Our Announcement: A Thank You

I am sitting here completely humbled and amazed by your incredible support.  Really, I can't think about it too much or I'll start crying!

On the evening of September 15th (just 6 days ago!!) I posted our announcement on Facebook, and this blog went live.  I NEVER would have guessed that I'd be sitting here looking at over

1,130 PAGE VIEWS

 in just 6 days!  From the US, Mexico, Germany, Poland, France, Bermuda and the Dominican Republic...Blogger told me so!

You people in Bermuda 

I love you 

even while you read this from your iphone on the beach.

The thing is, when we first started this process, we made the tough decision to make it public.  I knew it would be hard, because let's face it, adoptions fail sometimes.  It's hard to be vulnerable about your personal life, and then get disappointed and have EVERYONE feel sorry for you and offer condolences.  

I've been there. 

When we got pregnant, we decided to announce our pregnancies once we were in the second trimester, knowing full well that we could lose the baby any day.  We did this intentionally, because we knew that if something happened, we would need the support of our family and friends.  And I never regretted that because when we lost them, you all showed up and poured your love onto us.

It's love that is welcomed, but still, sometimes, not easy to receive.

Making the decision to go public was also one that was made strategically.  Because we have kids, and they've been disappointed by our losses, we knew we needed to keep it a secret until they had to find out. Part of the home study process includes an interview with them.  (Which should be hilarious.)  

So a couple weeks ago, before we announced to the world that we were adopting, we sat down with the boys separately to gauge what they knew about adoption and how they felt about it.  Here are the highlights:

From Noah (9):

(This is what happens when Dad
takes the kids grocery shopping.)

Us: What is adoption, do you know?

Noah: Well, it's when you go into this like barn-like place where there's a whole bunch of cribs and stuff and lots of babies without parents and you just pick one.

Us: How would you feel if our new baby looked different than you and Sam?

Noah: It might make me feel weird, but then again Sam doesn't look like me either!

Us: We may not have any control over this, but would you want a brother or a sister?

Noah:  A sister.  Because girls sit and color and stuff and boys are annoying.  Is this baby going to grow up to be annoying like Sam?

Mike: Probably.

Me: Definitely.

From Sam (4):

Sam, the donut man.

(We found some great children's books on adoption at our library, and used them to broach the subject with Sam.)

Sam: What's adopted?

Me: Adoption is when a baby's mommy grows the baby in her tummy, but even though she wants to, she can't raise that baby.  (Trying to make this simple.)

Sam: Oh.

Me: And so we let that baby live with us and we get to love them and take care of them.

Sam: Forever?

Me: Yup.  And they'll be part of our family just like when you were born.  You know what that means?

Sam: What.

Me: It means you're going to be a big brother!

(Pause)

Sam: So I don't have to use a booster seat anymore?!

Clearly, we have some work to do with both of them!

Adoption is such a learning process, for all of us.  When I say I am completely humbled, I mean it.  I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined the sheer numbers of readers that would be interested in our journey.  And the number of people that have reached out to us in the past week to offer support (either verbal, emotional, instructional, financial or otherwise) I can't even count.  

I believe when we are open to new experiences, even to the point of being vulnerable, God shows up in amazingly powerful ways.  You all are a testament to that.

With humble gratitude,

Davina