Maggie may not be born yet, but she is already famous!  Way to go baby....

 

Patrice Stewart of The Decatur Daily, suprised us with wanting to do a story on my adopting Maggie.  She writes for the food section of the paper and wanted to help me promote my cookbook that I created to help fun the adoption.

 

Mom, Laurie and I got together on Saturday, September 9, 2006 and had our picture taken for the paper.  See the attached photo!  Mrs. June Odom, Mrs. Kathryn Wilks and mom decorated the table beautifully and even made some beautiful dishes from the cookbook.  It was all so awesome and I really enjoyed getting to share some of Maggie's story.

 

A few of the details did not come out correctly but it was a good article nonetheless.  Laurie and Tommy do have 3 children:  1 boy and 2 girls.  We have the 3 boys in our family - Art and Lisa's children. Anyway it was nice.

 

The article ran in the Wednesday paper but the tag line was inadvertently left out.  So they ran the aritcle again in the Sunday's paper.  It was then picked up again for the next week's Wednesday paper by Patrice's husband's article.  Wow, talk about press!!!!

 

The cookbook sales skyrocketed after the article ran in the paper.  Great help - thank you Patrice and The Decatur Daily!!!!

 

Tricia

 

Here is the article:

 

Journey to Maggie

Cookbook helping Tricia Thompson fund adoption of daughter

DAI L Y Staff Writer

Maggie Thompson will be a lucky girl.

She may not even be conceived yet in China, but she already bas a cookbook in her honor, as well as a loving mom, grandmother, godmother and other relatives anticipating her arrival.

Tricia Thompson created "Recipes from the Heart,' My Journey to Maggie" with dozens of recipes from family and friends in her hometown of Decatur, as well as her Birmingham work and church friends.

 Proceeds and donations made in connection with the cookbook will help this single mom fund the anticipated $18,000 to $20,000 for adoption and government tees and the trip to China to get her new daughter late next summer.

 Her mother, Ann Thompson of Decatur, helped collect recipes from family and friends in Decatur. Recipes include Baked Mushroom Chicken and Dijon Pork Chops from Jerri Ellis, Odean's Brownies from Odean McCulloch, Potato Soup from Pete Henderson, Party Squash from Meg Pettey, Cheese Ball from Susan Horton, Shrimp Jambalaya from Betty Sims, Grape Salad from June Odom, and Super Duper Potatoes, Green Bean Bundles and Clear the Cupboard Cookies from Katherine Wilks.

 Many child-friendly mixtures are included from preschool director Kathy Wilks Littrell, such as Sidewalk Chalk and Face Paint.

 When Thompson was 3, while her dad, the late Jim Thompson, was with NASA, her parents opened Martha Washington's Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe in Decatur. That's where her mom served lots of goodies, including the tasty hot dog slaw recipe given to her by L.M. Huff, who was with Caddell's Drug Store until it closed in 1967. That slaw recipe is among those in this cookbook.

 Plenty of family recipes are passed on in "Recipes from the Heart," too: Nannie's Cornbread Dressing in memory of grandmother and caterer Rachel Thompson; Mema's Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Mema's Toffee Cookies in memory of grandmother Virginia Gidcomb; Uncle Zack's Jam Cake from Kathy Thompson Farmer in memory of Zack Dismukes and Mamie Maddux; Aunt Betty's Cranberry Salad, in memory of Elizabeth Aiken; and godmother Laurie Loyd's Monkey Bread.

And in case Maggie ever needs a bit of help with names, a family tree is included, too. She will be named Margaret Ann for her grandmother, Margaret Ann Gidcomb Thompson; that honor will come with baby-sitting duties for "Maggie" attached.

 Typing in recipes for a cookbook was a natural for Thompson, 42, a graduate of Decatur High and Auburn University who lives in Pelham and works in Birmingham as computer software training coordinator for the Burr & Forman law firm. She recalled being part of a family tasting team for "Cotton Country Cooking" when her mom helped with the original edition.

"Tricia's not much of a cook. but I told her she will have to change her lifestyle now," her mother said.

 For the many people who like to read cookbooks but don't actually cook much, this one is a treasure because of the "Letter to Maggie" at the beginning, which talks about Thompson's journey through the paperwork. fees, social worker visits and the waiting.  "I have prayed and longed for you since I was a little girl," she writes. "There is an emptiness in my heart for a child to love. I will not be complete until you are my daughter." She also mentions how difficult the decision must be for the birth mother.

"I hear that the letter from my heart to Maggie is what sells the cookbook," said Thompson. "I always wanted to be a mom."

Several years ago she adopted Izzy, a white furball of a pup. While the 3-year-old Bichon Frise hasn't filled all the emptiness, she's helping prepare Thompson for motherhood. "She's like a toddler, and she gets me up at 5 a.m. to play."

Thompson, who is using Lifeline Children's Services, sent her dossier of adoption information to China in July and said it should take about a year to receive a match and a referral picture of Maggie. About 95 percent of children available are girls, and she requested a healthy female under 12 months, "but you never know, because China considers those up to 24 months an infant." When she accepts the child offered, she will be given a travel date to spend two weeks in the child's province in China, along with a consul appointment in China toward the end of that time.

The planning and waiting is easier because of the Internet and Yahoo user groups. She is able to share with others at her stage in the adoption process, including some who will make the trip to adopt at the same time; they probably will all stay in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou together with their children.

Thompson is already looking at daycare centers and is on several waiting lists, and she is planning a later trip to China to show Maggie her home country. Meanwhile, Thompson and others in her group throw "cyber showers," and she already has received two sleepers from her secret pal.

"The main question people ask me is whether she's been born yet," said Thompson, who thinks her child probably will be born about December or January and she will meet her in July or August.

Her cousin, Laurie Loyd of Decatur, who gave her the idea for the cookbook, plans to accompany Thompson to China. She has agreed to be Maggie's godmother, making sure she is safe and loved if anything should happen to Thompson.

Loyd's advice to the mom-to-be? "Just have fun with it and don't get stressed out."

Loyd and her husband, Tommy, have three sons, and she teaches kindergarten at Walter Jackson Elementary School. The Loyd clan, as well as Grandmother Thompson, Uncle Art Thompson and his family from Chattanooga., and a host of others, are expected to throw an arrival party at the Birmingham airport.

Copies of the cookbook are available at in Decatur at Waldo's Beauty Center, Frankie's, J. Hugh Looney and Associates, Dr. J.F Davenport's office, Jimmy Smith Jewelers and Sam Frank and Moore. For a copy of the $10 cookbook, you also may email triciaandmaggie@charter.net (copies can be mailed for $12).