Birth Mother Baskets Teams Up with CAIRS Solutions

We are so thrilled to announce that Birth Mother Baskets will begin 

shipping baskets once again!

We will be teaming up with CAIRS Solutions to reach thousands of birthmoms 

across the country.

CAIRS Solutions is a software company with online solutions that benefit adoptive parents, birth parents, agencies, and attorneys associated with the adoption industry. Positive contributions to this industry has been the focus of Mark Livings, CEO of CAIRS, since he and his wife Letty adopted two boys nearly five years ago. In April, Mark and the CAIRS team discovered the Birth Mother Basket blog and thought our program was fantastic. They immediately reached out to us requesting a meeting to see if there was something they could do to help reopen our organization.

Jenny and I will continue to be active with blogging, speaking, and overseeing the day to day operations of Birth Mother Baskets

We are so grateful for the guidance that CAIRS Solutions will bring to bmb. There will be a few changes, but in the end we will be reaching more birthmoms then ever before, which is our main goal.

 Please be patient with us as we set up a new web site and prepare to start shipping baskets mid June.

  CAIRS Solutions.com
www.cairsolutions.com. Additional information about its products can be found at parentfinder.com, childconnect.com, hshomestudy.com, and MyAdoptPortal.com

Changes!

12 years ago I had an idea...

That idea was all about serving other birth mothers.

In the beginning, that was all it was about.

The first goal was to fill 20 gift baskets full of items that were just for a birth mother.

Those 20 baskets quickly became 60!

What started as a one time delivery became a yearly event. 

And baskets were being delivered all over Utah.

5 years ago social media became a buzz...

and www.birthmotherbaskets.blogspot.com was created.

Birth mothers and adoptive couples all over the world started to hear about bmb.

Public speaking became my 'thing' and I surprisingly liked it. :)

My idea was becoming my passion and my way of healing.

4 years ago I received a call...

A birth mother who believed in my idea.

The goal was to become a non-profit.

Jenny became my business partner and my listening ear.

bmb was booming and request for baskets came flooding in. 

We worried about money constantly.

Would there come a time when there wasn't enough?

Our mission...

To never turn down a request for a basket due to money.

And we never did.

Almost 3 years ago...

We became on official non-profit.

We cried tears of joy and relief.

People all over the United States were believing in my idea... no my passion, to serve
birth mothers.

Birth Mother Baskets shipped out weekly. Sometimes 2/week, sometimes 12/week!

12 years ago I had an idea...

To serve other birth mothers, in Utah.

However, birth mothers in:
MEDINA, ND
KOKOMO, IN 
DOVER, DE
COLUMBIA, SC
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV 
LITTLETON, CO
MILWAUKEE, WI 
INKSTER, MI
BUTTE, MT 
BOULDER, CO
AUBURN, WA
BATON ROUGE, LA 
GREENVILLE, SC
WINTER PARK, FL 
CAMBRIDGE, MN
MESA, AZ
CONROE, TX 
BATON ROUGE, LA
PHONEIX, AZ
IDAHO FALLS, ID
NORTH BEND, WA
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
HEBRON, IN
LUCAS, TX
STURTEVANT, WI
CONCORD, CA
KANSAS CITY, MO
BELLEVUE, WA
AKRON, OH
TUSCON, AZ
SENECA, PA
PRESCOTT, AZ
WICHITA FALLS, TX
DESMOINES, IA
CHARLOTTE, NC
COLTON, CA
TOWNSHIP, MI
RICHARSON, TX
BRUCE TWP, MI
HIGHLAND, MI
MOULTRIE, GA
COLUMBIA, MO
BIRMINGHAM, AL
DOVER, NH
CLEVLAND, OH
SARASOTA, FL
FORTH WORTH, TX
MANASSAS PARK, VA
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN
TALLAHASSEE, FL
GRAND JUNCTION, CO
FAYETTEVILLE, AR
MESA, AZ
NASHVILLE, NC
CAMBRIDGE, MN
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA
JEFFERSON, IN
CONROE, TX

And many, many others were all happily delivered a Birth Mother Basket.

