Adoption {love}

Many of you already know we are going to adopt a baby girl very soon.  I can’t express the emotions we have gone through the last year.  It has been a roller coaster for sure.  I thought at the start of the process that it wouldn’t be like others had described with the crazy ups and downs.   Well I was very wrong.  Not that it is a bad thing.  I have learned so much and have grown so much this last year.  I have met some amazing new friends in the adoption world and have got great support from them.  I have also met one of my best friends, our birthmom, Lauren.

I felt very strongly during our classes we took over a year ago that our birthmom and I would become very close friends.  I am so glad that has come true.  I can’t imagine my life without this girl in it now!  She found our family profile on LDS Family Services, It’s About Love.   We found out soon after that we were actually related!  We share the same 4th great grandfather back in Scotland.  I always joke with her that she looks more like my husband’s sister than my cousin (because they really do look a lot alike!) and that it isn’t fair because we should look more alike!  We do have the pale, freckled skin {thanks to our Scottish genes}, so I guess that is something!  This situation has always felt good.  It was so nice to have that feeling, even though the first time we met them I didn’t sleep very much the night before and literally almost threw up on the way to meet Matt and Lauren-I was so nervous!  These pictures are from the first day we met them.  After meeting at the agency we went to Cafe Rio.  Maybe this is where Lauren’s love of Mexican started!  She has craved it so much this pregnancy!!!

Just last week we met again at the agency and then went to Cafe Rio again after!  It was a totally different feeling this time.   We weren’t nervous and Lauren and I just ate our food (we were so hungry!) while the boys talked about football (I mean about “their” team, the Eagles) and we didn’t even care.  These two are just amazing.  I am so grateful for them every single day.

After we ate I took a few shots of them in the parking lot.  They needed to get to work and so I found a patch of tall wheat looking grasses and we just shot right there!

I can’t believe we are all going to meet this baby girl so soon.  She is very much wanted and loved already by all of us!  I am so grateful we get to do an open adoption.  For our situation it will be really good for all of us.  I love this quote from a birthmother that was quoted on therhouse.com 

“I think open adoption is special because it really is about the combined love of everyone involved coming together for one child. You have different people, coming together who often are different ages, maybe from different areas, and different walks of life, who try to put those thoughts aside and focus on what has brought them together; the shared love of one child.”

I love that because that is how I really feel.  I love that we are such good friends.  I love that we can be open with each other about how we feel.  I love that we all love this baby and want the best for her.  I love open adoption 😀

 Meet some of my other friends who are hoping to adopt below:

Tara and Sam

Katie and Eric

I can’t wait to find out the story behind these two families upcoming adoptions!  They are both such amazing families and whoever gets to be a part of them is very lucky!!

 

Now go and check out some more pictures from my trip to Vegas for WPPI with my friend Erin at Erin Summerill Photography!