our incredible birth parents....

had dinner with us last night. they really wanted to get together one time in between our initial meeting and the delivery. we were thrilled to get to spend more time with them. we talked about the hospital plan they'd decided on.....she'll call me when she's in labor and we'll get to head downtown right away. as soon as the baby's born we'll get to see her. it's so exciting and i can't believe we're actually at the point in this process that we can even be talking with someone about a 'hospital plan.' we also spent a lot of time just getting to know them....and it's so unbelievable to discover the similarities we have....like the fact that chris and the birth dad share the same birthday!!!!

i know i've said it before but we just feel so blessed to have been able to take this journey. a few things to pray about as we get closer and closer.......

we really, really love these birth parents. i love kids their age....i spend every day with them.....and it breaks my heart to know that they will be going through pain in a few short weeks. while i'm so desperate to bring this baby home it is crushing to know how much this will hurt on their end. all through our adoption classes our social workers told us that bringing an adopted baby home from the hospital is incredible....so wonderful....and at the same time your heart absolutely breaks for the birth parents. i never thought it would be this true...probably because i never expected to feel the way that i do about them. pray that god would give chris and i, the birth parents, and their parents the strength and wisdom we'll need in the coming weeks and months......and years.

i feel so inadequate as far as the words i have to say to the birth parents while we're in the hospital......pray for our conversations.

and of course.....chris and i ask for prayers for a healthy little girl who we can spoil for years to come.......we have a few pictures of her already.....

choosing life is incredible......absolutely incredible......and ultimately.....divine.

february 11th.....

i told chris that last night, february 11th, i got to do the best thing i've ever done besides marrying him. it's a night that we will remember for the rest of our lives.....

we met our birth parents.

that line is full of so much meaning for us. it's one that really leaves me speechless (something that's hard to do for a gallerini girl). we received a call on monday night from our social worker indicating that a couple wanted to meet us. a couple who met all of the criteria that we could possibly want and that we'd expressed to our social worker but knew we'd probably have to give on a few of the items since they were pretty specific. but....god is amazing and that list wasn't too much for him and this couple just couldn't be any more perfect for us.

so......we went to meet them last night. terrifying. there is no other word to describe how the anticipation leading up to a meeting like that is......walking down the aisle-no problem, job interviews-enjoyable, gall bladder surgery-delightful, my first day of teaching ever-routine....but this was just un-real. we met with our social worker and theirs first and talked about how the conversation would go and what topics we really needed to get hammered out.......then their social worker left to go meet with them......that was an eternity of 20 minutes......

when she came to get us to bring us upstairs everything just clicked for me....it felt like this was what i was supposed to be doing, one of the things i was made for. i thought chris was going to puke right up until we walked into the room but the minute we walked through that door and saw them all of our nerves just dissolved. we knew it was "them."

we talked about a lot things for about an hour....and laughed and joked around. one of the qualities i love the most about my husband is how funny he is and how much he makes me laugh and how sarcastic he is.......our birth parents share the same qualities and it felt like we were talking to old friends. i just kept thinking that this couldn't be real....it was too good.

there is so much more that i'd love to write here.....but we feel very protective of them....and want nothing but incredible things for them.....and want to conserve their privacy.......but let me say again--they are amazing.....

we'll be seeing them again soon...getting to know them better. this adoption journey will never be over for us....but we've come to absolutely crave it and are so excited to see what else it has to offer. it has changed so many of our opinions about how adoptions work and what "normal" means and what "best for kids" means and how excited we are to build our family.

and.....that won't be far in the future.

because on march 16th....our little girl is due.