Hi friends.

So, if we’re connected on Facebook this is no big news but our life has changed quite a bit. Our son was born in November.

Our son. He’s pretty amazing.

The two year journey we spent to get here, is a blur. The paperwork, agencies and fundraising are all hazy. I can’t believe it.

Today, I’ll begin unraveling some of the story of his birth. One thing we did for close friends and family was set up a password protected website through Posterous Spaces several weeks before we knew baby boy would arrive. It’s a very simple blog-like set-up. We included contact information (so our friends and family members could all contact each other) as well as information about how domestic infant adoptions work and how we had all agreed we wanted his birth to go. Then, I had a private forum to share, all-at-once, what was going on as it was happening while we were waiting. This helped our family and friends feel connected and present while still respecting our son’s first family and giving us the space we needed. So, some of these entries are from that website:

We received a call on Thursday two weeks ago that L may be close to labor. We thought we’d get the call that weekend, but we didn’t. So we just pretended to do life for two weeks when really- in our hearts- we have been doing nothing but waiting for the gap between us and our son to close and hoping L wasn’t too uncomfortable. It’s been terrible. But terrible in a good way, I guess.

So when the doctor scheduled L to be induced, we actually felt a bit of relief. A date. We had a date. And now that date is here. We get to be with them both tomorrow. Several of you have asked how we are feeling.

We’re excited.
We’re nervous (about the birth and bringing him home).
We’re happy (for us).
We’re sad (for baby boy’s mom and dad).

That’s the extent of our emotions right now. They’re simple, but each are running deep tonight.

So, we’re all checked into our hotel. Tomorrow, we’ll snag breakfast about 6am and head to the hospital where we’ll wait. We will wait for him to be born. Wait until we can see him. Wait until we can see L. Wait until 48 hours pass. Then, we’ll bring him to the hotel with us, where we’ll wait until we can sign placement papers.

Then. We’ll come home. With our son. Your newphew. Your grandson. The newest Lightening Cat (don’t ask questions). 

While we all wait, why don’t I entertain you with a couple of pretty cool things that have happened in the last three weeks. Okay- it’s possible that we’re just reading way into this. But, I do believe that our God knows us and loves us intimately. I believe he loves us in ways only we could possibly understand sometimes. So we have really enjoyed all the little ways He’s revealed Himself and given us peace and comfort over the last couple of years.

*sidenote: The middle name we’ve chosen is Fox. It was my grandad’s last name. Unfortunately, I only knew him for ten years before he passed away. But, my best childhood memory was with him. The day I met him, he bought a doll for me in the airport (A doll I still have, although her nose has been replaced with a push pin) This man who I didn’t even know bought a gift for me before he even knew who I was; He was excited to meet me. Then, I sat in his lap and fed him fudge while we watched Alice in Wonderland.

Well, I’ve seen two foxes in the city since September. The last one we saw, walked right across our backyard one night as we happened to be standing together looking out our back door. He was HUGE. We both stood in amazment as he walked gracefully by as if he’d done it a million times. Last week we received a package in the mail from a coworker who adopted her son thirty years ago. She sent us a children’s book about adoption. Tears filled my eyes by page one.

More next time….

There’s something you should know about me. I am no good at keeping secrets from the people I love. Especially when it comes to birthdays or gifts. And just to clarify, it’s likely that I will be able to keep your wife’s surprise party a secret (I said likely, meaning the odds are in your favor; I make no promises). But if I have a gift for you, and your birthday is three weeks away, I’ll probably avoid you for a solid fourteen days. Gifts that I buy early and stuff in closets ultimately get wrapped and given early.

Needless to say, this is one of my all time favorite Saturday Night Live sketches:

So when I ordered Chris’ very first Father’s Day gift and received it two weeks before Father’s Day- I thought I was in big trouble. But, I managed to keep it a secret until all the Dads were opening gifts over coffee and eggs.

(I actually do have a video of him opening it, but we are both so nerdy and awkward- I’ll spare you) I’m pretty sure he had a smile a half-mile wide all day long.

Most of you receive our adoption newsletter and already know, but this was a pretty special Father’s Day because we found out in May that (if all goes as planned) we’ll be parents by November. It all happened so fast initially, then time seemed to slow waaaay down as we realized the six-month-wait ahead of us, and now every day moves at warp speed. This week, we found out it’s a boy.

When I think of little chubby legs crawling on floors, passing cheerios on the ends of fat fingers and tiny breaths off-to-sleep in the dark, butterflies fill my stomach. Honestly, even waking in the middle of the night to rock my baby back to sleep and operating on pure adrenaline sounds heavenly (I know, I’m in la-la land). But our joy doesn’t come without sadness for our baby boy’s mom and dad- who are on our minds every day as we drive to work, make dinner, run errands, brush our teeth and crawl into bed.

So, I’ve been at a loss for words lately (more so than normal). As we wade through these next few months, we’ll share all we can. But, I think sometimes it’s just difficult to be open, right in the middle of such heavy things of the heart.