Happy New Year! 2021 is off to a great start in our household. I can now officially say that we are full-time parents! If you know us well or have been following our journey at all, you know that we have struggled with infertility and after a rough go with IVF, we decided to pursue adoption from foster care. We got our foster license at the end of 2019 and had 11 kids through our home in 2020 for short term respite or emergency care. It was such a great way to get experience with all ages of kids before becoming parents ourselves.

Two of those kids were boy/girl twins who are now two years old. We knew when we met them that their case was headed toward adoption and our agency approached us about potentially being an adoptive home for them. We met them in September when we did respite care for a weekend and they are just the most amazing and adorable kids. It seemed like a dream come true. We had already had a few potential adoption scenarios not pan out, so I tried not to get too excited, but my heart just leapt at the idea of becoming the mama of these two darlings. We did a few visits with them before we were asked to become their formally identified pre-adoptive family in November. November and December were spent as half-time parents as we began to transition the twins into our care. Then on January 4, 2021 they officially entered our care full-time.

They will be with us  on a foster care basis until the adoption paperwork is complete. We are told that can take around 5 months, though we have completed most of our portion of it already. The kids have to be in our home for at least 6 months before adoption can be finalized. In the meantime, we are not able to share many details, including photos, due to privacy reasons and foster care rules. But, I assure you that that they are adorable! Everyone who sees us says that if you didn’t know it, you’d think they were our biological kids, and it’s such a natural fit that we feel like they could have been. I have always wanted twins and I would never have imagined that God would have orchestrated something like this. It all feels so right and as soon as we met them we fell in love and felt like they belonged with us. We have been able to connect and bond quickly and easily. They are such fun and happy kids. Before we met them I was told by their caregiver and their social worker that when you think about the twins you can’t help but smile! They can truly make any bad day better just by being themselves.

Life is busy, and it will be very busy for a while with two toddlers! But, I couldn’t feel more blessed than to have the chance to become the mama of these two sweethearts. Lord willing, we will be able to finalize adoption this summer and they will officially be our kids and we will officially be their parents. We are so excited for what 2021 has in store. Tom is the most amazing Dad, and I love to see him love on our kids. I am growing and learning as a mom and appreciate every day. I will be going part time at work, which will be another big change, and we are blessed to be able to have our niece nanny for us while we both work from home.

I write this at a time when our nation is in turmoil. There is so much evil and chaos in this world and I pray that I can raise my kids to be lovers of all people and pursuers or peace, that they will be strong and courageous and seekers of truth all their days, that no matter what the world looks like as they grow up, they would be confident and grow to become the best versions of themselves — a blessing to the world as they already are to all who know them. We are so grateful for the chance to become parents and for the privilege and honor of raising these sweetlings up into adulthood. We are doubly blessed with two amazing kiddos. We know that the challenges will be many, but we also know that we will grow and learn and overcome any obstacles that come our way. Check in with us if you want to know more about our journey into parenthood, and we will share more as we are able. May your new year be as blessed and full of hope and life as ours!