Adoption Talk Link Up

                                               

I am always looking for ways to learn to know other adoptive mom's, they have so much wisdom to share and as any mom know's, parenting is always easier when you can learn from other mom's. The Adoption Talk Link Up is an open forum with a scheduled list of topics you can choose to write about on your blog. Go to the Adoption Talk Link above for a list of the rules and the scheduled topics.
  Todays topic is: Your Adoption Story

Our Adoption Story began years before we adopted, in fact for me it began when I was a young child. My family was visiting with another family who had several adopted and foster children. I was fascinated and decided that someday I wanted to do  that to.
  Fast forward several years and I remember as a teen praying God would allow me to have at least one biological child. At that time I didn't know why I was so certain I would not have biological children, now I feel God was slowly preparing me.
  God answered my prayer and blessed Dean and I with a son in 2004. When we learned we would most likely not have any more biological children we looked into foster care and I remembered how as a young child I wanted to provide a home and love for hurting children.
  The spring of 2008 found me cuddling a little baby girl. I loved her with all my heart from day one. Kiana is biracial and I remember her grandma saying her skin is the color of coffee with cream. I thought I had never seen a more adorable baby.
  After having empty arms for so long Dean and I were more than ready to fill them up if we could. In June of 2008 two brothers, Joseph and Braden joined our family via foster care. They were placed in our home by the same fostering agency that placed Kiana with us. We learned to know the people who worked at the agency quite well as I was taking the children for visits at least two days a week, sometimes more if we couldn't coordinate visiting schedules.
  In December 2009 we adopted Kiana. Her adoption was held two days before Christmas and we considered her our Christmas present. I liked to think that perhaps I knew just a little how Mary must have felt so very long ago when Jesus was born.
  July of 2010, Joseph and Braden officially became Zimmerman's. They had been Zimmerman's in our hearts for a long time before it was made legal.
  Lia was placed with us as a foster baby in February 2012. She was five months old and the older children doted on her. I remember driving home from the agency, I called Dean and said, "I lost my heart to this little girl already."
  We had the honor of adopting Lia in August of 2014 and are no longer foster parents as the children need our time and attention for now. Maybe when they are older, we will get in to fostering again or maybe we will do a private adoption or even adopt internationally. We will see where God leads, perhaps his plans for us do not include foster care or adoption and we want to be open to his will for us.

Tristan and Kiana

Joseph and Braden

Lia