3 months, 1 week, 3 days and a Phone Call

I have been extremely busy with work lately. New changes with USCIS regarding home study updates has created a huge influx of work for me. Yesterday I was conducting a home visit and my cell phone rang repeatedly. I normally don't answer the phone when I'm with a family, but I got worried that there might be an emergency. I excused myself, explaining my concern, and answered. It was Sean. I was a little frustrated and said, "Hey honey, I'm still with a family. Is this an emergency?" He said, "Yes it is. Mary called and said we have a referral." He asked when could I get home. I knew that I couldn't make it home before Gladney closed for the day, so I said let's call Mary back and see if we can do a conference call and if I can use this family's internet access. We had really wanted to be together when this moment happened, but we both were willing to sacrifice that notion for the reality and sweet news of our new baby. So, I explained what was happening to the family. They were excited for us and were more than willing to let me use their internet connection. So, I called Mary, explained what was going on and asked if she could do a conference call. A little while later, Mary called back. The moment had arrived. She introduced us to OUR SON!!! She lead emailed us pictures and on the count of 3, Sean and I opened them at the same time. He is so handsome. Tears just poured down my face. I couldn't believe this day had arrived. Sean and I both were expecting to receive a referral near the middle or end of March because we were requesting a child 0-6 months old. Mary then continued to walk us through the medical, social, and developmental info on our son (official in our hearts, not in court yet).

Now for the really good stuff. We can't post pictures of our son until after the court date but like I said, he is very cute. He is 2 1/2 months old. He was born on November 3, 2007 and his latest weight was just over 11 pounds. He appears to be healthy and developing well. We still have take the medical information to our pediatrician but thus far, we don't have any concerns.

After receiving all of the referral info, I finished up my visit with the very understanding family. I called Sean back as soon as I got in the van. We decided to go to our local Ethiopian restaurant to celebrate. We planned to tell Ciara over dinner, but she slept through the whole thing. She woke up as we were getting ready to leave. We stopped and got her a happy meal on the way home and waited until she had finished eating to tell her. Sean got out the video camera and I pulled up his pictures on my laptop. I asked her if she remembered what we had been praying for and she did. I told her that Ms. Mary had called us and told us that we had a little baby waiting for us in Ethiopia. I asked Ciara if she wanted to know if it was going to be a baby brother or a baby sister and she said, "yes." I then told her it was a baby brother. Her eyes got so big and she gave me a big hug. We then showed her his pictures and she was excited to see him. We then called our family and shared the news with them. We are planning to use his birth name as his middle name and are still trying to decide on his first name. We'll share that info when we make a decision. Now, the final count down begins!!!!