5 weeks old today

Its so hard to believe that our baby boy is 5 weeks old and has been officially a part of our family for 1 week.  This has been the most exciting and exhausting week of our lives, but we wouldn't change a second of it!  We are so incredibly blessed by the love and support from our family and friends.  God is so amazing and we are truly blessed to have you all help celebrate our little man's arrival.  As I sit here feeding him, I remember what it used to feel like to dream about this day.  I remember how much it hurt to hear another friend or family member was expecting.   I remember how it would hurt to get that invitation to yet another baby shower. Now we are making plans for baptism & I will be attending a baby shower for ME this weekend!  Let me tell you, I would experience every single bit of pain, tears, paperwork and failed fertility treatments over again.  It all led us to finding the little boy who was meant for us.  It took 6 years to get here.  But we all believe it took that long because our son wasn't in this world yet.

The day we became a family of 3

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful days we've ever had.  We got to our agency and they put us in a private room.  We had gone into that room knowing it was possible that we may bring J home under legal risk (meaning the birth family could still change their minds because rights hadn't been fully terminated.)  This is what usually occurs in our state.  All birth mothers appear in court to terminate their rights in front of a judge and birth father paperwork needs to be present at that time too. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, so many adoptive couples bring their children home in legal risk.  We knew there was a chance our son's birth father paperwork may be delayed because he terminated in a different state and we were prepared for that.  
  Our worker came in and said she had great news.  J was our son legally.  I lost it.  I cried instantly and so was our worker.  To know one minute there was a chance he may not be ours and the next minute find out he is ours is a crazy emotion.   So before we even held our son we knew he was ours forever and were so in love with him.

J's birth mother, and her parents were present to present J to us forever.  We have never experienced such joy.  Through our joy, were lots of tears of sadness from his birth family. They held a beautiful ceremony with lighting of candles.  One for J, one for us, and one for the birthmother.  They also read a poem. It was beautiful.   We will be forever grateful for this amazing gift.  Our son will always know the magnitude of the love his birth family has for him.   As I write this my son is laying on my chest.  I'm forever grateful for the blessings adoption has brought to our family.  He's been our son legally for a little over 24hrs, and I already can't imagine my life without him.  Good thing I don't have to.

Today is the day!

April 2, 2013

  I woke up today with a smile on my face and knots in my stomach.  I have a feeling that, once again, Pepto Bismol will be my friend today.  Today is the day that J will join our family.  Through all our excitement and joy I can't help but feel sad for his birth parents.   They are the sweetest people and are giving us the greatest gift.  They will shed a lot of tears today.  So will we.  My prayer is that God will be with them and hold them close today. So I wanted this post to be about them.  

Thank you Lord for E & T.
Thank you for bringing them into our lives.  I ask that you hold E's hand in court today and help her through this tough time.  Let her never forget the love you have for her and the love we have for both of them.  Allow J to be a blessing and for him to always know how much E & T love him.  May they continue to be a source of happiness to him and may they always know how proud J is of them for making this selfless decision out of love for him.  Today we ask for strength for everyone involved and peace with outcome.  All of this we ask in your holy name.  AMEN

No April Fools joke here!

  I just got off the phone with our worker and am so excited I just might pee my pants!   The birth mother of baby J is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow to give her testimony to terminate her parental rights and we are picking him up tomorrow afternoon!  This doesn't feel real.  Now when we do bring him home its important for everyone to understand that he legally is NOT our son yet.  We are bringing him home in legal risk.  What that means is we are waiting for birth father's signed paperwork to arrive in our local court house.  When that does happen both of their rights will be terminated at the same time.  So there is always a chance of them changing their minds during that waiting period.  We don't think that will happen, but it is a possibility that our family & friends need to be aware of.
   We are meeting at our agency and birth mom is going to be there too because she wants to personally hand him to us.  Tomorrow will be the happiest day of our lives.   Of course with our excitement,  comes tears for J's birth family.  We will be forever grateful to them for giving us the greatest gift we will ever receive.  J will always know how much we love his birth parents and will be a part of his and our lives forever.   Our lives will change forever tomorrow.   Actually, they already have.  Adoption is such a blessing.