Good Morning Everyone and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning Everyone and Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group! Oh yes...it's time for the Halloween Blog Contest to Begin~ this weekend I will be sprucing up my blog for Halloween and I encourage you to enter the blog contest for fun and prizes! I will do an official post on Monday to kick things off.
Zach is in a hockey tournament this weekend, so I won't be running the chat until 12 noon, I'll probably have to leave around 10am, but you ladies are welcome to stay and chat if you would like to.
I haven't heard any big news in the adoption world this week. Everything seems pretty quiet.
What are your weekend plans?

THE CHAT ROOM IS NOW CLOSED...HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Should We Still Have The Saturday Morning Chat Group?

Hi there everyone. I am doing this post to see what you all think about the Saturday Morning Chat Group. We've been getting together for a long time now and lately the number of people attending has gone way down. I am wondering if the concept has run its course. Maybe we should just get together the first Saturday of each month, or maybe disband altogether. Let me know what you think. I've really enjoyed hosting, and I'd love to continue. So, let me know.

Having a Little Fun!

I am still waiting for a referral, and that has me on pins and needles. But, the coolest thing has been happening to me....I'm actually believing that I'm going to have a daughter soon. All of this time that I have been waiting, I knew she was coming, but I wasn't preparing.
Now, for the past month or so...I've been feeling the need to get ready. I have plans to paint her room sage. I registered yesterday at Target...that was a blast! I scanned to my little hearts content! Pink Explosion people!
Sophia now has 4 drawers, a tote and a section of the closet full of clothes sizes 12months to 3T. Tim added a pair of Disney Princess light up slippers to her shoe collection last night. I put all of her hair bows and baretts on a ribbon board and hung it on the wall.
I've really been having a lot of fun.

Hey Ladies, There is an article about our blog showers on Laura Christianson's award winning blog 'Exploring Adoption'!

Hi there everyone. The post below is appearing on Laura Christianson's Award Winning Blog 'Exploring Adoption'. It is about the baby showers that we throw for one another in our blogging community. If you would like to go by her blog and leave a comment about our showers, that would be wonderful. Link: Exploring Adoption


How to Throw an Online Adoption Shower
I remember the day I showed up at my women’s Bible study group with my newborn son in tow. Most of the women in the group hadn’t even known I was expecting. With no evidence of a physical pregnancy to remind them that I was expecting, they either forgot or ignored the fact.
The “pregnancy” of most pre-adoptive parents goes largely unnoticed and unacknowledged. Friends and family who make a huge deal out of the birth of a baby say, “ho hum” when a child is adopted.

I believe that loved-ones should offer to throw a shower for any new child who joins a family, whether through birth or adoption (and no matter what the child’s age). So when Kimberley, author of The Seventh Diamond blog, told me about the online baby showers she and her blog readers throw for one another, I was intrigued.

Here’s how her online showers work:

I have two girlfriends who design blogs and when I host a shower, they make sidebar links to go on people’s blogs to advertise the shower and get the word out.

I have a Saturday Morning Chat Group on my blog, where adoptive moms talk about adoption trends, families who are in China, families who need help fundraising and our personal lives. I usually announce the showers at the chat group and get the sidebar graphic out to all of the ladies so they can put them on their blogs.

Before you know it, the sidebar graphics are on blogs all over, posting the family the shower is for and the date and linking people back to my blog so they know where the shower is.
My girlfriends design special headers for each shower so I can decorate my blog on shower day.

I get a list of wanted items from the parents and ladies come by the blog on the shower day.
We all talk to each other in the comments and people rsvp through comments to get the gift list and to win shower prizes.

It has been a fun way to celebrate with the families and also a good way to keep the morale up for the waiting women. It does everyone's heart good to see a child coming home and a family’s dream coming true.

Quote for the Week...

Sunday...

I am truly grateful for all of you and for our community that prays for one another.