Well, we are still floating on Cloud NINE and grinning from ear-to-ear!!! Its a wonder I got any work done at ALL today!!!! Came home to the news that we have to update our home study, so I got right on that immediately! Not without a bit of a grumpiness, I must admit.........that is, until I looked into the eyes of our SON!!!!! Oh, how he just melts.my.heart!!!!!!!
I carry his picture into every room I go, when I am home. He rides alongside me in the car. He sleeps next to me (on the nightstand) when I am in bed. I am totally AMAZED what a calming peace that overcomes me when I look into his precious face!!!!!! It is absolutely B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L the effect he has on me!!!!!!! (and Daddy too!)
Well, for those of you interested, and to help me remember the details of getting "THE CALL" (like I would ever forget such a moment as this!), I wanted to share "the story" with you all.........
It was Thursday afternoon, May 19, 2011. I was feeling sick ~ well, my not-so-nice friend "Flo" was having another cranky visit, if you want to know the truth of it! So I wasn't up and moving around much that day. I was standing in the kitchen, and I cannot describe the SHOCK and AWE I felt when I saw those three area code numbers on my phone. 703!
I literally gasped ~ even stepped back AWAY from my cell in disbelief! What was I thinking!?!? I then tried in my "oh so faith-filled manner" to convince myself that this wasn't THE call. "It must just be a paperwork question kind of call" I told myself (yes,out loud). However, deep down I knew that I knew THIS WAS IT!!!! THIS WAS OUR CALL!!!! And I was covered in this overwhelming peace, excitement and SHOCK!!!
Having processed all of this in a matter of moments, I took a deep breath and answered the phone, trying to sound all calm and unsuspecting ~ doubt I was very convincing {smile}. Lauren explained she was helping out Caitlin, our FC, while she was on vacation and proceeded to say that she was calling with our REFERRAL FOR A LITTLE BOY!!!!!! I immediately started crying. BAWLING in fact. Right then and there.
She went on to tell me that he is only 2 1/2 months old!!!!!! Hearing his age brought me to my knees! Literally! The tears flowed even harder. Yes, I was on my knees, face to the sky/God, crying OUT LOUD like a baby! You see, I had prayed and prayed for a child as young as possible, hoping to experience as much infancy as possible with our son. And Lauren just told me that God answered even those little details of my prayers!!!! (of course his physical, mental and spiritual health were the bigger details I prayed about!)
I have felt, over the last month, that God had confirmed to me that he was bringing us a son who was going to be 2-3 months old. But again, in my "oh so faith-filled way," I often questioned if that was just my heart's desire, or if that really was confirmation from God!
Well......it really WAS confirmation from God! I could hardly believe my ears!
Though Lauren continued to speak, I heard nothing.........except....."We have a 2 1/2 month old baby boy for you!"......."He's GORgeous!" Oh, I did manage to grasp her words, "He has the most BEAUTIFUL big brown eyes!"
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
She was looking at.......and describing to me....OUR SON!!!!!
PINCH ME!!!!! IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING!?!?!?!?
I began to think clearly enough to ask Lauren if she could try to conference call Jeff, as he was at the airport about to leave any second for TWO DAYS!!! His plane must have barely been in the air when she called. His phone was off. I couldn't believe he was missing this!!!!
I then apologized for "losing it" and asked her to wait before talking further, so I could collect myself and actually process the other information she was sharing with me. She graciously giggled and assured me my response was more than okay and appropriate and to "take my time." I thought to myself, "Oh, honey, you have NO IDEA how LOOOONG this is going to take to sink in!" {insert giggle here}. I somewhat gathered myself and tried to listen to the remaining information ~ with a quickened heartbeat, a monstrous grin on my face and joyful tears rolling down my cheeks.
I didn't want to share this ~ THE MOST AMAZING NEWS OF MY LIFE! ~ with anyone before my precious husband! WHAT!?!?!?!? How on EARTH was I going to keep this news quiet for two plus hours!?!?!?!!?
I must have called Jeff's phone ten times, knowing full well he couldn't answer from the plane. I even went to the email titled "REFERRAL!" reminding myself that I didn't want to open it without Jeff. God gave me a little extra strength to refrain, as our internet began to malfunction and I could not even open up the email! I took that as my sign that even "snooping" at the first sentence was a no-no.
