Dennis and Jen are Adopting!

Like I have mentioned earlier, I have always wanted to be a mommy. Because of that, my focus was not on obtaining a degree from a university in a certain career path. If I had chosen a career, I would have chosen an elementary school teacher. Actually, I was starting to go back to college when Dennis and I were first dating. He mentioned to me "If we get married and I put you through school, which takes 4 years, and we have kids in 4 years, then why did I spend the money to put you through school?" Another lesson learned - never delay schooling, a career, your dreams for "what if's."  During most of our dating and early married life, I worked as a Purchasing Assistant, Bid & Contract Assistant, Receptionist and HR Assistant. I had a job at a very good company and I enjoyed working there. The pay was good, the commute was short ... however there were budget cuts and I was laid off. I took 9 months off work and thought that in that time, since I didn't h...

While Dennis and I were at our church convention, in August of 2013, we both noticed this really cute little blond haired boy. He was attending convention with some of our acquaintances. I'm pretty sure I learned at that convention that this family took him in because he had been with their family before, however, they were looking for someone to foster/adopt him. BUT, I was also told that another family had stepped forward to start on the process. So, I didn't say anything - it just felt like another stab in my heart. Often, I've thought "when will someone look at Dennis and I and ask if we were interested in adopting a baby they knew about."  Fast forward to a couple months later and my really good friend called me and asked if we would be interested in fostering him. The family that had stepped forward, for some reason, could not become his foster parents. Dennis and I both were really excited and our answer was "of course." We were on our way to Bo...

Once a couple realizes biological children may not happen for them, there is a grieving process that needs to take place. It can look very different for everybody, including husbands and wives married to each other. I am going to speak for us and say that the process for me took longer and was harder than it was for Dennis. Being a female, having maternal instincts and having ALWAYS wanted to become a mother - walking through this journey was extremely difficult.  One of our biggest disagreements in our marriage was whether we felt okay doing in vitro fertilization. My thoughts at the time were that this was a perfectly acceptable way and hurrah to modern medicine to be able to help couples become pregnant this way. Dennis on the other hand felt so strongly that this was against God's plan. He feels that taking follicles from the females bodies and having the sperm and egg meet in a petri dish and then implant those back into the female was wrong. He was upset and probably d...

Dennis and I decided to celebrate us each anniversary until we had children. Our anniversary is 10 days after Valentine's Day and about 3 weeks after my birthday. Sure, I would love to be absolutely spoiled for all 3 events, but figured that our anniversary is a day that is so special to us. We decided to not work on our anniversary and travel somewhere to celebrate us. Needless to say, the past 11 years, we've had some pretty wonderful anniversary trips. I'll list them below and then start on the story of our fertility journey. I may do a blog post on memories of our anniversaries and post lots more details and pictures, even. :) #1 Five Pine Lodge, Sisters, OR #2 Five Pine Lodge, Sisters, OR #3 Arizona - Grand Canyon & Xona Resort, Scottsdale #4 A Mountain Cabin Air BnB Leavenworth, WA #5 Del Marcos Hotel Palm Springs, CA #6 Kahneeta Hot Springs, Warm Springs, OR #7 Pacific Winds Condos, Lincoln City, OR #8 Pacific Winds Condos, Lincoln City, OR ...