Maddie Grace - toothless.

First for us this week: Maddie has lost her very first tooth. Unfortunately, this first did not happen naturally...We noticed last week that there was an adult tooth popping through Maddie's gums behind her baby tooth - which was barely loose. We called the dentist immediately, and had to bring her in to get it pulled. Thankfully, daddy had that day off too cause I just don't do dentists very well! He said she was very brave though, and even says she still likes the dentist. Impressive, since at 29 years old I still have nightmares about him!

Seeing Her Face

After verbally accepting this referral, they told us that we would be emailed her detailed information and some pictures. They called us that evening to tell us it had been sent. I had just jumped in the shower when Luke got that phone call. So, while washing my hair I hear Luke yelling, "They're here!!! They're here!!! Get out of the shower!!!" I jumped out immediately, (wet and soapy) threw on a towel, and huddled around the computer with Luke and Maddie.
I knew from other peoples experiences with seeing their childs picture for the first time, that it was possible we may not feel an instant bond or attachment. This wasn't our experience. We saw that face, and knew she was the daughter that God had planned for our family. She is beautiful, and most definitely "precious" as had been described by our caseworker.
Zema, we already love you, even though we know very little about you. We can't wait to meet you, to bring you home, and to have you in our lives as our daughter and Maddie's sister. And we are so ready to see that face in person, cause we have barely taken our eyes off of the two photos that we have of you!

The Call - Part 2

As I mentioned in my prior post, this child, as far as I was concerned was already ours. Luke, on the other hand was not instantly convinced... I immediately called him after getting off the phone with our agency and breathlessly explained what I had just been told. Of course, I was expecting a similar reaction to what I was feeling. I should know my husband better than that though...His response was exactly what I should have known it would be: Logical. He kept on saying, but Laura we've been planning on siblings this whole time...that is what we wanted...we've waited this long, we should keep on waiting. We ended the conversation deciding that we would take the day to pray about it (keeping in mind that Luke was in school all day surrounded by a bunch of needy punks....amazingly he did find time to spend with the Lord). I then called my caseworker back to let her know where we were at and ended up learning some more about the situation. I found out from this conversation that the child in question was a little girl, around 2, and absolutely precious (true). She also informed me that there were 7 other adoptive families ahead of us in the process who were also wanting siblings, but that Luke and I were the couple that was chosen for this child. They had asked us first. Wow. Well, to make a long story (somewhat) short, Luke had been praying all day that the Lord would show him a sign and make this decision clear to us. This was the sign he needed. As soon as I told him what our agency had said about us being the first match to this child, he knew. She was ours.
Another lesson that the Lord has taught us through the past few years: He is in control. We might think we know what we want. We might think we know what is best for us. We thought siblings was His plan for our family. We thought that was what we wanted. But, we also would have never in a million years imagined that adoption would be such a passion in our hearts. It was not what we wanted...at all. Thank you Lord that you know what we need, you know what is best, and even though we are at times stupid and ignorant; you remain faithful to us.

The Call

Most of you reading this have probably already heard the story of our referral day...If you have, this entry isn't for you. It's for Zema. I want her to someday be able to read, if she ever doubts it, how much we wanted, longed for, and prayed for her. Zema, we love you so much and we will never forget the day that God brought you into our family...
First of all, as I mentioned before nowhere in our wildest dreams did we imagine getting a referral this soon. Our agency had told us that the wait time was somewhere between 12-15 months from the time all of our paperwork was turned it. As you can see from the ticker up top, we were still a good 5 months away from even the low end of that estimation. So this news came as a complete shock to us.
Thursday morning was when I received the call. I was doing laundry and didnt hear the phone ring, but did hear the answering machine beep. I went back to the bedroom, and the message said, "Laura, this is A from Bethany and I just needed you to call me when you get a chance." Now, at this point in our process there is no real reason for communication by phone with our case worker, and I knew that. So immediately my heart stopped....not only that but I was on the verge of heart attack...shaking (literally), heavy breathing, seriously I almost vomited because I was so excited. So, I kind of floated to my files to find a phone number to call her back on. Has it ever happened to you, when something unbelievable happens and you literally have to pinch yourself to make sure that you are awake? I had seen that happen to people on movies before, but never actually experienced it myself. It just seemed to surreal. I mean I had played this moment over and over again in my head, but now was it actually happening? I began to second guess the reason for the call...maybe she just had a paperwork question for me...
When A and I finally got ahold of each other, this was what was said " Hi Laura, I had a question for you," *oh shoot, she seriously just had a question for me!?* "I just was contacted by our Ethiopia coordinator and I know you and Luke and wanting siblings but apparently there are several young single children (2 and under) who are needing placements right now and we were wondering if you guys might be interested?" *um yes, I am half way to Ethiopia right now!...* But I responded, " wow, well I will have to talk to Luke tonight so we can pray about it together, but I will call you back tomorrow." However, A said "well actually is there anyway you can let us know today, because there is a specific situation that we need to know an answer to today.?"
As I am typing this, I'm realizing what a long story this is all typed out! I will finish the rest in a part 2 post....