AHC - Sister Surprise

When we left the hospital we started throwing around a few names (we’ve never had a child born that didn’t have a name yet!)  Then we talked about how to tell the family.  Since Ann and Julie already knew what was going on, I just texted them a picture of the baby and said, “This is my daughter!”  Then Mike and I stopped by Target.  We ended up buying a little pink outfit and thought that we could wrap it up for the boys for a Valentine’s Day present…and use that to tell them.  Then on the way back to Daddy Steve and Namaw’s house Mike had a better idea.
 
When we arrived the boys were in their jammies…eating popcorn and watching Leave it to Beaver with Daddy Steve and Namaw.  I told them I wanted to show them pictures of what Mike took me to see.  It took a little time, but I put the pics on Daddy Steve’s Picasa and then he was able to view them on his TV.  Tyler and Ann were begging me to FaceTime them into the announcement, so I called them on FaceTime just before I went downstairs and then held the phone by my side.  I told Daddy Steve to pull the pictures up and then we started to look at the pictures of us at the hospital with a baby. 

Namaw said, “Oh!  Y’all went to see someone at the hospital!”

“Yes.” I replied
“Who’s baby do you think that is?” Mike asked.

We were silent for a few minutes and Daddy Steve looked back at me (I was holding my phone up so Tyler and Ann could see the room and the reactions) and he said, “Is it yours?!???”

“Yes!” Mike and I replied.

 
Then the room erupted with confusion and excitement and we began to tell the story…I also took Tyler and Ann off mute. Lol

It took a little longer for us to help the boys understand that this is the baby we are going to adopt.  Brody walked right up to the TV so he could look at her closer and said, “Momma?  What color is her skin?”  I told him she is African American and he asked if she is the first African American in our family.  When I said “yes” he replied, “That’s so cool!!!”  Of course, the next question from everyone was when would they get to go see her.  Unfortunately people under 16 aren’t’ allowed in the NICU, so the boys will have to wait until she gets home to hold her.  This didn’t sit very well with the boys…but we reassured them that they’ve been waiting this long…they can wait a few more days.

 
It was well after 8:00 pm before we got the boys home.  As we were tucking them into bed Brody asked if he could pray.  I will never forget the precious words he said, “Dear God, Thank you for giving us this baby that we’ve prayed soooooo long for.  Thank you for answering our prayers!”  Mike and I looked up at each other with tears in our eyes.  How awesome for our boys to learn so early about the power of perseverance in prayer.  God does hear our prayers!

After we put the boys to bed I ran to get Mike and I a celebratory Braum’s shake and I called Caleb & Audria on my way.  Caleb answered and I told him that he was gonna have a niece!  They were shocked…but so happy for our family!  Archer is only 2 months old, so they will grow up together…and even go to school together at the same school!  Mike sent a web album of pictures to Angela and Grammy and it’s killing me that Grammy doesn’t have internet at Grandma Brown’s house…and said that she’ll go into town “sometime tomorrow” to check her email!  What a surprise she’ll find!

I have so many things running through my mind right now…but I have to go take a quiz before 11:00 pm for my graduate accounting class!  Yep…even school doesn’t stop for a new baby.  Does anyone have a remote that would pause life…just for a few days?

 

**If you're just now joining us in our adoption journey...make sure you use the links on the right side of the blog to start at the beginning of our story...Answering His Call**