Becoming A Mommy

No matter how long I live or what joys my future holds, March 15, 2011, will ALWAYS be one of the very best and most emotional days of my life. One year ago today, all my dreams came true as I became the mommy of Seth Clayton Bell.

For as long as I could remember (at least since I was 7 years old) I had dreamed of becoming a mommy through adoption; for (almost) the entire time that Evan and I had been a couple we had dreamed about adopting together; and for about 7 months, we had been dreaming specifically about adopting a certain little boy with sparkly brown eyes.

March 15, 2011, was an overwhelming day to me because so many of my dreams were coming true and my prayers were being answered... I will never ever be able to explain the joy that I felt on that day.

I realize that I have told our story a million different times, in a million different ways, on this blog... but y'all, I can't get over it. I am SO beyond thankful that God chose to create our family through adoption. It gives me chills to think about all the ways and all the times that God was preparing my heart to become a mother in such a special (and out of the norm) way.... even when I was a little bitty girl.

Thank you LORD for the blessing of adoption and the precious, priceless gift of Seth. Thank you for choosing me to be his mommy and for opening my eyes to the indescribable blessing that you had waiting for me.

Seth, you are treasured and loved more than you will ever know.

Happy Birthday, Seth!

2 years ago today, my life was forever changed... and I had no idea.

One year ago today, I was an emotional (but hopeful) wreck... praying and clinging to the hope that I would be given the gift of becoming Seth's mommy. I may or may not have had a breakdown at his birthday party...

Today, I am the happiest and most blessed momma around because God gave me Seth Clayton Bell... a gift that I will never ever deserve.

Thank you LORD for my precious gift!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet Seth!!

Appointed

November is National Adoption Month and today, National Adoption Day was celebrated in our hometown with a press conference and a balloon release in honor of all of the children that were adopted through foster care in 2011. Because of our recent move, we couldn't attend the balloon release but I couldn't let today pass without sharing my heart for adoption.

Adoption is an indescribable blessing and gift from God.

I believe with all of my heart that God (alone) creates all children and he creates them to be cared for and loved. He has a plan AND a family for each child. I believe that sometimes He places children in their families through pregnancy and sometimes through adoption... and there is no difference. I believe that before God creates every child, he chooses their parents and he doesn't make his decisions based on skin color, eye color or DNA. The very reason for our existence is to bring glory to God and I believe that is the only factor that He considers when choosing the makeup of families.

I don't, by any means, believe that every family is called to adopt, but I do believe that a family has been called to adopt every child. I believe that there are so many orphans and waiting children worldwide because something is holding those families back. Because I have experienced the immeasureable joy and blessing of adoption, I find it almost as heartbreaking that families are missing out on raising the children that God created for them as I do that children are missing out on being raised by the families that God created for them.

Behind every adopted child, there is a God-sized story... A story that is so amazing, that you know that the child in the story was meant to be in his or her forever family.

At the beginning of this year, I shared a lot about our adoption story... but I want to share a few more details today to show the evidence of my belief that our son is absolutely meant to be in our family and to prove that God is SO much bigger than obstacles or fears.

-Seth's biological mother was not from our state. She should never have given birth in our state, much less our city. If she had given birth in any other state or city, Seth would have been in the custody of that state and we never would have met him or had the opportunity to adopt him.

-Seth's foster parents (family friends of ours) were never supposed to be Seth's foster parents. They were supposed to take in another foster child a few days before Seth was born. However, when DHS went to get that child, he could not be found. So, when Seth was born, they became his foster parents instead. Then, a few days later, the child that they were originally supposed to take in was found. Although, in the past, that family had only taken in one baby at a time (and they already had a full house with four of their own children and a teenage foster child), they decided to keep both babies.

-When Seth was four months old, his foster mother needed a babysitter for both of her foster babies for the day. My mom volunteered to keep one of them and Seth happened (though I don't believe in coincidences) to be the one that his foster mother chose for my mom to babysit. That was the day that Evan and I met him for the first time.

-Seth changed foster homes when he was five months old. When he was six months old, he was physically abused and hospitalized. Although Seth came near death, the Lord miraculously chose to spare his precious life. When he was discharged from the hospital, he was returned to our friends- his original foster parents- where he was safe and loved.

-According to the rules in the state of Arkansas, a couple must be married for at least 2 years before adopting or fostering. When we started the process to adopt Seth, we had only been married for 16 months (and we were honest with our social workers about this). We brought Seth home two months BEFORE we had been married for 2 years.

-Seth became available for adoption before we even started the process to adopt. Usually, children under 2 years old are the first to be adopted. All odds were stacked against us for him to still be available by the time we were legally approved as an adoptive family.

In addition to the above obstacles that we faced, we also dealt with financial concerns, the pressure of social norms, disapproval from family members and fear of the unknown... but God was bigger than everything holding us back and standing in our way.

