Dancing for Finley

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling weighed down and discouraged by the recent tragedies, catastrophes, and all of the arguing and accusing that follows. I often find myself craving good news. There is plenty to entertain or distract, but I am always on the lookout for stories that inspire. I am very aware that this world is a broken one filled with a lot of pain, but I know that there is also good out there and I've been on a personal mission to find it. Finley’s story has brought me a lot of hope. This darling little girl has cerebral palsy and her family has been fundraising to raise money for a medical procedure that could hopefully change her life and help her walk someday. #daretodancechallenge

I have been really touched not only by this little girl with a big smile on her face (in spite of the challenges she faces), but also by the many people who have united to support her cause. The video of these fireman dancing for Finley was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes (HERE). I watched it with my little boys who both love dancing and they wanted to dance for Finley too. We joined with Grandma and Grandpa and my sister and her family to film our little dance for Finley on a recent trip to the beach.

I’m having trouble getting the video to just embed in this post, but you can watch our dance HERE.

Please visit doyoudaretodance.com to hear more of Finley’s story/donate. Best of luck to you little girl! Our family is sending lots of love, hope, and good wishes your way!

Infertility Announcement #6: Bump(y) (Road) Ahead

This our last infertility announcement for now. Thanks so much for all of the nice comments and messages. It’s been good to connect with our people.

The pregnancy announcement you’ve all seen before:


Our infertile version:

Disclaimer: We are the happy parents of two little boys who joined our family through the miracle of adoption after we had struggled for several years with infertility. Though the infertility is still there, the struggle is mostly not. What used to be such a consuming, challenging part of our life is now usually more of a passing thought. We are so grateful to be parents, but we have not forgotten how lonely and horrible infertility can feel, which is why we thought we’d create something to connect with others who are going through what we went through.

Infertility Announcement #5: She’s Gonna Pop

The pregnancy announcement you’ve all seen before:

Our infertile version:

We tossed around a few ideas for this one. Also under consideration was “She’s gonna pop!… a blood vessel!… if she takes one more negative pregnancy test!”

This one also took us quite a few tries to get the bubbles timed right for the picture. Waiting, timing, failing -- an appropriate coincidence for infertility. 

Disclaimer: We are the happy parents of two little boys who joined our family through the miracle of adoption after we had struggled for several years with infertility. Though the infertility is still there, the struggle is mostly not. What used to be such a consuming, challenging part of our life is now usually more of a passing thought. We are so grateful to be parents, but we have not forgotten how lonely and horrible infertility can feel, which is why we thought we’d create something to connect with others who are going through what we went through.

Infertility Announcement #4: Scrabble Style

The pregnancy announcement you’ve all seen before:

Our infertile version:

Disclaimer: We are the happy parents of two little boys who joined our family through the miracle of adoption after we had struggled for several years with infertility. Though the infertility is still there, the struggle is mostly not. What used to be such a consuming, challenging part of our life is now usually more of a passing thought. We are so grateful to be parents, but we have not forgotten how lonely and horrible infertility can feel, which is why we thought we’d create something to connect with others who are going through what we went through.

Infertility Announcement #3: Sharing the News Via Italian Food

The pregnancy announcement you’ve all seen before:

Our infertile version:

Disclaimer: We are the happy parents of two little boys who joined our family through the miracle of adoption after we had struggled for several years with infertility. Though the infertility is still there, the struggle is mostly not. What used to be such a consuming, challenging part of our life is now usually more of a passing thought. We are so grateful to be parents, but we have not forgotten how lonely and horrible infertility can feel, which is why we thought we’d create something to connect with others who are going through what we went through.

Infertility Announcement #2: The Movie Poster

The pregnancy announcement you’ve all seen before:


Our infertile version:

Disclaimer: We are the happy parents of two little boys who joined our family through the miracle of adoption after we had struggled for several years with infertility. Though the infertility is still there, the struggle is mostly not. What used to be such a consuming, challenging part of our life is now usually more of a passing thought. We are so grateful to be parents, but we have not forgotten how lonely and horrible infertility can feel, which is why we thought we’d create something to connect with others who are going through what we went through.

Infertility Announcement #1: No Bun in the Oven

As I’ve already mentioned, this week is Infertility Awareness Week. So Spencer and I decided to share a few silly infertility announcements that we made specifically for IAW (obviously these weren’t actually used to announce anything, just so we’re clear here). Since humor is one of our coping mechanisms, we thought we’d use that to hop on the creative announcement bandwagon in our own infertile way. Of course, we’re not suggesting infertile people announce their deepest struggle with a silly meme. Nor are we making fun of pregnant people. We’ve just found that laughing at our problems sometimes makes them feel smaller, and couldn’t resist the chance to poke fun at infertility.

Apparently, based on this long explanation, and the disclaimer below, I was a little unsure as to how these would be received. But we think they’re sort of funny in a horrible, that’s-so-true kind of way so I’m going to be bold and post them anyway. Here we go…

The pregnancy announcement you’ve all seen before:

Our infertile version:

Disclaimer: We are the happy parents of two little boys who joined our family through the miracle of adoption after we had struggled for several years with infertility. Though the infertility is still there, the struggle is mostly not. What used to be such a consuming, challenging part of our life is now usually more of a passing thought. We are so grateful to be parents, but we have not forgotten how lonely and horrible infertility can feel, which is why we thought we’d create something to connect with others who are going through what we went through.

Stay tuned for more announcements later this week…