The Call

WE GOT OUR PHONECALL!  I can't believe that we are parents.  The phone call came at home. There was a message left at 3:30 pm, but because I was running errands, I did not get it until 4:45.  I actually left school thinking that we would have to wait until Friday.  As of noon, nothing had arrived at the main office.  So I ran my errands.  When  I got home and listened to the phone messages, I was so nervous that I couldn't even read my own writing to dial the number.  In fact I must apologize to the two people that I hung up on after realizing I had dialed wrong numbers.  At one point I had two phones going at the same time.  That was a really bad idea.  I had to leave a message withou agency person (Heather).  I then went to our adoption portal, and saw the Email.  Just one little touch, and I would see her face for the first time.  By this time I had Mark on the phone.  He works 30 min from home, so I told him he needed to drop everything and get inthe car and start driving fast!  We had promised that we would open it together- and this was killing me!  To pass the time, I called my mom, my sisters, my car pool buddy,  At one point I was talking to Mark and my sister Sandy ay the same time on two different phones.  

Mark got home around 5:40.  I didn't even let him take his coat off.  We fell in love the moment we saw her little face.  She is 17 months old and tiny.  She loves music and her favorite toy is a bell.  She has 4 teeth and she is the most precious person in the world.  She was born Nov. 10, 2010. (Mark and I were singing in a concert that day, kind of fitting for a girl who likes music!)

We then called Mark's parents, and his sister-in-law, Pam.  By this time it was too late to cook dinner, so we went out to Bertuccis.  

I am sure that I am missing some of the details of yesterday, but that is the basic story.  So this morning I took out the remaining 9 stones from our jar!  It is so hard to believe that it is empty.  

I then went to school, and showed her picture to anyone who would look at it.  

March referrals have been mailed!

WE ARE IN!  It is unbelievable that I can finally, by the grace of God, type those words.  The past few weeks have been very nerve wracking.  The past couple of months of referrals have come out around the 19th or so of the month.  So you can imagine what has been going through my mind.  Every day I have been checking the Rumor Queen, trying to get at least a tiny bit of information about the cut off date this month.  The weekend was really hard to get through, although we stayed really busy, working on the nursery. I was sure, though that we would know something by last week Friday.

On Monday, the 26th we heard that the referrals had been mailed.  It did not matter how often I checked RQ, there was no additional info, so I went to bed.....still wondering.  Going to bed and sleeping are two different things.  I woke up at around 3:30 with a Charlie horse( I don't know who Charlie is, but I wish he would stay away! ). Anyway, once I took care of that, I layed awake, fighting the urge to go see what the Spanish RQ was up to.  Finally, I couldn't take it any more.  I got up and looked and the news was that they got to August 31!!!!  I just sat there for a moment in disbelief.  Could it finally be our time.  I then ran upstairs to tell Mark! He was also shocked, and then it turned into one of the best days ever! In a few days we will see the face of our daughter for the very first time.  

I called my sister, because......well I had to,and I knew that by the time she was done the entire state of MI would know about our impending referral.  I then had to get ready to go to school, yeah, right.  Today was my turn to give faculty devotions-- um... That was not going to happen.  I was barely holding it together.  So my car pool buddy did them for me.  At the end she told my friends and colleagues that I had an announcement.  They the prayed for Mark and me and our daughter, Rebecca Grace.  I cried:-)

The rest of the day was like a blur.  I did teach, well, sort of.  But my mind was definately elsewhere!  We wil take out the remaining stones when we get the official "word" from Bethany. But they are definitely coming out.  

In the meantime we will continue to work on the nursery.  Here are some of the recent pictures.

               
                

I have a few more things to do, but we are much closer to having it done!

More to come in a few days......