How It Happened, Part 2

Okay, where were we? Ah yes, camping.

I'm pretty sure we had a fantastic time with our friends that weekend. I think we played cards, sat around the bonfire, made yummy food. Fun kinds of things. Here is proof:















But as you can imagine, my mind was a million miles away!

Sunday morning, we packed up and headed home. We promptly dropped all the camping gear in the basement (where it remained untouched and smelling of bonfire for the next six days) and threw together some pictures to bring with us to our meeting. After a quick trip to Target (thank goodness for one-hour photo developing) we had a little 36 page version of our life.

We met the birth mom (I'm going to call her L) and her parents at an Applebees. I was very nervous. My heart was beating fast and I kept wiping my hands on my skirt because they were really sweaty! Jonathan and I got to the restaurant before L and her family, so we waited in the entrance. Waited for people that we had never seen before. That was weird. Then a very cute pregnant girl walked in and we figured she was the one. =)

The next two hours were a strange mix of small talk, intense emotions, awkwardness, laughter, tears, caution, and hope. My oriental chicken wrap tasted like sawdust and I don't think I even touched my lemonade. We talked about everything from childhood camping trips to the fact that she wants us at the hospital when the baby is born (!!!).

We got in the car after the meeting and it felt surreal. Jonathan and I looked at each other with wide eyes. He started the car right away and I said "Don't you think we should just sit here for a minute...?" Jonathan said no, he needed to drive. As we drove, he mutilated a toothpick and I tapped my foot more vigorously than I've ever tapped before!

"So... is she choosing us, then??" We went over the conversation again and again, eventually coming to the conclusion that... yes? She probably was choosing us? She had never explicitly stated that, though...

Even though everything was still up in the air at that point, we left feeling great about the meeting, L, and her family. (I'll tell you more about her later, because she's wonderful.) And so began the next kind of waiting. Are we the ones?! Does she want us to rock her little boy to sleep and take him to t-ball games and teach him to drive? Is she choosing us?!

How It Happened, Part 1

As you know from my last delirious post, we are going to be parents any day now! Here's how it happened:

Saturday morning, Jonathan, Cody, and I headed north for a one-night camping trip with friends. An hour-and-a-half into the drive, my phone rang. When I answered the phone, I heard our adoption counselor say those magical words "I have a situation to discuss with you..." I took her advice and pulled over at the next exit. From then on it's kind of a blur...!

Our counselor explained that there is a birth mom interested in us. And she's due Thursday. Thursday as in five-days-from-that-very-moment Thursday. Our counselor gave us some information about the birth mom's situation. I took very detailed notes... on a Chipotle napkin! The birth mom wanted to meet us as soon as possible, considering she could go into labor at any moment!

I hung up and talked a mile a minute, trying to fill Jonathan in on everything I had been told. The plan was for our counselor to pass our contact info along to the birth mom so she could call us directly and set up a meeting. Meanwhile, we are two hours away from home with a car bursting at the seams with camping gear! We decided to wait to set up our tent until we heard from the birth mom. If she wanted to meet that day, you better believe we'd turn right around and head back to the Cities!

We shared the news with our friends and anxiously awaited the call. Jonathan and I decided to take Cody for a swim at the lake while we waited for the phone to ring. While Cody swam and Jonathan threw the ball again and again, I spoke with the woman who is making our dream come true! She sounded incredibly sweet and excited to meet with us. (SHE'S excited to meet US?! If only she knew that we would move heaven and earth to be wherever she needed us to be!) We set a time and place to meet for dinner the next day. After I hung up the phone, Jonathan and I just stared at each other. Could this really be it?! We walked along that lake in a daze. An excited daze, but definitely a daze!

Something tells me that Moose Lake Campground is going to hold a very special place in our hearts!

The Six Words I've Been Dying to Say...

I've been trying to think of a cute or clever way to say this, but I've given up. So here it is:

I'm going to be a Mommy!

Yes it's true! And Jonathan's going to be a Daddy! And Cody's going to have to share his space with a fur-less loud little wrinkly thing.

I have to get back to work, so I'll give more details later, but I can tell you that our baby boy is due tomorrow. Tomorrow?! What?! Yep. Tomorrow. So, like I said, I have to get back to work! We have a nursery to whip together, tiny baby clothes to wash, and some panic attacks to have.

Will write more later!

Ask and You Shall Receive!

Here you go, Ali!

(You will notice that the cake is simple to make and there isn't one healthy thing about it. In other words, the best kind of dessert!)

Butterfinger Cake
1 Devil's food cake mix
5 Butterfinger bars (Freeze for easier smashing)
~10 oz caramel ice cream topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large tub Cool Whip (or use 2 small tubs)
Chocolate syrup (for decoration)

1. Make and bake cake mix as directed.
2. Smash Butterfinger bars into pieces (I smashed the frozen bars inside their packaging with a mallet. Well actually the handle of our pizza cutter, but it works the same way=)
3. Right when the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes all over with a fork. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top and then spread the caramel topping over the hot cake.
4. Sprinkle 3 candy bar packets over the top. Cool completely.
5. Frost with Cool Whip and sprinkle contents of last 2 Butterfinger packets on top of frosting. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.
Store in fridge

Mmmm. Now I want to go make (and eat) one right now...

From the Mouths of Babes

For the third summer in a row, I am nannying for two girls that I love very much. The oldest will be eleven in August. It's hard to believe I first knew her as a chubby three year old in my preschool class! The youngest just turned six and I've known her since she came home from the hospital.

The girls know that Jonathan and I are hoping to adopt a baby. I've often wondered what exactly that means to them. What do they think adoption is? Well, I recently had the opportunity to find out! Here's a snippet of our Thursday morning breakfast conversation:

**The topic of adoption came up when the six year old asked about our adoption cards. I ended my explanation with something about how a pregnant mom picks a family for her baby.**

6 year old: "The mom? So you're not the baby's mommy?"

Me: "Well, the baby will have two kinds of mommies. I'll be the mommy that feeds the baby, puts clothes on the baby, and helps the baby fall asleep. I'll do all the things that your mom does with you. The other mommy is the one whose tummy the baby grew in. She loves the baby too."

6 year old: "What makes the baby's mom pick you?"

Me: "You never know. It could be something funny, like she thinks Cody is cute. Or maybe she has an uncle named Jonathan and that makes her like us."

6 year old: "Or maybe she picks people who want the baby the most? You know, like they really need it?"

(... as she looks up at me with her big, earnest 6 year old eyes...)

6 year old: "What if the mom already has a kid and then she has another baby and can't take care of it?"

Me: "Sometimes that happens. A mom might realize that she doesn't have enough money to keep two kids healthy."

6 year old: "That makes me feel creepy. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

(I realized a few moments later that SHE is a second child! I think she was worried that her parents are going to find another family for HER! Don't worry, I talked with her about that later.)

6 year old: (She went immediately from her "I don't want to talk about it anymore" declaration to this) "So you won't know if it's a boy or girl? How will you have the right stuff? When the baby comes home, what happens then?"

Me: "A lot of things can work for both boys and girls. Things like bottles, diapers..."

6 year-old: "DIAPERS! I have old diapers! What kind do you want? You can have mine! Well anyway. I hope it's not a boy. Cody's a boy. Jonathan's a boy. If the baby's a boy you'll be way outnumbered! Okay. I'm done with breakfast. Can I leave now?"

I just wanted to scoop her up and give her a big squeeze. Those questions! So insightful, direct, and innocent all at the same time.