Texas in the Spring

Posted on May 6, 2013 by milemarkerblog

It is always a tradition to have Bluebonnet pictures made around the Dillon Household. Even the very first Easter Lexi was standing in snow on the Bluebonnets. Gotta love Texas weather.

Another part of every spring and every April 15 lies TAX DAY. I am not going to delve to deeply into that except to tell you that we have a huge shock with our taxes this year resulting in the Dillon Family returning to a sequestration status. I think I have scared sweet Lexi because we aren’t going out to eat….save 1 meal a week. I am on a spending freeze for everything except necessities. As Dave Ramsey would call it a rice and beans…beans and rice budget.

So, as I got the kids ready to take pictures with our friend Gabrielle Cole she said “Mommy, pictures cost money- can we afford it?” Sweet girl. In reality I had cancelled pictures with Gabrielle let her know that we were not spending money on anything. I mean anything unless it is necessary. Gabrielle was so kind and was willing to go ahead and take our pics for us……We were so thankful and I hope to reward her in the future!

Take time now to visit her blog or to visit her on FB- she is a wonderful baby sitting and photographer. She has reasonable prices and she stays calmer than I do when Luke always decides that the photo time is the time to act like a maniac. Some how he things this is the time to act up. Even if he has been an angel all day. I will never know what it is!

Please send Gabrielle some love and some business for me! She deserves it!

http://gabriellecole.com/

https://www.facebook.com/gabrielle.cole.7161

Anyway….here go the pictures of the Dillon kids.

Thank you sweet friend!

SDG

OVER SHARING

Posted on April 1, 2013 by milemarkerblog

So, I had a conversation with my brother in law last night about how much was appropriate to share on Facebook. We all have seen the posts. Some drone on and on with information that is not all that interesting and well, really not exactly appropriate to be shared on Facebook.Children’s toileting habits come to mind. I am guilty as charged- I over share from time to time. I recently have made a concerted effort to not share more than what is appropriate. That said, this boundary is different for every person. There are a couple of “selfish reasons” to choose embryo adoption so, at the risk of “over sharing” I would like to put one of them in today’s post.

The Financials

My brother also said this weekend “How much does that cost?” Leave it to my brother to get that out there. I didn’t mind. Finances are a big deal in our family. All of my immediate family members have homes that are paid for and no debt. We don’t do debt; we have a low tolerance for risks when it comes to investments- we don’t do single stock trading or oil futures. Paul and I do Dave Ramsey, we live on cash- one day I will write a ranting blog all about personal finance- it is a topic that I am highly energized by and passionate about. Suffice it so say for this conversation I will stick to the financial implications of Embryo adoption.

Embryo adoption is the cheapest adoption out there (that I have found). I know that foster to adopt can be less expensive but compared to overseas adoption as well as private adoption embryo adoption is hands down less expensive. I think everyone wants to ask this question but is afraid to because they don’t want to seem nosy- nose away! Here is the breakdown (now, this is only from our particular agency):

Fixed Costs for Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program

The Snowflakes Embryo Adoption program is an ALL INCLUSIVE service. The items listed below are NOT SEPARATE, but all are included in the Snowflakes program fee. Your entire embryo adoption, including home study and medical expenses should cost between $10,000 – $15,000. The price range is based on our understanding of other agency program fees, home study fees and frozen embryo transfer fees.

Program Management & $3,500.00
Current and Future Client Communications and Records Storage:

Legal Contract Development and Coordination: $2,500.00

Fertility Clinic Coordination & $1,000.00
Embryo Shipping:

Food and Drug Administration Compliance and Donor Testing: $1,000.00

Total Snowflakes Program Fee: $8,000.00

These are sourced from the following website link

http://www.nightlight.org/snowflake-embryo-adoption/

Additional Fees are incurred for the following reasons:

Homestudy- for us performed by a local agency Child Placement Center about $2000.

Here is the link to Child Placement Center (I am super excited in future posts to talk more about this agency- they come into play soon!).

http://childplacementcenter.org/

Fertility Doctor Fees- These range based on where you are a patient and on your particular situation. Your insurance may cover some fertility needs. You may be able to have some procedures covered by insurance as well. For example my HSG (hystosalpingogram) was covered by my insurance as well. Once I am pregnant I also will then be covered by insurance.

Medications- This is one that I was not expecting! Hello, who knew Crinone Gel would be so expensive? (about $750)

All that said, this is actually one of the more affordable adoptions out there.

Who knew?

I have been away from blogging for a couple of days to fully enjoy the family this Easter. We have a family tradition of getting together with my Dad’s side of the family at Easter time instead of Christmas time because things get so busy. We used to do Christmas at Easter but we have dropped Christmas gift exchange entirely and now we just do Easter and hang out at my Aunt’s amazing backyard! Here are a few select pictures of the fun.

My doll baby!

Grandma’s Goslings

Sweet Lukie

Grandma’s Cake

Who might this be???? Stay Tuned—–I can hardly wait to tell his story!

My Nephew- sweet boy!

All my parent’s Grand kids! I just like how Luke and Joshua are looking at each other!

Angelic Noelle my niece

These three are going to be trouble waiting to happen!

Blurry of Dad and I while Luke was taking pictures!

As I sat in Easter morning service (how I love Easter) tears were in my eyes (I hid them of course). There is just something about singing about the joy of our Savior. It was also a time to think about the coming year. Will we have our own Snowflake this time next year?

Whatever the answer we will rejoice!

Have a great week!

Run Hard!

Step 1: Conviction

Posted on May 12, 2012 by milemarkerblog

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

Convictions come with passion. It is easy to have a extreme conviction for your favorite sports team. Ever visited a Texas vs. OU weekend in Dallas? You will see conviction.

Ever tuned in to some hockey or football games where crazed fans dance mostly naked with their head/chest/body painted with their chosen colors? I am a girl who can hardly invest the time in watching a football game that we really want to win because of the heartbreak and pain of losing. Am I competitive? No, never…..ok, yeah for sure. I also don’t like feeling bad when we lose so I would rather just not invest the time than watch some game just to feel bad afterward. Of course, in the case of a grand win, I also miss out on the celebration. Usually I can hear it, in the other room- especially if my father is in the house- he yells so loud I think the neighbors can hear him. That kind of conviction is easy when you are supporting a team- how can we be fanatic about a football/soccer/hockey game but not about what we believe.

What do I believe?

Jesus is God who loves me so much he died for me, and he loves me personally.
Jesus desires all to come to know Him, and wants a personal relationship with them.
He adopted me into His family.

Galatians 4:4-7 Message

^4-7But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

This conviction, for our family, results in some behavior similar to that of the fans of the Georgia Bulldogs above, or the Sooner and Longhorn crazed fans that split the Cotton Bowl in half. Sure, we don’t run around with paint on our heads, body, and face but we make decisions some might call just as weird. Stick around- I am sure that I will share some of our “weirdness” with you. Why wouldn’t all our convictions lead us straight to action? Violently waving and cheering for a sports team is normal but spending money, time, and treasure on an adoption is not nearly as common place. In our case, we have children, and I am asked all the time: Why would you adopt instead of having another baby- as if adoption is relegated to those who cannot BIRTH their own children. The answer to this question every single time is

CONVICTION

We have decided what we believe.

What do you believe?

Tell me about it.