Miracle of Adoption

Becoming parents a second time is miraculous for us. Adoption is as much of a miracle as conceiving naturally. When Adam and I decided to have a family we knew we wanted more than one child. We believe that there is no other relationship in this world like that with your sibling and we wanted that for our child(ren). When we decided to "just adopt" our plan was to go through the process twice.
If you know us and speak to us regularly then you have some idea of the struggles we have faced along our journey. This has been one of the most difficult things we have ever been through in our lives. It is really hard to put it into words, so I'm not going to try.
We matched with our first son's birth mother in February of 2014. He was due in August, so it was a very long match/ wait. Around May or June of 2014 we decided that we were not going to adopt again, and we shared this news with friends and close family. We already decided we wouldn't use our adoption facilitator again, and we just couldn't see going through the whole process of home studies, background checks, selecting an agency or attorney to work with, creating another profile, and then waiting and then the match...
So, how is it that I am sitting here with our second son? It is without a doubt a miracle. God had a plan all along. I have made several "adoption" friends that I met through this blog and in adoption groups on Facebook. One of those friends lives in Houston, TX and adopted twins last March. Last July (one month before our first son was born) she mentioned to our adoption group that the attorney she worked with was looking for adoptive parents to match with some expectant mothers (EM) she was working with. I normally didn't read these posts because we were matched and not going to adopt again. For some unknown reason I read her post, not only did I read it, but I talked to Adam about an EM that was due in March. We reached out to my friend for more information and found out that the EM was the birth mother to her adopted twins and she was helping her find adoptive parents for her next child. They wanted a couple close enough so that the twins and the new baby could have a relationship since they are 100% full biological siblings. My friend was excited that we were interested, she shared our profile with her, and the EM thought we were a great fit! So, here we are in Florida just off of I95 again (our first son was born near I95 in Rhode Island) for our second son! God is good!

Ultrasound Painting

Ultrasound painting:

Before our son's due date I asked friends, family, and strangers on Facebook for tips on how to save money on a hotel and rental car for our stay in Rhode Island. The response was overwhelming, and extremely helpful. 

The most surprising response was when Jim, a former co-worker, messaged me on Facebook to say that he reached out to his daughter who lived in RI, and she said we were more than welcome to stay with her. She and her husband had a finished basement at our disposal, and had hosted several people before. If they were crazy enough to make the offer, we were crazy enough to take them up on it! We showed up on Monday afternoon and quickly settled in. Chris and Jessalyn were amazing hosts. It was more like staying with old friends than people we had never met before. We still keep in touch, and hope to see them again someday. 

Chris and Jessalyn are both pretty amazing people. Chris works in collegiate ministry, and has a very dynamic personality that makes you feel immediately at ease with him. Like an old friend... Jessalyn is an extremely talented artist. We saw a commissioned drawing of a young couple while we were there, and it was absolutely incredible! She is also an extremely talented painter. She had the idea to paint her daughter's ultrasound as a way to preserve it. That is not something I would've ever thought of, and I'm thankful she did. She painted our son's ultrasound, and it looks amazing!  

The ultrasound pic she used

Check out her website RubySue Portraits. She is also on Facebook and Instagram

Order yours today in time for Christmas. They make great gifts for so many people on your list! 

Jessalyn says "For some, this is the very first portrait, and for others this is the only portrait." She also says that she loves being a part of something as miraculous as life in the womb. 

I may not have carried our son in my womb, but I have loved him since then! I will always cherish this painting and as an adoptive momma, I feel especially blessed to have it! Thanks Jessalyn!

update: She actually painted both ultrasounds! I just couldn't show both at the time I wrote this blog because we hadn't announced our second match yet. I love our paintings!

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