We always wanted a family and hoped to start ours right after our wedding. A year later found us with the “infertile” label. It was heartbreaking for us. Suddenly our hopes and dreams and plans for the future were blurred and didn’t look like they had just a year earlier. We’ve definitely had our challenges but now that we’re on the other side of it, we wouldn’t change a thing. After all, not everyone gets to create a family through adoption and to us, that is a sacred experience.
I’ve often thought about those dismal days of infertility. The thing that got me the most was that I had no control over anything. I could want babies all day long but that did not change the fact that I couldn’t have babies. That was hard to accept. I wonder if my children’s birth mothers had similar feelings. They couldn’t control their fertility either. And no matter how very much they wanted to parent their children it did not change their situation. They too must have felt little control over that time in their life. And that’s the thing about humanity, we’re more alike than we are different. Our situations may be different but we all want the same things (essentially), we all cry, we all dream, we all do the best we can.
While James and I have been married we’ve had some amazing times. We’ve watched James’ company grow from a small one man operation to a very successful, very busy company employing other people and looking to expand. We purchased our first home together, took a few trips, and spent many years of quality time together. Adopting our three children has been our greatest achievement. We are thankful every day for the opportunity to have them in our lives and to be able to raise them.
Gracie is our oldest. She is 8 and going into the third grade. She is very much a girly-girl but the awesome thing about her is that she can get as rough as the boys-she definitely holds her own. She enjoys sports, ballet, gymnastics, and any kind of craft project. She is a wonderful big sister and is so helpful and loving with her younger brothers. Gracie and I are about to embark on a cheerleading adventure together. I am coaching her squad which is laughable if you knew me in real life. I think it will be a fun bonding experience and will make some good memories for the two of us.
Next in line is Samuel. He is 6 and going into first grade. Samuel is all boy. He is very loud and very high energy. He does well in school but would rather be playing. He is a typical middle child and possesses a sensitive soul with a tendency to be a Mama's boy (which I love). Samuel, like Gracie, is athletic. He loves playing sports. Samuel is very protective of the underdogs in life. He dreams of being a superhero someday but he already is one in my book. I have no doubt he can do anything he puts his mind too.
Samuel and Gracie have a very close bond. They are biological cousins and went through a lot together in Haiti. Their adoption was long and drawn out and drama filled. The day they stood on American soil holding my hand was one of the happiest days of my life.
Jeremiah is our youngest at the age of 5. He was our surprise adoption. We found out about him at 6 in the morning and he was in our home that same afternoon. Jeremiah is a whirlwind, just like his arrival into our family. He is a happy, fun loving little boy who lives life with complete abandon-like it was meant to be lived. Jeremiah is OBSESSED with Lightning McQueen from the Cars movie. He’s already requested a Cars themed birthday party this year which he will get. Call me a sucker but I just can’t resist those big, beautiful, oreo eyes of his.