Birmingham Moms Blog :: Introducing Caitlin

1

Birmingham

Birmingham has been home to me since the second grade. My parents, Midwesterners from Illinois, moved my sister and me to the suburbs just outside of Birmingham during the summer of 1993. Birmingham summers are magical. I grew up on a street with a lot of kids. We played outside until dinner time, riding bikes, swimming, and collecting bugs and then reunited after dinner for catching lightning bugs and flashlight tag. This August will be 26 years spent living in and around our Magic City. It has been a place of magic for me. All of my biggest highs (and lows) have happened here. To Birmingham I owe meeting life-long friends, experiencing my first hangover and heartbreak, falling in love with and marrying the man of my dreams, struggling to get pregnant, finding my calling, growing a family, and buying our first home. Outside of my personal connections, I love the spirit of hospitality here, the love for people, and the good food. 

 

IMG_9496

Moms

I am mom to three kiddos ages 6, 3 and 1. Becoming a mother was something I denied wanting for a long time. Partly because I have a little bit of a rebellious nature and loved to defy the expectation of motherhood after marriage and partly because behind that response was hiding a great fear of infertility. Being a child of adoption, my mother’s story of infertility and her resulting grief had a great impact on me. My fears became actualized when we tried for two years to conceive without any luck, and then magically, after “giving up,” I became pregnant with our oldest, and the rest is history. I love being a mom and laugh at the younger version of myself who was so stubborn. Being a mom has been the hardest thing I have ever done. I have never been more aware of my own brokenness and incompetence but also my own strength and capacity to love. Albeit hard and exhausting, it is a gift. 

 

20180819-5T6A7896-Edit

Blog

I am new to the blog world and am excited to take on this endeavor. I am passionate about parenting and realize more than ever how important it is to have other moms alongside of you. My view of motherhood has been greatly impacted by my professional journey. I have been trained on trauma sensitive, attachment based parenting and spend a lot of my time preparing families for raising adopted children. I walk with families through the adoption process and get to play a role in the forming of the most beautiful, unique families. Observing the special bonds formed between adoptive and biological family members is amazing. Being an adoptee, it has spoken volumes to my heart, watching adoptive families extend love and grace to women considering adoption for their children. Being a parent, watching a mother bring her child into the world and courageously place them in someone else’s arms has broken me in the best way. These experiences, without a doubt, shape my view on being a mother and I am so thankful for them. 

Previous articleBirmingham Moms Blog :: Introducing Kristin L.
Next articleBirmingham Moms Blog :: Introducing Audra
Caitlin I
Caitlin moved to Alabama from Virginia as a young child and has lived in and around Birmingham since. She earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from The University of Alabama and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She currently works full-time at a local, nonprofit child welfare agency, Agape of Central Alabama, and holds the title of Adoption Supervisor. She oversees both domestic and international adoption and specializes in educating families on attachment based, trauma sensitive parenting. As a parent, and a domestic adoptee, Caitlin finds great joy and fulfillment in her profession. Three years ago, 1 month before her 30th birthday, Caitlin was reunited with her biological family. Caitlin has since developed relationships with members of her biological family and has shared those experiences with her adoptive family. Personally and professionally, she has been surrounded by some of the bravest of women, from all sides of the adoption triad, who have greatly impacted her view of the world and her identity as a mother. She currently calls Bluff Park home, where she lives with her husband Wally, of 13 years, and their three children, Rowan, age 6, Elliot, age 3, and Remy, age 1. In her free time, you can find her working out in her makeshift garage gym, drinking copious amounts of coffee, or working hard to make the people around her laugh.

1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.