John and Chris Adopt, Open Adoption Blog Post on Autumn

Autumn, John & Chris Adopt

Autumn, John & Chris Adopt


“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine
by staying in the house,”

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

Open Adoption, Where We Live

Hello,

John and Chris here. We’re two dads, raising our daughter, Sara, in Georgia. We love where we live and wanted to continue this blog, in an attempt to paint a picture of our life, as we pursue an open adoption arrangement for the adoption of our second child. We are a loving, happy family of three, and look forward to the day that we can be blessed with a second child.

Quick image of where we live

Quick image of where we live

(image source: decaturmetro.com)

Parenting, Honoring Childhood

John and Chris Adopt

John and Chris Adopt

“We affirm our duty to nourish and nurture the young, to honour their caring ideals as the heart of being human. To recognize the early years as the foundation of life, and to cherish the contribution of young children to human evolution,”

–Raffi

Thoughts on Parenting

We ran across this poem on the internet the other day, and thought it would be a great way to start blogging again … hope you enjoy:

“When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I felt you kiss me goodnight, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared
and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked… and wanted to say thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Saint Patrick’s Day

Happy St. Patrick’s Day – our neighborhood (Decatur, a small town near the city of Atlanta) is very child friendly. Although the restaurants are very welcoming to children and families, we’re keeping a low profile this weekend.

The city of Atlanta has a lot of events this weekend. There is a half marathon, Atlanta Hawks basketball game – and we’re staying in, with our daughter, Sara. And nothing is better than keeping a low profile and enjoying life with family!

We designed this blog for birth mothers who are considering open adoption. It is our hope, as we type small bits and pieces of our everyday lives, that some of our values and a little bit about who we are as dads, emerge.

Thanks for stopping by,
Warmly,
John and Chris, (and daughter Sara)

Family, Children, Cousins

Family, Cousins, Sara, Open Adoption

Family, Cousins, Sara, Open Adoption

John and Chris here,

We’ve posted a nice pic of our daughter, Sara, with cousins. Love having access to family. It makes all the difference,

Thanks for stopping by the blog, and visit us again, we try and post as often as possible, just to let people what we’re up to.

Warmly,
John and Chris

Facebook, Daughter Sara, our continuing journey to find birthmother

Hello all,

Check out our Facebook page to see some new pics of our beautiful daughter, Sara. Sara came into our lives through the process of open adoption. As we are a family waiting to adopt a second child through the same process of open adoption, with a birth mother, we try and update our Facebook now and again. In blogging we’re trying to reach out to let a birthmother know a little more about who we are as a family and as parents.

Thanks for stopping by,

Warmly,
John and Chris
Greater Atlanta Georgia Area

Decatur, Family, Adoption

John Chris, Adopt, Loving Family of 3, Waiting to Adopt Second Baby

John Chris, Adopt, Loving Family of 3, Waiting to Adopt Second Baby


Did we mention that the community we live in, Decatur, has its “Decatur Touch a Truck Day” March 3, 2012?

Love this town. Great neighborhood to raise a family.

~

We are John and Chris and we are a waiting family to adopt. We are looking for the birthmother for the adoption of our second child. We are a family of three. Sara is our daughter. We adopted her through the process of open adoption. We set up this blog in the hopes of reaching out, letting birth mothers know a little bit about who we are.

If you are a birthmother and are looking for a family waiting to adopt, consider taking your time to walk through the pages we have set up on the internet, and don’t hesitate to contact us,

Here’s our direct email: johnandchris@johnandchrisadopt.com

And here’s our direct, toll free phone: 1-800-466-1091
Thank you for stopping by,

Warmly,
John and Chris

Funny things about babies …

Funny things we didn’t know about babies that we now know, as parents … hmmm. Babies are like parrots in that they are great mimickers…they are looking for more new things to gurgle and test out saying. Babies love wooden spoons and Tupperware. Flashy toys are ok but nothing beats a wooden spoon in the mouth and some plastic containers to kick around.

Thanks for visiting our blog, as we continue our search for the birthmother for the adoption of our second child,

Warmly,
John and Chris, and baby Sara

Best Memory of This Past Christmas … Family, Birthmother

Open Adoption, John, Chris, Sara, Family, Birthmother

Open Adoption, John, Chris, Sara, Family, Birthmother

John here,

Best memory of this past Christmas together as a family….taking a Christmas day walk with chris and Sara. Watching Sara discover miniature ponies in a field next to her grandma’s house. Christmas eve reindeer grazing in grandma’s field. Sara pointing at the christmas tree with all out gusto and saying her version of “tree” which is “glhhee”

Who We Are:

We are John and Chris, and we’re blogging now, to support our open adoption search. We are a loving family of three (John, Chris, and our daughter, Sara) – looking to adopt a second child. We hope, by blogging, that a special birth mother may get to know who we are a little. Thank you for stopping by, and please take your time, sifting through the (hopefully) fun and enjoyable snapshots of our lives.

