A long time coming...

***I started this post a long time ago. Liam is now 14 months old and I am now 8 months pregnant. WHAT?! But the sentiments are still the same. So I thought I would share it. We are now nearing the one year anniversary of Liam's adoption and my Facebook memories have been filled with pictures of Liam. It was also three years ago (yesterday) that we shared the journey that God called us to. November is National Adoption Month. Many people told me through our journey that they thought God could be calling them to adopt, DO IT!! Our lives are deeper and richer and just more because of the experiences and people that we met through it.***


So it has been about a year since I last blogged. A YEAR! After meeting our birth mom and accepting the match, things just got so... much... I don't know how to put it. Looking back on that time it was a time of deep faith. I didn't necessarily "feel" God's presence during that time, in fact it seemed like I didn't feel Him at all at times. Now that I have gained some distance from it, I can see His hands all over it.

We made the decision to be less verbal on the internet about what was going on because there are just so many people involved in a situation like this. Add that to the smallness of our community, and it felt like everyone was involved in some way or another. Our goal has always been to be respectful and loving towards Liam's birth family. Not only because we are aware that they are hurting each in their own way, but because we love Liam and they are forever a part of him. How could we be anything less that loving and grateful?

I decided to "break the silence" because of my original purpose in starting this blog. I wanted to share our experience with others who are traveling this journey. Each journey is different and unique to it's own situation, but it is helpful to know what others experienced. Adoption is the most ugly-beautiful thing I have ever experienced in my life. I read an adoption blog (actually I scoured the internet for them and devoured them as soon as I found them) that was written by a birth mother. The blog is called The Happiest Sad. She is a birth mother and shed so much insight into adoption from a point of view that I have no reference on. It was so helpful to me.

The adoption itself was really very smooth. With the exception of waiting on court dates, which is unavoidable, it went pretty quickly too all things considered. Liam's birth parents both relinquished rights on October 1st, Liam's one month birthday. It was a bittersweet moment. We finalized his adoption on November 20th, which also happens to be National Adoption Day. It was such an amazing experience. The DHW put on an even at the courthouse to celebrate all of the adoptions taking place that day. It was an amazing thing to sit in a room with other adoptive families and just marvel at the relationships that were being legally recognized that day. That evening we had a drop in celebration at our house to celebrate the day and even Liam's birth mom came! It really wouldn't have been the same without her!

So where are we now? Now, we are in a new home (a whole other blog post... or seven), settling into our family of 5. AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT! Even the parts that aren't so glamorous. Liam is such a precious addition to our family, it is like he has always been here. Ava and Ryan are completely smitten with him, as are his many cousins! He doesn't go a day without kisses from everyone, it's no wonder he started giving them so early. He is seven months old now (WHAT?!) and such a happy baby! He is such a good baby that I tell Jayson that he makes me want to have a couple more :). Jayson doesn't find me very funny!

It is always amusing how when we are out with the kids people will comment about how much Liam looks like me and how nice it must be to finally have a kid who looks like me since the older two take after their dad. We just smile and agree! People have said that his birth momma and I look alike, apparently that came in handy! I think the truly shocking thing is that Liam has blue eyes like me and his brother and sister. His birth parents have green and brown eyes. It's funny how things work out.