Adoption Update: He's Home!!!!

Yes!!!!!  You read that right!  Sweet baby boy has arrived and is with us in Tennessee!!!! (Can one really use too many exclamation marks?)

We began this journey to give all the glory to God and we have seen his hand of peace, provision, wisdom, and beauty in every moment.  Every. Moment.  And I don't want to short change a single one.  I wish that everyone who is following our journey could have lived as flies on the walls for the past two weeks to see it all unfold.  So, I am going to blog it in "real time" in order to share all that transpired without a book length blog entry. :)

Thursday, September 28th:

We had all gotten up early.  Danny had to go into work early and was planning to meet me to handle the kids for a quick appointment before heading into the office for the day.  Since this was the case we were all dressed, fed, and ready to go earlier than usual.  (God orchestrated that, by the way.) I pull into the parking lot where we were to meet and see that Danny is calling.  My mind first thought, "Great.  He isn't going to make it after all and I will have everyone in the doctor's office for my hearing test.  How will I ever pass?"  Instead, I answer to "Congratulations on being a mom again!"  What?!?!  Did that mean . . . ?  Oh, my goodness!  I was over-the-moon excited!!!!  We all cheered and hollered in the van.  The kids asked a million questions that I couldn't answer, but we were all smiles.

We didn't have any details other than a baby was born.  Then my mind started going crazy - packing list? address? food? gender? weight? doing well?  Do I still get my hearing test???  Danny snagged the kids and headed home to pack while I went ahead to my appointment.  What's 15 minutes when we have hours to travel?  We were sent his first picture and found out that he had been born the night before just minutes before midnight.  Then my momma heart really went wild.  He has been here for 8 hours and I haven't gotten to him!  Who is loving on that sweet thing? 

By the time I got home almost everything was packed.  Everyone was eager to get on the road, so they pitched in to help.  We also have amazing neighbors who helped return library books and agreed to get our mail.  I threw my stuff in the suitcase and we were off.  Did we know which hospital? No.  Did we have an address? No.  Details, details, details. 

Side note:  Anyone who knows me knows this is totally not like me.  I even forgot to pack underwear! But, like my momma always says, "There's always a Walmart."

We had beautiful weather the whole drive.  I might have even let Danny go a few over the speed limit.  I think the kids thought Arkansas was a lot closer.  We also were given word that he was only 35 weeks and 4 pounds 4 ounces.  He had been admitted to the NICU.

Backstory: Back in January when we were gearing up for the first adoption, Danny had contacted the churches in the area to find out if any of them had a house we could use while staying in Arkansas.  Through a series of emails we were put in contact with Ms. Connie.  She said we could live in her 3 bedroom, 2 bath house right next to a park and endless sidewalks during our time there.  What a tremendous blessing!!!  The body of Christ in all it's beauty!  God provided beyond what we could have imagined.  We were prepared to share a hotel room and many sleepless nights. 

The trip was nine hours and by the time we arrived it was late, dark, and the kids were done.  Sweet Ms. Connie offered to watch the kiddos (does she know what bedtime is like?) while we went to the hospital to figure out what was going on and meet our little one.

I had a million butterflies in my stomach as we walked in the hospital and made our way to the NICU.  We were told birth mom had already discharged so we went straight to see him. 

And there he was.  Four pounds of absolute perfection. 

Look at that hair!  Oh, and he has dimples.  Be still my heart!

I got to hold him for a bit and breath in that new baby smell.  His little cry was barely audible. At that moment, I was so aware of the fact that I had once again been entrusted with one of God's precious children, one of His image bearers.  And while his name might be Baby Boy on paper, God had always known he would be a Melin.

Welcome to the family, Theodore Graham Melin!