And, Then it's Over

On Sunday Jamie came home from his weekend away.  We talked about how blessed we were to get so much support and how therapeutic it was to share our story.  We truly hope that it helped or inspired someone (and based on the many responses we saw, I think it did).

But, there is a part that is hard.  See, we know we are "closer" to bringing our baby home, but we're still not there.  The segment aired and although things changed, they stayed the same.  A baby didn't show up on our doorstep, and isn't going to.  It's still going to be a hard road ahead.  We have to match.  We have to wait for our baby to be born.  We have to hope that the baby's biological parents don't change their mind.  It's going to be hard, worth it, but hard.

I felt like this was the end of our story being shared.  I considered asking some friends if they'd be willing to share our story on their Facebook pages, but I hate to be obnoxious and keep asking people to "market" us.  What's happened over the last few days shocked me!

I didn't need to ask people to share our page.  They did, many, many people did without me asking.  People I hadn't seen since high school and college.  People I barely knew but was friends with on Facebook.  People I didn't know at all! One one friend's page I saw that it was shared 8 times from her post, I clicked to see who shared it and I didn't know them.

Here were a few of the many posts that accompanied the link to our story:

Hey FB world! This is a story of love and hope for a dear friend of mine from Willmar/Spicer MN. It is my prayer that God can bless the channels of social media and help them in sharing the hearts and home with a baby in need of a Christian home. Please pray for the Heather Wolney Thompson family for us as well!


I can't help but share this story of one of my dearest friends. Heather Wolney Thompson and Jamie have a dream of growing their family but have been faced with many challenges along the way. Their story has been a hard one. A sad one. But also - Inspiring. They continue to have such an amazing attitude and hope, even through the devastating times. Their story and the reaction they are getting from friends, acquaintances and complete strangers is a reminder of all the good there is in this world. Something we too often lose sight of. Heather and Jamie, thanks for sharing your story... You are offering support and encouragement to so many others that are facing the same hardships.


Heather and I attended High School in MN together. Please take a moment and watch this video (especially if you have or love kids or starting a family). So touching. They also have a Facebook page "like" and share this. Support brings you a long way. Love you Heather! Good luck to you and your beautiful family.


Show your Mud Butt (posted on the Mud Butt Cloth Diaper Facebook page) support for an awesome fan, friend, and fellow adoptive family! Check out their awesome story that aired last Friday night. Let's spread the word! They are a great family:)


A wonderful couple who truly are as good as they sound. Please share their story.

I checked our adoption Facebook page just now and we have 470 likes.  I realize not everyone is going to go ahead and like a total stranger's Facebook page, so I think 470 is terrific!  Totally amazing.  

Support Rolling In

I was totally shocked about the support that came in through Facebook the night the story aired.  WCCO added a link to their website so that people could find our adoption Facebook page, I didn't expect that many people would track it down, but they did!  Before the story aired the page had 307 "likes".  By Monday morning we had 121 additional "likes", many from people we didn't know.  We received many emails and posts from families that suffered miscarriages, adopted children, had children many years apart, and even one person who was adopted--he thanked us for choosing open adoption.  I wanted to follow up with each person personally, and still have quite a few to respond to.

Here were some comments from complete strangers.  Amazing....

"Just saw your story on WCCO and had tears running down our cheeks."

"I just saw you guys on TV.  You were so calm (impressive).  Prayers continue that the right people/person also saw it."

"Just saw your story on WCCO and hope and pray that your family finds what it is looking for!  Bless you all for being so open and willing to do whatever is needed to improve the life of a child as your family grows.  Bless you all..."

"Tons of prayers coming your way on this journey."

It was so incredibly uplifting.  I honestly could feel the prayers of many lifting us up during our journey.

We also received one email from someone that wanted to meet with us.  At this point, we don't see that going anywhere, but it's encouraging that someone saw us and thought that we would make good parents for their child.  I felt so calm about it and told Jamie that I felt a lot of peace...since we had so many more people praying for us, I was certain the right thing would work out!

Our Story

Here's a link to the story that aired about us on WCCO.  We're so blessed to have John, David and the WCCO team help us share our story.  And, for Michelle Turnberg for calling John about our story.  AND, our sister-in-law for sharing our adoption page on Facebook, which is how Michelle heard about it!

Watching our Story

Jamie was out of town on Friday night; I was thrilled that my parents were back from Florida so that I could watch the interview with them.  My mom made a yummy dinner and although their lake place isn't where I grew up, it really does feel like home.  My dad recorded the 6:00 news and a friend tipped me off that one of the promotional pieces played then, we found it and watched it several times. It was surreal.  All of this is surreal!  In the piece, I was talking about how difficult our third miscarriage was, but how we received so much support.  It was true, and it seemed like the perfect 5 second clip to describe our journey.

