Happy 1st Gotcha Day, Thomas!

The Day We Adopted You

Author: Unknown

If we had it to do over again
Adoption is what we'd choose

We got more than we had hoped for
The day we adopted you

For you have given us more in life
Than we could ever want or need

You made our house into a home
And made our family complete

We love you more than life itself
for all the things you say and do

And if we had it to do over again
You'd be the only one we'd choose.

Happy Gotcha Day Thomas! I can't believe you have been our son for 1 year, and it has been an amazing year filled with so much JOY! We love you so much, baby boy!

Keep the faith,

Lauren

One Year Ago...

We completed our paperwork for our home study to begin the adoption process!

And now...

we have our beautiful baby boy!

Mommy and Daddy love you so much. We are very thankful to be your parents!

Keep the faith,

Lauren

A Poem

I tiptoed into your room one night.

I watched you sleeping there.

Your tiny body looked so snug

Wrapped in peaceful slumber's care.

I thought of how you came to be

The child we'd longed to know.

I wondered at the sight of you:

"How could she let you go?"

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I

Felt the pain she must have known.

For I will have to let you go

Some day when you are grown.

A mother I might never meet

Had given me her son.

Yet, surely as you've filled my heart,

A piece of hers you'd won.

"How could she let you go?"

The question kept returning.

And in the depths of my own heart.

A question kept on burning.

"How can I ever let you go

When years have come and gone?"

I stood there by your crib until

The nighttime turned to dawn.

And as the sun peeked through the shades,

The voice of God broke through.

"I trusted her to give him life

And now I'm trusting you.

"To show him what is right and wrong,

to love him and to be

The one who teaches him the way

To come back home to me.

"He wasn't hers to give, you know.

And he's not yours to own.

I've placed him in your life to love

But he is mine … on loan."

~Valerie Kay Gwin~

Keep the faith,

Lauren

Adoption hearing!

Thomas' adoption hearing was held on June 10th!

It was one of the most exciting days!  I can not find the words to describe the emotions we felt this day! I was not able to sleep the night before because I was super excited! 

Here are several pictures we took at the courthouse!

This was the name of our judge.

Our family of three before the hearing! 

Thomas slept all morning before the hearing. He woke up right as the judge was calling our name. He needed a diaper change, and we changed his outfit!

Throughout the hearing, Thomas would look up at Brandon and smile every time Brandon would speak. 

It is official! Thomas is our son, and we are his parents! We are so thankful that God chose Thomas to be our son and chose us to be his parents!

We took a picture with the judge after the hearing, and she gave Thomas a little stuffed animal.

 We took several more pictures after hearing while we were waiting on some of our paperwork!

It was a very exciting and emotional day that we will never forget! Brandon and I have 3 very important dates that we will always need to celebrate with Thomas: Thomas' birthday (February 23rd), Gotcha Day (February 26th), and Adoption Hearing Day (June 10th)!

It is amazing to us that it hasn't even been a year since we completed our home study, and we have the most amazing baby boy that is all ours! 

We spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with family and friends!

Funny story that I want to remember about my mom:

My parents stayed in a hotel Thursday night in Dallas close to the courthouse.  They stopped by our home first and spent some time with us before they headed to their hotel. My mom typed the address of their hotel in her GPS on her phone before they left our house.  They were on their way to the hotel in Dallas when the phone said you have arrived to your destination but my dad did not see the hotel anywhere. They were actually at the courthouse! My mom had typed the address of the courthouse in her phone instead of the hotel's address. They eventually made it to their hotel. They didn't have to worry about finding their way to the courthouse the next morning!

Keep the faith,

Lauren

Thomas' Birth/Adoption Story!

Brandon and I decided this summer to start the adoption process after struggling with infertility for about 3 1/2 years.  We have completed several different fertility treatments that resulted in negative results or miscarriages.  I finally feel comfortable enough with my self to write about our infertility struggles on my blog.  We completed our home study for our adoption journey at the first of October 2010. We both thought that we would have to wait a year or two before we were chosen by a birth mother.  We continued to pray that God would find a way to bring us our child.

Thomas was born on February 23, 2011.

February 24, 2011-Thursday
Our case worker from our adoption agency called us February 24, 2011 (Thursday) at 3:50 pm.  I missed her call and she left a message.  She said that the agency had a drop-in birth mom situation. His birth mom had Thomas on February 23, 2011, and she was looking for parents to raise Thomas.  The case worker asked if we wanted our information presented to her.  I called her back and said "Of course we would want the birth mom to look at our information!"  We tried to stay calm Thursday afternoon and evening.  This was very difficult for me but Brandon did an amazing job of staying calm, which helped me. We had been in a similar situation in December so we were very excited that we were about to meet/have our son but we also knew that we had to protect our hearts. We called our family and friends Thursday evening and night and asked them to pray for the birth mom, Thomas, and us.  I also received an African fertility goddess in the mail and a pair of socks to wear during our next fertility treatment on this day from a friend.  Another friend placed a piece of wheat stalk from Lebanon in my mailbox on this day also.  (The African fertility goddess, socks, and wheat stalk will be talked about more on another post.)

February 25, 2011-Friday
I did not sleep very well throughout the night because I was so excited!!!  Brandon and I went to work Friday morning.  I did not stay very long.  I started having a hard time breathing, trouble standing up and walking, and became nauseated. Then I became sick so I decided that I needed to go home.  I continued to be sick the rest of the day. When Brandon got home from work, he decided to take me Care Now since I had an upset stomach.  We also knew that sometime during the day the birth mom was looking at our information and she would soon be making a decision about Thomas' parents. While at care now, I found out that I did have a fever.  The doctor was about to give me an iv when my phone rang!  Brandon had to answer it. It was a different case worker from our agency, and she told Brandon that the birth mom chose us!!!!! We couldn't believe it!!! It's very difficult to find the words to describe how we felt after receiving the phone call! Our hearts were filled with joy! I immediately told the doctor and nurse that I felt better and was ready to go home!  They told us that they were so happy for us even though they didn't even know us! The doctor told me that I had to go home and go to bed and that Brandon could go shopping!  We headed home but I still got sick a few times on the way home but I think it was because I was soooooo excited! We made it home. Brandon helped me to bed, and then he headed to Target.  He bought a car seat/stroller travel system, pack-n-play, diapers, clothes, wet wipes, Dreft, and blankets.  He told me that he received all sorts of strange looks from people when they saw what all he had in his shopping cart!! Brandon came home, installed the car seat, and put together the pack-and-play.

Brandon putting together the pack-n-play!

February 26, 2011-Saturday
Gotcha Day!
We headed to the hospital early Saturday morning.  We met the case worker in the main lobby at the hospital and then headed up the nursery to meet Thomas!!! We will never forget the first time we laid on eyes on Thomas!  Our hearts were forever changed! The nurses told us how they all loved on him the past few days and one student nurse held him all night long!  We stayed at the hospital for about 2 hours and then headed home!  I still can't believe we went to the hospital Saturday morning with an empty car seat, met our son, and then left the hospital two hours later to bring our son home!!!! What an amazing day God had planned for us!! We are very blessed!!!

Waiting the hospital lobby!

Family of Two!

Suddenly a Family of Three!


We love Thomas so much! He is the light of our lives! We are thankful for every day God gives us to be his parents!!!

Keep the Faith,

Lauren