Tuesday, February 16, 2016

And Now Introducing......

I am so excited to finally be able to write this post!!

We haven't always thought we would adopt 2 kids at one time, but after attending a special needs camp over the past 2 summers my kids have really formed some close relationships with some boys with Down Syndrome. When hearing we were planning to adopt again, they really hoped to have a sibling with Down Syndrome.

I also have had my life changed by a child with Down Syndrome.... When we were working toward adopting Jewel, I decided to pick up a second job to increase our income. I was hired by a company that employed nurses to work with children, in their homes, that need extra medical care. There was a little 2 year old boy named Truman that had Down Syndrome and he had a full time nurse during the day. I started working with him a couple of days a week and completely fell in love with him! The sweetest little guy. Truman passed away in 2014. He is the reason I switched my career path to working with special needs children, and now the reason I feel comfortable changing my parenting path as well...

We had already committed to try to adopt Teagan, but knew it was possible to adopt 2 kids at one time from China. We decided to add a child with DS to our family as well! :) After talking and praying about it, we found a little boy who we were interested in who had DS. We submitted our letter to our adoption agency, asking to be approved to adopt 2 kids...

Not to much later, we began to talk about a name. I had a name in mind, but Jeff said what about “Joseph”? This was the name I was thinking too! Joseph means “God will add…a son”. So we decided yes, his name will be Joseph and we will call him Joey!

Shortly after deciding on the name, the little boy we were interested in was chosen by another family. I was sad, and prayed. I asked God to please make it very clear to us if a boy with Down Syndrome is supposed to be our son. I literally prayed, “Please lay OUR Joey in our lap so we know he is ours”. The next day I posted on and advocacy site asking for people to list their favorite boys with DS, under the age of 7. One of the very first responses was from a young lady who volunteered at a summer camp in China. She added the most precious picture of a boy, 5 years old, who is advocated for by the name “Joey”. OUR JOEY, set right there in our lap!

We are so excited to say that TODAY we have been preapproved by China to adopt Joey!

Introducing Joseph Truman Jarrett...


And just a side note, Truman LOVED bubbles. And one of the first pictures I saw of Joey was him blowing bubbles. I'm so blessed that Truman's parents are allowing me to name my son after their angel, Truman!

Below is Truman blowing bubbles and our Joey with his bubbles <3

2 comments:

  1. This story touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful family, Truman is loved by so many.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This story touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful family, Truman is loved by so many.

    ReplyDelete