Here’s Our Direct Email: johnandchris@johnandchrisadopt.com

Here’s Our Toll Free Phone Number: 1-800-466-1091

Sincerely,
John and Chris, and daughter, Sara

Family, Snow, Children

Open Adoption, John, Chris, Sara

Open Adoption, John, Chris, Sara

OK, so the picture above is of our beautiful daughter, Sara, and yes, we’ve already posted it in Facebook, but … well, goodness, we’re proud parents, so of course we’re going to post THIS PICTURE AT LEAST TWICE!

How wonderful it is to get away, together, as a family – check out our new Facebook Pic and comments here, and “like” our page, (if you’re into the Facebook world)!

We are John and Chris and our daughter’s name is Sara. We adopted Sara through the process of open adoption, and we are lovingly looking for the birthmother for our next adoption. We’ve set up this blog, (as well as a few other pages, like on YouTube) so a birth mother such as yourself can begin to get to know who we are via the web. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us, and thank you for stopping by!

Here’s our email: johnandchris@johnandchrisadopt.com
And here’s our toll free phone number: 1-800-466-1091

Warmly,
John and Chris

Parents, Resolutions, Birth Mother

As new parents of our beautiful daughter, Sara – and this being a new year – we’re looking at resolutions. One commitment we have as a family is our search for the birth mother for our adoption of our second child. Keeping home and family and everything balanced, in anticipation of our growing family.

We found an article written for parents and thought it was a good one. It’s about resolutions. What do you think?

Read Some Expert Resolutions for Parents Here

Thanks for stopping by,
John and Chris

Open Adoption Search via Facebook

Hello,

Time is flying by and we haven’t had much of a chance to blog everyday! There are a lot of new photos with us as a family on our Facebook page, and we earnestly work toward updating that page and this blog with more of our family life. Stay tuned for more!

Sincerely,
John and Chris

Family, Adoption, Birthmother

Family - Adoption - Birthmother

Family - Adoption - Birthmother

Image Source

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
— Emilie Buchwald

We are not a “stuff” kind of family, but one thing we do enjoy is the comfort of family reading. As we think about all the good things that we’ve been blessed with, with the adoption of our beautiful daughter, Sara, and prepare with open arms the process of finding the birthmother for the adoption of our second child, we look forward to all good things in 2012 and beyond,

Warmly,
John and Chris

Open Adoption, Parenting, Family

John Chris Sara Open Adoption

John Chris Sara Open Adoption


John and Chris here, and we are, as so many other families, in the midst of preparation for the holiday season. Sara’s birthmother, and the open adoption experience for us has been so wonderful, we are thankful and celebrate and honor the privelege of parenting.

We hope you enjoy this photo of our family.

If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about who we are, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – take your time and sift through this blog, and then stop by our homepage.

If you’d prefer to leave us a note, our email is: johnandchris@johnandchrisadopt.com

Happy holidays!

Open Adoption, Adopting Families

Winter John Chris Adopt Atlanta

Winter John Chris Adopt Atlanta


OK, so the snow we got today was nothing like this picture, but hey, this pic of snowfall in downtown Atlanta is eye catching. We actually had the weekend after Thanksgiving at about 70 degrees – which meant light jackets and plenty of outdoor time for the family.

Since adopting our daughter, Sara, we take these mild, blue sky Nov and Dec days with great joy and ease, just appreciating all the good time we have together, as a family, during the holidays.

Hi, we are John and Chris, and we are an adopting family. Welcome to our blog. If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about who we are, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – take your time and sift through this blog, and then stop by our homepage.

Parents, Parenting, Birthmother

Walking Baby, Birthmother, Child Adopt John Chris

Walking Baby, Birthmother, Child Adopt John Chris


We, like so many other families and parents, have enjoyed time with friends and family this Thanksgiving holiday, and loved the time spent with our daughter, Sara.

Our daughter, Sara, is now starting to walk, trying to form words, and generally seems to be a pretty happy and content baby. That makes us, as parents, feel like we are taking our responsibility seriously, and listening to some of the experts on best baby raising practices!

Hi, this is John and Chris, welcome to our blog. If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about who we are, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – take your time and sift through this blog, and then stop by our homepage.

Thanks!
John and Chris

For Birthmothers, Thanks, Thanksgiving, Parenting

Seeing Sara grow into a healthy little girl and knowing that we must be doing something right – is one of the greatest rewards of being parents. We look forward to our Thanksgiving as a family, this year, and many more happy ones to follow.

Hi, this is John and Chris, welcome to our blog. If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about who we are, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – take your time and sift through this blog, and then stop by our homepage.

