning prayers and I asked Lucas what he wanted to pray for that morning. He said simply, "I wanna pray to be more like Jesus". I don't think I could have said it better. Keep that pray up lil' man. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34736904557388665.post-86314075644126318272011-03-09T10:13:00.000-08:002011-03-09T10:14:10.634-08:00Children of God<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/V6jO7xhU_Pw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V6jO7xhU_Pw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V6jO7xhU_Pw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>I'm adopted. I was adopted when I was about 6 weeks old and ever since I can remember my mother has always told me that she didn't have me from her body, but she had me in her heart. She also told me that we were all adopted children of God and just like she loved me, God loved us too, as His children. My mother always made it a point to tell me about the importance of taking care of children. "Any one can choose to be a mother. A mother feeds their babies in the middle of the night, sings them lullabies and hugs them when they feel alone, sad or happy..everyone needs that. Everyone needs a mother" she would say. I didn't really understand that until I myself, as a mother, decided to become an adoptive parent. My friend Cindi shared this video today. I ended up sitting with my coffee cup with tears streaming down my face because of how beautiful it was. We are all God's children, adopted and perfectly made. </div>Dani Noonanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11364573616378330082noreply@blogger.com0