We all piled on the couch and I did one of the things I do best, I fell asleep.  My parents woke me up just before the 10 o'clock news was about to start. I missed the popcorn party.  I started recording Griffin watching it, then put down my camera and soaked it all up.  I knew that lots of our friends and family were huddled around their TVs watching and supporting us.  I got choked up watching it, it was truly beautiful.  They did an amazing job of telling our story in a heartfelt, genuine way.  I couldn't have asked for anything better. It was longer than I expected and better than I expected. And, I have high expectations.  My parents were great people to watch it with--they were so positive and were happy with how the story was told.  Griffin turned to me ans asked, "Is that really what happened?" I am sure he was wondering where the rest of it was, the parts that were edited out.

Texts were coming through my phone like crazy, my phone quickly filled up and I couldn't get any more texts.  Jamie called. He was happy with the story, too.  He talked to Griffin. Griffin told him that he was on TV, too!

Here were some of the text messages that came in:

I am crying and can't stop.  It was great. Love you.

Great story on WCCO!

A and H are tracking how fast the likes go up on your adoption page!  :)

What an awesome story we just watched!  So proud of you guys for doing that.  Blessings and prayers to you!

It was an awesome story.....had tears with you!

What a great story! Griffin did such a great job, too!

Great piece on WCCO!

Just saw the news.  Makes me happy and sad.  Hope you get a good response!

That was beautiful!  I am bawling with a great big smile!:)  It hurts all over again, but there is so much hope!

We saw it!  It was great!

Loved it!  <3

Here's our little man watching himself on TV:

The Post Interview Wait

From my previous post, you know that we felt really good about our interview with WCCO. John and David made us feel really comfortable and it felt therapeutic to share our story.  We both felt in our hearts that it was the right thing to do, maybe it would speak to someone that needed to hear about another family that were making the best of a tough situation.

We thought the interview would play the weekend after it was recorded, and knew that they would call us when they knew it would air.  It didn't play that weekend, but the following Wednesday Jamie received a text from John telling us that it would air on Friday night at 10:00 p.m. WE found out at the perfect time, we were on our way to a family bridal shower so when people asked about when it would air, we could actually tell them!

Friday was interesting, it's definitely hard to focus when you know you are going to be on TV that evening.  I ran into quite a few people, received quite a few Facebook posts and received lots of emails from people that saw the promotional "ad" on WCCO.  I gathered as much info as I could about it so I could be prepared!  People claimed it sounded good, so I did my best to believe them!  And, you know lots of your friends and family will be watching. And, you have no idea what parts of the one hour interview will air. What will the spin on the story be?  More than anything, I just wanted it to be genuine, just us sharing our struggles and our hope. It's so very personal, yet we felt compelled to share it.

When I felt nervous, I reminded myself of the other hopeful adoptive parents that wish they had an opportunity like this.  It's really such a blessing.

The Interview

The house was clean, and the coffee was on.  All we had to do was tell our story.  The reporter (John) and cameraman (David) showed up and we were playing bocce ball in the front yard.  They were going to film us doing that, I am thankful that Griffin wanted to play on the swingset.  Could you imagine seeing us on the news playing bocce ball??  Talk about looking like dorks!  :)  They filmed us playing.  They made us feel comfortable.  Griffin was great, his smile lit up as we gave him underdogs.  John and David raved about our lot--it is truly beautiful and today it was especially beautiful with the sun glistening on the lake.
We went inside and were interviewed on our red couch, one of my favorite places in our home.  We told our story.  I was reminded of how tough the journey was, but what it did for us.  We have grown closer, we're a team, even when we disagree.  We've learned to grieve with each other, we shared the same pain, and we worked through it together.  We appreciate our miracle.  We want to grow our family, together, in a unique way. 
I got a little choked up when I talked about our babies that I never got to meet.  But, I did OK.  I felt strong.  It felt right, sharing our story with a total stranger so that it could be on television.  I prefer being under the radar, but this felt right.  John was so genuine and caring.  He felt bad asking the tough questions, but I was glad he asked them.  The tough questions are the ones that help us tell our story.
Griffin showed them his new room, the room he will move into when the baby arrives.  He showed them photos of his cousins, his books, his bad.  It was so cute to see him give a tour of his big boy, big brother bedroom.  We looked at each other and I know we were thinking the same thing.  We are so proud. 
I was interviewed while I was on Facebook.  I showed them our site and talked about the support we've received. 
Typically after an interview or conversation, I mull it over and think, "I wish I said this" or "I shouldn't have said this."  I'm not really doing that (much) this time.  Maybe it's because only 60 seconds will be on TV and I can't control what is chosen to play.  Or, maybe it's because I'm just thankful my living room was clean.  Wouldn't you be?

Jamie and I talked this afternoon, this interview was therapeutic for us.  Sharing our story and hoping that it helps others. 

Someone is splicing and piecing together our interview right now.  Crazy. 

I feel so uplifted, like maybe our difficult journey can help someone else.  And, it makes it all seem worth it.

Here's a photo that our little man took of us today: