13 months and 1 day....

is how long it took to get our referral!!!!! We are thrilled to announce the referral of our beautiful 4 month old baby boy! We got the referral this afternoon and it has taken me this long to be able to form a coherent sentence. I was watching Lost on hulu, with headphones in, so I didn't hear my phone ring. Kevin came home and told me that my friend Karen was trying to get a hold of me and she wanted me to check my messages and that is when I heard the message from my social worker. She said, "Lori, I have a referral for you. You have thirty minutes to call me back before I call Kevin." I ran to the phone, with Kevin, and got the news. Then we got to see his beautiful face through the e-mail. I cannot stop looking at him. I wish I could show you all his beautiful face, but we are not allowed to post his picture online. So, if you live in town I would love to show him off. For those of you that are out of town, I will do my best to describe him.... he is a little chunk, I always pictured a tiny little baby, but he is not tiny. His little cheeks are handsomely round and his lips are full and kissable. I can't wait to get him and kiss those lips. He has big beautiful brown eyes, he looks a little scared and that makes me want to go get him even more. I am not sure what else to say except he is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.

So whats next? We now have to sign the acceptance papers, send them off and then wait for a court date. Once we pass court then we will be assigned an embassy date and that is when we will travel. All of this can take around 3 to 4 months, maybe a little more, hopefully a little less. So please pray that we will be on the shorter end of this wait. Now off to try to sleep....

13 months

We have been waiting 13 months to be matched with our little one. I think I am officially past being impatient and have moved on to feeling desperate. I am desperate to know who our child will be... a boy or a girl... a baby or a toddler.... one or siblings??? Do we need to hold on to all of our baby stuff? Do we need to hold on to all of our baby boy clothes? Do I need to sell the cute baby girl bedding that we bought or the cute baby boy bedding that was Oliver's? Do we need to set up a crib, toddler bed or buy a twin bed? I am driving myself crazy with these questions on a daily basis, but lucky for me our lives are a little crazy with transition right now, so I am able to keep myself busy with that too.

In two weeks we are moving to Denver to join the Adullam church. We are really excited to join this ministry and all that they are doing. If you would like to learn more about the ministry here are a couple of websites: tangiblekingdom.com, adullamdenver.com, and missio.us.

We found a really cute townhouse up there that I think will be perfect for our family. It is in a really cute area with a lot of big grassy areas, a playground and pool right across the street, and lots of bike trails in the area. We also rented our house here to some really great friends, so that is a huge relief.

So even though I am desperate to meet our child, I am thankful for all of this to keep me busy while we wait.

???????

Tonight we were driving home from Denver and I am pretty sure Kaden asked me close to a million questions. Okay, I am being a little dramatic, but in the hour drive I think the car was only quiet for about ten minutes. Here are a few of them...

How do we get splinters and why?
Why does papa want a fast car?
Are your fingers bigger then mine?
Did Anikan really turn into Darth Vader? (not sure of spelling but other mothers of boys know what I am talking about)
Where is the moon? Why can't we always see it? Where does it go?
Can we have a baby? Can we just have Hunter (my nephew)?
Why are we driving so fast?
Why is Denver so far?
Why is it called Castle Rock?
Why is my papa so silly?

Needless to say our ride home was full of conversation. I love my sweet boy and I am trying to enjoy this stage of questions, even though it can be exhausting. I love to see him discovering the world in his own way.

Another quick kid story, tonight we were taking communion at church and Kevin explained the meaning of communion to Oliver. He thought he had done a really good job until Oliver yelled over to me "Mommy look, Jesus gave us bread!" He is too cute. I love my boys so much!!