Amy Twitty is an amazing woman and mom of two little girls. Her journey to motherhood is a difficult and inspiring one.
I first met Amy when we were at a warehouse sale both finding treasures. She was openhearted and kind. We chatted, but I had no idea of her story when I saw her with her baby. Little did I know the years it took to get that sweet baby.
It’s not always been easy, but the journey has brought her two precious daughters who are an answer to many heartfelt prayers. Motherhood is a precious gift that she is able to love and appreciate with her whole heart.
For many years she yearned to be a mom and have a messy house with toys thrown all over the place. She knows that feeling all too well. Today, Amy has been married for 16 years and has two beautiful little girls to call her own, through the miracle of adoption.
Life has been full of surprises, trials, strength building experiences, and pure joy! Amy Twitty is someone that has inspired me and I am so happy to share her story as my next inspiring mom. We sat down in her home. While we visited we laughed and cried about her difficult but beautiful journey.
Strong Bond and Marriage
Amy met her husband, Casey, in college. The second she saw him she had a crush on him. They had mutual friends and quickly became best friends. All of their time was spent together. It was easy to be with him.
Looking back now she sees what a blessing their love and friendship have been in their life. Much of their marriage has been just the two of them. Loving each other’s company has been an anchor in the trials faced together.
I had to ask Amy after 16 years of marriage and hard times and good times what advice she would offer. I loved what she said without a minute of hesitation, “You have to have fun and laugh. It has made our hard times a little easier, and you realize how much you love them and truly what a best friend you have.” She also said how vital it is to communicate. She said, “Communicate everything, the good and the bad. You can never share too much with person you love.” I loved that! It took her some time to learn that.
Her husband comes from a family of all boys. So, he had to learn to communicate and she had to learn that men can’t read minds. We had a good laugh with that, but we really need to remember that. “It’s important to push each other and encourage each other,” Amy said. Casey has always given her advice but has never discouraged her and that has meant everything. I loved her beautiful and timeless advice.
The Early Years
After Amy and Casey had been married about five years, she thought they’d tried getting pregnant long enough. Perhaps they needed help from a specialist. In the back of her heart, she thought it might be the all too familiar struggle of fertility that also affected members of her family.
They decided to get serious and see a specialist. Amy met with doctors and had several appointments. Over time they tried everything and then, tried again. At that point, their doctor recommended they consider adoption. They were silent. Hearing the words out loud, it became real.
With tears in her eyes from recalling that moment in her life, Amy told me that it took some time for them both to get on the same page emotionally. From a very real place, she told me, “It can take a toll on your marriage. It has so many unknowns. It’s so easy to get frustrated and or sad with each other.”
She went on to say how it was hard on her as a mother and a wife. Personally, she felt a sense of responsibility that this was her fault. My eyes welled up and I could feel her hurt.
Of course, it’s not her fault and no one ever made her feel that way. However, this is how she truly felt. These are her real, uncut, and raw thoughts about starting this journey. I know so many moms have felt that pain and can so relate to those natural feelings. It was the start of a journey that she and Casey knew wouldn’t be easy.
The Adoption Journey Begins
The adoption process for them was every bit as heart-wrenching. They had two birth mothers change their minds when they were close to adopting. It’s an emotional roller coaster that can only be understood if you have lived it.
Amy said, “Adoption is a leap of faith. It’s a spiritual experience that is hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t gone through it. There are so many unknowns. Will this child love us? Will this baby hold my heart as if I were to carry it myself? Will this precious child question why they were placed for adoption?”
There were many heartbreaking moments. Not only were they yearning to adopt a child, they were being judged for not having children. People assumed they simply didn’t want kids. In a joking way, they’d say “I would trade my kids for your house.” Instantly, Amy responded, “I would trade anything for kids.”
Amy was at a personal low at this point in her life. At that time she experienced some of the hardest and darkest days she can remember. Her sense of self-worth was so low and nothing seemed to be going right or as planned or hoped. Life was a bitter place, and it was hard for Amy to function.
She walked alone on the side of the road and bawled. In a desperate and dark place, she said a prayer. She prayed for a miracle, for help, for love, and for hope. She pleaded with God saying, “I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this and carry this burden.”
An Olivia Miracle Came
I love the quote from Spencer W. Kimball, “God does watch over us and does notice us, but it is usually through someone else that He meets our needs.” One day Amy received a phone call from her husband’s co-worker who knew they were looking into adoption. His sister-in-law’s friend was a birth mother looking for a family for her daughter. They had an independent lawyer for adoption and got a text of a tiny 6-month-old baby girl on her phone. Looking at that picture, Amy and her husband knew that their life was about to change forever.
They drove to Logan, Utah nervous and excited to meet this baby in person.
From her memory book on Olivia, Amy wrote, “Driving to meet you felt like we were driving for days. When we met you, the family you were staying with was beyond sweet and comforting. They suggested we take you for a drive and have some alone time with you. We ended up at a park, typical for Dad and I. We love going to the park almost daily during the summer. You were a little shy at first, which you still are today around strangers, and soon you were laughing and giggling rolling all around on this perfect summer night. You had our hearts. Your big brown eyes were looking through mine, and it was like you were saying ‘Mommy and Daddy, you found me!’ We were a family.”
Amy couldn’t deny the feeling she had at the park holding this sweet baby girl. She told me she thought, “I am not going home without her today.” She knew this was her baby girl and daughter. She knew it was an answer to prayers and had so many little miracles of so many that helped in this becoming a reality. She couldn’t deny God’s hand in this and an answer to her desperate prayer.
