Zoey Avanell

I’m going to break one of my blogging rules and talk about my youngest stepdaughter. I generally don’t say much about my stepdaughters because I don’t feel it’s my place to share their lives on my blog. Ashley has had a rough couple of years. Much of it self-inflicted and she knows that and owns it. Bad decisions render bad results. She has really turned things around and is working really hard right now.

Ashley will be 20 in April, she is Mia’s mom, Mia will be 2 in July. Last fall Ashley called Steve and told him she was pregnant again. She didn’t want to call him. She didn’t want to be pregnant. She didn’t want to raise another child. She told us she was going to put the baby up for adoption.

She found a family, but that fell through rather quickly. I know 4 families that would like to adopt a baby. So Ashley called me and asked if I would check with them. But I had this weird feeling that I should contact someone other than any of these 4.

My college roommate is my age, but is in a much different place in life. (I don’t meant the fact that she lives in Bakersfield, CA either.) Rebecca has a wonderful husband and a 6 year old son. God, who we recognize his wisdom in this situation and Rebecca definitely seeks to follow God’s will, had chosen not to bless them with another child. Rebecca really wanted one, and was struggling with stuff that went along with this disappointment, including a couple miscarriages. I can’t imagine the feelings of loss. (And I didn’t know how bad it was, I did know about it.)

She had planned to attend a Grief Share Support Group to help her deal with these feelings. And the night of her first meeting, while she was sitting in the meeting, she got a text from me asking if they had ever considered adopting. She said yes, but there are so many things that make it difficult. I asked her if she would be interested if I could give her a baby in March. She asked if I was kidding.

Here we are on March 13th, and Rebecca was in the delivery room today with Ashley (dad Justin opted to hang out in the waiting room with big brother Josh) when Zoey Avanell Dyck entered the world. 7 lbs 19 ¾ inches.