Party of FIVE!

I finally have big kids at school and little kids napping.....so I can blog the story of how our family just grew again!  :)  

Last December, the same day Elliana's adoption was final, we said goodbye to the baby boy we'd had for the last year.  Little Manny returned home to his mama, and we were blessed when she asked us to be his Godparents.  It was nice to have some time to grow and bond as a new family of 5, and within a couple of months, we were ready to add a baby again.  We technically had 2 openings and thought FOR SURE we would get a call for a sibling group!  Kids almost always come into care in at least pairs, but we were only willing to take a group if both children were 2 or younger.  In early March we got the phone call for the sweet baby girl we have now, and we are hoping to move toward guardianship of her soon.

But someone was still missing.

I couldn't shake the fact that we were missing a little boy.  Caleb prayed many times for a brother, and we DID get multiple calls for potential adoptive placements, but they were all infant boys.  And handling 2 potentially special needs babies simultaneously is, well, not in my skills list.  ;)  So we continued to wait.  And we continued to get calls for babies.  And we continued to say no.  

Labor day weekend, we got a call for what we thought was a 7 month old boy who was available for adoption.  Our social worker was very enthusiastic, told us he had no developmental concerns and no drug exposure.  Though that sounded positive, STILL, he was 7 months old!  How could we do that?!  I told her I would talk to Micah and call her back.  I talked to Micah, and we both agreed it was a no.  But before I had a chance to call our social worker back, the Adoption Supervisor called me to say they had been mistaken, and that he was a YEAR and 7 months old!  "Oh!  That changes things."  :)  We said we would talk (pray) about it overnight and get back to her the next day.  

That night while laying in bed, I was too excited to sleep.  I asked God for direction and He led me to Mark 2.  The passage was titled "The calling of Matthew (Levi)."  It talks about Matthew being a tax collector and Jesus comes along and tells him to get up and follow Him and Matthew becomes one of His disciples.  The next morning when I called the social worker back, I realized I hadn't asked his name.  Her answer?  "Matthew."    I got chills!  Also, 2 years ago this month I was blogging my heart out over losing the very first foster baby we had.  Do you remember what HIS name was?  Matthew!  Talk about a God of redemption!!!

We agreed to move forward and set up a visit to meet him and ask questions.  

The initial visit went great and we kept him overnight the next weekend.  It was an obvious match from the start!  Micah and I prayed about it both individually and as a couple, and the answer was clear:  this was our son.  We asked the social worker what kind of transition would occur between us and his current placement.  Normally we would be looking at anywhere from a 4 to 8 week transition.  Her answer?  "How about you take him full time starting next weekend?"  "Um, sure!"  So last Friday, his very sweet, older foster mom brought him to us, his forever home.   She is a very kind lady and we are excited that she still wants to play a "grandma" role to this sweet little guy.

We are THRILLED.  Elated.  Overjoyed.  Blessed.  Ecstatic.  Shocked!  

The adoption process will still take 6 months to be complete.  In our state, a child has to be in your home for 6 months before an adoption can be finalized.  We are fine with that.  :)  We're just excited he is here!!  :)

And can you believe I have not taken ONE photo of him with my camera?!  I've taken a couple on my Ipad, but that's it.  Let's just say that life as a mom of 5 kids is BUSY.  :)  

Stay tuned for updates!