Last year our 3-year-old son held his best friend's new baby sister for the first time. He smiled down at her in a sweet way I cannot begin to describe, and said softly, "She is not a toy. She is not a truck. She is not a airplane." Oh? we said to him, What is she? "She is a treasure." We melted to hear this surprising statement– and we couldn't agree more! A new little person in our life is truly the greatest treasure. All three of us are ready to expand our family. And who can express that better than our first child?
And now, after a year of researching, preparing, and planning…
We have BIG news! We are adopting a child!
We are so excited to welcome a new little treasure into our family sometime this year!
As part of our adoption process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. It may surprise you to hear that adoption-related costs can easily total up to $50,000 and the process takes over a year of active work. We already have $13,000 covered, and so we have set a fundraising goal of $37,000 to help ease the financial burden that often overwhelms adoptive parents. (Frankly, after all the paperwork, Ashley thinks it would be less painful to give birth again! But, unfortunately, her doctor does not recommend that). Despite the barriers, we strongly feel called and are dedicated to this path, and ready to take the steps in order to make our dream of having a two-child family come true.
We hope that by inviting you into this process, you will see yourself as part of the community we hope to build around our child as she grows up. We are looking forward to sharing pictures and stories with you for many years to come. Please help us out by contributing to this campaign (anything helps!) and sharing our posts through email or social media with everyone you know. Like raising children, adopting a child takes a whole village, and you never know who might want to support this.
Thank you, and we look forward to sending you pictures of our new expanded family soon!
