Back in May, we traveled to Virginia to see Jalen's birthmom. It didn't work out and we weren't able to see her. At that time, I figured we wouldn't try to visit her again. But in my heart, it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like it was fair to her or to Jalen. David had fall break this weekend so we asked L if she would like to meet with us. She was excited at the opportunity, so we drove the five hours to Roanoke to see her. It's a beautiful drive and the time went quickly. (Ironically, it is much cheaper for us to drive and see her than it would have been for us to fly and see her if we had gone to school somewhere else.)
From the time he woke up in the morning, it seemed like Jalen knew something was happening. He was really excited and couldn't contain himself - kicking and squirming and squealing. Jalen doesn't normally take to strangers. He keeps a very straight face and stares them down. Sometimes it's a little embarrassing. But he took to L from the very beginning. He knew she was someone special.
We were also able to meet Jalen's biological sister. She and Baylie got along really well. We spent a lot of time trying to explain to Baylie that L was Jalen's birth mom and had carried him in her tummy. We've been trying to explain to her about her own birth mother. I'm not sure if she is understanding or not, but we hope this early exposure will make it a normal and natural thing for her. I only regret that she can't meet her birth mother since V wanted a closed adoption.
Jalen's biological sister, J, has heard all about him and looks at the pictures we send to her mom.
It meant a lot to us to have L tell us that she is happy with her decision and knows she made the right choice. Her family has not been very supportive and I think she is a strong woman to have made the choice and to stand by it. We learned a little more about his birth father, but he's still not happy about the adoption, so we won't be able to meet him for now. We learned that he is short, stocky and has a gap in his front teeth - just like Jalen!
We also learned that she had looked at other couples before us, but never felt right about it. She said that once she met us, she knew we were the right family for Jalen. I told her that him joining our family was truly a miracle for us.
I wasn't sure what this visit would be like, but it couldn't have been better. It was really wonderful for all of us. I look forward to future visits and am so happy that Jalen will know his birth family. What a blessing.
These next pictures are my favorites.
For the church party, we stuck to the theme. David took on the role of Walt himself and I was the princess castle (think low effort).
I love Baylie's pose in this picture.
