WE ARE MATCHED

It is hard to believe I am typing the words that we are matched but here we are!

We went active with the agency on January 8 and we were matched on February 18. We feel honored to be chosen by our birth mom to parent her son that is due June 25. I cannot believe that we will be parents to two sweet boys come June. It feels surreal.

I am not sure how much I am going to be able to blog this time around because Camden keeps us busy but I do want to try to capture the highlights of the adoption process.

The matching process was entirely new to us since we did not experience it with Camden. I was so excited to start receiving birth mother profile sheets and we received 2 the night we went active. I try to be very transparent in regards to our adoption process and I was definitely not prepared for what it would be like when reviewing the profile sheets. It was so hard not to feel instantly connected to the women and their stories. Some of their stories were completely heartbreaking. We presented to the first BM due with a baby girl and 1 week later, found out she chose another family. That was really tough on me and I did not expect to feel so sad when we were not selected. 

Craw and I chose to present to another BM that was due in June. We decided to guard our hearts this time in case she didn't pick us. I contacted the agency last Monday to see if she had made a selection and they told us she was still trying to make a decision but she did find out she was pregnant with a baby boy. I decided to surprise Craw and Camden with a small gender reveal just in case she did pick us. I also knew I couldn't keep it a secret so last Monday, Craw popped a blue confetti popper and it was fun to live in the moment.

On Thursday, I received an email from the agency saying that the BM had chosen us to parent her baby. I honestly couldn't believe it and it was such a fun surprise. We have spent the past weekend trying to grasp what life will be like with 2 boys. The baby is due in June and we will be spending the next 4 months preparing our hearts and home to love this new baby boy. We will travel to Florida once the agency notifies us that she is going in to labor. We are not sure if we will be allowed in the hospital due to Covid protocol so we will just take it one moment at time. Right now, our BM is 22 weeks and baby is the size of a red bell pepper. It is going to be fun following along in the app to see how the baby grows each week.

Adoption #2

I guess it's true what they say, as a first time mom, I had all the time to write my thoughts down on paper. Here we are halfway through our second adoption and I have yet to write anything. Time has been flying and life has been hectic with the holidays, quarantine, and the home study. 

So here is where we are...

We completed the home study and were officially home study approved on December 24th but we received the home study in the mail on January 2nd. It was a great mail day! Once we received the home study, I contacted the agency and we completed all of the paperwork for them and I also ordered our profile book. On January 8th, we were officially and active waiting family.

We submitted the paperwork and home study to the agency on the 8th around 5:30 pm and by 7:00, the agency had already emailed us two birth mother profiles. This is new territory for us because we never matched with a birth mother for Camden's adoption. Seeing the profiles of these beautiful women and their due dates made it feel VERY real and it was a bit emotional. Craw and I spent all weekend looking at those two profiles and daydreaming of the baby that might be ours.

On Monday, we said "yes" to one of the birth mothers and now we are waiting to hear back from her. It has been an exhausting week and I have tried to keep busy but this whole waiting game is an entirely new emotion for me. To be honest, it is really difficult to see the gender of a baby and the due date and not dream of that baby belonging to us some day. I am trying to focus on all of the good things and not get my hopes up but I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious.

One night this week, I sat in the recliner around midnight and all I could do was pray for these beautiful women that are choosing life for their baby. I pray that they feel loved and safe and that they can feel empowered when making the best choice for their baby. 

So this is where we are...just waiting...and hoping...and praying! Hopefully, I will have more news to share soon. 

2020

Goodness, what a year it has been and we still have about a month and a half left. SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR. 

I'm not even sure where to start.

COVID

I guess the first thing to mention is the global pandemic that shut down the world. I cant even describe the chaos the coronavirus has caused. My job sent everyone home on March 18th to work from home and we are still working from home with no return date in sight. The first 2 months of "quarantine" were spent navigating working from home and life with a 2 year old that we decided to keep home from daycare. With my immune system, we weren't sure how I would do with the virus so we decided to play it safe. My mom helped out greatly and it was fun having Camden around so much. In May, we decided to send him back to daycare and we have adjusted to a new "normal" with having to wear masks in public and social distancing. Its been a very odd year.

NEW HOUSE

This was a big turn of events for our family and one that we did not see coming. With the global pandemic, mortgage interest rates dropped dramatically and the housing market started booming. In April, Craw and I started talking about desiring more space when it came to raising our family. We especially wanted a backyard with plenty of space for kids to play. While it was the perfect time to sell, we had a hard time trying to figure out if we wanted to build or buy and the cost of building. In June, a long time family friend decided it was time to downsize her home. She had the perfect corner lot with the most perfect house we could ever imagine. We weren't sure if it would work out but we decided to commit it to prayer. Within a couple weeks, our old house was under contract and she had accepted our offer on the new house. Everything fell in to place and we closed on our new house August 14. It was a whirlwind summer with packing and moving but we have loved every second of making our new house a home.

ADOPTION #2

Surprise! Another twist to the crazy year 2020 is we feel God is calling us to expand our family through adoption again. We are so excited for this journey and are well underway to bringing home Baby Bolton 2.0. I will do another post with more details on this exciting new adventure.

As you can see, there is a big reason why things have been radio silent for me. I'm hoping to get back in to the swing of things because I really would like to blog our journey to Baby #2. Fun things are happening for us and I can't wait to see the journey unfold. 

Camden's "Two Wild" Birthday Party

As soon as I saw the "Two Wild" theme on Pinterest, I knew it was perfect for our little wild man. I kept the decorations pretty simple and found the perfect animal party pack on Amazon and made an awesome balloon arch with the help of my parents. A donut birthday cake was a MUST for our donut loving boy and I had so much fun putting a fun spin on the cake. We had pizza, chips, fruit, sausage dip, and a yummy chocolate chip dip that my mom made. We invited family and a couple of close friends and had the perfect day celebrating our two year old. 

Special thanks to my sister in law for making Cam an awesome shirt that fit the theme of the party. Cam received some awesome gifts including a yearly pass to the aquarium/zoo/bird park. 

 

 

Two.

 

Two
How can this be possible?

It seems like yesterday we were on our way to Florida to get our boy. The past two years have been the best of my entire life. I feel like every mom says that but it is so true. This blue eyed, one dimple cutie changed my life for the better. He gives me insane amounts of joy and I cannot imagine my life without Camden Ivey.

I feel like the last year went even faster than the first. Watching him grow and learn new things is so much fun. He is BEYOND smart. We are at the point where we have to be careful what we say and do in front of him because he will imitate us the first time hearing/seeing it. The way he connects things to people and events is incredible. He knows that church is where we go to learn about God. He also knows that he's going to see his Mimi and Pappy when we go to church and starts saying Mimi/Pappy when we pull in to the parking lot. He recognizes all of his family members and will call them each by name. He is talking well and starting to combine words together to create phrases. He loves people and is generally happy to be around any and everyone. While he loves people, he also knows who "his" people are and he loves us fiercely. He tells me he loves me every time I leave him and hearing him say it melts my heart.

The reason I write these updates is because I want him to be able to look back one day and see just how much he changed my life. People always tell us that he is one blessed boy to have us as parents and while I believe that is true, Craw and I are FAR MORE BLESSED to have him as a son. I always say that God saved me by sending us Camden. He gave me a purpose behind the pain of living with Crohns because the fact is, my Crohns disease led us to Camden. 

All of this to say...

Happy Birthday baby boy. I pray you will always know how much I love you. You are the best gift I have ever received, next to your daddy. I'm so thankful for my perfect gifts. Cheers to the year of being 2 and watching you learn and grow.

Love, Mama