A new love in our hearts

We are back from our trip and Christmas is now over, so I finally have a little time to post about our trip. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our son is the most precious 20 month-old boy I have ever seen (besides his big brother, who is and was equally as precious)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
D and I fell head-over-heels in love right away. The first moment I laid eyes on our baby, everything else faded away...God really answered our prayers!
I had asked Him to give us a certainty and an unquestionable love/bond right away. God is faithful!!!! We knew in an instant that this is our son (C- his American name starts with this letter). I would never have guessed the feeling could be so strong...it was incredible.
The first few moments, C was very timid and unsure, but he warmed right up during a game of catch with Papa! He also loved all of the books we gave him, and just could not stop running his hands over the soft kitty's fur in one of the books (that was his brother A's favorite part of that book, too).
After about half an hour or so, he heard a car outside the window and said "vroom!"! That was the first time we heard him speak...I will never forget that sweet moment as long as I live (they had told us he is speech delayed / not talking).
After spending quite a bit of time looking out the window at the machinas (cars), it was time for the boys to eat (another couple from our agency met their son on this day too). It was precious watching the boys eat and bond with their new Mamas and Papas! C scarfed every bit of his food and milk in no time flat- it was a huge amount of food! I had to take the bread away from him and control the amount going in to his mouth at any given time, in order to avoid a choking incident (he gagged a few times early on). The other little boy sweetly allowed his Papa to feed him.
Later on, we played a game of peek-a-boo in the mirror. D would jump in front of the mirror holding C and I would say, "Who is in the mirror? It's C and Papa!". After several times of this, C looked intently into the mirror and said very softly, "Papa", with a big smile on his face. Oh my, my heart melted right there (O.K., I was a bit jealous too, but only b/c our son A called me daddy for years- he still does sometimes. Where is the love for mommy?)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to go on and detail the entire time we spent w/C, but let's just suffice it to say, every second of the two visits flew right by and we had so much fun!
It was absolutely terrible to say goodbye on the second day. I tried to be cheerful so C wouldn't cry (and so I wouldn't cry). He walked away w/one of his caregivers holding one hand, and the machina we had given him in the other hand. D and I fought to hold back tears.
Since then, I have cried quite a bit on and off. The videos help- I have watched them over and over. I just try to focus on the blessing God had given us and C. We will remain faithful that God is about to do a most amazing miracle and bring us together officially as a family!
Oh, that moment will be so sweet!

Referral! Praise God

IT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We got a call from our agency Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 3:54 PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A little boy.....SO beautiful!
The call went like this...

D: Hello?
FC: Hey D, how are you? Is L there? Can she get on the phone too?

D and I are both making freak-out faces at one another now!

D: Uhhh...sure!

I go to the kitchen while wildly motioning to my husband to follow me. I can hardly breathe. I turn on the speakerphone and tell him to hang up.
We cannot get on two seperate phones b/c I left our other one out in the rain several months ago and it does not work.
For a moment I think we could call her back on our cell phones, but NO WAY am I letting her go without the news right then!

FC: I have your referral! A little boy!
D and L: Seriously?!?!?! Oh, that is so awesome!

At this point, I don't remember the exact order of the rest. I do know I started to cry and I could see tears welling up in D's eyes. It was a an amazing and very BIG moment. Until...
Our son, A, yells, "Mom, can I flush our toilet? My sister peed!"
Remember, our FC can hear this, as we are on speakerphone : )
The main waterline in our town had been cut earlier that day and we had just explained to the kids right before THE CALL that we had no water.

Our FC was laughing, so we had to, in turn, explain the water issue to her. She laughs again and then tells us the rest of what we needed to know about our baby. I am so stunned by her initial news that I miss much of what she is telling us.

Next, she asked us to go to the computer, so we could see his pictures.

FC: Can you get to a computer?
D: Sure!

We run to my son's room and attempt to check our E-mail for the pictures. We cannot breathe! The anticipation is killing us!
We are not successful...just red X's where the pictures should be.
We ask our FC to send them to another of our E-mail addresses. Again, not successful.
Uugghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could this have anything to do with the fact that we were trying to read some big files on a 7 year-old computer that has essentially no ability to do anything of value?
As a matter of fact, it could!
After 10 excrutiating minutes of STILL not seeing my son's picture, we realize we may not be able to.
We have to explain that our real computer is at the "computer doctor" b/c our son put a magnet on the mousepad last week and scrambled the hard drive (ironic, b/c we bought that computer just so we could do all things related to this adoption!).
Our FC laughs again...

We try my husband's E-mail address at work. Finally, we see our son's precious smile!
They say the third time is a charm, right?

Praise GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!