A Whirlwind and Rhinos

Okay okay okay. Shame on us, we have kept you all on pins and needles since our last update regarding a meeting with a potential birth mom! Here are the details:

Saturday, April 8th, 2017 was a day full of anticipation. We were expected to arrive at the agency’s office around 10:00am to meet with the social worker, agency director, and birth mom. Needless to say, we didn’t eat much for breakfast — — we were SO nervous!

As soon as we walked in, our nerves were put to ease. Without going into too much detail (in order to respect her privacy), our birth mom is darling. She’s taller than me (she even commented on my shortness! Haha), but not as tall as Nathan. She shared with us all of her favorite things, and asked us questions about our adoption process, our profile book, and why we wanted to be parents.

The conversation flowed smoothly and we talked for over an hour. We also brought her a gift: an adult coloring book (because we heard she was artistic and loved crafts) and a dainty gold necklace with a heart. Since gifting her this, we have also purchased the same necklace for myself to wear.

God was definitely present in that meeting, and we all felt a peace that passed all understanding after we left. Our social worker texted us later that day and asked us to return the following weekend (Easter weekend) to visit with the birth mom again: they wanted to give her plenty of time to make this life-changing decision.

Fast forward three days: my mom was in town for the week and we received a phone call from the birth mom. My mom even got to talk to the birth mom on the phone !We talked for about 30 minutes and found out that something had come up within the social worker’s schedule and we would have to postpone to the following weekend. We were all disappointed, but understood.

Our next visit was scheduled for Friday, April 21st (at Starbucks: just a low-key hangout session) and Saturday, April 22nd at the zoo (she had never been to the zoo before, and we wanted a fun outing to get to know her some more).

We met up Friday afternoon at Starbucks and chatted with the birth mom and social worker for about two hours. We caught up on things that had happened in the past two weeks (Easter, events, etc) and just continued to share and get to know one another.

Saturday morning arrived, and we were wondering if we would find out some solid information during our time at the zoo. We cannot even begin to understand what kind of decision this must have been for the birth mom, but we knew (and still know) that God is in control and will direct our path according to His will.

We arrived to the zoo at 9:00am and it was a drizzly, cold morning (a cold front had blown in). Because of this, not many people were at the zoo. We went straight to the elephants (the birth mom’s favorite), and then began to walk around. We saw birds, fish, giraffes, and then ended up at the rhinos.

At this point, the social worker had walked off, so we assumed she wanted the three of us to spend some quality time together without her. All of a sudden, a zoo keeper walked up to us with a letter and said, “This is for you”. Hmm… we have never received anything from zookeepers before, so we started getting suspicious!

To make a long (and emotional) story short, it was a sweet letter that the birth mom had written to us, sharing that she knew we were meant to be her baby’s parents, and at the end, there was a message that read, “Congratulations! You’re a Mommy and Daddy!” We will never, ever forget that moment.

We continued touring the zoo, and felt so excited all day- even the birth mom was excited, pointing to other children at the zoo and saying, “I bet you just can’t wait for your baby boy to be that big!” and things of the like.

At the end of our day at the zoo, we stopped in the gift shop so she could pick out a stuffed animal, an elephant, for the baby. We bought her a matching one so they would have the same animals.

We took loads of photos and left, but not before receiving a precious gift from the birth mom: a scrapbooked box with the baby’s sonogram pictures, onesies and socks she’s collected, art she’s made, and trinkets she’s had for him. She also gifted me a necklace that said “Mom” and “For this child I have prayed”, and she made Nathan a keychain that said “#1 Dad”.

Once leaving, we called our family and friends, and then later shared on Facebook. We have been overjoyed with the amount of love and support that has been show to us during this time, and it looks as though our family will be growing to three in the coming month!

Our precious Eli Asher is expected to arrive on May 22nd!

Thank you, thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers, and we look forward to sharing with you our journey as it continues to unfold. To God be the glory.