I went to my naturopath appointment (okay, I did share the excitement with her and her front office girl.....but I had to share with someone......who better than mere strangers, as I had only met with her two times previously!) Then, as time ticked away, I caved and called my mom and shared the news with her! I knew Jeff would totally understand, which he did! {sweet guy}
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y Jeff landed in Denver. He wasn't even off the plane yet, and just as he turned on his phone it began ringing (it was only my twentieth time of calling, I'm sure), and I shared with him the news that he was a DADDY!!!!! He was so stunned and excited, he made me repeat it to him before it really sunk in!
He got the person sitting next to him to take his picture to capture the very moment he heard the news of his son!
I was alone at home (in the nursery) at this time, so my computer took my pic, to capture where I was as we opened our "REFERRAL" email together! Please remember I wasn't feeling well.........
Jeff found got off the plane, found a seat, pulled out his ipad, and we clicked on the "REFERRAL" email simultaneously. We browsed through the letter and reports rather quickly, wanting to get to our son's pictures! HUH! There.he.was. Right before our eyes! His precious sweet face. His GORGEOUS big brown eyes. His sweet little lips (like his mommy and daddy!). OH, MY!!!!
The tears flowed. Again. Wonderful, beautiful, tender tears. Our babe was so little! Yet he looked rather healthy! He had immediately captured both Mommy and Daddy's hearts!!!! We just kept oooing and aahhhhing over him! We couldn't get over the fact that we had "met" OUR SON!!!!! The son we had grown to love long before ever laying eyes on him. And now, seeing him, we were even MORE IN LOVE WITH HIM!!!!! There was no question in our minds that HE was THE little one we had been waiting for all this time! HE was the little one God had so Divinely orchestrated to bring to us to create our family! Not "just any boy" would do. It was meant to be our little K*****!
AND HE IS WORTH THE WAIT!!!!!!
People told me when we laid eyes on him we would totally understand why we had to wait so long. TOTALLY TRUE!!!! We understand that pain of our longer wait was because he wasn't even born yet, when we were 6 months DTE!!! Oh, how the wait seems trivial as I gaze into our precious son's face.
We went back up in the email and reviewed the previous information and learned more about our precious babe. Praising God for His health!!!! It took Jeff's plane being called to board to force us to move from our spots ~ well, Daddy, anyway. Mommy stayed in the nursery a while longer just staring at his face. His picture has never left my presence since ~ although it is hidden when not at home.
You see, unfortunately, we are not allowed to share with you the beauty of our babe. Yet! To protect his privacy, we cannot publicize his face until he is officially OURS. This occurs when we PASS COURT!!!!!!!
"So what is next?" We begin waiting. Again. Only this time, we know WHO we are waiting for. We know WHO we have been loving all along this journey. We know our son!
We wait to hear of when we can have a court date. When we receive this date, we will get to travel to Ethiopia to meet K***** for the first time and go to court to state our commitment to love and cherish this little boy for the rest of our lives. To PASS court (which means it becomes official that he is our son), an Ethiopian agency must produce this one ever-so-important letter stating Ethiopia's approval of this adoption. NO adoption can be final without this letter. If this letter is not present, we do not pass court. And won't until that letter is written.
This burdens our hearts, in that this agency, MOWCYA, has inconsistently had this letter present for people's first court date. They do get it written in time, but there is not real way to predict when it will be produced.
Here's where YOU come in!!!! We ask each and every one of you to PLEASE PRAY OUR SON HOME!!!! Please PRAY that we get a court date in JULY and that we PASS that first court date!!!!
You see, the Ethiopian courts close for (TWO MONTHS!!!!!) in August due to the Rainy Season over there. With all the rain, travel is nearly impossible (think dirt roads with large pot holes), so they close down the court system. If we do not pass before this closure, it could delay our son's arrival HOME by 2-4 months!
That is a difference of passing court in July and coming home early September or not passing court and hoping to have him home by Christmas!
PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY WE NOT JUST GET A
COURT DATE IN JULY BUT PASS IN JULY!!!!!!!
HELP PRAY OUR LITTLE GUY HOME!!!!!!!
Please also pray that God will bring him nannies to love on him, nurture him, attach to him (so its easier for him to attach to us!), feed him and encourage him to thrive. That he will be able to feel God's presence and love, as well as Mommy and Daddy's love.
We cannot THANK YOU enough for all of your prayers, love and encouragement through this process! Although you may not be able to look into our precious son's eyes yet, trust us!
HE IS WORTH EVERY PRAYER! EVERY TEAR! EVERY MOMENT SPENT WAITING!!!!!
But we hope to have the remainder of this process go smoothly and quickly, so as to bring this amazing boy HOME!!!!!!!!
