Another Family Day

One year ago today I was sitting in my office at 10:00 am and got the call from my husband that there was a three month old baby girl that they needed to find a home for that day. They'd know for sure by noon but would we be willing to pick her up that day. It didn’t take long for us to agree that we were willing to take her. We agreed and by noon we knew that we were going to be getting another wonderful girl at 3:00 pm that day.

Luckily I had a car seat in my car that was a convertible for my other DD and I adjusted it so I could take her home. DH and I met at Social Services and I got there several minutes after him. I sat in the waiting room hearing this child screaming thinking I hope that's not her. It was, she cried for hours that day but then settled into the sling and took a nap and we all went out to dinner as a new family of five. It was funny to tell the dude that we got a baby on the way home from work. And my Miss M became a great big sister.

Charlie (baby D) was so sad that day and for days. She had a caregiver that had taken her home from the hospital and she had been with her every day for the last three months and she missed her terribly. It is hard to see a baby so young grieve a loss. We did get to see the lady one time two weeks later but then due to circumstances of being in foster care she wasn’t allowed to see her again. Her bio-mom did not want her visiting the lady. We will get to go see her again soon; it will be neat to see if they connect as easily as they did for the first visit. I do still keep her updated with pictures and calls. She loves to hear her milestones and misses her.

It was a flurry of activity that day, but proof that you don't need much when you take a baby home, food, diapers, car seat and the rest just fell into place eventually. I was blessed by friends again, with clothes and bedding, and special blankets.

We’ve started calling her by her new name that she will become when adopted sometime this year and Miss M has nicknamed baby D, Charlie. My sweet Charlie! A beautiful, sweet, smiley, adorable, curly-headed, 15 month old baby girl. She has enriched our lives more than I ever could have thought. It is the most beautiful thing to see Miss M dote on her baby and Dude love on his sweet baby who he insists is his. We always joke that the dude is mine and Miss M is hubbies, so dude thinks she is his.

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy's Girls

Wordless Wednesday

Family Day

Family Day, also known as Gotcha Day, Familyversary, and many other names. Whatever an adoptive family calls it, it is the special day where a baby comes into your life. It is most commonly celebrated in International and Foster Care adoptions where the birth day and the day the child comes into the family are usually not the same.

Miss M was 5 1/2 months on the day she came into our family. We didn't get to be there for her birth or when she was taken home by her first foster family or when she was moved from Charlotte to Raleigh to be with another foster family, but we are her forever family. 2 years ago, Miss M came home to us. I have been very nostalgic this year even more so than last year. Not sure why.

Last year we celebrated by having some of our best friends over for dinner and having a special dinner and cupcakes. This year, I knew it was coming but didn't have anything planned. It all came together though to make it a special day. We had breakfast with some of our friends and went to the park and played. Then we met up with our other friends and Miss M's bff for swimming. She loves to swim, so it was perfect. This afternoon she wanted cupcakes so tonight I baked cupcakes right before dinner and she had a cupcake after dinner. It wasn't anything over the top (and it really shouldn't be) just a simple celebration of our family.

The day Miss M came snow had been predicted all week. I was so worried that the snow would interrupt her move from her foster family to us. She was scheduled to come at 10:30 right after her visit with her bio mom. I cannot imagine how hard it had to have been for her foster mom to pack all her belongings and hand her off that morning. (We do sort of keep in touch and she knows she is doing well). That morning it was only lightly snowing and the Social Worker brought her in. We really didn't know anything about her, but as soon as I laid eyes on her, I fell in love. She was beautiful, huge round cheeks, beautiful expressive eyes, and she smiled such a big pretty smile. She was so bundled up. I couldn't wait to bring her in the house, unbundle her and hold her. She sat in my arms then daddy's arms while we sorted through the paperwork. Hubs and I just looked at each other after the Social Worker left like "They really just gave us a baby!" in shock. It did end up snowing that weekend, but thankfully held off until she was safe in our house.

Here is Miss M on that first day. I loved going back and looking at the pictures.

First Time in Bouncy Seat Day 1:

Big Brother proudly holding her Day 1:

Big brother and Miss M holding hands Day 1:

Her now BFF meeting her for the first time Day 2. Really bad pic of me and of course the dogs were enamored with the new baby:

The dude's K teacher coming over to meet Miss M Day 3 (he was then in 1st, but we kept/keep in touch and she was one of our references for foster care):

Call Two Years Ago

Two years ago today I got the call from the Social Worker that would change our family forever. A 5 1/2 month old baby girl, 99% adoption. It didn't take us long to decide to say yes. I called Hubs first to tell him all about her. He didn't hesitate at all. I will never forget when he said "you can make the call." We would be her third foster family and they would only place her if we were willing to adopt. Of course we were! We were given the option to meet her first but we declined, there was nothing that meeting her could do to change our minds. I then got to start calling family and letting them know that a baby was coming to our home that week.
In a flurry of calls that day (Tuesday) and the next it was decided that she would be placed with us on Friday the 8th of January. It would be a very long exciting three days of thinking about her. I started gathering a few things for the baby, a crib, moving the room around, a few items of clothing (that all ended up having to be returned as we were told she was a petite little baby so I bought 6 months, she was already in 9-12 months when we got her). I also bought the carrier that I said would be the first thing I bought if we ever had another baby, an Ergo so I could carry her.
People at work joked and called it my three day pregnancy.
It is all still so surreal how it happened and how Miss M came into our lives forever.