Our road to adoption

I’m so thrilled to have Sarah posting today. This is something dear to our hearts as we would love to add to our family, but are unable to, at least at this time. You may remember Sarah from these awesome Ranch Chicken Pillows.  One of the reasons we have chosen to work on the blog together is that most adoptions come through word of mouth so please pin or share on social media the last image in this post. You never know who might see it.  I’ll let her take it away!

We are so excited to be back on Oh Sweet Basil!  If you don’t remember our introduction on here it was when Carrian posted one of our favorite recipes: the Ranch Chicken Pillows. Now we get to go a little deeper! We hope that you will take time to click on our picture to learn more about us through our blog, but as this is our first post we will introduce ourselves just a little bit.  Dave and I have been married for 6+ years. The beginning of our relationship was a bit of a whirlwind experience being that from our first date to when we were married was 5 months, but in reality it is because we had never felt—and knew we wouldn’t feel—anything more right and more real! How can you deny that?!

 Our road to adoption

For that moment everything was absolutely perfect.

After almost a year and a half of hoping to get pregnant with no result, we made those first awkward steps toward getting help.  With some medical assistance and lots of prayers we were able to become pregnant and have our beautiful, spunky daughter Aliyah. I know all mothers (birth and adoptive) can never fully express what it feels like to hold their child for the first time, but it was a moment of pure peace, complete happiness and overdue relief.  For that moment everything was absolutely perfect.

 Our road to adoption

As time passes, things seem to cycle through, even trials.  Seeking out medical direction we learned the same help we got before would not work again. In two years time we had two pregnancies and two miscarriages. I cannot describe the sense of loss, frustration, confusion, defeat, and pain that we experienced after the second miscarriage. We knew we were supposed to have more children and we felt strongly that that pregnancy would go full term. But it wasn’t to be.

Our road to adoption

It took time to emotionally be ready to move forward and when we were, we were told that if we wanted to get pregnant again we would need to do IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). We came to the conclusion that our family needed to grow and that our options were to go down the path of IVF or adoption. After attending meetings for both we felt confident that the path for us was adoption.  It has been 6 months since we have made that decision and the waiting and hoping is not always easy. When it seems like everyone and their sister, aunt, mother and fellow grocery shopper in the world is pregnant, we wonder why we have to experience infertility. But we have grown more in the process than we ever thought possible-we love our family, friends and neighbors more deeply, we cherish the many Aliyah firsts, we have grown closer as a couple, and we have greater perspective of life.

Our road to adoption

And now here we are…putting ourselves out there all in hopes that you can help us find our family! We have never been more humbled as we set aside the pride that everything is ok–that we can do it on our own–to hoping for help. We cannot do it by ourselves. We hope that YOU will share our story.

Our road to adoption

And now here we are…again…you’ve read through our little intro to get to know us, we’ve asked you to help us, and now in return we will share with you one of our very favorite desserts next week: NUTELLA BARS

Our road to adoption. Adoption often comes through word of mouth and this sweet family needs your help. Please repin, you never know who might see it. ohsweetbasil.com

~~~Sarah and Dave’s Blog~~~ Sarah on Instagram~~~

So, as much as Carrian will not like this we have to thank her for ALL that she has done to help me and my family in “marketing” ourselves as we try to grow our family through adoption.  It is not an easy thing to put us out there, trying to gain attention, all in hopes that an expectant parent choosing to place their child for adoption might find us. On our own we could not reach anywhere close to as many people as we have without Carrian and her family’s help. We are grateful to be a part of Oh Sweet Basil and hope that through our posts you can get to know us, share our story with others, and enjoy some of our favorite food.