Amy continues in her own words for Olivia’s memory book:
“Driving home you cried and Mommy tried comforting as mommy’s do. I had no idea what I was doing, but I tried. Finally, you fell asleep. Calling family members saying there was a new addition to the family, calling friends to say that their prayers were appreciated over the past 7 years and had finally been answered, and calling bosses saying I wouldn’t be to work in the morning or ever because I was now a mommy. Those were the happiest phone calls we will ever make.”
What a dream come true to adopt this sweet little baby, and they named her Olivia. The process went great and they have an open adoption. Every year since that day in the park, they take Olivia to that park and celebrate her “Gotcha” day. They grab lunch and sit there and make it all about her and her special day. I couldn’t hold back of the tears of how sweet that is!! I see them as a family with Olivia, a mother celebrating with lots of kids and grandkids celebrating her “Gotcha” day.
Pink Parlor/Liv n Hope
When Olivia was little, Amy started a family blog with a desire to share her pictures with family and friends. When Olivia was four, they knew they would want another a baby and sibling for Olivia. They knew first it wouldn’t be cheap and would be hard again, but with courage and a lot of ambition, they started again on the journey of adoption. This was going to be a private adoption and they would need $40,000 cash. It seemed like a huge undertaking, and Amy wanted to help as much as she could as a full-time mom.
Amy always had a love for sewing, crafting, and creating and she made a cute little teepee tent. Her friends and neighbors loved it and wanted her to make one for them. Before she knew it she was selling the teepee tents and everyone was loving them. She was able to make a little business out of it and called it Pink Parlor. The money she would make from the tents would go to her adoption costs. She was on a mission. Amy applied to sell at her first market called Bijou Craft Market and sold 80 tents. Amy said she was overwhelmed at the support. She then sold at Swiss Days, another local craft market.
She loved that she was being creative and contributing to the costs of adoption all while being a stay at home mom. She and her mom would sew all night making the tents and it was hard work, but it kept her mind off the stress and the excitement of it all instead. It was a beautiful blessing her life. She started an Instagram account sharing her story and designs of tents for sale.
She loved the support and the community it gave her. After another devastating almost adoption she found herself starting over again. Even with a broken heart and all her hopes being let down, she has nothing but love for the birth moms and wishes them the best.
She later got the idea to sell and print shirts. The t-shirts took off and she had her mantra on the shirt “Live with love and Hope with a heart”. The Instagram account grew and she named it “Liveandhope”. Each shirt she would sell and fold reminded her of hard work and not giving up. She felt the support and love from strangers and friends in her journey. Years had gone by hopes were let down and still she worked hard and had hope and love in her dream in giving “Liv” a baby sister or brother.
An Absolute Millie Miracle
Amy’s daughter Liv had a best friend who was also adopted and had a young adopted sister. One day Amy got a phone call from her friend, Liv’s friend’s mom. She told Amy that the birth mother of her girls was pregnant again and looking for an adoptive family.
She couldn’t believe it.
She’d always thought she was the cutest little thing and now she could possibly adopt her half sister. All the paperwork was in except for one signature. That one signature was what was holding her between being selected. She rushed down. A miracle enabled her to expedite the paperwork allowing it to go through on time.
Amy will forever be grateful for the kindness of a stranger who submitted the papers without the weeks of delay. Amy said the amount of paperwork is like thinking of your taxes and multiplying that times five.
The family selected Amy and her husband and they were going to adopt a new baby girl. Amy was able to be in the hospital room when Millie was born and watch her angel miracle come into this world.
Millie Hope was born and a true miracle in her life. It was a moment that she will never forget as she held her baby from a birth mom who was allowing her the greatest gift of motherhood. So much unselfish love was in that one room on one glorious day.
A Family is Born in Love
After years of tears and trying crafting, selling, and creating she and her husband are raising two precious daughters. Her favorite quote that has always helped is “I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but I do know why.” –Unknown
Amy said, “We are a family like everyone else. We came together in the way we were meant to be.” She also says, “We don’t want to be labeled.” Amy has been able to give so much hope to mothers in the same situation. She gets emails all the time from women asking, “Where do I start?”
Amy has found healing and love in sharing her message with others. The proceeds from her t-shirt sales continue to help others in their journey of adoption. It’s her way of giving back and paying it forward to so many that helped her.
She has hosted events called Bright Night, a day and evening women’s conference geared to uplifting and inspiring moms and women. Proceeds from her first event went to help adoptions and they continue to support women’s causes and women in need. She is a true light and uses her platform on Instagram, her blog, and social media to help and uplift others. She is a true woman of inspiration and loves to help and serve even when people aren’t watching or posting. I feel so lucky to call her friend and have my heart be touched by her story and example.
Amy’s Favorites
I love to ask these inspiring mamas what some of their favorites are. It’s so fun to see what inspires them!! Here are a few of hers:
Favorite Quotes:
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway” – Earl Nightingale
“What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be.” – Socrates
“Don’t be ashamed of your story, it will inspire others.”
“Every Accomplishment starts with a decision to try.” – Gail Devers
Thank you again for spending some time with me, I loved chatting with you and getting to know you better. You are incredibly sweet and inspiring others.
Amy’s Favorite Things:
Favorite Book: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert
Favorite Children’s Book: If Kisses Were Colors, Janet Lawler
Favorite Inspiring person: Jeffrey R. Holland and Brene Brown
Favorite Skincare: Salis
Favorite Cleaning Product: Mr. Clean
Favorite Lipstick: Revlon Ultra HD Intensity
Where to find Amy Twitty
You can find Amy and her inspiration at www.livandhope.blogspot.com and on Instagram @livandhope. Thank you Amy for letting me interview you as my next inspiring mom. I loved hanging out with you and talking. I am so happy to call you friend and share your positivity and example with others.
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