The Story of Jackson

We always knew adoption was something we’d love to experience, but we didn’t realize just how it would rock our world in such a magical way! -Bobbie Larsen, adoptive mom x3

Our Adoption Story: Part 1

Seven years ago we were matched with two beautiful birth moms through private adoption. They both found our profile online and were expecting to deliver their babies in fall. Through the summer, our family had the privileged to meet them and really get to know them. 

And after what seemed like forever, our babies were born. 24 days apart. Two unique places. Two different ethnicities. Two different stories. And the opposite gender. But both my perfect babies.

Despite my daughter and son’s differences, they are twins of the soul. Their twin bondhas been undeniable since the day they have met. It’s impossible to imagine one without the other. That being said, twins are no joke! My husband and I truly had our hands full (and still do) trying to balance the needs of two little ones at once. 

Regardless, I felt blessed beyond words. After years of infertility, our adoption journey, and finally holding my sweet little ones, I had all could ever dreamed of. Yet, my heart knew that having more children wasn’t completely out of the picture. My husband and I were open to adoption once again, but as the years went on, the timing just never felt quite right. I knew that when we were ready, I would feel an unexplainable gut feeling and certainty like I did with my twins. 

And right, I was. As my kids started and graduated kindergarten in a blink of the eye, my heart began to ache more and more at milestones. I found myself thinking, “Even though we have two kids, I only get to do all of this once!” 

Thus began our second journey of adoption. 

The Call that Changed Everything

During one of the rarest occasion of being alone, I received a call from an old client turned friend who owns an adoption agency. Her agency was attempting to notify more families for a baby due in about a month and they need advice on how to get the word out. 

I gave her my advice before asking, “Can you tell me more about this situation. We know families looking to adopt and always keep our home study up to date. Maybe I know of someone for you!”

She explained the situation and before I knew it, I had tears running down my face, excitement and shock fluttering in my stomach. 

“How do we get presented?”, I probably shouted into the phone. “This is my baby, I just know it!”

My friend chuckling said, “Woah woah woah, that’s amazing you feel good about it, but we are presenting multiple families to her Monday. Talk to your husband and see how he feels about it too.”

The Next Day…

We drove out of town for a family event and by the afternoon when I checked my phone I had missed calls and messages from the adoption agency. Panic! 

That could only mean a couple of things…but no one besides Jeff & I knew, this all was happening so fast we didn’t have time to tell anyone. 

No way could she be in labor already! She was.

We needed to send over our profile immediately, she was in labor and already started looking at other families.I didn’t have anything ready. Nothing. No beautiful pamphlet, no perfectly curated book or blog or website. All I had was Instagram. Who knows what was even on there! For sure all of the videos I think are hysterical and my husband gets embarrassed of me for posting.

But it was the most honest place for her to get a glimpse into who we are as a family and all we had to send right away. Our nephew took a quick new photo of us on my phone, with our brand new puppy we had in tow. I uploaded it and said, This Is Us in a story. Then texted the link over and prayed it would be enough.Like I said earily, I could feel like that was my baby and she would be drawn to yes. Nevertheless, my husband and I were nervous. I had to remind myself that there were other families and that it could be too good to be true!

I’ve Got Some Bad News

After sending over our “profile”, it was a nerve wrecking drive home. We talked to the kids about boy names they loved and talked about all the things that would need to happen if we were chosen. We didn’t hear updates for hours, as the baby was being delivered. (Reminder: we just found out about him yesterday afternoon, expecting him to be born in one month.)

Sitting on the couch together later that night a text finally came through:

I’ve got some bad news…

Two minutes of anticipation later.

The bad news is:

YOU HAVE TO DRAG OUT ALL THE BABY CLOTHES CUZ YOU’RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

We both saw the text come in at the same time and screamed instantly! Crying, screaming, hugging and laughing. Then called our families and told them the shocking news! 

How Did We Get Chosen

A couple days later we got to meet Kay & her baby. Her delivery was long, but they were both healthy and feeling good. She told us, with her big beautiful smile, that she read every word on our Instagram during delivery. She laughed in the hospital bed watching our videos and the nurses asked her what was so funny. She researched the heck out of us and said she could picture her baby in our family. She told us how excited she is for him. And just the way I knew the moment I heard her story, she knew the moment she saw ours.