Kenzie 8 Months and Leah 4 Years Old

Kenzie is eight months old now and is still growing fast.  She now Army crawls everywhere and loves to follow her sister around.  She still has only 2 teeth, but I swear more are going to come in any day now.  She is such a chill kid, she loves playing with her toys and is always smiling.  We are so blessed to have her as part of our family!

Leah is growing up too fast!  She is such a fun, intelligent, caring and sometimes sassy princess.  She has such a creative imagination, always playing with her imaginary friends (usually boys from church) and creating wonderful stories.  I love her more and more every day and we are so thankful the Lord brought her into our family!

The two girls together make up the perfect duo.  They play so well together and are always super excited to see each other.  They were definitely meant to be sisters!

Birth Mother's Day

Although not well known, the day before Mother's Day is Birth Mother's Day.  We have a tradition in our home that we started because we do not know Leah's birth mother and we wanted to be able to still honor her.  We take the girl's shopping and they pick out flowers that they get to bring home and plant in honor of their birth mothers.  We always want to make sure our girls understand just how important their birth mothers are to us and to them.  We pray that they will have great relationships with them and be just as grateful to them as Travis and I are. To their birth mothers...we love you and pray for you daily!  We are eternally grateful for the love you have for these girls and for giving us the opportunity to be parents. 

Birthmother's Day

Many people do not know that the day before Mother's Day is Birthmother's Day.  In fact, this is the first year that I knew this and knowing this just made Mother's Day a little sweeter for me.  As it was approaching many of my adoption friends were sharing their plans for their birthmoms.  While they were all sharing their ideas I was feeling a little jealous that I did not get to do something special for Leah's birthmom.  Then my friend Elise gave me the great idea of starting a tradition of having Leah pick out some flowers and plant them in honor of her birthmom on this day.  So Travis and I took Leah to the store to pick out flowers, a pot, and even the potting soil.  She was so excited to plant it and even more excited to water it.

 

To Leah's birthmom...thank you for the most amazing gift.  I wish I knew you and could throw my arms around you.  Every day that I walk out my front door and see these flowers I think of you and say a small prayer for you.  You are the reason that I get to celebrate Mother's Day as a Mother!  We Love You!!

Random Thoughts About Adoption

The other day I was talking to a friend about how things are going with our current journey of trying to grow our family through adoption.  I was asked "Is there anything about Leah's adoption that you wish would have been different?"  Without hesitation I answered, "Yes, I really wish I could meet her birth parents."

Leah's adoption is considered a closed adoption, this was the birth parents' decision.  We never met the birth parents, we don't know their names, we only know what little medical history they provided for us on a form they filled out.  In fact, they really didn't even choose us to be the parents, the agency we went through did.  At first we thought that this would be easier and that it was the perfect set up for our family.  We even had friends and family say "isn't it better that way?"  Three years ago when we brought Leah home I wasn't sure about the answer to that question.  Now I am!!

Everyday when I look at Leah I know that she is meant to be in our family and that the Lord had his hand in bringing her to us.  I also look at her and wonder how her birthparents are doing?  What do they look like (especially since she looks just like us)?  Do they worry about whether or not Leah is having the life that they hoped for?  From there the list goes on and on.  I have never met them, but I have a deep love for them.  There is a part of my heart that is reserved for when I can throw my arms around them and tell them thank you for answering our prayers and bringing this miracle into our lives.  I want to reassure them that Leah is strong and healthy, and that she has a good life in a loving home.  When the day comes that Leah decides she wants to seek them out and meet them we will be right by her side helping her with just as much nervousness, excitement, and probably even a little fear of the unknown.  I can't wait until that day comes!

So to answer the question is it better that way...for the birth parents...maybe (I can't really answer for them)...for me...no, but that is where I have to put my selfish desires aside to respect their wishes.  So for now until we meet Leah's birth parents, I will continue to hug every birth parent I meet and tell them thank you.