So…I wasn’t planning on taking nearly the whole summer off from sharing my kitchen adventures with you. But I promise, there’s a good reason for this!

Riley Anne 5 weeks

As you may have seen if you follow me on Instagram or in the About area of the site, we’re in the process of adopting a baby girl! We have chosen to adopt through our state department of children and families’ foster-to-adopt program and spent the winter and most of the spring in a weekly training, meeting with our permanency social worker, and filling out more paperwork than you could possibly imagine in order to both vet us as an eligible family for the program and to build our home study and family profile.

We were licensed as a foster family at the end of July and were ready to receive calls about children (age birth to 3 were our criteria) who the department of children and families deemed potentially eligible for adoption. What this means is that there was a strong inclination towards termination of parental rights – either voluntarily or court-ordered – that would allow for a child to become available for adoption. There are countless possibilities about how this can happen for each child which are too involved – and not relevant for our situation – to discuss here.

Anyway, it’s been a complete whirlwind of a summer for us! The very first call we received about a child in one of these situations is the one we hope will work out for our family. We got this call from our permanency social worker on July 21st, found out that we were matched by the Department to move towards adopting who we are now calling Riley Anne on July 25th, went on a pre-planned vacation which turned into our “babymoon” the following week, and brought Riley home with us on August 11th.

Riley is now 8 weeks old and we’re in week 4 with her at home. We are completely smitten with this girl and are absolutely loving the time we’re spending with her while we get to know her and integrate her into our home and family. We didn’t have much time to plan for her arrival, especially since we didn’t know what age child we would be matched with, so we’ve done LOTS of shopping since we found out about her and are putting the finishing touches on her nursery (will share this in a separate post!). And I’ve done a ton of cooking in the past couple of weeks to stock the freezer with meals that are easy to heat in a pinch on nights when I’ve got nothing left in the tank to cook.

I’ll be home with Riley through the Christmas and will return to work in early January. I’m really hoping to revive this space a bit during these few months and take advantage of the time she’s sleeping during the day (in between my own naps of course! ha!). I’ll post another adoption journey update as we move closer to this gigantic milestone over the next few months. We expect her adoption will be finalized within 3 to 6 months.

Before I close out this post, I want to truly thank all of you who have reached out with your thoughts, prayers, and celebrations since we started our adoption journey. This is a heavily emotional time and process for us and we cannot thank you enough for all of the love you’ve shown. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Due to our obligation to protect Riley’s privacy while she is in the foster care system, we won’t be showing any photos of her face on the blog or social media until after we adopt her. I’m sorry!! Trust me though, she’s a beautiful baby! Also, we will not be sharing the circumstances under which she came into foster care. Not only are we bound by confidentiality laws, but we believe this is her story to tell if she chooses to, not ours.

If you have questions about the foster-to-adopt program (this type of program is found in other states, too) or about the adoption process, please feel free to reach out to me directly via the Connect page or in the comments below if you feel comfortable.

Our Adoption Journey Part 1

Ingredients

4 lbs peaches, sliced in half and pitted
1 cup brown sugar
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

  • 01

    Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a full sheet pan or two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Lay the peach halves cut side down. Roast for 40 minutes until the peaches are soft and the skins are crinkly.

    Slip the skins off the peaches and discard. Transfer the peaches and their remaining juices from the pan(s) to deep stockpot and mash the peaches until slightly chunky.

  • 02

    Stir the sugar into the peaches and let sit for a couple minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice.

adapted from Preserving by the Pint by Marissa McClellan

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Leave a Comment

  • Ashley
    September 6, 2017 at 3:08 PM

    I’m so so happy for you guys. Hopefully her adoption process goes smoothly, and quickly!

    • Tara
      September 6, 2017 at 7:17 PM

      Thank you, Ashley! We’re hoping for the same!!

  • Cara
    September 6, 2017 at 3:42 PM

    I am over the moon for you and Kyle! Little Miss could not have better parents! Congrats again!

    • Tara
      September 6, 2017 at 7:16 PM

      Thank you, Cara!!

  • Melissa Brooker
    September 6, 2017 at 7:32 PM

    Tara I am SO happy for you!! I understand the fertility struggle and also understand the need to build a family any way you can! I wish you all the best! Riley is lucky to have you!!

    • Tara
      September 7, 2017 at 7:43 AM

      Thank you, Melissa!! I didn’t touch much on our infertility struggle in this post – it still feels pretty raw – but I know there are so many families out there feeling the same pain. I hope your journey was successful! We feel pretty luck too!

  • Sarah
    September 6, 2017 at 8:07 PM

    Sending prayers for a beautiful adoption journey.

    • Tara
      September 7, 2017 at 7:32 AM

      Thank you so much, Sarah! We’re in need of them as we move through the next few months.

  • Mel
    September 7, 2017 at 7:21 AM

    Congratulations! What exciting news!

    • Tara
      September 7, 2017 at 7:31 AM

      Thank you, Mel!

  • Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
    September 7, 2017 at 9:14 AM

    awwww congrats on sweet little Riley!!! I have friends who are in the process of adopting a 2 year old through the foster-to-adopt program as well so I know how much goes into it-take all the time you need <3

    • Tara
      September 8, 2017 at 4:44 PM

      Thanks, Kayle!! I’m so thrilled to be able share this with everyone!

  • Shari barnes
    September 8, 2017 at 1:24 PM

    This is truly awesome, I pray that the Lord will help you al during this transition and cement the process seamlessly. This is truly a blessing for you both.

    • Tara
      September 8, 2017 at 4:42 PM

      Thank you, Shari! I so appreciate your kind words and prayers – we need them! 🙂

  • Danielle
    September 11, 2017 at 12:45 PM

    This brings tears to my eyes – I hope all of this works out the best for all involved. There is nothing like the blessing of a baby!

    • Tara
      September 13, 2017 at 11:23 AM

      Thank you so much, Danielle! I couldn’t agree more!

  • Whitney S.
    January 26, 2018 at 3:42 PM

    This is absolutely beautiful! Also, my son’s name is Reilly and my middle name is Ann. So I love your names 🙂

    • Tara
      January 28, 2018 at 7:44 AM

      Awwww thank you!! We debated for about 2 weeks on how to spell her name – were considering Reilly as well – but Anne was the surest bet from the start. Thank you for saying hello!