March 2022 Adoption Day Session
As a newborn and family photographer, I sometimes get the privilege of traveling to see friends and photographing their big milestones.
If you've been around here for awhile, then you may remember Baby Felicity's newborn session and the Bond family's incredible story. But after the birth of Felicity, their story wasn't over. Emma and Colin are dear friends of mine from Wisconsin, where they were stationed for Colin's military training. Emma and I became close friends through bonding over one significant shared passion: a burden for foster care.
I entered their life a few weeks after they had picked up Lorraina as a newborn from the hospital. I had the honor of being Nate and Lorraina's babysitter, while I lived in Wisconsin for two years. These kids instantly wrapped my heart around their little fingers. I was their "Miss Annika." While I am not a foster parent, I had the opportunity to care for them while one child or the other was at therapy, meetings, doctor's appointments, mentorships, and the list could go on. I sat with Emma after court cases that typically resulted in dramatic outcomes and overwhelming emotions and just listened. I hugged these kids from the moment I walked in the door to the moment I laid them in bed to go to sleep. Sometimes, after the baby was asleep, I would sneak back into the nursery to just hold her a second longer. A touch she never got to experience from her own mother.
Emma and I spent hours dreaming of the day these two kiddos would officially become Bonds. After I moved away she would frequently text me updates about the progress of their cases, but unfortunately the pandemic put a giant wrench in their plans and paused all potential court dates. This was devastating, and for the following year it was an uphill battle getting a court date set in place. But after three years, Nate and Lorraina were officially added to their forever home!! It was just so special to see how God worked out the details!
The day was filled with lots of hugs, lots of laughter, and lots and lots of tears of the best kind. It was genuinely such a beautiful day seeing the Bond family surrounded by family and friends that have supported them through this whole journey!! While I know that adoption can’t fix all of life’s problems and it can’t take away the hurt that these two little ones have experienced, it can offer them one thing that they haven’t had for three years while in foster care. Security. No more court cases. No more uncertainty. Just family and friends that love them so, so much! I’m so thankful for the privilege I’ve had of playing a role in these sweet kid's life and adoption journey. And I'm excited to see what life has next for the Bond family!
To learn more about foster care, you can learn more HERE.
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