Thanks!
John and Chris

Waiting Families for Adoption

image source: "my sweet prints," on etsy

image source: "my sweet prints," on etsy


Thinking about our favorite family routine these days, we enjoy the bedtime routine with our daughter Sara… bath time and then bedtime. Fun to watch her playing in the tub. Also, we enjoy seeing her so excited to see us in the morning when she wakes up!

Hi, this is John and Chris, welcome to our blog. If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about who we are, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – take your time and sift through this blog, and then stop by our homepage.

Thanks!
John and Chris

Family, Quote, Birthmother, Adopt

Just got back from a quick getaway with family. Feeling refreshed. Here’s a quick quote about growing up, to inspire:

Mighty Oak Tree

Mighty Oak Tree


“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow,” English Proverb.

Hi, this is John and Chris, welcome to our blog. If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about who we are, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – take your time and sift through this blog, and then stop by our homepage.

Thanks!
John and Chris

Family Fun Fact: John, Chris, Daughter Sara, Our Family

Open Adoption John Chris Adopt Georgia

Open Adoption John Chris Adopt Georgia

We love Camping and we can’t wait to hop in the car with our children and head up to the north Georgia mountains for family trips.

Hi, this is John and Chris, welcome to our blog. If you are a birthmother, and would like some more information about us, as parents ready to adopt, through open adoption, a second child – find more fun facts on our Homepage John and Chris Adopt, and thanks for stopping by!

Recipe of the Week: Vegetable Broth, the Classic Family Soup

Preparing Carrots for Soup John Chris Adoption

Preparing Carrots for Soup John Chris Adoption


We are John and Chris, adoptive parents of a beautiful child, Sara. We are parents ready to adopt our second child! If you are a birthmother, we would love to speak with you as you think through this important decision. Please also visit John and Chris Open Adoption page.

What we’ve found as adoptive parents is that food can be a real connecting force with children. With our daughter, Sara, and myself and Chris, we value organic, home made food. It’s an opportunity to sit down as a family, take a deep breath, connect, and continue nurturing our family culture.

Living so close to a wonderful food market, where we can purchase fresh, organic food at very low prices, a quick and easy soup to make is vegetable broth. Serve with favorite bread. Because winter is upon us, you can even warm the bread a little. This dish is a great appetizer, first dish, or small meal.

Vegetable broth as a soup is terrific for family! Here’s one way to prepare the soup:

What you’ll need (we use organic for everything):
Stock pot with lid
Strainer
Fresh, filtered water
Almost 2 pounds carrots
One bunch celery
One onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley

How to prepare:

  1. Wash everything
  2. Peel carrots, slice several times so they are long and chunky
  3. Slice celery lengthwise, then cut stalks several times so they fit into pot
  4. Discard outer skin of onion and quarter
  5. Chop parsley a few times so it fits into pot, and if you can throw the stems away, do so, because too many stems taste a bit bitter.
  6. Throw everything in the pot
  7. If the vegetables exceed 3/4 of the total space in the pot, consider removing some vegetables, because when you boil, you don’t want the soup to boil over
  8. Add water until the water line is under the vegetables by about 2 inches. The reason this is important is because if there is too much water, then the soup will taste watery. It is better for the soup to be more concentrated.
  9. Put the lid on, heat to boiling, then turn the heat down to a soft simmer. Have the lid positioned so a little steam escapes.
  10. It will take 1.5 to 2 hours for this soup to cook. At about 1.5 hours, you may want to remove the lid altogether, turn the heat up a little. This lets more water evaporate, making a more concentrated veggie soup.
  11. Add salt and pepper to taste

Strain the soup when serving to young children. Use judgment when serving to toddlers and younger to prevent choking hazards. Whomever you are serving, know allergies beforehand.

That’s it! That is the vegetable broth soup recipe we like to prepare for our family. Maybe you can prepare it for yourself and see how it works for you.

We are John and Chris, adoptive parents of a beautiful child, Sara. We are parents ready to adopt our second child! We are ready to welcome a brother or sister for our beautiful daughter, Sara. If you are a birth mother, we would love to speak with you as you think through this important decision.

Find more information about us by sifting through this blog, or by visiting our Homepage, at John and Chris Adopt Dot Com.

Picture of the Week: Decatur

Decatur Ga - Near Atlanta - Where We Live and are Thriving as a Family

Decatur Ga - Near Atlanta - Where We Live and are Thriving as a Family


Adjacent to the bustling city of Atlanta is a community called “City of Decatur”. That’s where we have chosen to live, work, and raise our family. The sign – not glamorous – kind of says it all – the city of homes, schools, and places of worship. We’ve found it to be a community that is welcoming, thriving, and a good place to live.

