Monday, February 22, 2016

Life Update!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!!

John and I originally started this blog as a way of documenting our journey of adoption and sharing some photos and announcements and awareness as we started the process.  When we were officially matched with our daughter's incredible birth mom (Dawn), we sort of went into overdrive getting ready, making sure all of our finances and paperwork were in order, and spent a majority of the time focusing on our relationship with Dawn and her daughter, working a lot, moving into a new house, and re-doing our paperwork again!  We updated our Facebook Page back then but forgot about this one!!  Sad!



When I realized that Pinterest was feeding a lot of traffic here, it dawned on me that I have to share the amazing story of Macie Kate's birth with those that found us outside of our social circle.  So... without further ado, YES! We Adopted our daughter in September 2013 and NO! We still cannot believe it!! :) She is the absolute light of our life and a treasure to our family!  She is now the most incredible, hilarious, spunky, and joyful toddler I have ever met (if I do say so myself) and we are daily humbled that the Lord empowered Dawn to choose us to be her parents.  I'm sure some people think we just get numb to it, but I can honestly tell you that the overwhelming gratitude I feel everyday is REAL.  Even on the hardest days.



I wanted to do this quick update to share our daughter's birth story and also Dawn's perspective, in hopes that it may find it's way to the screens of just the people who need to read it and be encouraged by the Great Work He is doing all around us!  Adoption is beautiful, and Adoption is HARD.  There is love, family, joy, gratitude, and simultaneous heartbreak and loss.  There were many No's that led to the Yes that the Lord had planned for our family.  We are forever grateful to everyone who encouraged us and helped us out in so many ways.  And I'm also grateful for the random blogs that I scoured every night reading for inspiration or education.  So my prayer is that you'll find our story but simply a vessel to share a way in which God worked all things together for good, creating beauty from the ashes of pain, fear, and emptiness.  Truly, His plan is greater than any I could have ever hoped, dreamed or imagined. And I continue to learn and see that every day.



Kristen now works full-time as the Adoption Coordinator for a boutique Adoption Law Firm in Georgia, serving Birth Parents and Adoptive Parents throughout the region.  She has helped with dozens of adoptions, witnessed many births, met with countless women considering adoption as an option for their baby, educating about the adoption process for all parties, setting expectations, dispelling myths about adoption, as well as advocating for children and families in the Foster Care system. Feel free to contact her through the Contact Us Page!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

We're Matched!!! It's a GIRL!



We are beyond thrilled to announce that we are officially matched with a beautiful birth mother and are expecting a baby GIRL in September!! We can hardly believe it! God truly brought us all together and we are moving forward in faith that we will be bringing home our baby girl in September. (Spoiler alert- she's here! More here.) As we've said before, adoption is always a risk, and we are trying to protect our hearts while also celebrating every part of the journey. While we can't share every detail, we want to invite you to join us in praying for this entire situation and everyone involved. Thank you all SO much for your encouragement and prayers thus far!!

We went to AZ to visit her and get to know her family.  It was a wonderful trip that strengthened our bond with her birth mother and sister and we are overjoyed. 


Many of you have asked how you can help! We have partnered with an organization called AdoptTogether where friends and family are able to give online towards our adoption costs as a tax deductible donation! AdoptTogether takes no fees or extra charges. Our donation page and our story, along with more info on all the costs involved, can be found here: www.adopttogether.org/mcmiracle . Right now, we have a donor willing to match up to $5K in donations through July 31! This is an incredible offer to help us reach our goal and bring home our little McMiracle! She is loved so much already and you are all a part of our story! Love, KK&J





Saturday, March 30, 2013

Adoption Photo Shoot

John and I had the honor to work with Holly D of Holly D. Photograpy a few weeks ago! She was in town shooting a wedding and was looking for some willing participants to take some shots around the area. We were so blessed to connect up with her and she took some fun "adoption maternity pictures" for us! We made up some of our own ideas, borrowed a few others from Pinterest, and just had a lot of fun! We loved having a chance to take some pictures to celebrate this journey and time of waiting for our McMiracle baby. (Currently we are still waiting to be matched with a birth mother.  *UPDATE* Our Daughter was born 9-13-17 - Read about it here!)

I love photography and story telling. I LOVE maternity pictures- I think they are so special and a wonderful documentation of the miracle that is pregnancy. I have always been in awe of the way God creates life and allows the woman's body to adapt and create a perfect environment for His most amazing creation.

Many people have asked what it's like for me to see so many friends posting pictures of their pregnancy and their maternity shots. The truth is I absolutely love seeing every picture and my joy for my friends is genuine and abundant! There is always a little moment of wonder and a tinge of sadness that I will never be able to experience pregnancy and provide that safe and perfect home, feel hiccups and kicks and movement, to sing to and pray for and bond with that baby who knows my heartbeat and shares my blood. But our journey to growing our family is unique and beautiful and overwhelmingly exciting with its own set of challenges and special moments! I am so grateful that we had this opportunity to take these pictures and celebrate together.

Thanks, Holly, for these special photos.  They are treasures!  If you have taken adoption "maternity pictures" leave a link in the comments.  We'd love to see them.




Somewhere in this beautiful country our little McMiracle will be born!  **UPDATE** She was born in the beautiful state of Arizona on 9-17-13!  To read more, click here!




In keeping with our theme pictures from our engagement pic below :)

This was one of our engagement pictures!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Welcome!

Hi! We are John and Kristen. The goal of our page is for you to get to know our family and our passion for adoption. We are ready and waiting to welcome a new baby into our home. Currently, we are home study approved for domestic newborn adoption (North America), multiples and sibling groups. Check out our family profile to get to know more about us.

We will be sharing updates and thoughts along our journey of adoption.  Please feel free to share this page and help us spread the word that we are an available family waiting to be matched with an expectant mother who is seeking a family with whom to place her child. Thanks!! Free free to contact us here.


**UPDATE!  Our daughter was born 9-17-13 into our family through adoption. Read about it here!  We are hoping to adopt again in the near future!**