Max's Adoption

This post has been a long time in coming. We have waited for Max's adoption day for so long!!!  What a wonderful, magical day for us. It was absolutely EVERYTHING we hoped for, and so much more. I am so thankful that he is finally ours! Forever. He is ours. I am going to take a moment and try to write down much of our "Max" experience. 

I remember the exact day. The day I told Travis, "We are missing a baby. I feel it deep down in my core. There is a baby that is supposed to be in our home and I feel so terribly homesick for this baby! I don't know what I am supposed to do, but I do know that I can't sit by waiting for something to happen to me, I HAVE to find this baby that is supposed to be mine". Travis and I talked about many possibilities, that night. We decided that we needed to find out why I was feeling such a longing for a baby when Travis and I KNEW, without a doubt, that we were absolutely done having babies (when I say "done" I mean that we knew that I was never going to bare children again).  When we signed up for foster care, we had said that we would accept children ages 3 and up.... so we did not think that would be the route that would bring us a baby.  But here I was, longing for a baby. My arms felt so empty and I just knew that I was supposed to have another baby. Travis and I discussed our options and ended with deciding to pray and see where we were led. That night after our prayers, I went to sleep feeling peaceful and comforted, but still feeling like I needed a baby in my arms and in my life. The next morning I woke up and took all the kids to school. Then, I went home and set up a crib. Yep. I just felt like I needed to put up a crib. So I did. Then I went to Grayson's classroom to put on a Valentines Day party for his class (with all of my kids in school, I had time to be a room mom and do these sorts of things). When I got to his class, I put my phone on silent and set it in the corner of the room in my purse. I didn't think much more about it. I set about preparing the room and welcoming kids back to class and directing parents and stations. It was a fun Valentines Day. But as great as the day was, the best part of the day was just about to come.  After cleaning up from everything I went to get my purse and phone. As I walked out of the class I checked my phone, there were SEVERAL missed calls from Travis and his work. That was strange. He doesn't usually call me from work, he'll shoot a text sometimes and sometimes he calls on his lunch break, but he rarely called. So, I immediately called him back.... the staff said "He has been waiting for your call, I'll go get him".   I was getting nervous. What could he be calling me about so urgently?  When he got on the phone, he asked "Where have you been?", I told him then he said "Transitions Foster Agency called.  They have a 6 week old baby that they want us to take. They said it will be a minimum of 6 months! It's a little boy."  Travis and I were both shocked and said OF COURSE we would take the baby. They brought the baby over the next morning. It was a rainy February 15th. I remember that Travis ran out to meet the van that brought us our son.  He covered the baby in the car seat and ran him into the house. He set the car seat down, and I just hovered over him, waiting. He pulled out our baby... and put him into my arms. It will forever be engrained in my mind how he looked when I looked down at that small bundle of sweetness.  He looked up at me with big blue eyes and gave me the biggest smile I had ever seen a 6 week old give. Travis leaned over me and he looked over at Travis and grinned. Right then and there, he had me wrapped around his little finger. I was in love. Completely in love. I felt such an instant bond and such overwhelming love. It scared me. I knew that he was not mine. That he was someone else's baby. But I knew that while he was in my life, my life would be complete. Travis and I had decided the night before to not tell the kids about Max- we didn't want them to be devastated if something happened and we did not end up getting him. So, Travis and I spend the morning loving on Max, before he had to go back to work. Then I went to pick up the kids.... I remember calling to the kids at the rec center, come see what I brought you! They ran over and immediately they fell in love with Max. There were lots of hugs and kisses and squishes (the kids had been praying every night for a new child to come to our home).  They were overjoyed. It was wonderful. Life with Max was great. We loved him so much. I started taking him to visit him mom, I tried to not judge her, to just love her. We became friends. I tried to sit with her and talk to her about how she could get her baby back in her life. She tried, bless her heart, she tried hard. She loves Max so much. Then, one day, we got a call from her. She was sobbing. Desperately sobbing. She was calling to ask us if we would adopt Max. At first, I just tried to love her and see what was bringing this on. I told her that I loved her and I loved Max, and we would love to adopt Max, but why?  Is there anything I can do to help her?  She told me that she felt an instant bond with me when we met and she loves my family and wanted that for Max. She was homeless, and addicted to drugs. She had some really rough nights and she kept thinking to herself "what if I had to drag a baby through all this? Would that baby survive?"  She told me that when she met me, she felt such peace and she felt like she had this child to bring him to me and our home. She said she knew that he was meant to be mine. I was crying. She was crying. It was very emotional. She said that she wanted to always be in Max's life, but knew that she couldn't give him any kind of life. So, from that point on, we started trying to figure out what needed to be done to adopt our Max.  There was a lot of "stuff" and at some points we didn't know if it would happen- But after 16 more months of craziness, it happened!!!  Yay!!  We were finally able to adopt Max on July 19, 2013.  I will forever remember the morning of the adoption, getting everyone dressed. My hands were shaky and I was so excited and nervous at the same time. The drive to the courthouse seemed endless. The waiting in the hall way was painstakingly slow. And then, finally, they called our name. I gathered everyone up and was trying to hold back my excitement.  We walked in and Judge Bender walked toward us with his hand outstretched. He encouraged all the kids to just play and have fun. Then he sat down with us while we signed some forms.  I was feeling dizzy with anticipation. And then, he stood up and said "I would like to introduce you all to Maxton Murphy Kendall, and his parents Travis and Jennifer Kendall.".  I started crying. Travis did too. We hugged each other and Maxton. Then the rest of the kids all joined in.  I could hardly believe it. This was how it was meant to be. I know that God planned for Max to be my son. I know that in the pre-existence Max was meant to be a part of our family. He was brave and decided to find another route to be a part of our family. But he made it. I am so thankful every minute of every day that he is here. He is mine. I love him so much. 

A week later, we packed up our car and headed to Utah to seal him to us for all eternity. It was a special day. We were surrounded by friends and family. After, we went to my moms house to give him a name and a blessing. Finally, everything feels right. Everything is right.