Forever home for Baby Connor

Have you ever woken up one morning to what seemed like a normal day, and then something unexpected happened and changed everything?

Many of you know that we struggled with infertility for the first 7 years of our marriage. We moved forward in faith and took on huge challenges. We were foster parents for 3 years and experienced a lifetime worth of joy, heartache, and drama in 3 years as we welcomed 28 children into our home.

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to each of them as they were reunified with family members or moved to different placements.

The pinnacle of our heartbreak was when we were contacted by a new mom, who asked us to adopt her newborn baby. We were overjoyed, rushed to care for him in the NICU, and brought him home from the hospital just before Christmas 2014.

We felt our prayers had finally been answered and we loved that baby with everything we had. We were completely devastated when he was taken from us and reunified with family after a few short months. That was the final straw for us. Shortly afterwards, we decided to close the chapter on fostering and adoption. The hardest part was letting go of all the kids we had loved and lost, accepting we would likely never see them again or know if they were ok. As I cried bitter tears over our losses, Matt reminded me of my testimony and expressed his conviction that if God ever intended for us to adopt in the future, He would place the child in our path and we would know it was meant to be. But in the mean time, we had to let go.

A few short months later, we were pregnant!! After years of trying, we were finally blessed with our first biological child, Adeline Rose. Hazel Ann came 20 months later and we have been incredibly blessed to finally have a forever family of our own. Our hearts are full. I’m now a stay-at-home mom with a 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, living my dream one day at a time.

Yesterday started out as a normal day. Diapers, spilled Cheerios, potty training, and sleepy snuggles. Then, completely out of the blue, I received a message that changed everything.

My friend is pregnant and expecting a baby boy December 20th. She has made the courageous decision to place the baby for adoption, and after pondering and prayer, feels convinced that baby Connor is meant to join OUR family! First came shock, then skepticism, followed by hope and excitement.
Though completely unexpected, Matt and I have decided to once again open our hearts and our home to another child. Except this time, he will be joining our forever family right from the beginning and it feels so right. Now we need to move mountains and bring this miracle baby home!

Legal fees to adopt a baby in the state of Florida usually range from ten to fifteen thousand dollars, which we must pay out of pocket as adoptive parents! LDS Family Services no longer facilitates adoption, so we have been referred to local family lawyers to begin the legal process of adopting Baby Connor. Next week, will need to pay five thousand up front just to get the ball rolling. That is a challenge for us, since we are a young family on one income, and just went through Hurricane Irma. Yet time is of the essence since baby Connor is due December 20th. All of the pieces seem to be falling into place and it feels meant to be, so we decided to share our journey with all of you. It takes a village, after all.

Financial contributions, words of encouragement, and prayers are SO appreciated. Tonight, we are praying for the courageous birth mother who has chosen to bless our family with the greatest gift imaginable—a gift that is almost 10 years in the making. I truly believe that if it’s meant to be, it will all work out. From the bottom of our hearts, Matt and I thank you for your help and support.

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