John and the Text That Changed Everything

In honor of my favorite three-year-old in the world, here is the story of The Text that Changed Everything.

Once upon a time, Mike and I were happy parents of a busy, beautiful two-year-old boy, Henry.  He was growing, he was sweet, he was intelligent, and he was letting us sleep quite a bit.  And by all accounts, we had struck adoption gold - no complications, no delays, no legal hiccups, and minimal birth family drama.  We had been able to finalize his adoption in court on time, perform a Mormon family ceremony ("sealing" Henry to our family) in the Salt Lake temple at our leisure, and post happy pictures on Facebook with wild abandon.

And I thought I was busy.  I had a toddler boy, for crying out loud!  I had only his two naptimes per day, every evening, and weekends to do housework, magnify my Stake YW President calling, and enjoy my own pursuits. Phew.

Then, in late March of 2013: "Would you consider adopting a child whose parents you knew?" came the text on Mike's phone.  It was from our friend Toni, who we know from church and who, with her family, live a couple doors down from my parents.  This has come to be known in our family lore as The Text That Changed Everything.

We knew a little bit about the family.  We knew the most about Toni's son, Johnny, who was our dear friend and had recently been killed in a car accident. I knew Toni also had a couple of daughters, but it was Mike who knew them personally, as he had employed them both at different times in the past.  So, after some conjecture between Mike and I about what exactly the mysterious text might mean exactly, we said yes, we would consider just about anything.

It was a couple days later that we formally met little Cooper John.  We had seen him from the opposite side of the chapel on Sundays but had no real one-on-one interaction with him.  (We were super busy new parents, after all!)  It was Toni's daughter Lori who had made that courageous decision to send the text that would be the first step in welcoming her precious son into our family.  This is the very first picture I snapped of him:

Soooo cute, right???  Those cheeks!  And that smile!  He was a hummingbird of a one-year-old boy, incredibly busy and curious.  But such a sweet, loving soul.  Very quick to smile.  Even now, on the occasion of his third birthday, most of the pictures I take of him are blurry.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we began to fall in love with him.  We spent time with him at both our home and at Toni's home, visited with and got to know the heroic Lori, met with lawyers and a social worker, and eventually, on Sunday, May 20, 2013, brought him home to stay:

Photo credit to Ann Mines Bailey

(I like to think of this as the moment where Henry realized he really, truly got a brother!)

Wanting to honor the afore-mentioned Johnny (as well as Toni's husband John), we decided that his middle name should become his first. And for continuity, we gave him the middle name William so that both of our boys have middle names from their uncles.

And, once again, we struck adoption gold.  No complications, no delays, no legal hiccups, and no birth family drama.  We were able to finalize his adoption in the court on time, perform our family sealing in the LDS temple soon thereafter, and Facebook has never seen such handsomeness!

One of the first moments of real brotherhood I captured: (Fun Fact: they are now the same height)

Each Sunday, and as we run into each other around town, we are able to talk with and share this miracle of a boy with his birth family.  They have been understanding about our need to bond as a family, which has been a huge blessing.  I am not one to shy away from social media, so I know that they are able to watch him grow and receive news.

I really don't remember life before our little John. And yes, I am busier than ever before.  But, thanks to The Text That Changed Everything, everything has indeed changed.

Making his 3rd birthday cupcakes, morning of March 16, 2015