Charlie's Family

We had been feeling the prompting to adopt for a few months and as we continued to pray, we had a couple friends boldly say to us "we believe God wants to bless your family through adoption". We started the home study process and we knew that we would pursue a special needs adoption because that had been on our hearts with Sara's past job experience. We learned of the NDSAN through a friend and got on the registry as soon as we had our home study approval. Well little did we know, 5 minutes later we would get an email that would change our lives. Our sweet Charlie was nearly a month old in a NICU with the possibility of a cancer diagnosis in addition to a few other medical issues. We prayerfully said yes and within a week, we got on an airplane and had our sweet boy in our arms. It was such a whirlwind and we couldn't be more thankful! God has done so much through and for Charlie. From healing his blood issues/potential cancer diagnosis to continuing to meet all of our needs throughout this process. We thought we would have months to do fundraisers but because everything moved so fast, we had to borrow the money for the adoption fees. Paying back the money would definitely be a burden since we are currently a one income family, Paul being a teacher. This grant is truly helping us to meet all of Charlie's medical needs, for Sara to be available for doctor's appointments and for us to experience God's provision in our adoption. Thank you so much for your support. We truly are so thankful!

We just had another son in September. It's definitely a crazy season but we are so thankful and blessed.   Here is a picture of our 3 boys Cade, Charlie and Connor. Sweet brothers!

8/2019

We are all doing well. We went to Gatlinburg for vacation and really enjoyed hiking as a family. The boys are growing so fast. This season has been so wild and fun with a 4, 2 and 10 month old. For Charlie's birthday we had a donut party with friends and went swimming which he loved! We are having lots of eating concerns for him (he still primarily only wants to eat bottles and pureed foods). We go to a team of therapists at our local children's hospital and I'm excited for the support. I mainly think a lot of our issues are driven by sensory integration issues which is something we are learning lots about! On another note, Charlie is up and walking so well and actually tries to run sometimes! We are doing lots of swimming and hiking this summer which we all enjoy. Charlie is doing so well and we are so thankful for him. 

The photos include one family picture from last fall, then one from this spring. The rest are from this summer!

July 2020

Charlie is growing up fast  I can't believe he's going to be 3 tomorrow! He is aging out of our state's early intervention program so we had to say goodbye to the therapists he has had since he was a little babe. It was sad because we haven't seen them in person since March. Charlie is supposed to start preschool in the fall but we haven't decided what we are doing to do about that yet. How are you all doing in the pandemic? We are still been very cautious as a family. Charlie is doing well overall. We are outside in the backyard every day- he loves outside and any type of water play. Charlie started jumping out of his crib and we are transitioning to a big boy bed (it's been good overall but we definitely aren't getting as much sleep!) He's using signs more and mimicking words. He's so smart and I love seeing his potential. 

January 2022

July 2022

We are all doing well- Charlie just turned 5 and is starting kindergarten this year. He's getting so big. We had a fun party with friends and did an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We are starting kindergarten in a resource room. This is not necessarily what I would have loved but we are figuring out some solutions to some of our harder behaviors (mainly some aggression and running away). He has had a lot of medical issues this summer but is scheduled to get ear tubes on August 1st. We have gotten to see a really good GI doctor at our local children's hospital so we are hopeful that he will be feeling much better before school starts. Charlie's favorite things right now are swimming and hiking. Our 3 boys (Cade,7, Charlie, 5, and Connor 3) make for a very busy and fun household : ). Our oldest son was baptized and wants to follow Jesus and it was such a delight to our hearts. Charlie loves to say amen and he signs Jesus. We love how God is teaching all of them and growing them into men after His heart.

December 2023

Charlie turned 6 in July and is doing well in kindergarten. We had our 4th son one week after Charlie's birthday so it's been a whirlwind of a year. Charlie loves his new brother.