Meet Zariah!

Meet Zariah! Although she may be small, she is definitely mighty and has made so many milestones recently! To learn more about Zariah's adoption story, her love for the song Some Things Never Change, and her family's mission to raise awareness, read the interview down below. 
 
1. To start off, can you tell me a little bit about Zariah? 
Zariah is 1.5 years old, and was adopted on April 6th! She has schizencephaly which causes abnormal slits/clefts in the brain, arthrogryposis which is characterized by stiff joints, moebius syndrome which causes difficulty in controlling eye movements and facial expressions, cerebral palsy, has no function of her arms, laryngomalacia which affects her voice box, and is 100% g tube fed. However, while Zariah might be small, she is definitely mighty and captures all of our hearts! Zariah has been such a blessing in our lives and I cannot be prouder to be her mom.  

2. What was your journey like with adopting Zariah? 
I'm a NICU nurse and I met Zariah February of last year. Her parents never visited, and it soon became clear that she was most likely going into foster care due to neglect. I really wanted to take Zariah home, but my husband was a little hesitant, especially since he never met her and he wasn't allowed to meet her until after we agreed to foster her. However, he finally did come around and said that he thought we should go along on this journey as well. The moment my husband saw Zariah for the first time, he started tearing up and he knew he was meant to be her dad. So from the point on we were all in! It took a few months before we could take her home from the NICU because we had to get home health set up for her, but we got to take her home in October. Then in December her biological mother signed consent for the adoption as well as her biological dad in January. On April 6th, one day short of being a foster care for a year, Zariah became ours!

3. What are Zariah’s hobbies? What is her personality like?
She loves listening and dancing to music! You can always find her watching Frozen 2 on repeat and singing along to the song Some Things Never Change. She is also a big fan of cuddles and never gets tired of them :) 

4. What are some of Zariah’s best strengths?
 She is cognitively not that far behind where she should be, and she has learned to do so many things with her feet! We are so proud of Zariah and she has made so much progress since we first fostered her.  

5. What resources have been helpful for you as Zariah's parent?
The early intervention program in my state has been such a lifesaver! They have given us so many therapy resources which really helped a lot with Zariah's progress.