Atkinson Family Addition

After we spent as many hours as possible with baby girl, we arrived at the hospital on that final day. It was final because at 10am, her mama would be meeting with her Social Worker and attorney to make her decision to parent or place baby through adoption. After spending those two days together, we know M loves baby girl and would be a great parent to her if that were her choice. Our emotions were beyond intense. No matter the decision, we knew that our hearts would be hurting. No matter the decision, this baby girl was loved and would continue to be loved. No matter the decision, we had poured out every ounce of our hearts for the last 72 hours and wouldn’t regret that time. We were quiet, because no matter the decision, what comes next wouldn’t be easy. And then it was 11, and the social worker hadn’t arrived yet. And then it was 11:30, and the social worker still hadn’t arrived. My stomach was such a mess I had to take a walk to get ice and splash cool water on my face. I ...

Here we are. In the midst of the most intense, heart ripping, emotional, surreal time of our lives. On Wednesday morning at 4:30, we awoke to a chilled house from the cool air. I asked Travis to get me another blanket and snuggled back in. I leaned over to check what time it was and there it was: Missed call from M. A text from M saying “U should come”. I calmly set my phone down. In shock that this was the moment. The one we had been waiting for. I asked Travis if he was awake and then handed him my phone. I couldn’t even say the words. We then immediately called M. She was in labor and walking down the hallway at the hospital to the labor and delivery unit. IT WAS TIME. After that, life is a blur. Booking plane tickets, taking showers, packing the last necessities, and getting our puppy and house ready for us to be gone. Before we knew it, we were sitting in a car on the way to the airport. Breathing heavy. Sweating. M texted saying she was dilated to 6 c...

With hearts ripped wide open, we are ready to share that we have been CHOSEN. During the week of all things graduate school: Travis finished his last final on Tuesday, I was defending my thesis on Friday, we were contacted with about 4 different situations. We spent a good 2+ hours on the phone Thursday night with social workers, case managers, and directors discussing these situations and what the next steps were to be. We were informed that Mama M had selected our profile and wanted to do a call with us in the coming days. (Good thing my presentation was pretty much finalized by that point!) I cried tears of joy. And I started to sweat. I was equal parts ecstatic and terrified. Ecstatic that an expectant parent felt comfortable and confident enough in our profile to take the next step; and terrified that I would say something ridiculous or freeze up on the call and squash that confidence and comfort. We scheduled the call for Sunday night. We made notes, came up with que...

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...