70 Degrees In January!

Adoption Struggles

I'm feeling a little guilty right now.

I spoke to my friend, we'll call her Sara, who I mentioned along with her sister (she'll be Amanda), here. It sounds like Amanda is having some doubts regarding her decision. It also sounds like Amanda wasn't educated like she should have been prior to this birth. I tried to remain neutral when talking to Sara about everything. I remember being six days into our 12 day revocation period with Shiloh, and being told by one of Kim's friends that Kim had changed her mind. We spent the next six days just waiting for the dreaded call from our attorney. It was pure hell and a pain that I wish upon no one else. But Amanda has support from some family, and if she wants to parent, why shouldn't she be given a chance?

During Amanda's pregnancy she reminded me a lot of Kim. She was 100% dead set on adoption and no one could tell her anything else. Amanda and Sara seemed to become angry if anyone spoke of anything other than the positives of adoption. I saw this coming, but didn't feel close enough to Sara to speak up. Sara is the fiance of a friend of one of Richard's military friends who we are pretty close to. Anyway. As I suspected Amanda honestly thought this was going to be an easy thing to do and no one would be able to talk her out of it. Feeling this way, she never took the time to educate herself regarding adoption, and it sounds like the Potential Adoptive Parents' (PAP) attorney wasn't much help either. (apparently, Amanda never even knew that counseling was available for her until today when Sara asked me about it and I informed that it should be, and that the PAPs should have paid for that)

Anyway. According to Sara, Amanda seems to be second guessing her decision. I told her that is normal. It's one thing to say you are going to place your baby, when he/she is nothing more than heartburn, vomiting, and little kicks every now and then. It's something else to look at this beautiful little baby and make that decision again. I tried to educate Amanda and Sara where the attorney failed (counseling, TPR doesn't have to be signed that day, this is Amanda's time with the baby), but also share some of Kim's story. I know Kim misses Shiloh and Will like nothing else, but I also know that she is at peace with her decisions and happy with where she is today.

I honestly don't know what decision Amanda is going to make. The last time I spoke with Sara she informed me that she had spoken with the PAPs and they did pay for counseling for Amanda. I know this is probably horrible to say, but sometimes I'm glad I was so naive when we adopted Shiloh. As far as I can tell, everything about our adoption was ethical. Nothing was ever pushed on Kim. We had a pretty open relationship throughout her pregnancy. I did stay in the hospital room with her, but Richard and I made sure we gave her time to herself by going out for meals, going for walks, etc. I remember tearing up as we strapped Shiloh into her car seat. I left the room with a nurse because I didn't want Kim to think I was crying out of happiness. I remember looking at the nurse telling her that I wasn't crying out of joy, but that I was so sad for Kim. It almost confused me because I wasn't expecting to feel that. This is something that I struggle with now. Richard and I had discussed starting the adoption process again this month. We've had to change that plan because work is extremely slow for Richard right now, but even if we had, all we were going to do was spread the word we were wanting to adopt and then pray about it. If we met someone between now and the end of the year then we'd continue on with the process, if not then we'd be done and be a happy family of three. I feel almost guilty at times about the pain someone else will have to go through for my happiness...

Anyway. I'm going to go ahead and abruptly end this post or it will go on and on and on... I just hope that no matter what decision Amanda makes, she puts that little girl first.

Wordless Wednesday: This Is What My Saturday Nights Have Become

(for the record, the word was FUNK)

Although, I'm not complaining.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Will!!

I thought it was interesting that this morning the sister of a friend of ours went into labor. Everyone is at the hospital right now, with the potential adoptive parents of her child by her side. I've been thinking about her a lot today. To keep what I'm feeling short and simple, I'll just say that I wish her the best with what she is going through today and what she will go through in the coming days.

More Food

If you like to eat at a certain Italian restaurant with the initials O.G., and you are also a fan of a certain soup on the their menu called Zuppa Toscana, you MUST try this recipe. It tastes EXACTLY the same as what the restaurant serves.

Ingrediants:

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 1 large diced white onion
• 5 cups water
• 5 cups of chicken broth
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

Directions:

Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot.
Drain excess fat and refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
Using the same pot, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
Add chicken broth and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft. It takes about half an hour.
Add the heavy cream and cook just until heated.
Stir in the sausage and the kale, and heat all the way through.
Enjoy!


I also made these rolls to go with it. Amazing.

Operation Frozen Pot Pie Freedom

I went a little overboard with my Chili making earlier in the winter season, causing me to need to find a new cold weather food favorite. About this time I found myself craving a good Chicken Pot Pie. Pot pies were never a favorite of mine growing up. We always had the kind that you pull out of the freezer and pop in the oven. Richard has the same pot pie past as myself, so he was less than ecstatic and very skeptical upon hearing that I was on a mission to find the easiest tastiest Chicken Pot Pie recipe.

After a week of sighs and nasty faces from Richard at just the thought of a pot pie, I started to feel guilty about making it. I actually pushed it back to the very end of the week, making every other meal possible, until I ran out of other options.

The final product...



30 minutes and multiple helpings for Richard later...


Yeah. It was THAT good.


Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed (I found sliced chicken breast at Kroger, so all I had to do was cut them into cubes. I'm all about easy)
  
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas*
  
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed (we didn't have celery seed on hand and I didn't know what celery seed as, so I figured the actual celery would be enough. See how new I am to homemade cooking :))
  
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
  
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts (we used Kroger brand and they were awesome)

*We are not fans of peas, so we kept them out and added more carrots and celery.


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

What Shiloh Is Saying

"I know", as in...

Anyone: "Shiloh, you look really nice today."
Shiloh: "I know."
Anyone: "I had a lot of fun with you today."
Shiloh: "I know"
Anyone: "Shiloh, I like your shirt."
Shiloh: "I know."

...you get the picture.


"Very"
As in, "I very want to play Candyland right now."


"Should"
"I should like... This one!" Said as she finally decided which Strawberry Shortcake band-aid she wanted to use.

"Well, actually, yeah, actually, the phone, yeah, yeah, well."
What you might hear while talking to Shiloh on the phone when Shiloh has nothing to say but doesn't want to give up the phone just yet.