Atkinson Family Addition

We Made It! Forgive us, it has been quite awhile since our last update….again. After several months of reading through paperwork, completing forms, then re-completing forms after Travis’ job change, we were finally able to COMPLETE our Master File! When we got the email saying that our file was complete it was a mix of relief but also excited anticipation to have reached another milestone on our journey. After completion, we scheduled our home visit with our wonderful Social Worker! We anxiously anticipated the visit and spent some time cleaning, organizing, and mentally preparing for the unknown….It was a BREEZE! We each had a 1:1 interview, followed by a house tour, and then we were done. Our puppy Cash could tell we were anxious so he curled up on our laps for each of our interviews. Home Study: Complete. As we reached this milestone, I found myself really struggling. Struggling with wanting to “nest” and prepare for our future child; yet at the same time wanting to guar

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted an update so here is a bit of what we’ve been up to! Lots of Learning This summer was filled with learning: learning about ourselves, each other, and how to be nurturing and effective parents to a child following adoption. This learning has enabled us to feel more prepared to parent as well as foster a secure attachment with our child. One of the trainings that we attended equipped us to better handle questions and comments from others. A great video was shared to give us a light-hearted spin:  “If you wouldn’t say it about a boob job…” If you’re ready for a chuckle, it’s a quick 2:38 video from adoptive parents. We also purchased a book called “In On It: What Adoptive Parents Would Like You To Know About Adoption. A Guide for Relatives and Friends” by Elisabeth O’Toole. We have shared our copy and hope that it continues to make the rounds through our family and friends!   Attachment: Cocooning We plan to spend time after the arri

Autobiographies   After meeting with our wonderful Social Worker a few weeks ago, we were given our next "assignment": writing our autobiographies for our Home Study Assessment. The autobiography consists of eight solid pages of questions that guide us to reflect on our past, think about our future, and prepare ourselves to be parents. It's been an enlightening process so far: we are getting to better know ourselves and what has made us who we are, each other and how our lives fit and work together, and who we hope and want to be as parents after we are matched with a child. We will also be writing about our support system. Here are a few of the questions: Describe your current and future support systems and other available supports in the community (family, friends, church, counselor, club, support groups, therapists) List 3 support people and what each of those is willing to do to help. Please be specific. Who might be a barrier to your adoption? No

“You can’t get pregnant?” When we made the decision to start pursuing adoption, we started with a very millennial step: searching the Internet. We were specifically looking for blogs or articles written by couples who had chosen adoption without trying to conceive first. We wanted to find out what other couples’ experiences were like and what advice we might find for the journey we were about to embark on. We knew our search probably wouldn’t yield an abundance of results but weren’t expecting what we found….exactly ZERO pieces that spoke to what we were looking for. Through many different experiences in both of our lives as well as our shared experiences, followed by many reflective and thoughtful discussions we decided that pursuing adoption at this point in our lives made the most sense. In sharing our decision with family, friends, and our families’ friends, we have been asked many times “Oh, so you can’t get pregnant?”. This question, as inappropriate and insensitive as it

Decisions, Decisions Once we made the decision to move forward with adoption, we connected and/or met with several wonderful people in our lives that have grown their families through different adoption routes. We asked questions and got an abundance of invaluable insight that no research we could have done would have yielded. We also scoured every website we could find with an adoption agency in the metro area and scheduled information sessions with all the agencies that met our criteria! During all of our research we continued to pray for guidance: that we would find an agency that matched our criteria; that the information sessions we attended would give us the information we needed to make program decisions; and to give us the patience and stamina we need to embark on this journey. After several evenings spent taking notes and drives around the metro filled with intense conversations, and several more nights spent in prayer, we learned a LOT! We came into the process thinkin

We are ready to announce our decision to move forward with adoption! While we were dating, Travis and I were talking about our experiences abroad and how impactful seeing the sweet children in need of a family was for us. We were both strongly moved by the innocence and hope these children had. During these conversations, I fell more and more in love with Travis and knew in my heart that our relationship would grow and strengthen. We continued to pray and grow in faith and love with one another. First comes LOVE. During the fall of my sophomore year of college, a friend of mine invited me to join her in playing in a kickball tournament in her hometown Freeport. Little did I know, my future husband was organizing the team I would play on! It was a cool, sunny morning when Lauren and I showed up to an EMPTY field. Travis had told everyone to be there half an hour early so Lauren and I arrived 10ish minutes before that….we had a few minutes of thinking we showed up on the wrong