Adoption is not some big, scary, unattainable thing. It's not a community service and it's not something that only rich people or middle aged people or people with two or three biological kids or people with infertility can do. It's a blessing and a gift. Evan and I are nothing special and we haven't done an extraordinary thing by adopting Seth. We are just proud parents, thankful for the son that God blessed us with.

If God is calling you to adopt... if you are feeling even the tiniest of tugs... don't ignore it, don't downplay it and don't put it off. My guess is that God is not calling you to "adopt", he is calling you to parent a specific child with a face and a name and a story and a future. A precious child that may or may not share your skin color or your eye color or even your favorite subject in school... but he or she was created for you and God doesn't make mistakes.

This is the beautiful face, meaningful name, heartbreaking but hope-filled story and bright future that God created for us (and we so don't deserve him)...

Don't you want to meet the child or children that were created just for you?

Family Photos

Remember this photo that I posted a few weeks ago?

Well, our fabulous photographer, Mindy, at MJW Photography, posted several more pictures from our session on her blog tonight... if you want to check them out!

Wanna know what's really cool about Mindy? She participates in a program called, Celebrating Adoption, that gives one free photo session to adoptive families within the first year of their adoption. We are so grateful for this gift and we will treasure these pictures forever!

Thanks, Mindy! :)

Announcements

I was finally able to send off all of Seth's adoption announcements at the end of last week, so I am finally ready to share them!! They were designed by my friend, Leslie, at Giraffic Arts, and I LOVE them! She always does a wonderful job! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Forever Day

On September 27, 2011, Seth officially became ours forever. We plan to celebrate this day every year and we have chosen to call it, "Forever Day". Here are the pictures from our very first "Forever Day"!

The day started out with a 1:30 pm court hearing... which actually became a 3:30 pm or 4:00 pm court hearing :) But the judge declared us a legally official family so it was worth the wait!

My parents and siblings, Evan's mom, Seth's foster parents and our Adoption specialist (caseworker) were all able to attend the court hearing so we all took pictures on the courthouse steps after the hearing!

All the family that was at the hearing!

The world's greatest foster mom!!

Our wonderful adoption specialist!

Finally an official family! :)

That night, we had a "Forever Day" party with both of our families and Seth's foster family!

Here's a close up of the cake... it had a tree on it... there was a heart "carved" in the trunk of the tree that said "Forever 9-27-11" and a daddy, mommy and baby bird sitting on one of the branches. I dreamed this cake up in my head and Rick's Bakery did a pretty great job of interpreting what I was trying to tell them! haha :)

A close up of the napkins!

Evan taught me how to use a wood burning tool and I burned these words into this birdhouse...

One of Seth's adoption announcements... which I'll share on here as soon as I send them out! :)

A little station for our guests to write letters to Seth.

The sign says, "Please leave Seth a note to read every year on his 'Forever Day!'"

I also used the wood burning tool to make this box for Seth to keep letters and pictures from "Forever Day" and I plan for us to look through (and maybe even add to) the box each year!

Everyone was so sweet and brought Seth gifts to celebrate the big day!

I would love to share all of the sweet and thoughtful gifts but this post is already way too long... so I'll just share this one... My sister and brother gave Seth a child's rocking chair and it was engraved and said, "We are forever yours! Love, Aunt Anna and Uncle Luke"

For some reason, this gift just made me cry! I am SO thankful for the way that our families have loved and embraced our son!

And finally, here is the link to a video that Evan and I made to celebrate the last year of our lives and our journey to Seth and with Seth. It has been a remarkable ride and I am SO thankful that God chose us to be Seth's parents. I truly believe that Seth was created for us and us for him. Adoption has changed my life and made me realize in a whole new way how much God loves us as his adopted children!

Seth's Forever Day

Seth Clayton Bell

Introducing...

Seth Clayton Bell

We finalized his adoption yesterday and it was a GREAT day!! No more hearts over his face! I will blog about the whole day as soon as I return home but for now, I just wanted to share these two pictures! :)

Labor Day Weekend

Better late than never, right? :)

On Labor Day weekend, we went to Branson, MO, with Evan's family! We had a great time shopping, eating and we even went to a show! Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Seth (and maybe mommy and daddy too) LOVED the bouncy slide at Branson Landing!

Riding the Branson Landing train with Honee and Daddy!

This picture cracks me up... Evan, Seth and I were all walking through Bass Pro Shop and Seth saw this four wheeler and took off running and climbed up on it and started saying "vroom! vroom!" before we could even get to him! haha That's a boy for you! :)

Checking out the fish tank at Bass Pro Shop!

Waiting for a table at Texas Land and Cattle Steakhouse

We went to Dixie Stampede (a civil war themed dinner show) and we walked through the horse barn on our way in so Seth could see the horses!

Waiting for the show to start!

And last but not least, Seth practiced shaving in the hotel room on Monday morning before we left! :)

Happy Wednesday! Only 13 more days until Adoption Day and no more hearts over faces! Not that I'm counting :)

Summer 2011

Well, it's been a crazy summer to say the least. The last time I blogged, I had NO idea what was ahead of us or where I would be the next time that I blogged! Here is a quick overview of what we've been up to for the last 4 months!

