Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. I can't say it's a day I was really excited about, but I can't say I dreaded turning another year older either.

This morning when I woke up, it hit me. I wasn't sure what at first, but something was bothering me. Was it that I was turning another year older?....No, definitley not. Was it that I was hoping to get a spectacular present and didn't?....No, my presents were just fine. Well, after 45 minutes of pondering these questions during Spin class, I knew why I was so bothered. I hadn't expected any certain gift or a party or any sort of surprise.... It hit me that when our newest baby girl had her first birthday, I wasn't there to do any of those things for her. You see, my babies' birthdays are a big deal in our house. It is their special day, and we celebrate the fact that I feel so lucky God chose me to be their mommy. They are each so wonderful and unique!

Now, this may seem a bit heroic on part, and it wasn't, but the only thing that I knew would make me feel any better would be to run in a race that I knew was beginning in a half an hour. So, with my husband pushing us out the door, we drove to the race straight from our Spin class. The race, called Come Unity, was held at a local college not far from our house. All proceeds went toward building wells in Africa or other child sponsorship and family-centered programs. It was founded by a woman who grew up in my home town, visited Kenya, then knew she couldn't walk away and forget the people she'd met.

I told my husband that I was not running this race to achieve a personal record, which I usually am. (Guess I'm a little competitive.) Instead, I was running it at a comfortable pace so that I could think about the real reason I was running.

For example, women in Africa have to walk an average of 6 km (about 3.75 mi.) daily to gather drinking water for their family. Notice that I didn't say the word "clean" because it is not. It is full of silt, dirt and bacteria, but it is all they have.

I hope that I in some way honored my baby girl's birthday by running with her heavy on my heart on my birthday. We can't wait to bring you home, baby girl!

Referral Day!!!!!!!!

I am still slightly in shock as I write this post, although we received the call that changed our lives two days ago.

To set the scene, April 19th was a gloomy, rainy Tuesday. I had high hopes for the day because at dinner the night before, my family talked about the next day being Grandpa Al's birthday. Now, Grandpa Al never got to meet our sweet, little Piper because he passed away suddenly one month before she was born. He had always wanted a granddaughter, and he never even got to see her gorgeous face. We thought, "Wouldn't it be sweet if we got our referral call on his birthday?" It would be like he was up in heaven helping to pick out the next baby girl for our family.

After about 3 PM, I pretty much figured we wouldn't get the call....but to my dismay, I got a call from Bob at 4:30 PM asking if I'd checked my voice mail. Apparently, he had received a call from our coordinator, but hadn't answered in time. She asked us to call her back. Looking at the time, and knowing the office closed at 5 PM, I frantically hung up the phone and went through my contacts list to find her number. I called...and called... and called...about 4 times within 10 minutes. No answer. The last time I called, I was surprised that she did answer and was loading my kids in the car at my mom's house. Once I got them buckled, I walked away from the car, stood in the rain, and finally heard the words we've been waiting for. "Courtney, we have a referral of a baby girl for you." Those words changed my day, my life, my family.

Although I was crying steadily, I caught most of what our coordinator said. We went straight home to meet Bob, who had already brought the laptop upstairs, and crowded around the computer to see her face for the first time. A happy, smiling face stared back at us! For more reasons than I can explain here, we new immediately she was chosen specifically for us. We can not wait for the day that we can officially call her one of our family. Sweet Baby "A", we're coming for you!!