FSA Conference Part 2

The second day of the conference was our favorite. There were more people there and we met lots of super cool people. The speakers were phenomenal. There was one where he talked about blogs and all the do's & don'ts of the blogging world. Now that we have our button (Hooray! Finally!) I think we are pretty much in line with what he was saying. Can  you believe that the average time spent on a blog is only 87 seconds? Geez. Not much time for you to get to know us! So what that means is we have to work extra hard so you can find out all or most of what you'd like to know in less than two minutes. Although, of course, we hope you'll stay longer :)
Another speaker that we enjoyed was from a social worker names Jen Winkelmann who specializes in attachment and forming family bonds. What she had to say answered many questions I had and I sat there in awe of her knowledge pretty much the whole hour! haha I wish it could have gone all day. She talked about breastfeeding and attachment and how important that is. However, as she said, it's not the 'breast' that's the most important part- it's the 'feeding'. I want to remember what she said while it's still fresh in my mind so sorry if I ramble a little but this really was my most favorite talk of the weekend. She said that (as far as attachment goes) if you feed your child correctly then it can be just as special of a bonding time as if you were breastfeeding. And the great part is, then our baby will become equally as attached to Brad. She mentioned little things like eye and skin contact. About talking to your child as you feed them. Tell them stories and make faces. Let them hear your heartbeat. There are also specific signs that a child is not attaching to his parents (regardless of if they are adopted or not, this can happen) and it's important to watch for these. Overall she was extremely positive about adoption in general as well as how it relates to attachment. It was wonderful to hear from an expert that even though I won't carry our child, he/she can still become just as attached to us. Jen also clarified the reasons babies are connected to - and know- their birthmothers and that unique bond. It reinforced within me that I hope we have at minimum a semi-open adoption. It was made clear to me that you can have both relationships- and that there isn't confusion going on in the mind of the child. She also emailed me after the conference and I think it will prove helpful to have people we know and can contact if we ever have questions.
The last speaker was a woman who spoke on inter-racial adoptions. I had pretty high hopes for this talk but for me it didn't help very much. Brad enjoyed it, though, and said he felt that it gave insight so I'm glad we went to it. There was a lot of talk about the history of African Americans in general, which I did not believe was directly related to what I wanted to know but I guess from a historical point of view, it was interesting.
After the conference we were thinking the responsible thing to do would be to start heading back on our very long drive home. We could get at least half way, stay the night, and finish it up the next day. Yeah well then we got this idea that we should go to Colorado Springs and hike the Garden of the Gods. We have been to Colorado a number of times (plus Brad served his mission there- Spanish speaking) and have always wanted to go down there but haven't had the right opportunity. So we went for it. Driving down straight from the conference and driving into Springs was unreal. It is so amazingly beautiful there. Since we left, Colorado has experienced many wildfires and it's been strange since we were just barely there. We feel for the people there and hope they can contain the blazes soon.

But when we were there it was perfect! So so perfect. We spent the late afternoon hiking up and down and driving the twisty road that winds through the "garden". One thing about Brad and I is that we have a deep appreciation for this world we live in and are constantly admiring the beauty of it. We already can't wait to go back!