What does it mean to be MOTHER?

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

If only I had the answers to this question on the day that is set aside to honor us. I waited years to be a mother and this day is the culmination of that journey. Last year at this time, I had a picture of Minnow but was not yet his mother…the distance to far, the legailites not yet in place. Waking up today and knowing he looks at me and sees his mom is all that I have ever needed. When he gets hurt he comes to me. I console and comfort him. Being a mom is not an easy job as it is a lot of work–more work than I ever imagined it would be. But being a mom is the most rewarding job there is. When I look into my son’s eyes I see so much. I look into his eyes and see the woman who birthed him and gave him as a gift to us. I look into his eyes and see the woman who raised him for 3 weeks to make sure that he was healthy. I look into his eyes and see the amazing women of Wanna who loved him and gave him a sense of belonging. I look into his eyes and I see me. I see the lessons I am teaching him and a reflection of the love I give him. He is in everysense of the word–my child. He is a part of me and I am forever a part of him.

I know this is true as I see my mom in me and a little of me in my mom and I can see it for generations, as we all had brunch together today. Motherhood is special and I will always be special to my children in a way that there father will never understand and in a way that sadly their birthmothers will never know. I am overcome with joy on this day that celebrates us mothers. To all of you fellow mothers—I celebrate you and your commitment to your children and your commitment to hope. As our children are the embodiment of hope as we once were.

Happy Mother’s Day.

With My son
With my mom and son
Wonderful gift from my husband and son. It will be an 11×14 pencil drawing of a photo my hubby picked. It looks awesome and I can’t wait to get it.

Clearances are in

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

and we have been found to not be criminals and perfectly legally acceptable to parent a child. Thank Goodness!!!!!! Now that our homestudy update is just days from being completed, I guess that means I have to get moving on the rest of the dossier. Here’s to paperchasing….

One Year Ago Today…

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

The adoption stork delivered this picture


and the message that he was ours if we accepted his referral. The minute I saw him, I knew he was ours and there was no way we would be turning down his referral. That thought was incomprehensible to me. I felt as if I had known him and that he was part of me. It was a bizzare feeling that I have not yet been able to put into words. This little boy who was only 39 days old in the picture created a love in me that has only continued to grow. He has given me so much hope that the world is not hopeless. Children really are the hope that our world needs to be a better place. He has made me want to be a better person. He has made me a better person.
And here he is today…

What a difference a year makes.

Like a Phoenix Rising

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments
from the ashes…I have returned. I really wasn’t anywhere, just buried in life and the end of my graduate classes. As I type this now, my last paper of the semester–all 23 pages of it–is printing and I am only a few hours from turning it in. I love the end of the school year. No matter how old I get–I have been in school constantly since I was 4 in one respect or another–student and/or teacher–the end of the school year is exciting and brings with it such a feeling of accomplishment, hope, possibility, and freedom.

Things are moving right along here at casa del Finley. Our little Minnow is not a full-fledged toddler and he is loving and hating it at the same time. He wants to be able to do everything, but really can only do so much. He is already beginning to realize that there is a limit to his abilities…so sad to have to learn this at such a young age. He is lucky or some would say unlucky that he will quickly forget that he can’t do everything he wants–we go through it everyday. He is the light of my life and I cannot not even imagine what it will be like a year from now, when we are adding to our family againg.

I am still slowing working on our dossier for a baby girl. Our homestudy update is not done, as we are waiting for fingerprint print clearances from the FBI. Once the clearances are back, the update should only take a couple of weeks to get finished, and I can get all the dossier documents done by them as I do already have the doctor’s letter and our reference letters. I was smart enough to get the things that take the longest first.

Spring has sprung and I promise I am back to blogging full-time. The next semester doesn’t start until August. Oh summer break was never so great….



Are you sure it isn’t the Terrible Ones????

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

I love my son and he has brought so much joy to our lives, but toddlerhood has totally set in and he has a new trick. What is it you ask? Screaming. Screaming everytime he wants something. He can say please and does but after he screams. I never thought a child so little could scream with such force and pitch. He might have a future in horror films as a voice over screamer for some scared little girl. How long can I expect this to last? I might need to invest in some ear plugs…Only slightly joking.

On a brighter note–we have said good-bye to the bottle all together. He has been off of daytime bottles for quite a while, but he said good-bye to his bedtime bottle 3 nights ago. All on his own. He rejected in and I haven’t offered it since. He seems to be sleeping great at night. I am so happy, as I was not looking forward to taking that away from him. Well, he is about to wake up and I am going to take this chance to enjoy some absolute silence.