Family Update

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I thought I should give an update on parenthood - we absolutely love it! Elin is such a fun, happy baby. We never could have imagined the amount of love that we would have for our child. We waited a long time for her and we still find ourselves in shock that she is ours. There are times I will simply be walking through the store, pushing her in her stroller, and tears of joy will surface as I am still in awe of all that God has given us. Elin is the child we prayed for and God gave us the desires of our hearts. We continually praise Him.

These past 9 months have flown by and have been so much fun. It seems like Elin does something new everyday and it is such a joy to watch her explore the world around her. We absolutely love being a family of 3. We went on our first big family vacation a couple weeks ago and it was such an amazing trip to California. It was wonderful to find out that Elin is a great traveler and that she adapts quickly to new surroundings. I’m pretty sure she is a better traveler than her mama - I don’t do well on long flights! ;) We are already starting to dream and plan the next vacation and can’t wait to take her on more adventures.

Speaking of more adventures, Kristofer and I have been talking and praying about our next child. As you may recall we had originally planned to do IVF before God called us to adopt. When we got the call to adopt I had it in the back of my mind that we would try IVF after our first child was adopted, however God has different plans.

I had always had such a strong desire to be a mother, to experience pregnancy and birth. That had been such a hard thing to let go of - the notion that carrying a child is a part of what really makes you a mother. Over the past year my desires and mindset have changed. I am now ok if I never become pregnant, if I never birth a child or even nurse my child. My heart, our hearts, desire to adopt. Now that is not to say that I will never have those desires again but at this point in my life, I am ok if that doesn’t happen.

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have a twinge here and there as I see a pregnant woman walk past but then it is quickly met with the reminder of the beauty of adoption and the beauty of our story.  I love my daughter more than words could ever fully express and I am so thankful that I had the honor and privilege of adopting her!

With that Kristofer and I are planning to adopt again! We are currently praying about which route to take for our next domestic adoption and we are so excited for the day we get to bring our second child home. We have been praying for our child and the expectant parents and we are so excited to see what God has planned. We are excited to make Elin a big sister and we pray that she will do well on the transition, as she is a bit spoiled from all of our family! ;)

As we continue to research and prepare for renewing our Home Study, we continue to dream of our child whom we have yet to meet. We look forward to the day that we are matched and the day that we bring our bundle of joy home. I will be sure to update as the journey to baby #2 moves forward. For the time being, we will continuing enjoying every moment with Elin while praying for our next child.

“For this child I have prayed and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart.” 

1 Samuel 1:27

Elin Sofie

Elin at 11 days old. (Photo credit: Jenny Towner)

It is with great joy that we announce that our adoption of Elin was finalized on January 19, 2016. We are so happy that this little girl is officially a part of our family. It has been a long road to get to this point but having her has made every moment of heartache, stress and sadness totally worth it. She has brought us so much joy and we truly could not imagine our life without her in it. Many of you have been waiting to find out details of our adoption story and now that the papers are finalized I thought that I would share our story.

As you may recall we finalized our Home Study on October 6, 2015. Our Home Study had been held up due to Kristofer’s medical report - unfortunately I waited until we started our Home Study before looking for a new family doctor and it took us a bit of time to be seen as a new patient. It was frustrating as we had this hold up, but I clung to the truth that this was happening for a reason and God had a plan.

Going back a bit in time, after our move we began searching for a church home where we could get involved. It wasn't until September when we found our new church and we immediately joined a small group in order to meet new people while diving deeper into scripture. The second week into our Bible study we were paired to pray with a couple in the group. At the end of our prayer we began talking and getting to know each other better. Kristofer and I were asked the question that we had been asked thousands of times, “do you have any children?” That question had always been such a difficult question to answer... until now. We proudly proclaimed that we were almost done with our Home Study and we were hoping that we would be adopting our little one soon.

It was two weeks later that we were contacted by our agency to inform us our Home Study was complete and our profile was live. We were so excited and nervous about what was to come - Lord willing we would meet our child soon. We could never have imagined that the very next day we would get the call we had been waiting for. Our friend from small group called to say that she was with a woman who just had a baby and the birth mother wanted to make an adoption plan. Our friend mentioned that she remembered us telling her and her husband that we were wanting to adopt and she wanted to know if we were interested; we of course said yes. We called our agency to find out what we needed to do and then we rushed to the hospital to meet the birth mother and baby. The very next day we brought our precious daughter home.

Here is the beauty of our story and how we were reminded that we have to trust that God has a plan and He always sees the big picture. There were so many instances where we could have missed our daughter. Had we not moved to South Carolina, started our Home Study when we did, gone to small group that night and prayed with that couple... If any of these events hadn't taken place (and I am just mentioning the obvious ones - there were many more) we would have missed our opportunity to have this sweet little girl enrich our lives. Our daughter was born ten miles from our home on October 6, 2015 - the same day our Home Study was complete and a little over nine months after we moved to South Carolina. We know without a shadow of doubt that we moved in order to bring our daughter home. We are so incredibly grateful for God’s beautiful plan and that He was always faithful even when we had our doubts and heartache.

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. I clung to this verse over the past few years and I still cling to its truth - no matter where we are in our journey, have faith in knowing that this is God’s will for you. He has a beautiful plan and we have the opportunity to watch Him put the puzzle pieces together right before our eyes.

We are so happy to have our sweet Elin Sofie forever a part of our family. She has brought us so much joy and happiness and we are so thankful that God called us to this great adventure!

Elin is such a sweet little girl. She has achieved many milestones for her age - she rolls from her tummy to her back, loves to talk, smile and laugh. She has slept through the night since she was one month old. She has been in her own room since the start of the new year and she did great on the transition. She has found her toes and she loves to give kisses. She loves to play with her toys and she loves it when we read and sing to her. Elin also loves sitting on her daddy’s lap as he plays the piano. She has brought so much happiness into our lives and we feel so honored that God chose us to be her parents!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who have loved on us, encouraged and prayed for us and even some of you who supported us financially on our journey to parenthood. We could not have done it without everyone's love and support. We are truly blessed.