9 more days....

 

 

9 more days!!!!

Well the countdown is on, thats for sure!! Our baby boy will be here in nine days, on January 12th!! In 9 days, we will (Lord willing) be parents, meeting and holding our baby for the first time ever. We have painfully waited for this day for 2.5 years, but I have been dreaming of this day since I was a little girl. Enduring infertility was the hardest thing I've ever been through, but THIS, this is unlike anything I ever thought possible. The joy and happiness that we feel as we prepare to meet our son is unreal. 

Psalm 113:9 "He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children"

Psalm 30:11 "You have turned my wailing into dancing, you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy"

These days leading up to baby's birth have been ones I want to remember and cherish forever. The range of emotions is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Everyday I feel differently, from extreme excitement, to worry and anxiety, to feeling like this is too surreal to actually be happening, to LOVE (which leads to lots of tears), and back to excitement. Last week I felt like I was in la la land because this all just feels so unreal. Wes on the other hand, he is so emotionally steady and it blows my mind that he is able to go about life in a normal fashion. He is excited, but it doesn't effect his every waking minute like it does me. This week I feel so much excitement and happiness. We are blessed beyond measure to have such a special relationship with this expectant mom. She has been talking with us frequently and sharing her excitement with us. Hearing her talk about how ready she is to have the baby and how excited she is to be the one making us parents for the first time brings me to tears. I'm in AWE OF HER. Absolute awe. 

Our Plans

We leave THIS SUNDAY, in 5 days!!! We decided to drive so we can cut down on travel expenses and avoid flu exposure on the airplane. The drive from Chicago to where we will be in Florida is about 20 hours. We hope to get there monday afternoon so we can take our expectant mom out for dinner. On Tuesday I am taking her dress shopping, and then I am going to take some maternity photos for her so that she can have something special to remember this time being pregnant with baby boy. I saw one of my other adoptive mom friends do this and I thought it was so incredible. I really want her to feel beautiful and special and I just want her to know that we acknowledge this special role that she will always have in baby boys life. She is so loved! We both are really excited for this day together. The baby will come on Thursday and everything else will be played by ear. Once papers are signed and we are discharged from the hospital we are lucky enough to have friends of my brother's to stay with. They were so kind to open up their home to us for as long as we need to wait. We expect that we can submit paperwork for ICPC (interstate compact for the protection of children) on Tuesday the 17th, and it usually takes 5-10 business days to get approval so we could be waiting around for a little while. We are SO thankful that we have a place to stay with really wonderful people.   We have NO IDEA what to expect this experience to be like. We have been told that at the hospital we will not be getting a separate room to stay with the baby, and we will be treated like any other hospital guest and will only be allowed to visit the baby during visiting hours. We are slightly disappointed by this because we were really excited to start bonding with the baby right away, but we will go with the flow. Emotions are going to be really high and we are as prepared as we can be for the emotions that birthmom will be feeling. The best day of our lives is going to be the hardest day of her life. We have never had to navigate a situation like this before and we are nervous, and armed with a lot of love and compassion.   

PLEASE PRAY!!!

Please pray with us and for us and everyone involved. Please pray for us to have safe travels, and for the birthmom and baby to have a healthy delivery and recovery. Please pray for birthmom that she be COVERED in peace and feel so much love throughout all of this. That she is able to make the decision that is best for her and the baby, and that whatever decision she makes that we can do our best to love her.   

Our puzzle

We finally finished putting the puzzle together and we are so excited about it. It turned out so beautiful and will look amazing hanging on the nursery wall. This puzzle would never have been possible without all of you who so generously donated. We can't thank you enough and we will remember forever the love and support that were shown to us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.