And God gave us Jenna-- Part 2

Soooo... Tuesday night I am running around washing baby clothes, bibs and burp cloths.  I pull out the bottles and swing and bouncy seat.  We decide to bring Kaycee with us but have the boys go to summer camp.  They were disappointed but we told them "only adopted kids could go."  Ha!  We wanted the Birthmom to meet at least one of our children and since Kaycee would be her sister and so close in age we thought that would be best.

Wednesday morning we drop off the boys and head to Jacksonville-- a 2 1/2 hour drive.  We were running about 15 minutes late which I hated and then of course I had to go to the bathroom before we got there!!  I didn't want to be like "Hi-- I gotta go to the bathroom" so we stop about 15 minutes before and it sets us behind a bit more.  Ugh.  We made it 20 minutes late but no one seemed too upset by that-- phew!

We met at a pregnancy crisis center-- The lawyer, the Birthmom ("D") was holding her baby girl and the birthmom's counselor were all sitting around a big table when we walked in.  I wanted to give "D" a big hug but didn't want to seem too overbearing!  Kaycee also became very clingy as she wasn't quite sure what was going on.  We sat down and just talked about us, about "D," about the baby and her adoption decision.  Then the lawyer and counselor said if we felt comfortable they wanted us (Chris, Kaycee, D, baby girl and I) to go out to lunch alone to get to know each other and make sure this seemed like a good fit for both sides.   He said the next step was for us to return and separately call him and tell him if we wanted to proceed or not with the adoption.   Then the next steps would be determined.

So we all drove together and went to Chick-fil-a!  We figured it was kid friendly for Kaycee and she might want to play in the play area.  "D" let me hold her baby as soon as we got there-- it was like we had known each other a long time and were the best of friends.  Conversation flowed easily and there was barely a moment of awkwardness.  "D" was so cute and said she could call the lawyer right then and give him the go ahead but we decided to wait until we were in a quieter space.  Chris and I were soooooo full of love for this amazing woman and her adorable baby girl.  Kaycee was so cute around the baby and kept patting her head and back!

In D's profile description we saw it said that she was interested in a Semi Open adoption with the possibility of more contact if the family was open to that.  We discussed this at lunch because we really wanted an open adoption like we have with Kaycee's Birth mom. We didn't want Kaycee to know who her Birthmom was and Jenna not to-- we knew if God planned something else we'd work with it but we were praying we'd be matched with a Birthmom open to visits and contact.  "D" said she would love that and we planned quarterly visits with pics and letters.  We exchanged phone numbers so we could text and I could send her pictures that way also.

Something we did with Kaycee was pick her first name and have her Birth mom choose her middle name.  We wanted to do this with Jenna also and figured "D" would use the first name she was using but instead she chose Marie.  Oh my goodness-- I LOVE the name Marie and had even thought of that as a middle name if we were matched with a Birth mom who wanted a closed adoption or did not want to choose.  My heart was full and I knew once again God made this connection for all of us!  "D" knew we wanted to name her Jenna since we put that in our profile and she said that she and her 2 children had started practicing calling her Jenna the night they chose us.  My heart melted-- again....

Jenna on the car ride to Chick-fil-a

Kaycee and Daddy loving on Jenna at lunch

So we went back to the center and that's when "D" said that the center was going to call her a cab home.  We told her if she felt comfortable we could give her a ride home-- and we did.  We knew this had the possibility of  turning into a wonderful open adoption!! 


We went to the lawyers office and filled out our paperwork.  We set it up to come back the next morning for the signing of the "Termination of Parental Rights" and placement of Jenna Marie into our arms.... We drove home on cloud 9 with our sweet Kaycee asleep in the back seat.  Again, I had tears of gratitude and my husband just smiled and held my hand....

Stay tuned for Part 3-- the Final Chapter of And God gave us Jenna....