I cannot sleep. I have been awake for almost 3 days straight now. Drew and I met with a birthmother on Tuesday who we had corresponded with via email and she asked us to be the adoptive parents of her baby. Words cannot begin to describe how we feel right now. Hence my lack of sleep! Monday night I couldn't sleep because I was so anxious, nervous, and excited to meet her. So many thoughts ran through my head wondering if she would entrust us with her child. Since then I can't sleep because I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude, love, hope, peace, and empathy. I wish I could tell you more about my sweet angel birthmother Emilee but for now, to protect her privacy, I want to be careful. She is the most beautiful girl inside and out. I feel so much pain and empathy for what she is bearing right now. She told me she cries herself to sleep every night while she sings "I am A Child Of God" to herself and the baby. It is one of the most selfless and Christlike sacrifices that she can make to give her child to us. The love we feel for her cannot be described in words. My heart is so full of love for her. Please remember her and the babies father Arik in your prayers. We have also had the opportunity to meet and spend time with him. He is a very sensitive, caring, strong, and hard-working young man. He is so supportive of Emilee and the decision she has made. I know that this is such a challenging time for both of them. While they are strong and mature youth this is such a challenging time for them. They need all of the help that they can get from our Heavenly Father. Thank you for your love and support in this journey. Can you believe that we are going to be parents! We feel so blessed and overwhelmed with such a sacred responsibility to raise a child that not only belongs to our Father in Heaven but also to our sweet birthmother. We feel so blessed- this is truly nothing short of a miracle.
Thank you to birth mothers....
Thank you so much for visiting our adoption blog. We know that this is a difficult time for you. Although we cannot possibly understand everything that you are going through, we know that it takes great love and selflessness to consider adoption. We know that it is a huge responsibility for someone to trust us to care for their child. We promise to live our lives in a way that would be worthy of that trust. We pray for birth mothers everyday and hope that we will get to know and love you.
Why adopt?
A popular question that we have been asked lately... why adopt? It's really a simple answer. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful life and we want to share all of it with a family of our own. After miscarriages, surgeries, and working with a great infertility specialist we learned that we are unable to have children of our own. We are so excited about the whole journey of adoption. It is such a beautiful and selfless gift. We anticipate the day that birth parents will provide us with the gift we cannot give one another. We can hardly wait for the opportunity to love and care for children in our family. We know that there is no greater joy than that found in family. Thank you for visiting our adoption journey.
Dedicated to family and friends
We are so grateful to have such amazing family and friends supporting us through our adoption journey. Many of them keep asking how they can help show their love and support so this is a section dedicated to all of our friends and family who wish to post their support. Thank you.
How we met...
Drew and I met as children in our church sunday school class. Although we never dated growing up we were friends and always admired one another. After Drew returned home from serving a church mission in Orlando, Florida we started to really strengthen our friendship. We became best friends and spent nearly everyday together for a year before we started dating. One day we got brave and confesesd our true feelings for one another and began dating. Eight months later we were married in the Mesa, Arizona temple. We will have been married for a little over three years. We truly feel so blessed to be married to our best friend.
Amy (as defined by Drew)
Amy has made me the happiest man on earth. She is so beautiful in every way. She is my best friend and and strongest support. I admire the way Amy cares for everyone and is always striving to lift and encourage people to be their best selves. She truly makes me want to be the best man I can be. It isn't any wonder why Amy holds leadership roles in both church and work environments. People love Amy and they love the way they feel when they are around her. She has a way of making all she comes in contact with feel comfortable being themselves. Amy was recently released from her calling as primary president in our ward. Through that calling she had the opportunity to share her loving testimony of the gospel and Jesus Christ with the people she loves the most, the children. The primary kids love her not only for her fun personality, and the games, lessons, and activities she prepares for them but for the sincere love and concern they can feel from her. We now serve together as the young single adult advisors. All of the young adults love Amy and she loves them. She loves planning parties for them and making them all feel loved. Amy's co-workers love her as well. She works as a Registered Nurse and holds the position of a Supervisor where she has the chance to have a great influence on much of her staff. Amy is so supportive of me in all my endeavors with work, school, and my church responsibilities, and she never passes an opportunity to help me with any of those things. We love to play together and Amy is the best, always willing to try new things even mountain biking with me. I actually think she likes it! She is the best wife and I know she'll make the best mother someday.
Drew (defined by Amy)
Drew is the best. He is an amazing husband. Besides being so handsome, he is loving, supportive, and fun. He is also an awesome friend, son, brother, and uncle. I love his enthusiasm for life and great sense of adventure. He loves mountain biking, running, baseball, and being outdoors. I love how he has taught me how to be adventorous and spontaneous. Drew is known for his cleanliness and organizational skills. He is a very hard worker. I love how he takes great pride in having the nicest yard in the neighborhood! It makes him so happy. Currently Drew is working and attending school with the aspiration of becoming a Physician Assistant. He is excited to have a career dedicated to serving others. At church he was recently released from teaching the mission preparation class for our stake each Sunday morning. He loved it so much because he is an amazing missionary. He loves sharing why he has so much joy and happiness in his life with anyone he comes in contact with. We now serve together as the young single adult advisors. He loves hanging out with the young single adults. He makes them his famous orange julius's every Sunday night. He loves serving them. If he isn't working in our yard or studying Drew is helping a friend or neighbor in need with any spare time he might have. I love him so much and I offer a prayer of gratitude each day for the wonderful friend and husband that Drew is to me.
