How it all started
Our boys, Carlos and Jeremiah arrived home in January 2006. The first few months were……well………..a big (BIG) adjustment………..for them and for us. Becoming instant parents of a 4.5 year-old and a 7 month-old is hard and it’s doubly hard when you’ve got no clue how to be a parent. The entire process from the start of their paperwork until the boys arrived home was 16 months and that was pretty fast. So we knew that the wait might be several years. About 6 months after Carlos and Jeremiah came home I started getting the “adoption itch” again.
For Christmas Stephen gave me a lovely card with the following poem:
Two little guys
Always on the run
Getting into mischief
And having fun
But no home is complete
Without a girl so sweet
We’ve got one in you
How ‘bout another to make two?
“The testosterone’s too high!”
You’ve said with a sigh
“We need our own little flower”
–I need some “girl power!”
I’m ready when you are
To look far and near
For our little girl
To bring us more cheer.
And that’s the start of our adoption of baby #3.
Of dreams and paperwork
On March 8th, we had our orientation meeting with our new adoption agency, Life Choices and on April 12th we mailed off all the required paperwork. After a lot of prayer and consideration we have decided to adopt domestically. Our hearts were and are in many ways still in Guatemala, but because of the adoption political situation we felt that Guatemala was not the best option for our family (this time). And so God directed our paths to domestic adoption.
On May 9th I had a dream. I had a dream about our little girl last night. It was a strange dream….I’ll admit. Anyway, here’s the dream: I received a call from our agency. They said, “even though you have not yet had your final interview, we have a referral for you! A little girl 2 months old!” So we went to their office to see the paperwork. When I saw the picture of the birthmom I was shocked. It was the same lady I had hugged (why I hugged this girl I have no idea) during Festival in the Park (side note: Festival in the Park is like two weeks away and I’ve NEVER been to it before!!). Anyway, I was like wow, I can’t believe that I actually met my little girl’s birthmom. Then the girl at our agency brought out our little baby. She was so tiny and everyone kept saying how sick she was and how much care she was going to need, but I just kept looking at her and thinking…she’s white. My baby’s not supposed to be white! And I kept thinking about her birthparents and how they were not white and I just could not figure out how she came out white! So I was thinking about how white she was and everyone else was talking about how sick she was and finally I said, “this is my baby and I love her no matter what….end of discussion”. Then I woke up.
Strange dream…yep!
Sweet baby girl
Friday, May the 11th will forever stand out in my memory….just like Tuesday June the 12th!
We had our couple interview with our agency scheduled for 5:15pm on Friday May 11th. Around 5:20 our contact called and started the interview. She asked us one question and then said that they were very happy with our individual interviews and that we were accepted by the agency as a prospective adoptive family. Then she asked if we had any questions. Stephen said yes, we do have a few and I started off with our first question, “could you give us an overview of the referral process and how it happens and what happens when we do get a referral?” Our agency contact paused and said, “well that’s a great question, but you really won’t need the answer because I already have a baby for your family.” Stephen and I looked at each other in total silence. I think we were both in shock….good shock!! We have a baby GIRL!!
Our daughter was born on April 17, 2007 early in the afternoon. She was born by c-section and weighed a little over 7 pounds! She has lots of hair, big black eyes and is cute as a button! We are going to name her Natalie Grace…..keeping the Grace part of her birth name.
I’ve had a permanent smile plastered on my face since Friday night. I just can’t help it!! I have a daughter! I have a daughter! We have a little girl!! Wow. I’m still in shock…happy shock!
After we finished talking with our contact at the agency, we called Carlos in and hugged each other (Jeremiah too….but he was in the highchair) and told the boys that their sister was born! Carlos was so excited and asked when we could go and pick her up. Jeremiah did not really have a clue…he just said, “get down?” We then called my mom. I let Carlos talk first and he said, ““Guess what? My sister is born!”. At first I don’t think my mom really understood, but I guess from all my yelling and happy screaming she got it! I told her all the details and then since she and Elizabeth were at Rebekah’s she relayed the info on to them and then I talked with them! They were all super, super excited and VERY surprised too. I then called Mary my youngest sister and told her. She was so excited too. She said when she read about my dream she got goose bumps because she dreams stuff and then it happens. I called Stephen’s parents and they were just super happy for us. The really fun part of making most of the phone calls is that Carlos got to tell most everyone first. He would say, “guess what, my sister is born.” He was soooooooooooo excited. He just kept talking and talking non-stop about his sister. But after making so many calls and the fact that it was getting close to 7pm, he was getting a little hungry! Stephen called the rest of his family while I fixed dinner…..
