He's here!

We have had quite a whirlwind of a couple of weeks! After so much praying, waiting, wondering, and anticipating we suddenly have a sweet 3 month old baby boy in our home, and wow are we all enamored with him!

We first knew about him when we received an e-mail about his case the week before Thanksgiving. We responded with a "yes, we'd like our profile shown" like we often had in the past. Honestly, 18 months into saying "yes" without being chosen, we didn't get too excited or hopeful. But then Monday morning, November 21, I saw a missed call on my cell phone while at work and quickly stepped out of the office to listen to the voicemail. Our caseworker was trying to get ahold of us! I called her back and quickly found out that the mama of this boy wanted to meet with us and that we were the only family she wanted to meet with to see if we would be a good match for adopting her son.

We ended up meeting her the next day after a 2 hour drive for dinner along with another support person in her life and caretaker of her son. We were all quite nervous but it went really well. It's hard to explain but after being called to this process and waiting on God's timing for the child He wanted us to welcome, it felt... holy to be driving down there, going through this awkward yet necessary meeting. We were instantly at ease meeting these women and have so much love and respect for them already.

This past Monday, December 5, we drove back down to meet our sweet boy and bring him home with us. We are looking forward to a continuing relationship with his birthmom who has made this difficult decision. We have nothing but respect for her and are just so honored and humbled that she chose our family to welcome him in. While we are excited and so in love with him, we know there is much heartache on her end.

And so here we are, not even 60 hours into having him, and we are so in love with him. I had often wondered and honestly worried about what the bond would possibly be like with our adopted child, especially after having 2 biological children. I already feel so bonded to him as if he is my biological child. It is truly a gift. He is truly a gift to us. People sometimes make comments about how it's great we are doing this and how wonderful that he'll have us as a family, and I know they mean well. But living in these first sweet days, I know with all of my heart that we are the ones who are gifted by him.

We currently have "temporary custody" meaning that we don't have legal placement until his birthmom goes to court to relinquish her parenting rights, which probably won't be until January. So while this is a risky period for us, we have reasons to be fairly sure he'll stay with us. We aren't holding back from loving him fully and celebrating.

Thanks to so many of you who have walked in this journey with us. It is really just beginning and we are so thankful for the community of people in our lives who have made this possible. Please pray for us and also for his birthmom and caretaker as we are all adjusting to this transition. It is all so surreal.