Yoga Master

Film goodness, shot on Fuji 400H

Namaste.

Hoping to Adopt- Josh & Kenna

Well, hello! We are Josh and Kenna. This year we will be finishing up our 4th year of marriage, and we are currently on the path towards our first adoption. Our path towards parenthood was not meant to be short or traditional, but we have embraced adoption as we have seen it work miracles in our own lives as well as many others. We know this is what years of infertility have lead us to and we are grateful and excited.

Josh & I are easy going individuals. We love being outside, especially the beach. Josh loves to ride the waves on his boogie board and I like to lay out in the sun with my ipod. If we aren't outside, we are inside watching a good flick or engaging in some healthy Wii competition. We love to be active and to spent time with our family and friends.

We can't wait to welcome a sweet little to our family!

If you would like more information about Josh and Kenna, please visit their blog here:

http://shumwayadoption.blogspot.com

How big is YOUR heart? Guest Blogger: J-Dawg

I wanted to tell you a story about my Uncle Jason.

He was the same age as my mom.
I wish I had a picture of me with Jason.

He was born with a special heart.
He was born with Pulmonary Atresia.
That is a fancy way of saying that he was born with no pulmonary valve.
His artery was also not attached properly.
My grandma told me about it, but it is hard to understand.
She told me that they were using part of a pig's heart to help him to live a long and happy life. The reason I don't have a photo of me and Uncle Jason, is because he died during the operation. He was only one year old.

This week my school is doing a fundraiser for the
American Heart Association
to help kids who were born with special hearts like my Uncle.

My mom knows a lot of people with special hearts.

She was telling me that the AHA Research is responsible for so many things:

Heart Bypass
Heart Attack Recovery
Open Heart Surgery
High Cholesterol Medications
CPR
Automated External Defibrillators
New Heart Valves
Pacemakers
Heart Transplant

Will you help me raise $100 for the American Heart Association?

Click here to donate through my web page

If you do, it will help people like my friends:

Weston
Duston's wife
My Uncle Jason
My daddy's Uncle Mel who lived 10 more years because of a successful heart transplant

And many more!

Thanks a bunch...and I promise to jump really good.
I am practicing all the time.

Love,

J-Dawg

Maddox

Maddox--Birth Story

Capturing a baby coming into this world, is one of my favorite types of sessions.
It is such a joyous, tearful, and miraculous time for a family.

If you would like me to capture your special day in such a way, drop me a line:
kimorlandini [at] gmail [dot] com

My Life as Tetris

It is interesting how my thoughts run wild at two a.m.


*this photo has nothing to do with the post, but only with how my brain feels right now

I made the mistake tonight at about midnight (when I was having trouble sleeping already) to pull out my journal. The old skool kind. All I really wanted was to find a piece of paper to write my husband a note. I was feeling too lazy to go back downstairs where I knew there was paper. After sifting through my nightstand drawers, and coming across the journal...I opened it up. I didn't go through the pages I had written, but rather rummaged through the little pieces stuck into the front and back covers.

There were polaroids of me and my kids.
Photos of Hubbs and I shortly after we were married.
There were some notes from Hubbs, and a birthday card.

There was also a stack of five papers stapled together.
A collection of thoughts from my father writing about his brother Mike who
took his own life when he was 24 years old.

24.

I recall tucking it away years ago after it was given to me.
I am pretty certain my dad gave it to me.
I remember reading it for the first time the day they were given to me,
but it was painful to read.

I remember my uncle Mike vaguely.
I remember I was only four when he died.
I remember his exotic birds.
I remember his 15 speed road bike.

I remember visiting him a few times with my dad. That is a lot to remember when you are only four. I also remember his funeral. I remember the smells and sounds and pictures in my mind from the evening of the viewing.

I knew better than to read through these sheets of paper in the middle of an already sleepless night. But there I was, unable to find a blank piece of paper to write down some thoughts...so I read what was in front of me.

