Day One

Hi from Texas!!!! I can't wait to share a great story with you! I'm sorry in advance if it is jumbled, my brain is going in a million different directions! LOL But I want to try to remember everything!!

Yesterday was a very exciting, emotional, rushed, shocking, amazing kinda day. But I need to share a little back story first.

As you know, we were matched with our sweet D. in October and formed an incredible friendship over the next four months. Her induction date was to be March 7th, at 37 weeks and we were to be there. You also know, that the birth father showed out of nowhere and rocked our little world of plans on Valentine's Day. It has been a really really tough time for all parties involved, and D. still needs your prayers. She has not yet given birth to the precious baby inside of her and so many logistics have not been ironed out yet, so peace is sometimes hard to hold on to. But she is so strong and so faithful. It is so hard to know what God's plans are. But God knows, and I trust He will bring all parties through this. On a side note, we will definitely be seeing her while we are here and so looking forward to it!

After our match fell through, we pushed all the baby shower gifts and his packed suitcase inside the nursery and shut the door. Little did we know we would need those things only 3 weeks later! Last week, we told our social worker that we guessed we should go back on the list, still dreading a long time til another match, and also dreading waiting a long time for delivery, but we were willing to do whatever it took of course. Turns out, we didn't have to wait long at all for the miracle God had in store for us. On Monday March 4th, 2012 we receivd a phone call from the agency letting us know that a woman (S.) had given birth that morning to a baby boy and that she wanted to choose adoption for him. Our profile was one of the several that were taken to her to choose from. We couldn't believe it! At that point we had no idea that we would be chosen, but just the though that something like that could happen so fast had us very excited and amazed!! We had prayed for something to happen quickly, but we still had no idea........

We only told our parents and a couple of friends but our adoption in general was lifted up in prayer by so many people, most people only knowing that something was brewing on the adoption front but no specifics. S. did not choose a family that day, but we were told she would make her decision on Tuesday and that the birth father (E.) would be signing his papers on Tuesday as well. Tuesday came and went, possibly the longest day of my life. With no phone call!!! I knew that S. would be signing her papers on Wednesday morning and that baby would possibly be discharged that day as well. We had no idea if she had chosen a family or not. I finally caved and called the agency at 11am our time and was told that our social worker would call us right back. Um........  I had a meeting to attend so I sat in that meeting staring at my phone for the nearly 2 hours willing it to ring! But not really sure if  I wanted it to ring because they could have said we were not chosen. The knot in my stomach was aching. Finally, my phone buzzed and I left the meeting and rushed to the hall.

Our TX social worker was on the phone and she sounded so calm and almost sad. She said it had been a busy couple of days, etc and finally she said, "I'll just cut to the chase, are ya'll ready?" AAAAGGHHHHHH She had really been dragging it out, building the suspense for what seemed like an eternity, but was really about 20 seconds. I found the nearest desk and starting taking notes, baby birth stats, the hosptial, etc. Finally, I said, I gotta get home, we gotta a plane to catch!" I called Jeff and told him it was game time! HAHA But Amber had come home early from school that day and since she didn't know any of this was happening, he had to cover his excitement, at least until I got home. Next I called my Mom who was in her classroom. I asked her how her day was going, if she was busy, etc. I then asked her if she could leave work and come help me pack cause we had a plane to catch!! hahaha I loved making that phone call! I wanted to talk to her more, but I had to rush down to the branch, clear my desk, lock my drawer, and run!

I finally made it home after what seemed like the longest drive from work (It's only 7 minutes) and walked in the door to find sick Amber laying on the couch. I asked how she was feeling and after she said "horrible" I said that I had something that would make her feel better...... I told her that we had been matched again and she was so excited. I told her it was a boy and she was ecstatic.....I told her that Jeff and I were flying out in about 2 hours and she didn't even know what to say! She didn't know whether to scream or cry or both! It was awesome!!

Then the scrambling began! Thankfully I had never unpacked the baby suitcase so that was pretty much set other than adding a few little things. Jeff packed his items while I called in a favor. My coworker/friend was a travel agent for years and offered to help us at any time if we needed help making travel arrangements. She saved us so much time, in 20 minutes she had our flight, hotel, and rental car booked with all the confirmations emailed to my phone. She is good!! And I will always be grateful for her help!

Mom made it to our house and quickly jumped in to help us get everything packed! 2 suitcases, 2 carryons, a stroller, carseat, and base were loaded in the car and away we went to catch the flight of a lifetime......

We made to the airport with not much time to spare, but the agents worked quickly and assured us we would make our flight. Mom and Amber were able to watch from the window as we boarded the plane and were still waving as we taxied down the runway. Even on such short notice we had 2 seats together and on the exit row which meant even more room. It was perfect!!

The transition from Charlotte to San Antonio was smooth once we picked up our luggage and rental car it was after 9pm already! Our social worker called and had received permission from the hospital to allow us to visit even though it was pretty late!! We couldn't wait!! Thank goodness for GPS, because we have been all over this huge city with no problem at all! We made it to the hospital, which is wonderful by the way, and quickly found the nursery. We told them who were were and after being ID'd a couple of times were ushed to our son.......

No words will ever be able to describe what I tought the first time I laid eyes on him. His perfect complexion, head full of silky dark hair, and long eyelashes. I think this is what Heaven would be like. That feeling of seeing your children for the first time, I wish I could capture it and relive it over and over and over. He was all wrapped up like a burrito and had just fallen asleep they said, so we didn't want to unwrap him, but I REALLY wanted to see those hands and feet!!! We only stayed about 20 minutes, kissed him goodnight with a promise to see him as quickly as we could the next day.

We then went to Briana & Noel's house, the precious friends who allowed us to stay about 8 weeks ago on our first trip. They were going to be out town for a few days so we are staying in a hotel until they get back, then we will move into their home for the duration of our stay. They are so hospitable, helpful, kind, encouraging, and I could go on and on. And since they adopted their son 6 months ago through the same agency, they have been a world of help! Anyway, we visited them for a few minutes and loaded the car down the lots of things they wanted to let us borrow for our hotel stay until they returned. We will always be so thankful for them!!

Finally, after a really long day, we hit up a drive thru after realizing I had not eaten that day, stumbled into our hotel room and passed out abour 1:30am. Only 12 hours before we had gotten THE CALL, hopped on a plane and had seen our son.

I can't even begin to express how amazed and in awe we are of all that has happened. We are so very thankful that God gave us the strength to continue, surrounded us with loving family and friends and orchestrated such a wonderful miracle.

So, that pretty much sums up day One.....lots more to share, lots of questions to answer, and many cute pics to post! Wait till you hear about day TWO!

Love - K.