THE Call...

As most of you have probably figured out at this point...we got THE call!!  It was one of the most exciting days of our lives and I am so excited to share it with you!!  It went a little something like this:

It was a completely normal Monday.  Well...maybe a little worse than a normal Monday.  It was the Monday after Thanksgiving break and Daddy had to go back to work and the two oldest had to go back to school.  I was slowly on the mend after being down with a really bad cold for two and a half days and was doing my best to get through the day.  I hadn't showered for two days a while and was REALLY not expecting a referral call.  I was sure that we wouldn't hear anything until after Thanksgiving.  And I was right.  But I wasn't expecting it this soon.  There were a lot of families traveling over Thanksgiving to bring their children home, which would open up some space in the care centers, but I assumed that it would take a while.  Well...you know what happens when you assume, right?  That's right.  You don't take a shower, because you don't expect your picture or video to be taken and shared with the entire world.wide.web.

So, there you have it - a little worse than normal Monday sans shower.

The phone rings at 3:27 p.m.  I'm sitting at my desk, unshowered and trying to work, all the while trying to get the girls started on their homework and dreaming about the Knoephla soup simmering away in the crock pot.  As I've been doing for the past few months, I wait for the caller ID to reveal that it is NOT Holt calling.  Nope not Holt.  Just a random number without a name associated with it.

(While trying to hide my disappointment)  

Hello?

Hello.  Mommy? 

(She didn't really call me mommy, but we're trying to stay blogger friendly here.)

Yes.

This is (insert social worker's name here).  How are you?

I'm fiiiine.  

(Heart palpitations start.  Palms start to sweat.  Hands start to shake.)

Are you okay?

Yeah...I think so...unless you're calling with our referral...and then I'm not sure.

I am calling with your referral!  Is Daddy home?

(Again, she didn't really call him Daddy, but we're trying to stay blogger friendly here.)

No, but he should be ANY minute!

Wellll...It's a boy and he is two months old today and....

That's kind of where everything started to blur and the room started to spin and the girls started to notice that something was going on.  I think she went on to tell me more details, but I wasn't sure that I wanted her too because I didn't want to know it all without Daddy.  She ended by telling me that an email was coming with more info and pictures and a big congratulations!

The flurry of noise and questions by the big sisters was overwhelming...to say the least.  They could tell that it was THE call, but they didn't understand all the details, or the brief notes that I made.

WHERE IN THE HECK IS DADDY!!!

I couldn't tell the girls if it was a boy or girl before telling Daddy.  We bounced around the house, video camera in hand, and waited about two hours four minutes for Daddy to come home.  The girls attacked met him in the garage screaming with excitement about the referral call.

Daddy's response: This better not be a joke.

I followed with the video camera and was able to capture their responses when I told them that we...are expecting...a two-month-old...BABY BOY!!

Girls whooped and yelled and screamed and jumped for joy.

Daddy and I collapsed in each others arms and cried many tears of happiness.

Then it was time to look at the email.

My hand was shaking on the mouse.  It was all I could do to click the button to make the pictures pop up.  This was it.  We were going to see our son's face for the first time.  Our son.  The child that God laid on our hearts a little more than nine months ago.  The child that our friends, family, and even strangers have prayed over for months.  The child that has been the center of many fundraisers and amazing notes of encouragement.  Would it be love at first sight?  Would we KNOW that this was our son?  Would it bring happiness?  Sadness?  Fear?  Doubt?

Oh.  Yes.  This.  Is.  Our.  Son.

Without.  A.  Doubt.

We cannot post pictures of him online, but I'll do my best to help you see him.  In the pictures he is about 10 days shy of one month old.  He is lying on his back on yellow and white pin-striped bedding.  A sheet and a pillow case.  There are blue and orange and blue and green flowers with white centers scattered on the bedding.  He is also laying on top of a cloth of some sort that is ratty around the edges.  He is wearing a shirt of some sort, maybe a onesie, that is white with pale yellow cording around the neck and short sleeves.  There are two pale green snaps on his left shoulder.  There is a cartoon horse on the front and pale blue words that say something along the lines of "stop all the horsin' around."  He is absolutely swimming in this outfit.  It is HUGE on him.  There is a blanket over him that comes right up to the horse's nose, and we can't see his belly or legs or feet.  His little arms and face are the color of the most delicious milk chocolate you've ever tasted.  His skin is flawless.  Absolutely flawless.  And he has a little crease just below the wrist on the inside of each arm.  His head is perfectly round.  Perfectly.  With just a hint of fuzz on top.  His ears are tucked neatly on each side of his head, not too big, not too small.  His pudgy little cheeks frame his beautiful, perfectly drawn chin, and just above that are his gorgeous full, kissable lips.  They are parted a little and there is just a peek at his little tongue.  His nose is a little button.  Again, not too big, and not too small.  His eyes.  Oh...his eyes.  They are as big as saucers.  No, really.  They are without a doubt his most distinguishing characteristic.  They are wide and bright and so amazingly alert.  They scream "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!  I LOVE YOU DADDY!  I LOVE YOU SISTERS!"  They are framed by very light eyebrows and are two of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.

He was exactly two months old on the day we fell in love with him.  Although we can't share his birth name in a public forum, I will let you know that it means "thanks giving."  Coincidence?  I think not.  He is very, very healthy (praise the Lord!), and he is in the loving care of amazing nannies in a rural area of Ethiopia.  We have chosen to name him Mattias, which means Gift from God.  Appropriate, I think.  We'll call him "Ty" for short, and I'm sure he'll have a bazillion nicknames before too long because that's how Daddy rolls.

Daddy and I both shared the good amazing news with the grandparents and great grandparents and the five of us shared a special toast in honor of our son and brother.

I immediately went to CVS.com to order prints of our baby boy's pictures.  I was expecting them to be ready in about an hour, but it said that they couldn't be picked up until the next morning.  What???  I called...explained that these were the first pictures of our baby boy and that I was going to need them ASAP.  "No problem, ma'am.  They'll be ready in 15-20 minutes."  Whew.  Crisis narrowly averted.
We all hopped in the car and with tearful eyes and huge grins we high-tailed it up to CVS.  The 8x10.  Oh...the 8x10.  Almost life size.  My precious son.  God's perfect creation.

What to do next?  Hmmmm....BUY BLUE OF COURSE!!!

Not where I usually buy my baby stuff, but VERY close to CVS, especially since we still need to eat dinner and bathe the kids, get them to bed, etc., we hopped a few store down to Big Lots and hit the baby aisle!  I know that this may not come as a surprise to a lot of you, but there is a lot of really cute baby boy stuff.  I've had blinders on for so long, buying an occasional gift for a friend or family member, but never for my own son!

So...we bought this

Which was actually from CVS

It's a little cheesy, but it's BLUE, and it is our baby's first Christmas.

And we bought this

incredible BLUE and brown soft blanket

And we bought this

which has this on the bum

Guess who picked it out?

It was by far one of the most memorable days of my life.  Right up there with my wedding day and the birth of my daughters.  I have so much more to say and thoughts to share, but this has become an incredibly long post, I'm going to sign off for now and leave you with this: