Kate's Adoption Story

So since this is our adoption blog I though I'd share a little bit about each of our kid's stories.  Starting with Kate...  When Michael was a 18 months old we submitted our papers to adopt again.  We were completely suprised when three weeks later we got a call saying we were chosen by a birthmother in California who was due with a little boy in another three weeks.  We were so excited! Two little boys barely less than two years apart.  We got all our baby boy clothes out of storage, washed and ready to go. (Plus a lot of new things from several shopping trips!)  While in California waiting to bring baby Caleb home we got a call that his birthmother had changed her mind and was keeping him.  Of course we were devastated and ached for what could have been- we truly felt like we'd lost our little boy.  I have to explain that if the birthparents had been in a better position to parent I honestly don't think it wouldn't have been quite as hard but because of choices involving drugs neither parent was stable enough to parent and the state was beginning the process of putting him in foster care if they didn't place him.  At the last minute a birth grandmother stepped up to help until the biological parents could parent.  We still pray for baby Caleb and pray he and his birthparents are good and happy.  Some of you may wonder why I tell this story when I say that this post is about Kate's adoption and I'm getting to that but I just wanted to give a little preface as to what had been going on prior to getting the call about our sweet baby girl! 
We got the call about Kate about 9 months later.  We got the chance to meet with Kate's birthmother, birthgrandma and aunts all before Kate made her grand entrance.  How blessed we felt for this opportunity!  With Michael we never did get this chance (but I'll save that for his story!)  They had spotted a lung-sequestration on Kate so she had to have lots of extra ultra sounds.  I was lucky enough to be able to go with her birhmom to one of these appointments.  How lucky to experience this with one of my own kids- how thankful we were to be included in this!  Kate's birthmom had a planned induction to be sure her family could get here from out of state.  We also were invited to be there in the waiting process.  Jeremy and I will forever be grateful for that extra time we were able to be with and get to know Kate's birthfamily.  They are incredible people!  Kate decided to be stubborn and not come out so after a full day in active labor she was finally born by c-section around 8:00 p.m.   Here we are meeting our little princess...

What an incredible experience to be there in the hospital and spend so much time with her and some of her birthfamily.  Because of the c-section we were able to spend four days visiting them in the hospital before it was time for her to come home.  Here is Michael visiting her for the 1st time at the hospital...

I haven't included any pictures of Kate with her birthfamily since I haven't asked their permission but I'm so grateful that Kate has these pictures and a letter from her birthmother explaining how much she has been and always will be loved.  Adoption is an amazing experience and we're so glad to be part of it!

Some of what we've been up to this summer!

We LOVE summer!  We've always loved it but it's especially good now that we get Michael home from school!  We just wish it would last longer- they are already getting back to school clothes in the stores and as much as I love buying my kids clothes I'm not ready for the reminder that we'll have a 1st grader in a couple of months!  So... here's a little of what we've been up to  so far!

 We've been painting our hair green.

 Going to lots of parks and splash parks for picnics!

 Eating lots and lots of treats...

 Played some fun games of checkers- and the coolest game of chess anyone has every watched (all rules were made up by Kate and Michael.)

 Ate more treats...

 Played at Daddy's work party at a local amusement park.

Michael and Kate have also been busy doing "jobs" to earn money for the ice-cream man and to save up for wanted toys.  I love that they come ask me what job they can do instead of just asking for things.  They are the sweetest kids and so much fun!  I have to laugh though because Kate is currently saving up for a "Life Saver"- (Light Saber) so she can play star wars with all the boys!  Jeremy and I are loving the slower pace of summer and enjoying extra time to just relax outside and reconnect when the kiddos go to bed.  Life is good!

Michael and Kate

Kate is 3 years old (four in August.) She is such a fun, busy little girl. This last week she mastered riding her two wheeler with no training wheels and is super excited to be signed up for dance classes this fall. She is also anxiously waiting turnig 4 so she'll FINALLY be old enough to play soccer like Michael! Her favorite things to play lately are - Star Wars (have I mentioned most her neighborhood friends are little boys?), riding her bike, and house. She's so full of energy and such a fun girl to be around. She's starting to sound out words and loves to try and "read" all the books Michael would bring home from school.

Michael is our big 6 year old Kindergarten Graduate! I can't believe how fast these last six years have gone. He is such a smart, caring little boy. He makes friends so easily and wants to make sure everyone around him is happy and taken care of. His smile as he ran to the car every day after Kindergarten brightened every day for me this year! As much as I hated having him gone it was so fun to watch him grow and mature so much. He loves playing video games, riding bikes, and playing soccer. He's an incredible little boy and we're so lucky he's in our family!