Thanksgiving Family, Harvest, Giving Thanks

The Harvest, 1888 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

The Harvest, 1888 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)


In preparation of the upcoming holiday, Chris and I are preparing our home for a few guests, as well as just giving thanks for Sara, our daughter, our extended family, and our health.

Adoption Month, Families Adopt, John and Chris

Stork John and Chris Adopt dot Com

Stork John and Chris Adopt dot Com


National Adoption Month is now! November is when activities and celebrations happen. This year, there is a focus for families with experience in adoption (our daughter, Sara, was adopted by us through open adoption) “… those of us with a direct connection to adoption can often be the most effective way to promote positive perceptions, debunk the myths …” (source http://national-adoption-month.adoption.com/).

Below are a few links to organizations we, John and Chris, are associated with, because we are ready to welcome a brother or sister for our beautiful daughter, Sara!

http://www.adoptiononline.com/

http://www.adoptionopen.com/

http://www.abcadoptions.com/

Picture of the Week: Safer Walking Route to School for Kids

Decatur Ga School John Chris Adopt

Decatur Ga School John Chris Adopt


Here’s the pic of the week: City Schools of Decatur has these little posts embedded throughout our town, facilitating a safe walk to school for the neighborhood kids. The little disks are embedded in the sidewalk.

Being parents, we think they’re neat and serve a big purpose, seeing these little signposts along the path for kids to follow, as they trek on their way to school.

Adoption Quote, Enjoy!

adoption atlanta ga quote birth mother

Adoption Quote


Came across this quote the other day. We thought that visitors to our blog may like it, too:

“There is no doubt in my mind that being adopted affects parenting in a profound way. But how it manifests itself is as idiosyncratic as each parent, as unique as each child….We can only do our best to follow our hearts, to watch both ourselves and our children with a compassionate eye, and to find out our own place on the ever-lilting balance beam of parenthood.”

Susan Ito
adopted child

Looking to Adopt, John and Chris, & Halloween Season

halloween pumpkin john and chris adopt

halloween pumpkin john and chris adopt


Hello,

We are John and Chris, and this is the first week we are embarking on this new blogging journey, as we look to adopt a second child.

Being parents, we’ve had the pleasure of rediscovering our community, Decatur, Ga, with our daughter, Sara. As a family, we are so fortunate to live in an area with good schools, parks, the arts, and more.

Halloween is fast approaching. Pumpkin carving, tissue ghosts, and visiting a few homes of people our child, Sara knows, is a great way to celebrate Autumn, Halloween, the turning colors of the leaves on the trees and the cool weather soon to come.

May your Halloween be safe, simple, happy and memorable.

~ John and Chris

John and Chris Adopt Dot Com

Decatur, Ga, with Kids, as Parents

Pumpkin Patch Fun for Kids

Pumpkin Patch Fun for Kids


As parents in the community of Decatur, Ga, one benefit for our family shows up around Halloween time. There are plenty of events to celebrate this Autumn season, including pumpkin patch sales and fun at the local elementary school. We even heard of a benefit a couple of weeks ago, complete with pumpkin patch and hay rides for the kids.

As adoptive parents of a beautiful little girl, and as we work toward growing our family by one through adoption again, this is a good time of year to “just be”, especially in the family oriented community of Decatur, Ga.

Thanks for stopping by our blog,
~ John and Chris

JohnandChrisAdopt.com

Organic Food & Cooking for our Children

A friend of ours, Minde Herbert, has a blog about buying/cooking organics, affordably. This is something we, as parents, value. If you’d like to check out her blog, the address is below. Also, check out some of our other sites we’ve set up, on Facebook and YouTube.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good weekend!

–John and Chris
John and Chris Adopt dot com

Here’s Minde’s blog on organics:
Affordably Organic

And our family social media sites:
John and Chris Adopt on Facebook
John and Chris Adopt YouTube Page

Halloween Almost Here, Lots of Neighborhood Kids in Decatur, Ga

Here’s our second blog post, and one thing that is brewing in the community air is anticipation of Halloween and trick or treating. Here in Decatur, there are a lot of kids. That’s one reason we decided to put down roots in this community. Preparing the house and looking forward to a fun Halloween with family.

Have you checked out our other pages? “John and Chris Adopt Blog” is just one site we have, as we actively search and look forward to adopting our second child.

Here are our other “John and Chris Adopt” web pages:

Facebook
Homepage
YouTube

John and Chris Adopt Blog Adoption

Hello Everybody,

Welcome to the official “John and Chris Adopt Blog” – we will be adding content, images, videos on a regular basis, so make sure you come back and visit us often!

We are John and Chris of Decatur, Ga. We are an adopting family, looking for and ready to adopt our second child.

For a little bit more about who we are, you can click on one of the links below. Thanks for stopping by!

Homepage

Facebook

YouTube