Adoption is something I always wanted to do. I have always had a heart for anyone or anything needing a home. I warned my hubby before we married that I wanted to adopt a special needs child later in life, after our own kids. He was OK with that. Little did he know, I met our future daughter just days after we were married. She was 2yrs old and went to school at the special needs preschool where I worked. She had some environmental delays due to some drug exposure while in the womb.She had been in foster care since 9 months old and the judge was near to taking away parental rights. I called my husband and said, "Baby, there is this little girl you have to meet. She is up for adoption!" He said he would at least meet her but wasn't sure about the rest.
He came by one day during work. I had my class out to recess so he was waiting in the lobby for me. A therapist came by with LaMiracle, and, not even knowing who he was, she gave him a big hug. He was sold right away.
I called the local DSS agency and asked how to go about starting the process. I figured that we could go through the classes and the paperwork. If we didn't qualify, at least we would know what to expect for out future adoptions. I knew God would let us have her if it was His will. We started the process of a *high risk* foster to adopt. LaMiracle was not yet officially up for adoption because her parents still had rights. This was October 2006.
We went through all the paperwork and meetings but failed our fire inspection. We were renting at the time and the bedroom windows were not up to code. We contacted a realtor right away and began looking for an affordable house.
Through this entire process, I think we doubted we would get approved. We were young. Only married 3 months! Several people doubted we were making a good decision. We were so excited to get LaMiracle, but several people were worried we were taking on more than we could handle. I just knew that God would only let it happen if it was His will. Also, we had decided to go ahead and try to have a baby of our own since LaMiracle was already 2. We didn't want her to feel super alone. We found out we were pregnant in February 2007. The baby was due in October. We were counting on getting LaMiracle after the court date in June, so we hoped it would all work out perfectly.
When we finally found a house we liked and could afford, we moved forward with the purchase. However, the house was in a different county so the adoption had to be transferred. This meant that several bits of the adoption paperwork had to be redone. We were not too worried, but this pushed things back a couple of months, and I was due at the end of October.
October came and we got our approval. We were so excited and nervous at the same time. Our JJ ended up coming two weeks early on October 15th. We were happy new parents with a super fussy baby. Our case worker thought that maybe we should wait a few months for LaMiracle to move in. We insisted we would be fine and praise God we were. LaMiracle moved in on November 5, 2007. The court wanted us to foster for 6 months just in case we changed our mind with the new baby and all. That was fine, but I knew I wasn't quitting. My mom taught me better than that.
We were in love immediately. We had a lot of adjusting to do and so did LaMiracle. God had His hand in it though, and she was a trooper. To this day, I forget that we haven't had her since birth. She fit into our family so perfectly. We have so many good memories and look forward to the ones we will continue to make! Miracle, as we call her, loves her brother JJ. They are best friends. She gets a lot of, "Why is your momma white?", questions, but they never slow her down.She just says, "I'm adopted", like...duh! She does have questions and I am always telling her the adoption story. When she asks why she's adopted...I just tell the truth: Your real momma loved you but couldn't take care of you. I wanted a little girl, and God saw fit to give me a Miracle!
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| Her first visit. She was 3yrs old! Grammy was up from Michigan to help us, and Miracle brought her favorite Halloween pumpkin! |
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| June 2, 2008-Adoption Day- I had a horrible case of strep throat and spent the night before in the ER. It was still one of the best moments of my life! |
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| Happy 8th Birthday! |
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Look at her now! Growing way to fast and loved so very, very much!
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