Adoption Day!

As our sweet little Luke snoozes away in his swing, I'm so excited to share with you about our Adoption Day. Before I go into the details that I can share, please understand that there is a lot I cannot share here. 

Our little boy was loved from the moment of his birth and his birthmom chose adoption for him in love. We are incredibly thankful to her and to God for this amazing gift!

Monday evening I was able to talk to the foster mom who had been caring for Luke. She told me all about his little personality, his schedule, and how he likes to sleep. Luke was 6 weeks old exactly on Monday, and he had even visited the pediatrician. Healthy little man! It was so helpful to talk with the foster mom and I will cherish her part in Luke's life forever.

Tuesday morning, Hampton and I drove to our adoption agency office to complete the final paperwork that would make us legal parents of Luke. We had a great conversation with our case worker and signed all the papers in just a matter of minutes. We were excited and nervous and anxious, yet God reminded us of his perfect peace that surpasses all understanding. He also gave us a special blessing right there in the agency office that morning. A group of ladies from a local church were volunteering there and asked to pray for us before we drove the rest of the way to get Luke. It was such a special time of prayer and fellowship with ladies we had never met before, but we KNEW because of our common bond in Christ.

After many well-wishes and loving thoughts, our case worker sent us to the other office another 2 hours away to meet our little boy. 

We arrived at the office before the foster family, so we sat and talked with the pregnancy counselor there who had worked with the birthmom. She gave us medical records and all kinds of information that brought us a little closer to knowing our little boy.

Finally, they were here! The foster mom walked in with Luke and with tears all around, she placed him in my arms.

I was overcome. We have a son! 

There were many pictures and more tears (not as many as I thought there would be), and we were left alone with our little boy.

 

The next few minutes were spent oohing and gooing at Luke, as he opened his eyes and saw his new parents for the first time. The foster mom and her son prayed for us and said goodbye. We gathered our things and then, just like that, it was time to go. Time to take Luke home!

 

As we loaded him the the carseat and into the backseat, I was still in shock. We are going home with our son!!! 

We had decided that I would ride in back in case Luke needed anything. The 3-hour trip home was mostly uneventful. Luke slept for most of it, we stooped once to change him, he gulped down a bottle, and then got antsy the last 30 minutes from home.

We finally pulled into the driveway and unloaded all of our stuff. I carried Luke inside in his carseat and he was finally home!

We are incredibly blessed to be a three person family! 

I'm looking forward to sharing some of what we have learned about our Luke in the next post! 

Adopted!

Wow! The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind. It all started Monday morning at 9:50am when our adoption case worker called my cell phone. I knew something was up. And the kind of questions she was asking made me more suspicious: Is your husband there with you? (No, he was at work out of town, of course) What is your work schedule like this week? (Mine, flexible as usual...Hampton's, crazy busy as usual) Is this a good time to talk? (Yes, yes, yes, of course!)

After the evasive questioning, she finally got to the point: we had been selected! And then the surprise twist: our baby was already born - over a month ago actually! And then the big shock: we want to place your baby with you tomorrow!

Tomorrow. As in, Tuesday? Like the next day? Oh my gosh.

So, after some details about our precious boy, the case worker told me to call Hampton and then call her back if we would be able to go to get our baby on Tuesday.

Yeah. I lost it with emotion at this point. I mean, wow. We had a baby waiting for us! 

So, I pulled myself slightly together and called Hampton. He had his usual work voice on and could spare a few minutes he said. I told him the news and he was floored of course. We talked through the details and he got off the phone to straighten things out with work. He called back 30 minutes later and was on his way home! I called our case worker and confirmed that we could pick up our baby boy the next day. I got a bunch more details and then ended that conversation just to start an epic phone marathon for the next 3 hours.

"Hi, beloved member of my family or dear friend, yeah whatcha doin? Not much here, just found out I'm gonna be a mom tomorrow."

So, that's not exactly how most of the conversations went, but you get the idea. Lots of excitement and emotion, and plenty of surprise! 

The rest of my Monday was a blur of preparation, including a BIG shopping trip, assembling a pack n play, and several loads of laundry. Oh, and a little bit of sleep before the big day.

So, as I sit here typing this, I'm listening to the precious sounds of my baby boy sleeping on the other side of the room. Oh, he is so precious!!!

I will be sure to recount the details of our Adoption Day in another post. 

For now, introducing Luke Thomas McClendon...

Love. Pure love.