Memory Lane & Adopting Again

We're thrilled to share some huge news for our family, but let's walk down memory lane first. Our story began just ten days after becoming licensed foster parents in 2012, we received the call that made us parents. There was a baby boy headed our way if we said yes. We said yes without hesitation and two hours later, Jacob was in our arms (read more about that day here). Jacob instantly had our hearts and we allowed ourselves to fully attach. I mean, how could we not? He was so freaking cute!

Two years later, we were given the opportunity through his birth mama's selfless love to adopt him. That day was hard. I'll never forget standing in the court room and hearing her say "yes" to allowing us to parent Jacob. My heart broke for her as she cried her way through answering questions no mother imagines herself answering. We went home that bittersweet day and started the process of adoption. A few months later and almost two years exactly from when we first met him, Jacob officially became a Weston on December 18, 2014 (view a video of that special day here). Upon the banging of the gavel, Tim and I both breathed a sigh of deep relief that we hadn't known for 733 days.

Little did our family know, we found out just a few weeks before that we were also expecting. The day after Jacob's adoption, we announced to the family that we were pregnant by having Jacob wear a customized t-shirt stating that he was going to be a big brother. Talk about an emotional couple of days! Fast forward 9 months later and 18 hours of labor, I pushed we welcomed Griffin into our family. This boy is such a ham and has turned into Jacob's little shadow. We love watching them becoming not only brothers, but friends.

Around Griffin's first birthday, we started discussing the way we would like to grow our family. We both agreed that we would like to adopt again but weren't sure how that would look. We simply knew we were open to it and felt led to build our family through adoption again. I had done some research as far as waiting children and private adoptions but never got that this is "right" feeling. I attributed it to timing. I remember getting this overwhelming sense when we were starting the foster care journey that it was the right time. We weren't getting that sense this time and so we decided to wait until we sensed God telling us move forward.

That sense of God wanting us to move forward has come.

We've cherished the relationship with Jacob's biological family over the years. We had our first family dinner together in the winter of 2013 and our relationship has only grown since. We have welcomed them into our home, they come to birthday parties, we meet up often (pumpkin patches, children's museums, arcades...to name a few), and we stay in contact through Facebook and texting regularly. It's a relationship that started with our common bond of Jacob but has grown into a true family. They aren't just Jacob's family, they are our family. So when they told us that Jacob's birth mama was due in June with another precious baby, we congratulated her as we would with any other family member. Soon after, we were told that she has {selflessly} decided to make an adoption plan and wants that to be in our home with Jacob. Without hesitation, we have said yes!

We can't tell you how excited we are about the possibility of adopting Jacob's biological sibling.  We will be sharing more of our journey here (along with a gender reveal soon!) and ways you can be a part of our story.  Thanks for sharing our joy as we prepare to open our home again to adoption!