Full House by Christmas

Hi Everyone,

By now, most of you have heard the news that we found out yesterday we will be adopting TWO boys. Not just one, but TWO! Just so you know, "'TWO" will forever be capitalized when I write about these boys. Because, hello?!?! We're getting TWO!! TWO!! We must be crazy.

When I sent the email yesterday to let everyone know, I was half out of my mind, so I apologize if I left you off. Besides, it gave me an excuse to talk about the boys again. You are not allowed to hate me just because I can't shut up about this.

Yesterday, I received an email from my matching specialist, Emily. She said there were TWO boys that were on the adoption website for an hour and CPS received what ended up being over 100 responses from families wanting to adopt them. She had said in the email that we would be in the top 3 selection staffing. CPS had narrowed it down from over 100 families to three families, and we were one of those families. Emily wanted me to answer a few questions about our work schedules, hobbies, etc so she could arm herself with some information that would make us stand out against the other families.

Well, I responded with an email, which, frankly, I felt was awful. I had very little notice and she wanted a quick response. I sent her the email and followed it up with another email to most of you to pray hard for us and then I put it in god's hands. It has been such an emotional rollercoaster, that I didn't want to get excited about it. You see, we've made the final four other times and nothing came of it. Most of those times, we didn't even know until after the fact.

Later, at about 2:30, I received a call. It was Emily. She said, "Congratulations, the boys are yours!" Just like that. There was no, "Are you sitting down?" or "Are you ready for some good news?" I had no clue the lucky family was going to be picked that same day. I immediately ran into the conference room, got tears in my eyes, my heart started beating rapidly, my knees got weak and I broke into a sweat. It was kinda like being around Jaime without the crying part. Kidding! Emily said some other things afterward, but I can honestly tell you I have no idea what she said. We agreed to talk today when I was sane once again.

The background: [Eliminated due to privacy issues]

According to their foster mother, whom they call Grandma, they are very happy, well adjusted kids. They know their caseworker is looking for their forever family, but they haven't grasped the difference between a bio-mom/dad and an adoptive mom/dad. Our scrapbook will be sent overnight so they can get used to our faces before meeting us. Their names are somewhat unusual and I feel it is in their best interest to change them for their protection so they can’t be tracked down later. I’ll let you know their names as soon as we make that decision. The oldest is blonde with fair skin and the youngest is more like Grace but a little lighter.

Side note.... It is ironic that these particular kids will end up with us. Twice, when Jaime was off duty, he has come across children wandering the street alone. Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to be the mother he confronts when he brings your crying 3 year old to your door in filthy diapers. If you have bed head, you might as well go ahead and stick out your arms so he can cuff you right there. Both times, we would have been happy to just quietly tuck that child into our backseat and keep him or her. Alas, that is illegal and it really wouldn’t fair well, especially with Jaime being an officer, you know?

Ok, one more side note.... The youngest boy was born two weeks before Faith, so he's the same age she would be now. I'm telling you these kids were meant to be with us.

After I hung up with Emily, I called cop-hubby. I was so excited, I couldn't speak. It was like my tongue kept getting in the way and the words wouldn't come out right. When I got the msg across, he was floored. It's a good thing he was off work by then, because if he were like me, he would have been useless the rest of the day. We can't have an officer patrolling the street with his head in the clouds, right?

Next on the agenda, was to send an email to thank everyone for their prayers and spread the joy. I was so surprised at the responses I received that said how emotional my email was. I would have been satisfied with coherent. Thank you for all the sweet things you said to us.

When we got home, we stood Methodical daughter in front of the Christmas tree and broke the news to her. Do you remember that old Atari paddle ball game? Well, she was the ball. The girl wore herself out. Her first request was a picture to carry with her to school. The second was to go get a couple gifts to take to the TWO boys. She picked out a large police motorcycle and some emergency vehicle models. Now, don't get me wrong. I have no wish to encourage these kids to get into law enforcement. We have enough of that in our family already and HPD can deal with two less Giraldos on their payroll.

December 8th, we will go meet the TWO boys for the first time. We will stay for the weekend and spend as much time with them as possible. Then, the caseworker will fly them here and place them with us permanently. The chances are excellent that the boys will be with us by Christmas.

If anyone is considering adoption and would like to know what it's like to go through the process, I would be happy to pass on what I know. It was relatively fast and painless for us....just a little emotional.

THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO KEPT US IN THEIR PRAYERS!

Go forth and conquer!
Melissa

P.S. Our household is currently accepting hand-me-down clothes and toys for TWO boys!