DADsquared℠

I recently had the great opportunity to chat with Irene Annunziata ,  an amazing attorney here in Florida who specializes in the field of Same Gender and Second Parent adoptions. www.familylegalmatters.com/ Many people,  especially since the birth of our Son, have asked us some pretty big questions.  We obviously did not want to attempt to answer lightly. Joel and I were the first Same Gender Couple to jointly adopt here in our county. The FIRST thing we did when our story began was to hire a GREAT attorney. Our Adoption Day. I thought this would be an ideal topic for DADSquared  and surely an informative one at that. So what better time than now to bring in the big guns? DADsquared Irene, can a Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual or Transgendered individual currently adopt in the State of Florida? Irene Annunziata Yes a LGBT person can petition to adopt. The adoption statute currently still reads that no homosexual person m...

My Husband and I have yet to really discuss faith or religion in regards to our Son. I would simply be happy to know he had some, faith that is. I can't say that what form that faith takes weighs too heavily on me. I can however say that  belonging  and believing  are two very important concepts to me. Two words that are naturally entwined to me, is it possible   to  do one without having the other ? I don't believe so. As a matter of fact, my own personal sense of belonging has always faded when believing became less plausible. I actually surprised myself when I suggested our Son be Baptized. I thought I had left those ideas tucked away with a much younger version of myself. My Husband supported me and he actually wore the same gown I was christened in 40+ years ago, our baby, not my Husband :). My Baptismal gown Now I can't entirely credit (or blame) my early religious training for that, I'm just a n...

This is how it all starts.. The dreaded FAUX HAWK! Oh, I know what your thinking, but it seems so innocent . Look at him! Such a big man. So serious! Or,   Look at our silly little man! Little man is the problem if you ask me, I know you didn't. But come on now, they're only babies for a minute right? Do we have to make them little men so quickly? Taking on grown up qualities so early. True, he may grow into that Faux Hawk and seem actually quite successful, somewhat, well balanced ! Or be the life of the party! That " Bad Boy " haircut may lead them down the wrong path. Or God might have BIGGER plans! But then again he may also end up like my " Funny " Uncle Carl. I personally can't take that chance. I won't risk my boys future for the sake of some clippers and gel...

My Son and I attended our first Daddy and Me class today. Its actually called a Baby and Me class, the ( p.c.) name for what was always called Mommy and Me classes. Now don't blame us for the name change, apparently there is quite a Dad movement on the rise, Straight and Gay alike. Dads don't like the short stick they seem to have been getting. We are Daddies hear us roar! As a matter of fact, Dad bloggers just brought down a Huggies campaign that made Dads look rather, well, stupid. Did you hear about it? abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2012/03/huggies-pulls-ads-after-dads-insulted/ Anyway this is not one of my activist posts. This is about my Son. So we arrive, both feeling a little nervous. It was us and 7 Mommies with 7 sweet babies. I noticed all the Moms checking me out as I entered, and Ben noticed all those babies looking at him too. Alright kid, I said, lets show them what we got! Miss Kristin welcomed us....

Yesterday My husband and I took our son to the park. We packed up all the things that little boy would need for a great day under the Sun. His formula,  his favorite toys, lots of sunblock and his cutest hat. we were joined by Karen and Irene and their beautiful 8 month old daughter Lucy Karen, Lucy and Irene There was also Chris, Jeremy and thier 18 month old twins Chloe and Jackson, Todd and Gabriel with their sons Eli and Jayden. Tim and Jim with their 3 beautiful kids, and a handful of other parents.. We listened to music,  sat under a big tree with sprawled out on blankets and ate junky fair food... heaven ! That was our agenda for the day, and it was perfect . There happened to be a lot of other people there although our group felt very small and intimate.. There was also a nice fellow there taking pictures and jotting down some notes, you see as regular and ordinary as our park day is sounding, it was actual...

from our yard I was taking my usual walk around our yard this morning with my son in my arms. I love it most just after the sunrise ... Still, quiet yet awakening, stirring and alive. Our climate is warm and tropical so there is so much life out there, so much movement. A rustling in the leaves from the small lizards scurrying to hide.. The trees sway from the little tree frogs hurrying to get back to their safe places. There they will spend the day, resting and preparing for their adventures of the night. And the amazing sounds the breeze makes when it hits the  bamboo .. A very unique sound, unlike any other, almost a hum...almost a whistle, but not quite. The  bamboo  always catches my attention and holds it softly . This morning as we were looking up into it's branches something stood out as interesting to me. I noticed ( suddenly ) for the first time, that each new shoot that spouts from the ground somehow, magically, yet naturally, ...

I can still, so vividly, remember the day I received the photo.. It came via text messaging which I quickly turned around and emailed myself in order get a larger look. I opened the image and looked with a mixture of amazement, fear and disbelief. A few moments later I finally shared it with my Husband. Look what she sent me , i said.. It's him .. Ben 5 months old We both spent a few silent moments gazing at the image. You see we had not even met the woman on the other end of the text, I had only exchanged a few polite messages with her up until that point. How did we come to receive this photo? An acquaintance of ours was related to this young woman. She knew we had been trying to grow our family,  and she also knew her sister had not wanted to grow hers . Rather than play the middle man she asked her sister if she could give us her number, to which she agreed. I  sat  with that number for nearly a full day. You would have thought I would hav...