The Phone Call, 1-3-2013

I was pretty down the first couple days of 2013.  We had prayed so long for a 2012 baby, and I was disappointed that it didn't happen.  I was allowing myself to be sad and disappointed even though I KNEW that God's plans were much better than mine.  I was hanging on to Proverbs 19:21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  Anyone who saw me during that week knew that I was struggling.  But I hadn't given up. In my heart of hearts, I knew something was going on that was much bigger than I could understand.  Matt and I even had some serious conversations during those days.  I am so thankful for the faith of my husband.  He is definitely God's gift to me. 

On to the moment when everything changed...

On Thursday, January 3rd, I was at work when my cell phone rang at 10:03am.  I didn't recognize the number, but it could have been any number of people.  When it was our Bethany social worker, I still didn't know for sure it was a referral call.  The week before Christmas, we had talked with her about the possibility of older child adoption, so I thought she might be calling to follow up on that.  We chatted about Christmas for a minute and being back to 'normal' schedules before she said, "Well, I have some potentially exciting news... you've been chosen!"

She was smart enough to say "you're probably not going to understand all the details right now, so call me back so I can talk to you and Matt together."  So, I called Matt.  He was at home.  I told him, "We have a baby!" and I started bursting out crying.  My coworker, Veronica, ran over to my desk to hug me.  I was shaking.  Trembling.  So, Matt and I decided to both start driving toward one another so we could call our social worker back together.  

I ran around the office, crying and screaming "we have a baby!"  There were questions like, "is it a boy or girl", and I just said "I don't know, and I don't care!"  :)  My poor coworkers probably thought I had lost my mind.  I hugged everyone then went out the door to drive to meet Matt. 

Halfway to each other ended up being Dunkin' Donuts.  We sat in the parking lot and called our social worker back.  She gave us LOTS of information.  One of the most important questions that I asked was "did the birth mother pick us, or were we chosen by default?"  She told us, "She chose you... she loves your love for your family and that you have lived and traveled to a lot of places."  This was a huge answer to prayer! We were THRILLED! 

We asked lots more questions, and she gave us lots of information.  It was CLEAR to us that this is our son.  
Immediately, we called our immediate family members and shared what we knew.  Needless to say, I was way too excited to go back to work. Matt and I hung out the rest of the day and got busy making preparations. 

On the phone later in the day...

Later, I called the birth mother's social worker and asked more questions.  I asked if we get to meet the birth mother, and that was a special answer as well.  Apparently, the birth mother wasn't sure if she wanted to get to know the adoptive family or not, but after reading our profile book, she definitely wants to keep in touch.  What an answer to prayer!  We also learned her first name, which I love. I LOVE being able to pray for her by name. 

Talking with the birth mother's social worker and taking notes.
Matt took this picture because it looks like Zoe & Nala are joined together behind me.
So thankful he focuses on the important things! ;)

It finally happened!!  We're going to be parents--soon! :)

Christmas in Saluda, Part 3 and Final

Amidst the craziness of goats and the chameleon, we truly had a wonderful weekend at Momma's.  

Saturday:  We baked. We watched movies. We played with the 7 dogs, 2 goats, and 1 chameleon.  We ate BBQ for dinner then went to a shooting range!  It was my first time at an indoor range, but it was very fun!  After shooting, we went back to Mom's and opened some Christmas gifts. You have already read about the most interesting gift. 

Mom's house, built in 1900, decorated for Christmas!

Sunday:  We got dressed (I think all of us actually took showers!) and drove up to Lake Lure Inn for Sunday Brunch. Yum.  After brunch, we took family Christmas pictures.  Then we went shopping for goat stuff. And Valerie & Zebediah worked on finding new goats.  Zeb built the goat pen, and we did more baking.  We went down to Tryon to have dinner with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Betsy and Charlotte.  It was a treat to see them since it hardly ever happens--it has been an especially long time since we had seen Charlotte.  After dinner, they finished the house for the goats while I had some time to myself (much needed for this introvert!), then we opened the rest of our gifts. 

Monday: Valerie & Zebediah left fairly early to go get their new goats from a couple hours away.  Matt, Laura, Mom and I hung out around the house and did more baking and cleaning up.  We finally left Saluda in the late afternoon and had an uneventful ride home.  We went to bed early to prepare for Christmas Day with Matt's family (post coming).


I spent a lot of the weekend laughing, which is a true gift.  My Mom and sisters are some of my closest friends, and I realize what a blessing that is.  We know all the crud about each other but still love each other.  We have a pretty healthy balance of grace and truth with one another, and there is something VERY special about that to me.  This has not always been the case.  

As we traveled home, I spent a lot of time thanking God for my family and the weekend we had celebrating together!  

You can view my Facebook album from the weekend here.

 

Christmas in Saluda, Part 2 (Chameleon)

After the excitement of the goats, we revisited our plans for Saturday evening.  We had originally planned to go up to the Biltmore house and walk around the village up there and eat a nice dinner up there.  Instead, we decided to get BBQ in Saluda and just chill at the house.  

