A is for {Allllllll the Questions}

Today, for #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth, A is for {Allllllll the Questions}. Because even though we knew we wanted to adopt for years, AND had dreams about our daughter, AND had the name Hannah picked out, AND owned the hot pink tutu for years (keep reading the rest of the ABCs for those stories), we still had alllllllll the questions in our minds before we decided to take the first steps to adopt. “Would we be able to truly love a child even if I didn’t give birth to her?” “Would our boys see her as their real sister?” “How do we navigate a relationship with her birth parents?” “How will we pay for this?” “What if all those scary birth mom stories are true?” And one of my biggest questions was, “Did God only give me boys because I’m not equipped to raise a daughter?” (Some days I still wonder this!) 🤣
But here’s the truth we stood on then (and still stand on today)… God is bigger than all of it. He’s greater than our inadequacies, our failures, and our unanswered questions. He only requires that we take one step, and then another. We knew we had peace (& tons of excitement!) about adopting our daughter. So despite all of our overwhelming questions, we simply trusted. And as you have seen, He has proven himself trustworthy once again. We still don’t have all the answers but we are okay with that. We’ve actually learned to like it better that way! Because we know the One who loves our #HannahFrances even more than we ever can. And He’s a good, good Father. #adoptionislove #Godmakesthebestfamilies #ilgfamilyadoption #ouradoptionstory #ourpinktutu

B is for {Beautiful Mess}

B is for {Beautiful Mess} … because well, life is messy and adoption can be too. Just when you think you have a situation figured out, you are humbled and thrown back into the learning phase again. And we haven’t even entered into the phase of explaining to Hannah her story yet (or having her ask us hard questions), so I know we will have more messy, but beautiful, moments further down our journey. But as messy as it may get, it’s so so beautiful. #adoptionislove #Godmakesthebestfamilies #ilgfamilyadoption #ouradoptionstory #ourpinktutu

C is for {Chosen}

November is #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth and today’s letter is C and my word is CHOSEN.
I pray that #HannahFrances always knows she was {Chosen} and I promise to remind her as often as she needs to hear it… She will know that her brave and selfless birth parents chose to give her life – even in a world that tries to make it easier to make the alternative choice. That we chose her to be our daughter long before we knew her. And most importantly, that God chose her and planned her life since well, forever. #adoptionislove #domesticadoption #ourpinktutu #godplansthebestfamilies 💗🎀

D is for {Daughter in our Dreams}

In honor of #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth today’s letter is D and I pick {Daughter in our Dreams}… Have you ever dreamed about something so powerful that you never forgot it, or how it made you feel? Well for many years Andy and I BOTH dreamed about a little girl named Hannah. She was our daughter and – ready for this? – she looked the same in both of our dreams! So when the call to adopt was undeniable, we prayerfully decided to be gender specific and to go find our daughter whom we knew that God had showed us many years before. This picture was taken after the extremely emotional moment at the hospital when Hannah’s birth parents placed her in our arms. It was an intense and crazy moment full overwhelming joy and gratitude mixed up with immense heartache and grief. But in this moment, as we looked at her face and held her in our arms, we knew we had found the Daughter from our Dreams. #HannahFrances #domesticadoption #adoptionislove #adoptionstory #ilgfamilyadoption

E is for {Extended Family}

Because when you adopt a child, you don’t just add one new member to your family tree. In honor of #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth, I choose {Extended family} for letter E.
One of the most amazing thin threads woven together through our adoption journey was meeting this rock solid momma. We call each other sisters-from-another-mother because we have daughters from the same birth mother. She was right there when we needed her most and I’m forever grateful for this beautiful addition to our family. #Godplansthebestfamilies #adoptionislove #domesticadoption #ilgfamilyadoption #ouradoptionstory

F is for {Friends & Family}

#nationaladoptionawarenessmonth Letter F… I pick {Friends & Family} because we most definitely could not have endured (and enjoyed!) our adoption journey without SOOOOO many of you standing prayerfully and encouragingly by our sides every.step.of.the.way. There are too many of you to name here but you know who you are – and Hannah will always know each of your names too (trust me, I made a list for her baby book). 😊 We learned that adoption is about so much more than just the baby and the immediate families involved… God’s reach and His perspective is so much greater and the ripple effects of our story are just beginning. We stand humbly in awe and truly Thank You for helping us in #OperationBringHomeHannah. #domesticadoption #ouradoptionstory #ilgfamilyadoption #adoptionislove 💗🎀