2 years ago...

I was informed that the adoptive couple who adopted my baby was getting a divorce.

I was crushed.

I cried, I wept. 

I questioned my decision to place.

As a birth mother, you envision an almost unrealistic fairy tale life for your baby. Where
nothing every goes wrong, there are no trials or pain, no heartache or problems.

I struggled to share my adoption story.

I struggled to serve other birth mothers.

4 months after...

I delivered the most amazing little boy. 

His unexpected arrival into this world filled our home with so much joy and happiness. 

It was miraculous, and I was smitten.

I learned an important lesson; Life is about learning. Some of those lessons can only come through certain trials in our lives. Some of those lessons come from the most miraculous events in our lives.

I let go of the anger I was harboring.

And reminded myself why I chose adoption. 

Now...

My children are getting older.

They are involved in dance, baseball and basketball.

I am constantly in my car. :)

I found a new job that lets me live another passion of mine of being an artist.

I am content. I am happy.

I am at peace with my decision to place... once again.

What that means for bmb...?

I believe my idea of serving birth mothers, became a passion, taught me to love myself and others, helped me heal, grieve, reach out, educate, and become who I am today.

However, it is time for me to spend more time with my beautiful children. 

To spend more time educating myself on becoming a better artist.

To let go of an idea.

And spread my wings and fly!

Thank you...
There are many, many people who have supported bmb throughout the years. Without your love and support none of this could have been possible! Thank you for believing in me, believing in Jenny and believing in Birth Mother Baskets. We will always be grateful for your generosity.
All remaining baskets will be delivered to local (Utah) based agencies and hospitals. Any funds remaining will be donated to a local non-profit organization who supports birth mothers.

We will no longer be shipping baskets as of Jan. 31, 2013.

I will be continuing my passion for art and fashion at www.gshoppingbag.blogspot.com, just for fun. Along with www.justplanecute.com every Friday to share some fun fashion tips and finds.

2013 S.T.A.R.

Well, it's been a looooong time since we last posted here on bmb. Jenny and I took a long Holiday Break to spend some time with our families. I think we both thought by taking this break from bmb things might actually slow down. I think the opposite was true! We both were still running all over the place with our family adventures and chaos. 

But, we are getting back into the swing of things. All basket request that have come through will be shipping out on Monday. Please, email us this weekend if you have a birth mother who is in need of a basket, who has recently placed, and we will add it to the list.


__________________________________   2013  ___________________________________


Each year our family comes up with a Family Theme. This theme is usually geared towards something we all feel we need to work on. It's nice for B and I to use throughout the year to help teach the kids certain things that we feel are important. This year our theme is...

S.T.A.R.

Spirituality, Trust, Academics & Respect

{I need to find these. They would be so cute in my living room}

I order each of us a dog tag of some kind, with our Family Theme on it, to help remind us  of what we are working on. I also like to post our theme on our door going out to the garage, so each morning the kids will see it there. I love how much the kids enjoy coming up with the theme every year. I also love having a small guide when I am trying to teach them something or discipline them, I can always bring up the Family Theme and they automatically know it is important and serious.

I won't go into each word, for I feel they are personal to my family, however they pretty much explain themselves.

I encourage all of you to come up with your Family Theme. What are you trying to work on for the year? Have you set any goals for 2013 yet?

I strongly believe in setting goals and working towards them all year long. I love to see my children do the same. I always love hearing what goals they have set for themselves. It helps me as a parent to know my child's wants and needs. For example, Evie wants to get her back walk over down and JD is working on stretching more, so he can be more flexible for baseball. I would not have known they wanted to work on these had we not sat down and talked about our goals. 

Communicate with your children at home, see what they would like to achieve for the year and then set a Family Theme. If you don't have children, set them for yourself. Even come up with a saying that you are going to live by this year. Like... Don't Give Up! Courage! Stay Strong! Something that is personal to you and will help you strive to stay positive and achieve your goals for the year. 

