One year ago TODAY......

I received a phone call. Definitely a call we were told to not expect, for at least another 2 or 3 months. We were living in a tiny apartment having just sold our home back east and waiting to settle on another one here in Minnesota.

The kids and I had just arrived home from school and as it always is during that time it was a bit chaotic. The dog jumping up and down anxious to head out for her walk- The kids yanking off coats and unpacking, homework planners and folders flying everywhere and all three kiddos squeezing into the pantry looking for something to devour. I heard my cell phone ring, but figured whoever it was would have to wait. So I took the dog out for her walk and then forgetting about the call began to prep for dinner and check over homework to be done. Then I heard my phone beep somewhere in the depths of my school bag letting me know there was a message. Figuring it was the hubs I dug for it and was surprised to see the number of our adoption agency. Still not suspecting a thing I assumed our social worker had another question for us since just that morning she had sent me an email asking when we had mailed in our CIS application. Duh, that should have been my clue something was up.

Anyhow, knowing that in our tiny apartment the only place for uninterrupted peace and quiet was in the bathroom, I chucked the kids some Easter candy, turned on SpongeBob and headed in. The social workers message was rather cryptic, just call her as soon as possible. By that time it was after 5pm, rather late for her to still be at the agency I thought. Then it hit me, something is wrong, or something incredible is about to happen. I sat down on the toilet lid and dialed the number hoping that the Easter candy would hold out and nobody would come knocking. She answered, we exchanged pleasantries and she mentioned she'd tried to call my husband too but he was in meetings. Then she said the words I'll never forget. The reason I'm calling you tonight is I'm happy to say we have a little girl for you. I know I didn't respond for quite some time. At least it felt like a long time but in reality it was probably only a few seconds. Then I started to get shaky and responded with something completely dorky like, "No way!". She went on to say how surprised she was too, that when she came to work that morning our little girl's file was sitting on her chair with our last name written across the middle. That's when the tears showed up and I just kept saying over and over I can't believe this. I apologized to her for rambling and she assured me it was okay, that it was a normal reaction and that she was just so happy for us. She explained that procedure was to go over the referral and medical information over the phone and then the referral and photos would be emailed to us afterward. I swear all I heard was the word photos and then all I could think about was that we were about to see our new daughter, our child for the first time. All I had taken with me into the bathroom was my phone, a pencil and post it notes that were sticking out of my son's backpack thinking I would just be taking down a simple message. As our social worker read through our daughters referral and medical information I frantically tried to write down everything she said- completely forgetting it would all be emailed to us later that evening. I must have went through 30 pink squares front and back! At the end she simply said review the file, decide if you want a doctors opinion and lets us know as soon as possible.

I called my husband and when he picked up I said, you're never going to believe it- but we have a referral- and then I told him to get his butt home as soon as possible because I didn't want to open the file without him.

When I left the bathroom I must've has a strange look on my face because all 3 kiddos asked what was wrong. I laughed and said- you have a baby sister! It seemed like the entire apartment shook as the kids and the dog went racing in circles yelling and screaming {that could have been all of the Easter candy, actually} Eventually when Dad arrived we all huddled in front of the monitor and clicked on the first file which was a letter....Dear Parents, We are pleased to present to you the medical information and photos of a Korean-born child that constitute this referral. Many adoptive parents prefer to review the medical information before looking at the child’s photos {yeah right, like we have the restraint for that}. Please view at your discretion. It is important that you move quickly in gathering the information to make a decision soon. This is to ensure that this child is matched with a family as soon as possible. If you decide to accept this referral, please e-mail or call me (contact information below) and please let your social worker know as well. If you are unable to accept this referral, please let us and your social worker know. And then we opened the next file. This is what we saw....

Watching this little girl seemingly grow before our very eyes and then realizing that this would be our daughter was a feeling none of us can describe.

Than we began the task of reading through her referral and trying to decipher medical reports. She was just over 8 months old. She was born in the summer. She was 6.9 pounds and 18 inches when she was born. She was born in Busan. Her name meant "beautiful smile" and it was her birth mother who named her. And even though we knew this was the child that God had chosen for us, the one that came earlier than expected, there were things to consider. There were words like "mass" and there were noted hospitalizations and tests that had been run. The agency had attached a list of pediatricians at the International Adoption Clinic at UofM who will review your referral and weigh in within a few days. When we finally made it to their sight there was an option where you could pay $500 to have them review and return their results within 6 hours. Less than 6 hours later we had a response - one that pretty much consisted of a list of questions that they suggested be forwarded to the agency and doctors in Korea before making a decision. We were cautioned that the mass could be related to her lymph nodes and the word leukemia was used.

In actuality, those questions were never sent. That next morning we were on the phone with our agency and we accepted that referral without hesitation. We knew that she was the child He had chosen for us. She was our daughter no matter what. Flash forward a year later and there is no mass.

God is Good

And early tomorrow morning, our family will arrive at the county court house and we will wait to stand before the judge and we will make a promise to our little girl, a promise we really made a year ago today.

13mo

15mo

16mo

18mo

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