7 years and 8 months. 2,760 days. 66,240 hours. Whichever way you choose to track it, that’s how much time passed by in our journey to become parents. John and I met when we were attending the same church/youth group back in 1998. Before you knew it, we were inseparable. A love that began on a first date in an old movie theater during a showing of “The Wedding Singer” has us working on a marriage of almost 18 years and we are thankful every day. When we first married, we prayed right away for our family to grow. We didn’t expect there to be issues or problems and I was certain we would be parents within the first year.
Months passed by, followed by years, and nothing happened. Each month got a little bit harder. It was at that point that we realized it was time to consult with a group of specialists. After many appointments, rounds of medication, trigger shots, six IUI’s, and one ectopic pregnancy later, we were at the end of our infertility journey. Being somewhat familiar with the adoption process, through friends and acquaintances who had grown their family through the blessing of adoption, we knew we were interested in taking that route as well. I had spent so many years angry. So many years questioning why this was so difficult. Why is it so easy for everyone else? Why is it so difficult for us? I (bitterly) sat through countless baby showers, going through the motions, hurting for us, wiping away tears, or even making excuses why I couldn’t attend. We prayed. We cried. However, we truly felt at peace with the decision to move forward with adoption. Finally, for the first time in years, I felt at peace.
We contacted an agency here in Ohio and attended their orientation session in May of 2008. We completed our list of requirements, we prepared the nursery, and we waited. Some of us (John) more patiently than others (Danielle). Patience has never been my strong-suit. ? One hot September afternoon in 2009, our home phone rang. I saw the adoption agency name come across our caller ID and I froze. I was the only one home at the time and I just stood there, staring at the number on the screen. Then, my cell phone rang. I choked back tears and answered. After a brief introduction, the social worker on the other end said, “You have a daughter. She’s beautiful. Come and meet her tomorrow”. The conversation continued for some time, but those three lines will forever be etched in my brain. I’ll never forget the thoughts and emotions that ran through our heads during that time. We were filled with such excitement, nervousness, tears, more excitement. Our sweet girl, Irelynne, is now 9 years old and she in the 3rd grade. She is amazing, she is beautiful, she is so smart. She is everything we prayed for and so much more.
It has always been our desire to have two children. We’ve always wanted Irelynne to experience what it’s like to have a sibling. It has been amazing to spend these years as a family of three, but we decided last year that we are officially ready to become the Moffat family-party of four. It has always been our dream, but we decided it was time to make that dream a reality.
We applied with the same Ohio adoption agency in July 2018. We have completed the piles of paperwork, attended the orientation and small group session, completed the requirements (inspections, background checks, physicals, etc.) and we are back in the waiting game. It is unknown how long our wait will be, as that is in God’s hands and not our own, but we do know that each month that passes puts us that much closer to rocking a baby in our arms, watching Irelynne interact (and fall in love with) her brother or sister, all while allowing her to witness how amazing the whole experience truly is.
We love to share our adoption experience with family, friends, and anyone who is interested in hearing about it! It is our hope that, by sharing our story, we can encourage at least one other person who is considering adoption.
We are thankful. We are grateful. We are blessed. Every day I ask Irelynne who loves her, to which she responds, “You and Daddy do”. I say, “How do you know?” of which she replies, “Because you tell me ALL the time”. We didn’t know if we would ever get to this point. There were times I really questioned it. We didn’t know if we would have a first day of Kindergarten (to cry through lol), birthday parties to plan, or a child of our own running through the ballpark with our last name on their jersey. Now, here we are waiting on the phone call that will once again change our lives forever. We never take our path to parenthood for granted and we never take it lightly.
And what do we say to starting all over again? Three words. Bring. It. On!
Here are the bows the Moffats chose along with their personal reason for choosing. Remember, wearing the bows is a wonderful expression of support for this family.
Parallel Dots is just too adorable to pass up. No matter how many fabrics we checked out, we were brought back to this one each time. We hope you love it, too!
Lavender Seersucker was chosen because Irelynne requested “something purple” and Danielle is a HUGE fan of anything seersucker. So sweet and simple!”