Our Baby Girl!

We got our referral and she is amazing. I could not stop crying yesterday. I will tell the whole story.

Tobin and I were gone to Oklahoma visiting my grandparents for a whole week and only returned yesterday (Tuesday). I had learned that we might be number 1 this last Friday because there had been 5 baby girl referrals and we were number 6. Needless to say I was really excited and wanted to post my new number on this blog but couldn't get into it for some reason from my grandparents' Internet.

All of Monday I carried around my phone wondering if the call would come that day. Clark was kind of glad when it didn't come Monday because I was still in Oklahoma and we did want to be at least in the same state when we got our referral.

So Tuesday morning Tobin and I flew back into Atlanta. We were both so tired having not slept much (had to get up at 4:30 am to make our flight). I had gotten an email that said that our case worker Christy was sick and out of the office. For that reason I thought we wouldn't get the call that day. I was putting Tobin down for a nap when my phone rang. When I saw the number I nearly fainted (lack of sleep added to that). Another case worker Julie was nice enough to tell me about our referral. I hardly remember all of the things she told me now because I was pacing up and down and couldn't take it all in. Tobin just seemed glad that I had forgotten about that whole nap thing.

Of course I can't post any pictures of her or too much information because she is not ours yet, but she is 8 months old and the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Julie told me she was really pretty, but they could say that about all of them. She really is gorgeous with curls and fat cheeks. I held it together when I was on the phone but started bawling when I opened up the first picture. Of course I called Clark (who I couldn't get a hold of right away) and cried and cried over the phone all about her.

We were pretty lucky and have a lot of pictures of her (though it is hard to say how recent they are). I am so excited about her age. I know that most people want the really little babies but I kind of wanted an older one. She will probably be a little over a year when we get her home! She and Tobin are only 15 months apart, which will be such fun.

Tobin and I were all alone when I got the call and the pictures, but I called everyone and cried all over again. I texted my mom the words "got baby" and next thing I know she is bursting through the door running me over to get to the computer. My Dad cried when he saw her and Clark wanted to email the pictures to everyone (I had to stop him). We love her already even though we haven't gotten to hold her yet. Tobin kept looking at her picture and saying "my baby" and now has a framed picture of her next to his bed. Yes, that's right we have already framed pictures of her and it has not even been 24 hours yet. We are excited needless to say and are jumping the gun a bit.

So for those of you who are not familiar with the adoption process, the next step will be for us to have a consultation with an international pediatrician so that we can officially accept her (I already have a call in about that). Then it will start going through with the courts. It will be 3-5 months before the adoption will be final in Ethiopia and we will get permission to travel. So it could be sometime in February or March that we got and get her. I am hoping for Feb. We will more likely miss her first birthday but will make up for it later to be sure.

Tobin and I seeing her picture!

Tobin kept saying "Yeah baby!" Out to dinner to celebrate!