May

-The first weekend in May, my sister graduated from Ouachita Baptist University. Evan had a final exam during her graduation but Seth and I made the trip to watch Aunt Anna graduate! We were so proud of her! :)

-A few days after my last blog post, we came down with a NASTY stomach virus (Evan still refers to it as "Armageddon"). And by we, I mean, it started with Seth and before it was finished it hit (in order) me, my mom, Evan, my sister, my grandmother, my grandfather and my brother... the only person that was exposed and didn't get SUPER sick was my dad.

-The reason I bothered to include a stomach virus in a list of important summer events (ha!) is because the week of the virus was also the week of Evan's law school graduation and our anniversary. I had been planning a big party for Evan's graduation for months but I had to cancel at the last minute because we were all SO sick... basically it was a miracle that Evan was even able to stand up long enough to walk at his own graduation. But we survived and had a little celebration at a restaurant after graduation. I may have been sick and the day may not have gone like I always imagined it would but I was still so proud of Evan! :)

-The next day was our anniversary and we still weren't feeling well but we made ourselves go on a date! We were glad that we went because it was our first date since becoming parents and it was definitely needed!

-The next weekend, my brother graduated from high school! We were SO proud of Uncle Luke too!! May was definitely the month of graduations!

-Somewhere around this time, we were praying hard for Evan to get a job... and our prayers were answered!! In the course of a few days, Walmart corporate headquarters in Northwest Arkansas called, interviewed Evan over the phone and offered him a job that he hadn't even applied for. We were shocked and excited and thankful... but things were about to change big time!

-The last weekend in May, Evan, Seth and I traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, for a wedding and enjoyed some good quality family time before we split up for the rest of the summer...

June

-Walmart wanted Evan to start work in less than a week! So, on June 1, we put our house for sale, Seth and I moved in with my parents (so the house could stay clean! haha) and Evan moved in with his sister and her husband in Fayetteville to start his new job!

-On June 4, Evan came home for the weekend and we all attended a birthday party for Seth's former foster brother and best friend in the world!

-The next weekend, Evan came home for the weekend but we didn't see each other much because he was a groomsman for one of his best friends and I helped host a lingerie shower for one of my friends and a baby shower for another one of my friends (pictures to come on these two showers!)

-The weekend after that, we celebrated Evan's first Father's Day and our dads' first Father's Day as grandfathers!

-THEN we celebrated the adoptive placement of Seth's foster brother (mentioned above)!! It was a very complicated situation but we had been praying for months for a certain family to be able to adopt that precious boy.... and when they were finally granted adoptive placement, it was a miracle and a glorious day of celebration!!

-The next weekend, we traveled to Dallas with my family to celebrate my mom's birthday.

July

-On July 1, we celebrated Evan's 25th birthday!

-Fourth of July weekend, we went to the lake with Evan's family, the river with my family and the pool with several of our college friends! We also watched lots of fireworks... and Seth started calling them "Babooms"!! haha That boy LOVES "Babooms"!!!

-The next weekend, Seth and I went to NWA to hang out with Evan and look at houses. A few hours before we were going to drive back to Little Rock, we got an offer on our house in Little Rock and after a few counters, we accepted the offer!! Our house was SOLD!! Praise the LORD!! But that meant that we weren't going to have anywhere to live if we didn't buy a new house! haha So Seth and I stayed for an extra day and Evan and I looked at lots more houses!!

(Visiting Daddy at his new job!)

-About two days after Seth and I arrived back in Little Rock, we made an offer on a house in NWA and it was accepted!!

-On July 21st, we celebrated my dad's 50th birthday!!

-The next week, Evan took the Bar Exam!!

-On July 29th, I worked my very last day as a Physician Liaison for Arkansas Heart Hospital and officially became a stay at home mommy!!!

-On July 3oth, we moved from Little Rock to NWA.

-That same weekend, we also celebrated Evan's sister's birthday... and did I mention she is pregnant with a sweet little girl?? Preslee Bell Turner will be here the first few days in December and Seth is SO excited to have a first cousin and Evan and I are very excited to become Aunt and Uncle! :)

August

-On August 6th, one of my best friends got married... I was a bridesmaid and Evan played the guitar! (The bride is second from the left)

-On August 8th, Evan, Seth and I traveled to Disney World!!!

-On August 15th, we returned from Disney World and closed on the house that we sold in LR.

-On August 19, we closed on our NWA house AND got the news that Seth's adoption will be finalized on September 27th!!!!!!

-Last weekend, we celebrated Evan's mom's birthday!! Lots of family birthdays in the summer!! :)

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Whew!! I think I'm sort of caught up now! I told you it was a crazy summer!! Hopefully, things are going to slow down a little now and I can actually blog! I have really missed it!

Happy Monday, everyone!!