G is for {Generous Gifts}

In honor of #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth today’s letter is G and I pick {Generous Gifts}… I’ve contemplated sharing this story from our journey because I really want to be sure that I don’t overshadow the deep gratitude we have for every single financial gift we received. Every dollar given was beyond appreciated and we cannot say Thank You enough.
But I really want to highlight two situations that forever changed our trust in God’s faithful provision. And I know many friends have said that the financial mountain of adopting is what keeps them from moving forward – like it did for us for a while. So I hope this can be encouraging. • • • • • • •
At their requests, I will keep their names anonymous. But picture this… We’ve just been matched with Hannah and 50% of our grand total is due in 72 hours to the agency. Now, I must back up and explain that while we had planned to become more than prepared financially before we began presenting our profile, Andy felt very strongly that it was time to apply to our agencies. So we did. And we got matched just a few weeks later. So we sat in our living room brainstorming all of the ways we could pull together what we needed. It was after 10pm and we got a call. The person on the other end simply said, “I have the money you need and I just want you to bring home Hannah.” And y’all, they had the exact amount we needed! We just stared at each other and then cried. It was an awesome, joyful, humbling moment that makes me cry just thinking about.
And then, fast forward a couple of months when our final bill was due. We had been fundraising and working hard in our businesses and paying all the monthly invoices along the way. But a month before her due date, we were still a good five figures away from our final amount. It was due on Friday and the day was Tuesday. Well, a friend casually asked how the process was going and specifically about our fundraising. Andy answered honestly and the friend wrote a check on the spot for exactly what we needed.
There are no words to explain what these gifts mean to us. We saw first-hand that what God originates, God will orchestrate. #domesticadoption #ilgfamilyadoption 💗

H is for {Hannah}

In honor of #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth, today’s Letter H is for {Hannah}… Because I had no idea how significant her name would be to my mama heart in those first hours and days of her life. We understood and respected that her birth parents would have their one on one time with her immediately after she was born. It was their time and we were completely at peace and in agreement with that. But after they signed the papers, there were many hours that followed that the nurses didn’t refer to her as Hannah nor did they refer to us as Mom and Dad. In fact, my hospital badge simply said Visitor. And while the hospital staff certainly didn’t mean to be hurtful or insensitive it did something to my very vulnerable heart that I never expected. So when the first nurse called her “Hannah” and agreed to make this name card for her bassinet (after another adoptive mom’s suggestion) I was beyond overjoyed. It probably seemed like an insignificant -and maybe even silly- gesture but to this mama bear it made all the difference. #domesticadoption #ilgfamilyadoption #ouradoptionstory #hannahfrances #ourpinktutu 💗🎀

I is for {Italian Food}

Today’s Letter in honor of #nationaladoptionawarenessmonth is I and I’m choosing {Italian Food}…
After we got matched and had agreed on an open adoption (more on that later), we planned a day to meet Hannah’s expectant parents. The four of us agreed on a date and they picked their favorite Italian restaurant for our inaugural get together. Andy and I drove to Florida, talked about what we wanted to talk about, and were extremely nervous. Turns out, they were too. We awkwardly hugged when they arrived, talked a bit and ate some mediocre calamari and pizza. I honestly don’t remember what the food tasted like, but I can promise you that I think of them every time we eat calamari (which is pretty often actually, since Italian is also our favorite.) And I will always remember our hug as we were leaving, as it was way less awkward. “A” made a reference to herself as “just the baby mama,” and I was able to look her in the eyes and tell her that she was so much more than that. I think she knew I meant it. One of our biggest prayers is that they would know that we love and respect them, and don’t just see them as a means to an end. #domesticadoption #openadoption #ilgfamilyadoption #ouradoptionstory #adoptionislove ❤️❤️🍝

J is for {Journey}

#nationaladoptionawarenessmonth Letter J for {Journey}…
I think it goes without saying that every adoption journey is different. The good and the hard, the joy and the sorrow, the pretty and the raw. It’s all unique to each family and child. I absolutely LOVE hearing about other families’ experiences and I (obviously) love and am humbled to share some of ours with many of you as well. Like all great journeys, you are never the same person at the end of it as you were at the beginning. That is most definitely true for us. All of our expectations and stereotypes have been thrown out the window. We have been stretched in every way possible and forced to question everything we believe in. And yet, our journey has been – sometimes in hindsight – everything we hoped and prayed for. I believe God doesn’t give you what you want, but what you need. And we apparently needed to learn a few things… And still are today. Not a day goes by that we don’t pause and thank our Lord that He trusted us with this precious baby girl’s life. And also like all great journeys, they never really end. We know that bringing Hannah home wasn’t the end and in fact, was truly just the start. (Pictured: leaving the hospital with our pink tutu-wearing princess) #domesticadoption #ilgfamilyadoption #ouradoptionstory #openadoption #hannahfrances