Court Date and Donation List

We are going to be leaving in 8 days to finally meet our son!! Our court date is on May 14. We would love to bring donations to our transition home where our son lives. Here is a donation list. If you live near us you can drop them off at our house or our church (Providence CRC).



DONATION LIST

Diapers of all sizes (but particularly preemie and sizes 3 and 4

Baby Wipes

Bibs

Hand Sanitizer

Kleenex boxes

Infant and children's vitamins

Formula: Vegetable-based Similac, soy-based Similac as well as regular formula

Children's Clothing: This must be new or Like new (no holes or stains)

       Toddler clothing and shoes (at this time we are asking for families not to bring infant clothing)

       Light Jackets or Sweaters for all ages

       Boys clothing for ages 6-10 years old

       Girls clothing for ages 6-13 years old

       Underwear for all ages (Please consider slim clothing)

       Shoes for all ages, but especially older boys and girls. The popular "Croc" is great for these kids!

Bottles: Avent bottles for both 8-12 ounce feedings

Diaper rash cream: Desitin is referred, but A&D ointment or Butt paste is also useful

Baby shampoos and baby oil

Shampoo, conditioner, and lotion for older children

Age appropriate development toys for infants and toddlers

Blow up balls/outside toys

Sidewalk chalk

Bubbles

Children's DVDs and CDs

Men's and women's deodorant

Good quality electric shaver

Rechargeable camping lanterns (for when electricity is out)

Twin Sheets (mainly flats) in children's patters and colors of pink, purple, red, blue, and green. Solid or print materials are both acceptable.

The Call

I promised I would blog about how "the call" happened. When we signed our contract in December of 2009, I had dreamed of this moment. I read other people's stories of how their call would go and hoped ours would be similar. I had set my ringer to ring differently when our agency called me. I did that so I would not jump every time the phone rang. I also wondered how I would answer the call. Would I be sobbing uncontrollably and not be able to say hello? Would I be in complete control of my emotions and answer calmly? Would I be jumping up and down and be so excited that my caseworker would not get a word in? To be honest it went exactly how I thought it would.

It was about 2:40 on April 5. I was sitting on the couch helping my girls with a few computer games they were trying. My phone rang. It was my normal ring that I have for all calls. As I picked up my phone to check who was calling my heart jumped into my chest. It was our agency! For some reason my caseworker called from a number I did not have saved. I immediately yelled to Gabbie and Alexa, "It's the call! It's the call!". I picked up the phone and calmly answered. My heart was pounding so hard I thought my caseworker could hear it. She asked how we were doing and I sort of calmly told her we are good if she was calling with a baby. She explained that yes indeed she was. At this point I began sobbing uncontrollably. There was about 8 seconds of no conversation due to the fact that I was crying. I attempted to talk, but was for sure not making sense. She told me I could call my husband and conference call him in. I told her he was golfing and would not be able to talk until he was finished. Before we hung up I made sure to ask how old he was. I did not want to know his name or anything else until Jason was with me.

After I hung up I ran into the family room to let the girls they had a baby brother!! They both began to cry with me. We hugged and cried for a while and then ran downstairs to tell Maia. There was no crying but she did say, "I am the the best big sister ever!!!" What a perfect day it was! He is beautiful! I think I look at his picture at least 20 times a day.

Referral!!!!

Ever since we started this process I would read other people's blogs about their referrals and have such excitement for them and hope for when our day would come. It is hard to believe our day has come. On April 5 we received THE CALL for a beautiful 6 week old baby boy (he is 9 lbs.). He was born February 19 and was brought to Hannah's Hope on March . He is so beautiful! It is so hard to look at his picture and not be near him to cuddle and kiss on him. Our girls are over the moon with excitement and keep thanking God for answering our prayers. The next step is to get all of our referral paperwork in and then wait for a court date. When we receive a court date Jason and I will travel for our first trip. We will not get to bring him home at that time but will get to spend time bonding with him and getting know more of his culture and country. Please pray that we get a court date soon.

I will blog about "the call" in a couple days. I will say there were 3 sobbing girls in our home (one of them was me).

Still Waiting

We are still waiting for "the call". I will admit this has been the hardest part thus far. We did not expect to wait this long at #1. This is only the second time since being on the wait list that we have not moved at all in a month. I am an emotional roller coaster. My oldest informs everyone that I am a bit emotional lately. We have waited so long to finally see the face of the precious little boy God called us to adopt. I am soooo done waiting. The funny thing is that after they call us with our referral we will have to wait again. I guess at least I will have a picture to stare at and boy clothes to buy!! We pray every night for a referral, and so far God has told us to wait. We wait with great anticipation the day God says YES!!!