Our wedding was small and only included the three of us. Isaac, my son, walked me down the aisle and gave me a way to his soon-to-be stepdad. Joe reserved a special part of the ceremony to present Isaac with a gift and read vows not just to me, but to my son. While Joe has not "adopted" Isaac because Isaac's dad is very much in our lives, Joe and Isaac share a wonderful relationship. Isaac says he's lucky to have two awesome dads.
The love Joe had for Isaac was proof to me that it did not matter how we grew our family. We would have another child, and adoption was a great way to expand on our love.
We chose domestic infant adoption because it was important to me that Joe have the experience of fatherhood from the beginning: to be called dad, to understand the unconditional love that comes with spit-up, dirty diapers, and midnight cries that turn to snuggles.
When Ezra was born, the stress we felt for years of trying to conceive and waiting for adoption was all gone. We were complete. He was our little miracle. Through local open adoption, we have extended our family in ways we never knew possible. We don't celebrate just one dad on Father's Day anymore!
I once asked Joe if being a dad was what he expected. He said no, but he didn't offer much explanation. When I asked him to clarify, he stumbled over his words for several minutes then he finally said "I never thought it was possible to actually want to eat someone!" Yeah, our little squishy is edible!