While I was on the phone talking with someone…not sure who, Carlos asked Stephen what color Natalie was and Stephen said, “she will look dark like you”. He was quite pleased about that!!
Wow, what a day! And what a gift God has given us in this beautiful little girl!
On Saturday night we got our first pictures of Natalie. She is so beautiful! After Stephen and I looked at them for a while (I just wanted to sit and stare), I went upstairs to get Carlos up (he was already in bed for the night) to see her. I asked him if he wanted to see pictures of his sister and he got a huge grin on his face and said, “yeah!!” When Carlos saw Natalie’s pictures he said, “wow, I love her now! Because I know her!”
4 Weeks old
On May 15th our sweet Natalie was 4 weeks old! We got a couple of pictures from the Cradle Care family last night….I LOVE pictures!! Also yesterday I got to talk with her Cradle Care Mama (Renee). We talked for about an hour and I even got to hear Natalie cry. Made me want to cry tears of joy!! Natalie just woke up from her nap and Renee was giving her a bottle. Renee put the phone on speaker and I got to hear all of Natalie’s little noises…the sucking, cooing and talking. It was so precious to me! Renee said that Natalie is such a happy and content baby. She said Natalie hardly ever cries and stops almost immediately if someone picks her up. She just loves being held and they hold and snuggle her all the time!
Natalie went to the doctor on April 26th and got a full clean bill of health! She weighed exactly 8 pounds!! The doctor checked her eyes, arms and legs, check her hip rotation and tons of other stuff said she was just doing great. Over the past week Natalie has gotten much more alert and is waking up for longer periods of time. Renee said that she loves to stare at the ceiling fan or their fire place mantel. When Natalie takes a bath her hair turns to tight little ringlets!! Oh I just can’t wait to see her in person!!
Thursday May 24, 2007
It’s 2:00am….way too early to be up…..but here I am up and getting ready to leave for airport to fly to see my little girl! Wow, I still cannot believe that I have a little girl! Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We made it to airport in just an 1.5 hours. Much faster than I thought we would arrive….light traffic I guess!! We checked in found our gate and waited for our flight. I always feel really nervous about flying….not something I like to do. That’s why God gave me Stephen….he does not mind flying at all….actually he likes it.
Our first flight was a whopping 15 minutes! We had some time, so we bought breakfast (my bagel cost $2.25!!) and waited at our gate. The second flight was about an hour, so not too bad. The only bad part was we were in the row in front of the exit door and so our seats did not recline. Talk about getting a backache! Both Stephen and I did sleep for about 15 or 20 minutes so we were feeling a little bit refreshed when we landed.
We picked up our luggage and headed out to get the rental car and then headed down the road to Little Rock to visit with Sharon and Cory (Stephen’s sister and brother-in-law). Stephen and I stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way. It was super strange to be eating lunch all alone. I really miss my boys! We were talking about that over lunch and Stephen said, “I really do miss having Carlos and Jeremiah with us.” I’m glad they stayed home because I think it will be better for them, but we sure do miss having them with us.
We arrived at Sharon’s around 2pm and visited with them for about an hour. They gave us the most adorable little outfits for Natalie! I can’t wait for her to wear them. After about an hour we headed over to the mission apartment and just crashed! It was super nice to get some sleep. We got up about 5 and walked across the parking lot and had dinner with Sharon, Cory and Josh. After dinner we watched a movie and just hung out.
I kinda feel like it was all a dream. All I could think about was “tomorrow I will get to hold my baby girl!” It was hard to concentrate on what was going on. Plus I was not sure if I should be super excited or super scared out of my mind!! To be sure this time was not nearly as nerve wracking our first pick up trip.
