It's the Little Things

Its hard to believe we are 5 months in to our government mandated stay at home orders due to COVID-19. As each day goes by it continues to becomes more and more apparent what really matters both physically, mentally and emotionally. 

A few weeks back I was in the market for some new washcloths and kitchen towels as ours were past their expiration date. I have always been an advocate for surrounding yourself with things that are both beautiful and functional. After looking around I found Caty Buttaro's Etsy Shop called Mahogany & Vine where she crochets gorgeous wash cloths and kitchen towels for a reasonable price! 

I have to admit while I still do not LOVE doing dishes. Every. Single. Time I have walked in my kitchen I have smiled since their arrival. After all, it really is all about the little things in life! 

All Natural Laundry Soap

This time last year, within the throws of infertility treatments- my body and soul began craving a simpler way of life. So many unnatural things were happen to my body that I craved the pureness that comes with a "Free and Clean" lifestyle.

Shortly after, I was introduced to a Free App called Think Dirty which has made our Free & Clear journey much easier! The concept of the app is to rate the ingredients that makes up said household product on a toxicity scale of 1-10. The app also simplifies the ingredient language by calling out known health risks associated to each ingredient.

In researching- many of the products we were using had known infertility side effect. While I am not saying that our old cleaning products made me infertile- I am saying when you know better. . . you do better! Our skin is our largest Organ. It only takes 20 seconds for the chemicals that come in contact with our skin to be absorbed into our blood stream. Those 2 facts alone were enough for me to "Do Better" for my family and I.

One of the first things I purified was our laundry routine and after a year of R & D I am excited to share the recipe with you!

Ingredients:
2 C. Washing Soda- Used as the main cleaning agent
2 C. Baking Soda- Acts as a whitener
1 Bar of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap- Used as a secondary cleaning agent + scent
1 Bar of Fels-Naptha- Acts as the stain remover

Optional:
2 C. Epson Salt- Acts as a fabric softener
5-10 drops of  Essential Oil - Used for Scent only

1. Cube your bar soap into small pieces with a kitchen knife

2. Add cubed bar soap and the other ingredients into a food processor and pulse until an even powder. Store in an airtight container and use 2-3 Tbsp per load

The Count Down to Baby Thomas: Make a Playlist

With the adoption count down officially started we want to make the most of what could be a 2 year wait until Baby Thomas' arrival!

A few months back I found a Baby on the Way Bucket List at a local gift shop. James and I thought this would be a wonderful way to bond over the arrival of Baby Thomas with our family and friends! Each month we plan complete 1 of the 25 items on the Bucket List.

This month we drew

" Make a playlist of songs that both you and baby will enjoy" 

I had started this playlist back in the throws of our infertility journey adding songs that reminded me that better days are ahead. Recently I have been adding songs about becoming a family and finding our forever love. 

Much like our journey to parenthood- this playlist will too tell a story. . . Would you help us to assemble a playlist for our baby? You can search "Becoming Thomas Adoption" on Spotify to add your favorite songs? 

We're Adopting! Q & A's from Family and Friends

A few weeks back, we started sharing our Adoption news with our immediate family and friends! Most folks asked the same 4-5 questions so we thought it would be a good idea to share a quick run down of the most common questions with you! 

Q: What is a Domestic Adoption?
A: Simply put- our baby will be born within the United States. After our Expectant Mother goes into labor, we will fly or drive to meet our future baby and bring him/her home.

Q: Why did you decide to adopt an infant? Why not Foster or Foster to Adopt? 
A: After recently ending our journey to become biological parents we did not feel our hearts would be prepared for the Foster or Foster to Adopt route at this time. As first time parents, both James and I wanted the experience of raising a child from birth. While nothing has been decided-It is likely we will grow the remainder of our family thru a Foster to Adopt Program.

Q: What is the timeframe?
A: We are in an 24 month program. Now, that is just an estimation, of course. But we’re  expecting that we’ll be bringing home our baby around mid 2019…. ish.

Q: Where are you at in the process?
A: We are at the VERY Beginning! Our Adoption Orientation class is at the end of February 2018. After Orientation, we have 30 days to complete our formal adoption application. If accepted- we will undergo 3-6 months of certifications and our Home Study. Once certified- we create our profile for expectant mother's nation wide to review in hopes of being matched. Once matched- baby generally arrives 3 weeks later!

Q: How much does it cost?
A: $27,000.00. The Adoption fee will cover a multitude of things including but not limited to certifications, social worker fees, birth mothers medical bills, lawyers and court fees. 

Q: How old will your baby be?
A: While each adoption is unique- There is > 50% chance we will pick the baby up directly from the hospital! 

Q: Boy or Girl?
A: We do not have a gender preference. However, we already have both a boy and girl name picked out! 

Q: What ethnicity?

A: Again, we do not have a preference. Both James and I have always seen ourselves having a very diverse family :) 

Q: How many children do you want? 
A: We would like to have 3-4 children total- All of which will be adopted due to my infertility and medical background. 

James and I are obsessively grateful and thankful for the support we have received since sharing our decision to adopt! Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. We will certainly try our best to answer them! 

The Journey Continues. . .

“For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.”

 - Cynthia Occelli

When we started our infertility journey back in September 2016, we had been married a year and purchased our first home earlier that year. We were 2 seeds, freshly planted and setting down roots -- full of hope and dreaming about the babes we would raise. After enduring 16 months of invasive infertility and gynecologic oncology treatments, these 2 seeds were cracked open -- our insides had fallen out and we were forever changed.

You see..  during our initial infertility testing cancerous cells were found in my uterus- just a few years after finding cancerous cells in my cervix. After additional testing and surgical biopsies- our infertility team advised us to pause our treatment and undergo 6 months of gynecological oncology treatments.


Today, the cancerous cells are gone!


However, the hormones needed to continue our infertility treatments increases the odds of the cancer cells returning. Those odds are much too high for us to safely continue our infertility journey.

Over the past 16 months- we have grown independently and as a couple. We've learned that despite our inability to safely carry our own child - our journey to parenthood has not ended.

We have decided to grow our family thru Adoption!

We were recently accepted into a Domestic Infant Adoption Orientation Program that had a 2-year wait list! The Orientation is in Feb 2018 and takes 24 months on average to be placed once accepted. James and I will be writing a full blog post about our program in the weeks to come but for now, we are going to celebrate our growing family!