Welcoming Olimae Faith- An Adoption Story.

Baby Olimae wearing my glasses- photo taken by Amore Photo Boutique by Ashleigh Adams

If you've been reading my blog for a while- you know my sister was adopting. It's been quite the journey for my sister + her husband, but I'll let her explain that later.

A few weeks back- my sister said she had a surprise for me but couldn't tell me just yet. I waited + waited for her to come home and show me a pack of white onesies + to tell me they met a birth mother who was due in just a few weeks. I was excited but she asked me not to say anything just yet because nothing was official.

The new few days I was so anxious, every time my sister would call I thought "this is the call- they're having a baby!" On Friday morning, my sister called and said "I have good news + great news- what do you want to hear first?" I didn't even think about it and I said "let's do good first and then finish with great." She then told me some money had been put into my medical fund and then said "Wanna hear the great news? I lost 7 pounds." (she has been on a diet during this time) and after telling her how proud I was, she threw in "Oh + Jason and I are our way to the hospital." WHAT?!?

I thought having babies took a lot of time, so I figured we would be waiting for a really long time but not too long after being at the hospital, my sister sent me a picture of all of them together + my heart melted. My big sister finally had the baby she prayed for + she was now a mommy. They named their baby girl Olimae Faith. (Mae is my grandmas middle name + Faith is my middle name. Pretty special, huh?)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above" - James 1:17 credit- Amore Photo Boutique by Ashleigh Adams

I know some people who read my blog are also going through the adoption process + I asked my sister to answer a few questions.

1. Why did you choose adoption?
 - We feel that adoption is a calling and you can't do it unless you are called. We both started having desires when we were in high school and later God reveled to us that this was His plan for our first child.

2. Tell me about the process + about how long it took for you.
- We were very naive in the beginning. We thought it would only be a few months + now it's been a couple of years. The process begins with a lot of paperwork and there's trainings that are mandatory. Every agency is different but with ours, the birth mom chooses us based on a book that we made ourselves. We were matched based on requirements that were set by us and the birth mom. The birth mom is given a few books that fit her requirements and from those she narrows it down to one. 

3. What if I don't want to go through an agency? Did you try other routes first?
- We were introduced to a women who does a lot of ministry with young families. Through many different roads lead us to her, we felt like she would be the one to help us with our adoption. She is not an agency and she doesn't even do adoptions normally, however one year from our first email to her she contacted us and said she had a mom who wanted to place her child for adoption but wasn't with an agency. We met with the mother + spent Mothers Day with her and had the opportunity to name her unborn child. 3 days before her son was born the mother decided to parent. We were heartbroken. We felt like we had lost a child. Even as we were going through the pain, we knew that this was part of Gods plan.

How is your relationship with the birth mother? 
- When we met the first potential birth mom, we realized though that experience that we were not only adopting a child but a birth mom and potentially a family. When we got the call for Olimae, we prayed that we would have a connection with her birth mom. When we met the birth mom we were so comfortable. We felt like we were very blessed that we had someone that we could get along and want to be in our lives. Through our trainings we realized that importance of open adoption and after meeting Olimae's birth mom, we had no doubts of continuing with our plan of an open adoption. Everyone's openness varies, but with ours we were like to have an annual meeting and have pictures exchanged and possibly letters.


4. How do you feel adoption has brought you closer to God?
- Most people would think that you grow closer to God once the child is placed in your arms but for us it was the journey that drew us closer. It was listening for God and trusting God when the world didn't understand why we would adopt when we weren't having fertility issues and it was our first child. It was seeking Him through the heartache of first failed adoption and leaning on Him for guidance and trusting that His plan would be fulfilled. 

5. Any thing else to add?
- If you've ever had the desire to adopt or foster, pray for God to guide you. Know that it's not promised it will be easy but if God is calling you to do it, it will be worth it.

This photo is for daddy- he loves his golf. -credit- Amore Photo Boutique by Ashleigh Adams

credit- Amore Photo Boutique by Ashleigh Adams

credit- Amore Photo Boutique by Ashleigh Adams

Aren't those pictures just darling? My sisters friend is a very talented photographer and took Oli's photos. I was super excited to able to see a newborn photo session take place because I've never done one- nor have I ever took photos of a newborn. Ashleigh is talented, give her a page a like + tell her Sabrina sent you!

I hope you guys love little Olimae as much as we do. She's such a good baby + is a true blessing from God. My sister has talked about wanting to start a blog as well, so if you think you'd wanna read more about her adoption and her life, let her know in the comments!

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