We talked to my mom, Carlos and Jeremiah to say goodnight. Carlos was so funny. I had left him and Jeremiah a gift, on for each day and a little note. I think Carlos’ love language is “gifts” so I wanted to be extra sure he knew we loved him. And did he ever!! He got on the phone and said, “mommy, thank you, thank you, thank you for my airplane!” He was just so excited that I left him something! I think Jeremiah really like his too, but I don’t think he really “got it”. I was really thankful because mom said Jeremiah was feeling much better. I was super worried about him. He had a fever last night and I was afraid he was going to be really sick.
Friday May 25, 2007
Today is the day!! Gotcha day for Natalie! I can’t believe it’s for real!! We got up early this morning and a good thing too because I once I’m awake I just can’t sleep anymore….too much excitement!
After breakfast we headed back to Memphis with Sharon, Cory and Josh. Since we had quite a few hours before we needed to be at our agency, we went to the zoo. Memphis has a really nice zoo. Lots of animals in large areas and most of them were quite playful and alert. The zoo was nice, but I have to admit the entire time I was thinking, “wow, Carlos would love this or I wish Jeremiah could see this animal” and of course I was counting down the hours until we get to meet Natalie (4 ½, 4 ¼, only 4 hours to go).
We at lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings….very yummy. And then went to the hotel to check in and freshen up. Sharon and Cory stayed in our room while we went to our agency to meet with Shelly and sign the papers. I really wanted to take Shelly and Natalie’s foster mom some flowers and so I went frantically looking for a florist (even though we only had 20 minutes before we were supposed to be at the agency!!). I never found the florist or Kroger….I was bummed, but I did have a beautiful card for both Shelly and Natalie’s foster mom.
So Stephen and I dashed (well ok, we drove) from the hotel to the agency. I was very impressed with their building. It was very beautiful and professional. The clinic was very much like the Blue Ridge Woman’s Center….it had that same “feel”…..Homey, but beautifully decorated. We got to meet Shelly, Amanda and Liz. After getting a tour of their office area we went into a meeting room to sign the papers. Shelly had put together a binder with all of Natalie’s information….even her foot prints! We got a copy of all of the medical info right down to the handwritten notes from the nurses! What a blessing! Natalie was born at 13:21 on 4/17/07 and weighed 7 lbs and 14 oz. Her Apgar at 1 minute was 8 and at 5 minutes was 9.
We signed the papers in about 5 minutes and were pretty much done! Stephen went out to attach the car seat and I talked with Shelly while we were waiting for Sharon and Cory to come. Everyone arrived around 4:20 and we left for Natalie’s foster family’s home. Oh how excited I felt! Finally after 2 whole months of waiting (!) we would hold our little girl in our arms. Stephen and I have talked during this trip how much less nervous we feel, but still I was getting a tiny bit nervous….but mostly just excited.
We arrived really early and so we had to wait outside for a few minutes. Natalie, apparently was not cooperating and did not want to put on her dress!! Natalie’s foster family’s son had Natalie upstairs, so we did not get to see her right away. After meeting everyone (and feeling like we were old friends already!!) we sat down and Shelly started the Giving and Receiving Ceremony. She started off by reading a passage from Matthew 7:7-8:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Shelly said that we (and especially Carlos) had prayed and asked God for a little girl and He answered that prayer by giving Natalie to our family.
Then she gave each of us the opportunity to say something. Natalie’s foster mom said that Natalie has brought their family so much joy and that she has blessed them in so many ways. She said that they very much want to say in touch with us. She said from the minute that Natalie come into their home, she started to pray for us….even when she did not know our names. Natalie’s foster dad talked about how they love on the babies and take lots of pictures, so we would not feel like we missed out on part of our little girl’s life.
Stephen thanked the foster family for caring for Natalie and loving her. And how special it was for us that Natalie was in a Christian family while she was waiting to join our family.
When it was my turn I just got all teary and could not say any of the thoughts in my mind. Every time I started to speak I just got so choked up. I am so thankful to this family for the love that they have given to Natalie. They are so special to us and to her.
And then the moment we had been waiting for on pins and needles….Natalie! Natalie’s foster brother came down the steps holding Natalie. She looked so beautiful! She was wearing a white dress with tiny white booties and a white bow in her hair. Oh what a tiny and beautiful little girl! He handed her to me and what bliss! I thought I was in heaven!! She felt so light and tiny in my arms, but so perfect. I remember looking at her and thinking, “wow my little girl is so beautiful”. Her eyes were so wide-open, big and black. I touched her hair and was amazed at how soft it was and how much she had!!
