Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
I wanted to share a little personal story about why this day is special to us in our family!
Last year on Feb 14th, we adopted our youngest son and each year we will celebrate
"gotcha day"-the day each of our sons became legally, officially ours!
(and it might sound cheesy, but I really did know the moment I met them both
that they were going to be mine forever...)
As you can imagine, it was a day filled with happiness and relief--we had waited
a year for this finalization (which is really quick, by the way) and it meant
a lot to be surrounded by the friends and family that were rooting for us all along.
We had entered this courtroom only 10 months before to adopt his brother on
April 12th, 2010, when baby boy was only 2 months old.
I couldn't help but smile at God's little arrangement of dates:
4/12 and 2/14 were our adoption dates assigned to us.
Same numbers, different arrangement.
And there are so many other dates and timings
that just point out that these boys were supposed to be ours.
I'll write a little more about that on our next "gotcha day"...
Hope you enjoy a little photo stream of our happy, happy love day last year:
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| Jeff signing adoption papers |
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| sweet baby boy! |
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| so tired-it was his nap time! |
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| my oldest son, so sleepy too! |
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| aunt and nephew |
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| grandma and grandson |
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| grandma and grandson |
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| big brother |
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| the Judge who helped make our day so happy! |
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| the courthouse |
So, today we are celebrating "gotcha day" as a family by taking the boys to a huge bounce house place. I'm pretty sure they will love it!
My youngest son was appropriately adopted on Valentine's Day-he has always been
really sweet and cuddly and
I hope he lets me kiss his soft chubby cheeks forever!
I really like this quote that expresses a lot of what it felt like for me to adopt:
“It has been said that adoption is more like a marriage than
a birth: two (or more)
individuals, each
with their own unique mix of needs, patterns, and genetic
history, coming together
with love, hope,
and commitment for a joint future. You become a family
not because you share the
same genes, but
because you share love for each other.” ~Joan McNamara
Until next time,
I love this Kristina! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! Glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteWhat a wonderful story! How funny their adoption dates are the same numbers! Enjoy remembering this special day!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! Thanks for your kind words-it is always special to celebrate and remember "gotcha day"!
DeleteI'm so happy for you Kristina! This is really touching! This is going to be celebrated as "Complete Family" date!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Olga! It really was and is such a reason to celebrate "complete family" date!
DeleteYou are two lucky parents to have such beautiful kids! You should play 2 1 4 in the lotto - they are definitely your lucky numbers! Love all the pics (but the one with the judge is fabulous - he looks so happy!!)
ReplyDeleteKelly
Thank you for your kind words, Kelly! Glad you enjoyed the photos and story!
DeleteWhat beautiful babies you have there! Happy Valentines Day.
ReplyDeletexox
Thank you so much, Anne!
DeleteWhat a beautiful story,I love the quote as well. We currently are waiting to adopt and hope to have a story to share like this one day.
ReplyDeleteThank you-so glad you enjoyed the story! That's wonderful you are going to adopt! I'm sure you will have an amazing adoption story to share, too!
DeleteHow lovely and touching! I actually said, "Oh my gosh" out loud when I saw the first picture of your youngest because he is dang cute! (And I am an expert in this area having two darling kids myself!) - my husband tolerates my blog reading while he watches TV even if I do sometimes have to do a "shout out!"
ReplyDeleteHi Cameron! Thank you for your kind words-I know I am so biased but I think my kids are the cutest, too! I sometimes do those "shout outs" too ha ha...
Deleteyay YAY! happy gotcha day!
ReplyDeleteelijah's is st, patrick's day:) xo
Thank you, Hannah! Yeah for adoption!!
DeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE This! I am so thankful for those boys...cause they bring me joy too! I love them and I love seeing you all as a family! Super happy for you guys! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Enid! so glad we have a friend like you in our lives!
DeleteWhat a beautiful story. I am so happy for you! You brought tears of joy to my eyes. Thank you. Your little men are gorgeous!!! Congratulations! x Julie
ReplyDeleteHi Julie! So glad you enjoyed our story-thank you for taking the time to comment!
DeleteSuch a beautiful story. I love the pictures with both grandmothers. <3 Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Eileen-glad you enjoyed the photos!
DeleteI love this! thanks so much for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marissa-glad you enjoyed the story!
DeleteMy favorite Valentine's post by far! Beautiful babies, beautiful story, beautiful family.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed the story-and thank you for your kind words!!
DeleteHappy adoption day - your boys are beautiful! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Melanie! It really was a happy day and I am blessed to have them :)
DeleteThat's a wonderful story! I hope I'm not snooping too much by wondering if it was a foster adoption? My friend foster adopted 6 kids, 2 of whom were teenagers, and ever since I got to know her I've been so fascinated by foster adoption :) And it keeps popping up all over in my life lately, wonder if it's a hint :) Congrats to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I don't mind the snooping-I didn't say that it was a foster adoption but it was! It was really an amazing journey and I"m so thankful I got to bond with the boys the whole time we were waiting to adopt-wish more people would go this route-good adoptive parents are really needed in our country! Thanks for the kind words!
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