Sorry for lack of posts last week, we had one sick little boy at our house and that just breaks this momma’s little heart. But, we are back in full swing and ready to share another adventure with you all. After we left Heather and her grandma after the termination of parental rights hearing and our lunch with them, we didn’t have any plans to see Heather in place. We knew it would happen, but we had no idea when that specific time would be.

We do not believe in infant baptism (please don’t take that offensively) but believe in dedicating your child/baby to the church as an infant. That way when they are old enough to make a conscious decision about giving their life to Jesus, they can proclaim that on their own. In fact, one of my greatest memories/moments of life was when JJ and I were baptized together in Lake Delton. I was baptized as an infant but was un-churched the rest of my life, until I met JJ. Shortly after we started dating we started going to church together and right before we were married we both dedicated our lives to a life of Jesus in front of all our family and friends.

Jackson’s baby dedication was an incredibly important day for us as a family. It takes a village to raise a child (I know that now more than ever!) and we wanted our “village” to all be there. So, like any other important event in Jackson’s life, we invited Heather and her family to join us on this special day. And happy to us, they joined us, along with our parents and closest friends.

We chose the bible verse, Ephesians 1:16-17 for Jackson’s life verse, which states “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”  My brain can’t remember people I went to high school with or sometimes I can’t even remember what I did 5 minutes ago, but I will never, ever forget the gift God has given us and thanking him for it!

After the dedication we had a little celebration in our home and again, Heather and her family joined us. It was so special to have FOUR generations of Jackson’s birth family in our house. Heather, Heather’s dad and Heather’s grandparents.  We didn’t even have that many generations of our family there.

I remember Heather’s dad brought us a picture of Heather as a baby, and we were all so shocked at how much Jackson looked like Heather as a baby!   Looking at those pictures and holding our precious son, it hit me again, yet another reason why I love open adoption. So, as Jackson grows and questions or sees or hears that he doesn’t look like his parents, we will have Heather around to turn to and listen to his concerns or hear him out.

When Jackson was a baby we heard all the time that he looked like JJ and recently I was just told he looks like me. My heart almost exploded at those words because the truth of the matter is, I will never have someone look like me (unless of course God performs a miracle and we get pregnant– see my previous post about moving forward). I will never have a child that has MY eyes, or MY nose, or MY lips, or any resemblance of me at all. However, I will say that Jackson may not have my hair or JJ’s nose but he is every ounce a product of the two of us. He has his daddy’s smarts and his momma’s silliness through and through.