I didn't know my dad's mother's middle name was Lucy.
I really wish I had known that when I named Millz.
I would have given her that name.
See, these five sheets of paper are filled with some awful, heart-wrenching things.
Things that kids should not have to endure.
Suffice it to say that my grandmother herself once told me as we sat on a porch swing with little six month old J-Man in my arms:

"Kim, you are a good mom. I never was a good mom. I was good at having the baby and that was it. I was an especially bad mother to Mike."

Our relationship with my dad's mom is an interesting one.
If you can understand her saying the things she said to me on that swing, you may understand why my uncle killed himself. Regardless, I love her. I love her very much.

That got me thinking about the pattern of my life.
The game of Tetris if you will.
How the choices that my grandmother made...formed and shaped
the pieces and lives of her children.
I am a firm believer that we can make anything of ourselves, despite how we are raised, or in any condition in which we grow up.

Opposition can do two things...it can make us stronger if we let it, or it can weaken us.
I think sometimes when we are playing the game of life we get SO fed up with the game that we hit the down button and let the pieces pile up until they reach the top of the screen,
and then game. over. If we are lucky, we get to start again...but...
If we choose to, really deeply, we can do the opposite...stretch, turn, twist, and rotate those pieces to fit nicely together until we create a bigger and stronger foundation.

We are very much products of our environment.
I wonder sometimes where I would be now had my energy been put forth into other things besides getting over my parents divorce, or my dad's imprisonment.
I wish that I didn't have to feel like I have been running for the past two years trying to catch my breath from some very challenging trials.

It has, however made for a much more interesting life.
It has stretched me and strengthened me to keep pushing to the next level.

I am really sad that I outlived my uncle. I am sad that he never got to see 25, 26, 27, or 28. That he never got to work through his struggles and emotional sadness and possibly make a better life for himself and for any future family he may have had.

It wasn't happen chance I came across those five papers tonight.
They were the answer to a prayer in my heart.
The prayer to live each day to the fullest.
To try harder, run faster, and love deeper.
Be a better mother, prove it can be done, no matter the difficulty.
And to never give up.

And really...who doesn't love a good game of Tetris?

Miracles are REAL!

If you don't believe me...I have a

Testimony of that.

Happy Valentine's Day.
Heavenly Father is amazing.
xoxo

Allison is the BOMB...please vote for her!

Remember when I asked you to vote for my friend Allison the last time?



(photo taken from Allison's blog. Allison, need more photos of YOU.)

Well...you did...would you do it again?

Vote here

Third video down entitled:

inspire me mexico

I think she is totally rad. She deserves this.
and WE are all rad, and can do great things when we help each other.
Thanks mucho.

And have a kick-a V-day.

xoxo

Pray for Weston

Blatant thievery from Jon's Blog: Image by Jonathan Canlas

Our dear friends Jon and Callie
are up at PCMC in the PICU with their baby Weston.

Weston and Millz are the same age.
(I secretly have them betrothed.)

(You will recall his beautiful photography here.)

Weston was born with Tetrology of Fallot, and is now battling RSV.
RSV on freaking speed. It is bad.

You can read more about it here:

Our Life Right Now - Fuji FP-3000B

Will you please. Please. PLEASE...

Take the time to pray for this sweet, loving family.

Especially pray for Weston and a swift recovery.

It is not a question, but a begging from the bottom of my soul.

Love to Jon, Callie, and the kids.
Squishes and huggs from all of us.

Hoping to Adopt- Jared & Mary

Hello from Jared, Mary & Madison!

Jared and I have been married for almost ten years and we became parents 2 1/2 years ago
when a selfless birthmother placed her baby girl in our arms.

Our little girl is such a joy in our life. We named her "Madison" which means "Gift from God".
We are delighted to have our daughter in our life and we look forward to the day when we
can welcome another child into our family through adoption.

We are not a perfect, but we have plenty of love (and laughs) to share. We have opened
our home to three foster children over the years and we enjoy traveling, watching movies,
spending time outdoors, and hanging out with our families.

To learn more about this beautiful family click here.

Nicole

I heart senior photography.