Changes

As many of you know already, our life has gone through some pretty amazing changes this week. It all started on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 when a social worker from Heart to Heart adoption agency called us. She let us know that there was a situation where a birth mother with a 3 week old baby boy was being flown in and they wanted to know if we were fine with them showing her our profile. She explained all the details and we didn't hesitate to have our profile shown.

At that point we couldn't help but be excited, but we knew we were not the only ones being shown so we were careful not to get our hopes up too high.

Then at 3:00 we got THE phone call. The social worker said that the birth mother thought we were amazing (shocking). She asked us how soon we could be in Salt Lake prepared for a meeting with the birth mother and a possible 7-14 day stay in Utah. We told them we would be there by 7:00.

That is where the whirlwind started. It is difficult to pack for a 2 week trip, but add to that that you have 45 minutes to do it and you're facing the possibility of having a new baby with you and it is ridiculous. We were not prepared with baby supplies, but thanks to our good friend Courtney we were able to borrow most of the things we would need to survive with a newborn baby boy.

We were on the road by 4:00. We made a lot of phone calls and asked for a lot of prayers. (thank you everyone for your prayers.) We were as excited as we could let ourselves be, but we knew that it was all still just a possibility. Madeline was very excited, she summed up our emotions by saying, "Mom, Dad, we have been waiting for this for years!" We made it to the agency just in time.

We met there with the social workers and they told us some more about the situation. The birth mother, from here on we will refer to her as K, wanted some more time with the baby and asked us to wait until 8:30 and meet them at her hotel. At this point the social worker informed us that we would probably be getting the baby that evening. We had thought it would probably be the next day, so we used the time to go shopping for the things we still needed.

At 8:30 we arrived at the hotel and waited in the lobby while the social workers met with K and the baby. We were very entertained by the 5 year old son of the social worker, who by the way was great to have there to break the tension. About 15 minutes later we were brought in to meet with K.

As much as we had worried about and been intimidated by the meeting, it was one of the most amazing moments of our lives. We walked in to see a beautiful young mother with a sweet little baby boy. No matter how much you prepare for that moment, it will always take your breath away. K got up and hugged us both and said hi to Madeline. After hugging Katy she put the baby in her arms. We talked for a while about the pregnancy and labor and how good of a baby he was. She told Madeline how glad she was that he would have a big sister. We talked for about 15 minutes and a social worker said that it was time.

We gave her the baby to say goodbye, and that was the hardest moment. To see her love for him and how hard this moment was for her was heartbreaking. She hugged him and kissed him. She told him how much she loved him and then put him in Katy's arms. It was painful to see that one of the most wonderful moments in our life came at such a great sacrifice to K. She is an amazing person and we will always be grateful to her for the gift that she gave us. The trust she has that we will love him and give him a wonderful life is a great honor and we will strive to be worthy of that trust. Thank you K, from the bottom of our hearts.

We hugged and left the room. It was surreal walking down the hall with our new baby boy. We had hoped and dreamed of this moment for years and could not believe that the moment had finally come. We sat down to sign all the paper work with the social workers and as we were filling them out they asked what we would like to name him. We decided on Max. It just seemed to fit.

That night we went to our hotel. At about midnight we fed him and he slept the whole night. But we didn't, we were up all night talking about how amazing it was that our dream had come true. He is such a sweet baby and he fits into our family like he was always there. Madeline loves him and she is adjusting to life with a baby very well.

We are so grateful for the blessing we have received through the miracle of adoption. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support throughout this process. The biggest thanks of all goes to K for the gift that we could never hope to repay. You will always have our prayers and our love.