Getting bmb to become a non profit was a HUGE goal for Jenny and I! I'm so grateful that we have reached that goal and can't wait to see what the future may hold for bmb and the birth mothers that we reach!

ps. if you see any cute star decor, send it my way! I'd love to see it.

2nd Annual Silent Auction

This event is such a blast to put on, and a lot of work!! 

I swear we come up with the coolest auction items every year. 

I love it! 

This year did not disappoint and we were thrilled to have such a great turn out. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and supported not only bmb but birth mothers everywhere! Here are some amazing pics from our 

successful 2nd Annual Silent Auction.

Thank you Bluebird Pictures! 

You are the best!! muah!

bmb Holiday Break

Jenny and I are taking a little Holiday Break! 

We will be back Jan. 2013

If you have received an email from me on Sunday Dec. 2nd, 

your bmb will ship out next week,

otherwise all basket request will be put on hold until we return in 2013.

We will be happy to still ship your baskets once we return.

Thank you for your continuing support!

Hope you and your families have a very 

Merry Christmas 

&

a Happy New Year!!

Open Adoption

Way to go The R House. You have done it once again... amazing post, amazing words!! 

Read this.

Why open adoption is so great!

Wordless Wednesday....

We are starting something new here at bmb,  

Wordless Wednesdays

Each Wednesday we would like to post a picture that celebrates adoption.

If you have a photo that captures the incredible spirit of adoption and would like to share it with us please email it to us at birthmotherbaskets@gmail.com

No words, just beautiful pictures:)

We look forward to hearing from you. 

PS~ Thank you to my dear friend for our first Wordless Wednesday post, love ya!

Thankful For...

I've been noticing a lot of my friends on Facebook posting on a daily basis what they are grateful for.

I too have been thinking a lot about the many things in my life that I would consider a blessing. My journey with adoption has not been what I had expected, in fact the complete opposite, however I still consider it a huge blessing in my life. A blessing that has taught me more then I could ever imagine!
And considering that November is National Adoption Awareness month, I thought it was only appropriate to list Adoption first.

Creativity. I live to work with my hands, my imagination and anything ART. It is so much of who I am. My husband jokes every time we go to Wal-mart I have to buy a can of spray paint for some random project I may have in the garage. :) I am grateful to have a job as an Art Consultant and cherish my time spent at work! I know crazy right? But, it's true, I have the best job ever!

My children. These three monkies have taught me more about life, love, communication, understanding and patience then anything else in my life. Without them I would not feel complete. JD loves unconditionally and whole heartedly. Evie is witty and strong headed (a good trait in my eyes). Jett is my ray of sunshine. His smile can light up a whole room!

My husband. B and I actually dated while I was pregnant with My Little Butterfly. He is my knight in shining armor, as cheesy as that may sound. We are complete opposite when it comes to a lot of things, however he is the most understanding, forgiving, loving and supportive person I know! Our opposites attract in such great ways. He brings out confidence in myself that I never thought would be possible. He is an amazing father that always puts our children before himself. He makes me want to be better in everything that I do.

My sisters. I have two beautiful sisters! One of which lives her locally and the other out of state. :( Both of them have been amazing examples to me in my life. I know I can count on them for anything. Their friendship has helped me through many difficult times in my life and I don't know where I would be without them.

God's art. I am grateful for the outdoors and the peacefulness it brings to my life. I wish I had more time to spend doing the things I love in the mountains, but I am always in awe at its beauty.

Friends. Genuine long time friends! Nothing is more priceless then having friends who understand you, accept you, listen to you, care for you and love you unconditionally. I am blessed to have a group of girls who support me and love me this way. They bring so much joy to my life and seriously make me laugh until I pee my pants. :) I love them all dearly!! { many of which are not pictured here, you know who you are :) }

What are you grateful for in your life? 

What brings your life joy? 

What changes have you made that you feel have made your life better?