And then there were Three!

    I put off this post for a long time wanting to do it justice. The fact of the matter is I'm not much of a writer (that's Sam's thing) and I can't post pictures (my thing) until the adoption is finalized around 6 months. I so want the whole world to see this little bundle of joy we've waited 6 long years for!  Rest assured this blog will be filled with just that when the time comes.

    Six weeks ago we got a call saying that we could finally bring him home. We spent the day sitting in a rather abandoned mall near Lake Erie watching the clock, our hopes of starting the journey home that day dwindling as it got closer to 5 pm (the end of the business day for most offices). At 4:30 that phone call finally came!
    Our trip to pick up Sammy didn't quite go the way we imagined it. When we started the long adoption process, we were told 7-10 days was the average amount of time people spent away from home when picking up baby. As was the case with our long journey to parenthood, we had to have a longer than average wait; 3 weeks away from home! He was due on April 15th, but we got a call on March 28th saying that he would most likely come by the weekend. The next day we started our drive to Cincinnati, and were there by Friday night. The weekend came and went, no baby. Birth Mom was due to be induced on April 8th, Easter Sunday. Sammy decided to come on his own April 7th. The next three days were the longest three days of our lives, waiting to see if his first mom would sign the papers.  We prayed for sanity, prayed for the best, prayed for peace and comfort for his first mom... I don't think we stopped praying that whole time.  On the third day she signed.  It still felt so surreal, and it was hard to be happy when we knew someone else was coping with a loss.  And how do you thank someone for giving you the greatest gift of all when it is their greatest sacrifice?  There are no words.  It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.
    Our paperwork was then sent in to the state of Ohio, and then to NH so that we could be cleared to cross state lines and head home.  It took almost a week since there was a 3-day weekend smack dab in the middle of it, so Sam worked from the hotel while we waited.  When the time finally came, we were ready to make the long journey home and sleep in our own bed. 
    As I write this Sammy is now 7 weeks and 3 days old, and is already sleeping through the night most nights.  He's very strong, already lifting his head up to look around during tummy time, and is so close to being able to suck his thumb.  And boy we can't wait until that day, when we can get rid of the pacifiers!  I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with him and see every little milestone.  He is Practically Perfect in Every Way, and soooo worth the wait!  God had a plan all along, we were meant to be the parents of this amazing little man.  Though I don't want to wish his life away, I can't wait to see if he'll like sports, be an artist or a musician, if he'll spend long hours reading or want to ride horses.  Only God knows!