Hi there, I’m Alicia.
My family and I live on a 9 acre hobby farm in a small town in Northern Ontario.
My husband and I are childhood sweethearts who fell in love, got married and then grew up together…in that order.
We always knew we wanted to grow our family through adoption, so that’s how we began. In 2014 we brought home our two beautiful daughters at the ages of 5 and 7 through foster care adoption.
A year and a half later our sweet biological son entered the world and changed our lives forever.
When our son was two years old we said yes to a foster placement of a two year old little boy. “Little O” entered our home with laughter, the biggest hugs and so much noise! He became our forever son a year and a half later.
We are passionate about sharing our story of adoption and foster care, advocating for the vulnerable and living life on purpose in the ways and spaces Jesus brings to our attention.
We love farm fresh eggs, barefoot kids, home education and camping.
Our story is filled with messy mistakes, brave adventure and so much grace to cover it all.
We would love to hear from you or share our story with you.
Relax & Enjoy
Adoption, Mommyhood & the Rest 
Hey I enjoyed your blog. Your aunt Sherri was telling me about your adoption. My daughter goes to the same school as Sherri’s children.
We are working at an adoption as well. Tasha is 4 years old , she is in Guyanna , South America and living in an orphanage. We met her for the first time in apr 2013 and they are taking FOREVER to get paperwork done. !! Hopefully we can go finish up the adoption in July or Aug.
We have a six year old daughter and she is anxiously waiting to bring her sister home ! Tavia was 9 months old when we brot her home from Ethiopia.
God bless you as you bond with your little girls and dive into mommy hood ! Adoption is an amazing journey and I enjoy following blogs on the subject !
Yvonne
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Hi Yvonne 🙂 This sounds like an incredible adventure you are on! I hope the next few months go extremely well for you and that God would bless you with that paperwork that is taking FOREVER!!! I can only imagine how helpless you are feeling as you wait. My husband and I are so passionate about adoption and it is always a huge encouragement to hear about more people following God’s heart in this way. We are cheering the three of you on as you fight for Tasha to come home ❤
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I love your bio! What a sweet blog you have here and an amazing story!!
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Thankyou, Sasha 🙂 I just checked out your own blog and I feel like we’re kindred spirits! You very obviously throw your whole being into mothering your little ones and are determined to joy in that beautiful, rich life you have! Thanks for the inspiration. I love to hear other moms share their heart and passion. Looking forward to exploring your blog some more 🙂
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I just came upon your gift of your blog, sent to me in perfect timing by God. My hubby and I are born again saved by the blood Christians. We are adoptive parents, 2/2015 of 4 siblings from the foster system. Our 6 year old was diagnosed FAS 6/2015. Diagnosis given by geneticist with a list of what may assist us but no help or where or training. I have 24 years of working with Special Needs children but none specific to FAS so I have been seeking out the Internet for HELP. Our 11 year old sees the geneticist in Feb, we believe she is also FAS.
Their 5 year old brother is developmentally delayed and perhaps FASD as the dr is hesitant to label yet. Last but not least is their 8 year old sister who is ADD.
Our 2 FAS kiddos have so much sinus stuff all the time. Is this common do you think? Sinus infections, ear infections, acid reflux…….
Also they both lie incessantly. Since we are Christian, this is soooooo difficult for us to deal with. What is typical child and what is the FAS talking?? Thoughts appreciated
Thank you for your post on FAS. With your permission, I would like to print out to share with teachers and family.
Blessings,
Doreen in AZ
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Doreen,
I have to believe as I learn more about how alcohol damages the brain that God knows this, sees this and understands my children better than I ever will! Alongside those ideas, however, don’t be afraid to be consistent in your consequences and expectations. I’m sure you’ve heard all the frightening statistics that I have about FASD kids entering adulthood and ending up in jail or worse. Though we may know why and how our children struggle, unfortunately in reality nobody is going to care when our children are 18 and they have committed a crime. It’s not fair, but our kids DO have to learn how to live in the real world and our job as parents is to get them ready for that.
First of all I’m very sorry this took me so long to reply to! Been busy around here, as I’m sure you can relate to!
Second of all…I LOVE hearing your story! It just gives me the biggest smile to read that you have adopted not one, not two, not three but FOUR kiddos!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 BLESS YOU on this journey! You will be granted incredible amounts of grace and courage, that I know!
I can so relate to your story in so many ways. FASD is so common, yet it truly is so difficult to find resources! I have also found it so difficult to decipher between symptoms of FASD, trauma, attachment, etc. There are so many pieces that make up the story of our children’s behaviors and that makes it very difficult to identify the root cause! Lying truly is a very difficult behavior to deal with. I have no answers for you as to how you can know when it is typical child behaviors and FASD symptoms. To be honest, it’s probably something you’ll just need to deal with moment by moment and pray for wisdom to know how to deal with each episode. Remember there is a lot of fear and attachment connected to lying as well! We are almost at the 2 year mark with our daughters and it’s really only now that I’m starting to understand how much of the time one of my daughter’s lies ‘accidentally.’ Her comprehension, communication skills and memory are affected to the point that sometimes when she lies I realize that it is simply a case of her not understanding my question, not being able to communicate her ideas or simply not remembering what happened! This does not make it any less frustrating or acceptable and yet it does put things into perspective. I have gotten ‘softer’ on this issue over time as God has shown me at times that it was I that was being unfair in my expectations of her ability to function. Read everything you can find on trauma, attachment and FASD especially regarding memory and executive functioning. I wish I had an easy answer
I haven’t experienced the sinus infections, etc with my own children but I’ve certainly read that things like that can be common. Both my girls struggle with weakened immune systems…though this winter has been better than last! They seem to pick up colds easily. They also get cold sores and eczema regularly.
I would be honored and more than happy for you to share my blog with whomever you wish! Another great blog you should check out is Confessions of an Adoptive Parent. Great resources there and a conference that I’m dying to attend one year 🙂 They’re Christians as well and much more experienced than I am so you might want to contact them as well for thoughts on these issues!
I wish you the very best and send my love and prayers to your family.
We’re cheering you on here!
Alicia
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