I knew Stephen was aching to have a turn at holding her, so I asked him “do you want to hold her?” And would you know he did!! I handed Natalie to him, gentle placing her into his arms and we both stared at her for the longest time.
Then I knew I needed to check out her toes and fingers, so I took off her little booties and there were ten perfect toes and I checked out her hands and ten perfect (very long and slender) fingers. God has given us such a blessing in this little girl!
After a while of ooh’ing and ahhhhhh’ing and loving on our little girl, she got a little hungry and I got to feed her the first bottle! And she does love to eat!! I did finally let Stephen hold her for a while, because I desperately needed a drink of water. Stephen rocked her for a while and she fell right to sleep!
After a couple of hours and another bottle later, we said goodbye to Natalie’s foster family. That was so hard. They love her so much and it just shows in everything they do and say. They showed us their “wall of love”, the children they have fostered over the past 2 years. Natalie was their 8th baby. For each baby they have, they take a picture in the same beautiful white dress or handsome boy outfit (blue) and do an imprint of the baby’s feet. So much love and care they give to their babies even though the children are only with them for a few short weeks or months. And so we said, goodbye, which really meant, see you next time and hopefully soon! I think it took us a good 15 or 20 minutes to actually leave once we got outside their home!!
We got back to the hotel around 9pm and just stared at our little girl. I just could hardly believe that I HAVE A DAUGHTER! WOW!! We called my mom to see how our boys were doing and to talk with them. Carlos wanted to know if we had Natalie yet and could he please talk with her. So I brought her over to the phone to “talk” with Carlos. I think he did all the talking!!
Natalie did really well sleeping during the night, but she did not like her crib at all. I did not sleep that great, but I pretty much expected that!! I just kept waking up to be sure she was ok and breathing.
Saturday May 26, 2007
We’re going home today!! Yippee. I can’t wait to go home!! I can’t wait to see my boys! And I CAN’T wait for them to see Natalie!
We went downstairs and had breakfast at the hotel….Natalie slept right through it. Then we took off to do some sight-seeing, take some pictures and do some shopping. We wanted to take a picture of the hospital where Natalie was born, so we went there first. The hospital was very close to Elvis Presley home, so we took a picture of the Graceland sign too. We drove around a while and then found a mall and did a little shopping. Natalie was really the show of the mall. So many people would stop and say how beautiful she was and ooooooh and ahhhhhhh over her! She’s a celebrity and does not even know it yet!
After the shopping we went back to the airport to return the car and catch our flight home. Stephen got a call from his mom and learned that his grandma died earlier today. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed is the name of the Lord. God’s timing is not our timing, but He does all things well.
We went and checked our luggage and the ticket agents were just going on and on about Natalie. It was kinda funny because our suitcase was over by 5 lbs and after Stephen took something out, it was still over, but the ticket agent said “You’re fine. Well, technically you’re not, but you’re fine.” Thank you, Natalie! 
Natalie did so well on the flights home. She slept on Stephen’s chest the entire first flight and some of the next. In fact, the hardest part came when we tried to get OFF the plane on our final flight. We had brought Natalie’s car seat onto the plane since it wasn’t a full flight and had strapped it on to the seat. Well, when Stephen went to take the seat off the base to undue the seatbelt, it was stuck and wouldn’t come off!! No matter how hard Stephen or a couple of other passengers tried, it just wouldn’t come off. Finally, Stephen had to actually unhook the seatbelt from the plane seat itself to get it off, then reattach the belt. Hopefully it’s not a federal offense to dismantle an airplane seatbelt like that!
The drive home wasn’t so pleasant. For the first hour, Natalie cried and screamed. Nothing made her happy. And I don’t blame her….I was pretty tired of traveling too. When we stopped to get something to eat, I changed her diaper, fed Natalie, put her back in the seat and just like that, she was sound asleep! Natalie does not like sitting in poop or being hungry! (I can’t say I blame her.)
Carlos was still up when we got home (At 11 something) and was so excited so see Natalie. He had this big grin on his face and even got to hold Natalie. Jeremiah was already asleep, so he had to wait until the morning. My mom got to meet Natalie tonight too, so that was really neat! Whew, what a trip! I was so happy to be home.
House of Smooches 