As I carried Addey into the storytime room at the library, she clung to me. “Do you want to play with the other kids?” I asked. “No no” her little toddler voice said in a matter of fact tone with a shake of her head. It was clearly not up for discussion. She clutched her woof woof (an Oliver lookalike beanie baby) in one hand while clinging onto me for dear life with the other. I stood and swayed with her in my arms while the librarian and other kids stood in a circle, singing a song about bumble bees. As I looked around the room singing the silly song in Adeline’s ear, I was taken back to our wait for her. The yearning desire to be a mom, to be able to hold my baby, to be able to do fun things together like to go story time. How incredible is it that I get to go to the library with our girl on a Friday morning, to be able to hold my toddler in my arms and that I am able to comfort her?! Sometimes the simplest of things bring the greatest feelings of gratitude for her, for her birth mom, for how each one of you helped to support us financially, through prayer and through friendship all the way through.

It still doesn’t feel real that we have the opportunity to go grow our family again, or that it’s been two months since we first announced our second adoption journey. Time has flown by, especially with a sweet little toddler to keep me busy. Although I haven’t posted updates as much as I’ve wanted, know that each day we are grateful for the love and support this community brings to us and we truly couldn’t do this rollercoaster of a process without each one of you.

So, here’s a quick update: We are still WAITING and in the beginning stages of FUNDRAISING.

(If you would like to partner with us financially, we would be forever grateful! You can do that here: https://adopttogether.org/families/?fundraiser=jsadoptsbaby2 )

We are so incredibly excited to bring baby number 2 home. Somedays I feel the longing for another tiny baby in my arms while other days I wonder how in the world I’m going to be able to survive TWO little loves.Yesterday I was telling Jon that Adeline will be a great big sister, has been such a breeze to take care of and how easy parenting her is. Today right after we got home from the library while I was making lunch, she stuck her hands in the toilet and poured the essential oil diffuser on the floor, all within a span of 10 minutes. So who knows how this 2 kid parenting gig will go?! All I do know is, we cannot wait for our family to grow, to see how God works in bringing our baby home and providing for our needs, and for adoption to forever change our lives once again.

This second waiting process has been completely different in some ways and completely the same in others. When an unknown number pops up on my phone I have a mini heart attack, put all things on hold, only to answer and realize it’s just a wrong number and not in fact our agency telling us about a baby, just like our first journey. There are a few things that are different though. This time my brain is all over the place, with all things Adeline on top of managing my health and our family, it’s easy to stay busy. I am really trying to focus on enjoying this wait, soaking up all the time with Adeline as I can, just her and I before bringing another baby home. This is the only time she will be our one and only and I want to remember and enjoy it all.

As we wait, we have absolutely loved hearing your kind words, your questions about our process and adoption, and knowing that you are praying for our family! Thank you for following along and being a part of this incredible community, and thank you thank you THANK YOU all for the amazing support in November with our fundraising campaign, and for keeping us in your prayers these past few months. We are so thankful to be able to add to our family through adoption again and can’t even fully express how we feel! We love each and every one of you and cannot wait to bring another little one home to be a part of each of your lives, whether that be near or far.