Lest I forget…

I journal for many reasons but a big one is to help me remember!

On Tuesday, September 5, 2007 we received a phone call from OR DHS letting us know that the boys had a baby sister.  What I remember about that call was that I was sitting at my desk talking to the caseworker and I turned around to give Eric one of those “do-you-have-any-idea-what-type-of-phone-call-I’m-on” looks.  When I turned to him, he was on his knees and his face was in the couch cushions.  I’m not sure if he was crying or praying … but it was an overwhelming moment.

If I’m completely honest with myself, Eric and I thought our family was done after J2 joined it.  Then we received the call about J3 in 2002 and how can you say no to a sibling?  Then Joshua was born.  We did our best to adjust to a larger family than we thought we’d have.

After Joshua died, I definitely felt our family was ‘off’ at 3 kids but I knew no one could replace him, so why try?  Plus the grief  journey is so hard I really had not energy, time, interest in changing things.

Then that phone call.  I never hesitated to tell the DHS worker that, should reunification not be possible, that we would want to be considered for adoption.  But at the same time I worried if we could handle it.

Even with my concerns, I really wanted her home with us at Christmas time.  In October I was blessed by photos from her foster mom:

But it was going to still be 6 more months before we got to meet her at 8 mos old.  I remember how she laid on the floor and kicked and kicked.  She could not roll over and could not sit up.  She was still dealing with lots of reflux and other issues from her birth.

On March 30, 2008 we brought her home from Oregon.

Then the real waiting began.

Now, just over two years from that initial phone call…..she is truly ours!  Praise the Lord!!