ABOUT US
We’re Mary, J, and dear Noah Baby - an imperfect, unusual family attempting to make it work in the great Midwest. We’re taking a go at relative foster parenting while trying to live eco-consciously and finding inspiration in everyday life. We’re passionate about music, social causes, and, most importantly, family.
In 2009, we were given the opportunity to take my youngest nephew Noah into our home to raise as relative foster parents. He was 9 months old at the time. His parents had been struggling with the disease of addiction for awhile and during that period, the decision was made to remove Noah from their home. With no other eligible family members lined up, we took him in. At the time I was a full-time project manager at a technology firm and a full-time undergraduate student. J was balancing his full-time job with various music projects. Our crazy schedules got even more chaotic when “full-time parent” was added to our plates. For a young, carefree couple, it was a lot to handle.
Nevertheless, God had a plan and we were simply instruments in that scheme. Months of sleepless nights and re-adjusting a not-so-adjusted baby to a normal schedule taught us invaluable lessons: patience and love. That patience and love got us through 16 months of uncertainty and turmoil while we fought along with (and sometimes against) the legal system that is put in place to protect children of abuse. In April of 2011 we were awarded permanent custody of Noah. And since that custody can be overturned in the future, we’re now on a road towards adoption to secure him as our son indefinitely.
We continue to navigate the waters of surrogate parenthood (now with a bouncing toddler!) while hoping to maintain a sustainable lifestyle and trying to fulfill our dreams (J plays the guitar, I write!). 
Read here why it was so difficult to start this blog and what we hope to obtain out of it.
