Miss Shadow Dozier: July 2013

Beau and I have been lucky enough to get a couple of really great vacations in this summer. Boy do I feel like I've needed them both. We've decided to adopt (possibly though foster care if that is God's plan) and that means we have no idea when a vacation, a dinner out, a hike will be our last as a family of 2. It makes every one of these moments precious.

It also has made the last couple of months hard. I'm so happy to be moving forward with adoption but there is some small part of me that always thought I would get to be pregnant. I have found myself unexpectedly grieving things I will never be able to give my future child/children: the attachment and bonding that comes in the womb, breastfeeding, etc. I can't wait to be a mom to a child that is adopted into our lives but there are feelings coming up that I didn't know would surface and that have had me going though a strange sort of grieving process that I never expected.

The cool thing is that since we made our plans to adopt known (through a FB announcement) we have gotten an overwhelming amount of support from friends far and wide. The attorney we're speaking to says that the best thing to do when trying to adopt is to let anyone and everyone know your plans because you never know who is going to be the person to introduce you to the birthmother. I am so grateful to our friends who have helped us with this journey so far. I can't wait to be looking back a year or two from now at where we started and to be so grateful to finally be a mom.

In any case, we've been lucky enough to go to both St. Simon's, GA and Michigan for vacation this year so here are some photos from those trips.

We decided to use St. Simon's as our early 5 year anniversary celebration.

The SSI lighthouse

SSI SUP-so much fun!

We traveled up to Michigan for a family reunion and I got to see family I hadn't seen since before Beau and I got married. This was his first time meeting the bulk of my Michigan relatives.