Sawyer's Family
When Melanie was in college, she had the incredible opportunity to volunteer in Ecuador, working in the orphanages, and quickly realized that adopting was something she hoped to be a part of her future. Early on in our relationship the topic of adoption came up, and Dax was immediately on board. Our thoughts were that we would have a few biological children first, and then once we were done having “our” kids, we would adopt. After having two biological children, in June of 2017 we started thinking seriously about growing our family again. This time, though, through a series of “coincidences” we both felt like it was time to pursue adoption.
We immediately began networking with families we knew who had adopted to hear their experiences, ask our endless amount of questions, and try and find out where to start with the process. We also knew all along that we wanted to do a special needs adoption, so we started looking into various agencies with related experience. While we were open to other disabilities, we were leaning toward adopting a child with Down syndrome. Melanie’s uncle had Down syndrome and was a light to so many throughout his life and a huge blessing to their family.
Fortunately, we found an agency in Dallas (where we were living at the time) that had partnered before with the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network (NDSAN) and connected us right away. We got all of our paperwork in order, completed our home study by the end of 2017, and thought that with luck we could be blessed to be able to adopt within six months or so. Our adoption journey ended up taking longer than we planned, but when does anything worthwhile go according to plans (especially when it comes to adoption)?
In 2018 we ended up moving twice, the second time being out of state, so we basically had to start from scratch on rounding up everything for our home study. While things were progressing slower than we hoped, we knew that the right child for our family would come at the right time and held onto that hope.
Fast forward to July 5 th , 2019, almost two years to the day from when we first decided it was time to adopt. While visiting Melanie’s parents in Kentucky for the 4 th , we each saw several missed calls from Stephanie at the NDSAN. Trying not to get our hopes up, we called her back, and instantly melted in tears when we heard her say, “Congratulations! You have been matched with a baby boy…” If that wasn’t exciting enough, in the same breath she said, “… and he’s being born today in California!” The next few hours were a complete blur as our minds wrapped around the incredible answer to prayers and tried to work through logistics. We left our kids and the dog in the capable hands of Melanie’s parents, said, “Don’t know when we’ll see you, but we’re going to pick up your baby brother! Have fun! We love you!” and off we went!
While we didn’t really know what to expect as we showed up at the hospital 48 hours later (Would the staff let us in? Did they know we were coming? What is a NICU like anyway?), meeting Sawyer was a dream come true. He spent almost a month in the NICU recovering from surgery and working up to full feedings, so bringing him home finally made it all the more special. Melanie flew from Los Angeles to Atlanta with him, and Dax and the kids came to meet them at the airport at midnight. Seeing our kids’ reactions to their new baby brother was priceless – a memory we will always cherish.
Sawyer couldn’t be a more perfect match for our family, and we are forever thankful for Stephanie, the NDSAN, and many others who have helped us along this journey. He is certainly worth the wait!
July 2020
We are so excited to celebrate Sawyer’s 1st birthday. It is amazing how someone so small can make such a difference in someone’s life, but Sawyer has been such a gift to our family. We are so humbled and grateful that we get to be a part of his story.
July 5, 2021
Sawyer is doing so well and is an absolute ray of sunshine in our lives. He just started walking, just in time for his Birthday! He works so hard in therapy, is a quick learner, and absolutely loves people. His favorite things are playing in water and playing with balls and bubbles.
January 2022
Sawyer is pure sunshine! He is 2 1/2 and very much a toddler, in every sense of the word. Developmentally, he is doing so well. He learned to walk about a month before his second birthday and hasn't slowed down since. He loves to climb, play with balls, and splash in the bath. He's starting to pick up some phrases like "Hi Mommy" and "I want down." He absolutely loves music and doing the actions to his favorite songs. He has a special way of drawing people out of themselves and making connections and makes friends wherever he goes. His big brother and sister adore him and are really good at including him in their play. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. Thank you for your continued support!
August 2022
Sawyer is growing and developing so well! Busy is probably the best word to describe him right now, but busy is great because he's doing all the typical toddler things. He loves playing at the park, playing catch, building with blocks, reading books, taking the dog on walks, and singing songs. He has moderate hearing loss and actually loves wearing his hearing aids. He loves to wave and say hi to everyone he sees, and saves hugs for his favorite people, like his family, friends, and therapists. He has the best giggle in the world and the sweetest little heart. He'll be starting preschool soon, and we can't wait to see what kind of growth he'll experience because of it.
Thanks for your continued support for our little ray of sunshine!
July 2023
As far as updates go, Sawyer is doing great! He completed a full year of the 3 year old preschool program at school and instantly grew a fan club throughout the school (and wore his teachers out). This school year he'll be moving to a nearby school to participate in a blended PreK program that is more inclusive and gives him an opportunity to learn alongside his typical peers with extra special ed support in the classroom. Last year he had some much growth being in school, so we can't wait to see how he does this year!
We signed Sawyer up for soccer this Fall with our local youth sports association. My husband, Dax, is planning to coach his team and our 11 year old wants to assist him, so that will be quite the family affair. Sawyer is really athletically inclined, dribbling the soccer ball up and down the sideline at his brother's games, has a mean throw, and is a fast little runner, so it should be fun!
His language is coming along great, although he still needs a lot of help with articulation, which we're addressing in Speech therapy. He has moderately severe hearing loss in both ears, but he absolutely loves wearing his hearing aids (fortunately). We have been lucky with what a healthy kid he has been, but he has had chronic and rare issues related to his ears unfortunately. He will be going in for his 8th ear-related surgery on Tuesday, so any prayers would be appreciated. We're hoping this is the last one he'll need, and know he is in very capable hands.
As far as family updates go, I went back to work as a special education teacher at the beginning of this year, teaching special ed preschool, of all things, and loving every minute of it. This summer we have been enjoying having family in town, trying to stay cool in this hot Texas heat, and recently got back from a trip to the beach! We also adopted a rescue dog to add to the craziness, and Sawyer absolutely loves him.
One other cute mention is that some of our best friends (who live in our neighborhood) just adopted a baby boy with Down syndrome, and he and Sawyer already seem to have an extra special bond. He kept asking to hold the baby and completely lit up whenever he got to. Can't wait to have these lucky boys grow up together.
August 2024
As far as updates go, he is doing great! Last year he was in an inclusion PreK class and did really great. Our goal is for him to be fully included with his peers in Kindergarten, and we decided to have him repeat his inclusion PreK class for one more year to give him a better foundation before moving on. He loves school, especially riding the bus!
He played soccer with the local recreation league in the Fall and Spring and loved it. This season Dax and I are coaching a miracle league which is a league for kids with disabilities that utilizes volunteer buddies to help support them on the field. It has been so much fun for all of us. Sawyer loves playing with his buddy.
This summer we mostly stayed home but lived at the pool. Sawyer had a pool party for his birthday with some of his favorite people. He currently loves Spiderman, Cocomelon, and anything related to sports. He really enjoyed watching the Olympics this summer. We rescued a dog last summer, and he and Sawyer have really become two peas in a pod, looking for mischief together :) His language has exploded over the last few months, and he has so much to say, so that has been really fun to watch.