After dinner, we decided to open 3 presents each.  Everything was going well (movies, earrings, etc.) until I went to get a present for Matt and was told he had to wait until last to open it.  Hmmmmm....

When it was Matt's turn, he opened up a background for an aquarium.  It took him a minute, and then he said, "does this mean I'm getting a veiled chameleon!!?!?!"  (He has been wanting one for a couple of years.) 

Valerie promptly produced a veiled chameleon from her pocket.

What!?!?! Huh!?!?  What!?!?!  My thoughts:  Since when is it okay to get someone a PET for Christmas without at least consulting them and/or their spouse!?!?  Oh, the irony. 

I am not thrilled with reptiles.  I heard a story once about a baby getting salmonella from geckos in the house, and I have been opposed to cold-blooded creatures in the house since then.  But I guess it doesn't matter because Matt was filled with pure joy, and who am I to put the kabosh on that at Christmas? 

So yeah, Matt got a veiled chameleon (with a nice hand-me-down cage and light which is the only way the gift stayed remotely close to the price limit that was set for gifts).  For the rest of the visit, the time that wasn't spent with the goats was spent with the chameleon... whose name changed from Rango to Optimus to Gage before we finally settled on Muppet. 

**Side note, can you imagine if we had driven home from Saluda with Us, Zoe, Nala, a pygmy goat, AND a veiled chameleon?!?!  My sister almost allowed that to happen.  Thanks a lot, Valerie! :)

Christmas in Saluda, Part 1 (Goats)

We gathered with my side of the family for the weekend before Christmas.  Lots of things were new this year with this side of the family, so we weren't going by many traditions... just tried to figure it out as we went along.  It turned out very well as we had a wonderful few days with family! 

We all drove up to Mom's Friday night (late).  Driving with Zoe is not a picnic, so it was a much longer and painful drive than usual.  Mom was at work and didn't get home until Saturday afternoon.  This meant that the 5 of us children were unchaperoned for a few hours before she got home...  

When we got up on Saturday morning, we all made our way to the kitchen eventually and decided what we would do for the day: bake.  We got recipes from Pinterest, scavenged Mom's shelves, and made a grocery list.  While Laura, Matt and Zeb went 'to town' to get the groceries, Valerie and I baked a little and watched YouTube videos of goats.  

Naturally, by the time the other three got back from town, we had decided that we wanted goats.  Matthew and Zebediah were too happy to oblige--being that both husbands had tried talking us wives into getting goats in the past. Zebediah had especially been working on Valerie which is what started the whole YouTube thing anyway.  It didn't take long to find some pygmy goats listed on Craigslist nearby.  After changing into presentable clothes (and admonishing Valerie that she did not have to get 'dolled up' to go buy a goat), we made our way 2 towns over and found ourselves on a lovely farm.  

Matt and I with "Hippo"

After much deliberation, we settled on two goats.  A brown one for Matt & Tricia who we named "Hippo" from the song, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", and the gray one for Valerie & Zebediah... who was named "Sebaaaaaastian" on the way back to Mom's.  On the drive back, we joked that "we got a KID for Christmas".  We introduced the goats to the dogs (all 7 of them!), and it was clear from the beginning that Zoe was not a fan of the little pygmies.  So, within an hour of getting Mr. Hippo, we decided he could not be part of our family after all.  We would either return him or see if Mom wanted him.  

The dogs meeting the goats.

By the time Mom got home, we had the goats tucked away in her outside closet so they could stay warm and remain a surprise until it was time to open presents...
only we didn't account for the noise they made.  When Mom got home from work, she heard a strange noise and went to the closet thinking a cat was locked up in it.  Instead, she saw two "cute little things" and realized she had ruined a surprise so promptly came into the kitchen to tell us she had discovered the "cute little things".  

After much excitement, we introduced Mom to Hippo, her goat-which-had-become-a-Christmas-present.  She was appropriately surprised, reluctant, yet intrigued.  After a few hours of cuddling and care-taking, she quickly launched into 'very excited'.  

Mom with Hippo

The next day, we went to Tractor Supply and Home Depot so she could get pen materials, feed, and materials to build a goat house.  She had also decided that she wanted to keep both goats because goats aren't meant to be by themselves.  So, Valerie & Zebediah started the process of trying to find themselves a new goat(s). 

We loved cuddling the baby goats and doting on them.  Zebediah built them a nice pen, and they seemed to be quite at home when we left on Monday afternoon.  

More Christmas Updates coming soon...

**Update, sadly, Hippo died a couple days after Christmas.  He wasn't quite well from the beginning, but we attributed it to transitions.  Apparently, he just wasn't well.  Thus, we successfully went from giving Mom a very cool, unique, exciting Christmas present to giving her the WORST Christmas present ever... one that died a few days later... launching her into grief and remorse.  Note to friends and family and anyone else who wants to give good gifts--Do NOT give pygmy goats as a Christmas present... especially if you don't know much about them.***

You can view my Facebook album from the weekend here.