Amanda

We had our first face-to-face adoption meeting January 23rd. It was with Amanda, her parents and Becca. It was kind of awkward, but it went well. At the end of our meeting, Becca had us exchange phone numbers with Amanda. We told her to contact us if she wanted to talk to us. We never heard anything, so naturally, we assume we were not the right couple for her and her daughter. Last Thursday night (Feb. 4th) I had to go to FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) alone because Josh was at firefighter training. At the end, I was talking to Stacy (our caseworker) and she told me she needed Josh and I to come in and sign a form she forgot to have us sign before we had our face-to-face with Amanda. We made an appointment to meet the next day on my lunch break. Friday, Josh came and picked me up from school and we went to the agency to sign the form. We went into an office, Stacy handed each of us a clipboard with the form on it, and a survey to fill out. Josh started filling out the survey, and I flipped the survey back and started reading the form we were supposed to sign. I got to the 3rd line in the form that read, "Please do not sign this form, as we do not really need it." I said to Stacy, "Stacy, this form is weird, did you read through it before you gave it to us?" I read that line about 4 times, then I read on and the form told us that there really was no point to the form, and that there was a package in the top drawer for us and to ask our caseworker to get it for us. I said, "Stacy, will you open the top drawer?" (all this time, Josh is still filling out the survey :) ) Stacy reached into the top drawer and handed me a small package. I said, "Jooosh?" he looked up and I pulled out the contents of the package. It was a small, pink, crotched hat, and colored, crotched pair of booties with a cute, homemade card that had our names on the front and inside it read, "Congratulations! I know you will be great parents. I've chosen you! Sincerely, Amanda." I was in complete shock! I looked at Josh and reminded him that she was due in less than a month. We are SOOOOO EXCITED!!!! I called Amanda later Friday night and let her know how excited and happy we are!!! I don't think it is possible to put into words the excitement, and/or the gratitude we instantly felt. It was definitely a surreal moment for both of us! It is fun getting to know Amanda and the things she likes doing, and the way she was raised. It is hard to imagine that Josh and I will have a sweet baby girl in less than 3 weeks. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! It is such a blessing to know that the Lord is mindful of us. There just aren't words to express our gratitude! Thank you Amanda, we can't wait!!!

My first purchases for our baby girl. :)