Unexpected Call

Abby brought us so much joy, we were enjoying every minute with her.  She was such a good baby.  Very happy and loved people!  We celebrated her first birthday big!  Lots of family and friends came to celebrate her big day!  We knew we wanted to adopt again, but knew we were going to wait a little longer to start the process again.  In September of 2007 we got a call from our good friend/relative Cathy saying that S's (Abby's birthmom) aunt had a niece on the other side of the family considering adoption for her unborn baby and wanted to know if we would be interested in talking to her!  Wow!  How lucky are we!  I got off the phone to tell AZ and he said OK!  Another bonus!  Then S's aunt called to explain the situation and I said we would LOVE to meet her.  Within a couple weeks we were on our way to KC again to meet A.  What another wonderful meeting we had with a strong, unselfish individual.  She told us she had heard from her aunt and uncle how good we had been for S and how our open adoption situation was going so well.  She wanted the same for her unborn baby.  Meeting her a little earlier in her pregnancy we were able to be at the ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby.  Another GIRL!  Yay!  Of course I was excited for Abby to grow up with a little sister!  We had a little more time to prepare for Shelby's birth in January.  We used our same attorney and only had to do an updated home study because it had been less than 2 years since our first was completed.  In January we were in KC for our nephews 1st birthday party and invited A to join us.  She was due any day and we were hoping she would go into labor when we were there!  No such luck.  We left on Sunday after the party and got home about 9pm.  At 5:30am the next morning my phone rang and I knew.  A was in labor.  So we loaded back up and back on the road we went.  We arrived in record time and A had a fairly easy labor.  Shelby arrived quickly and what another amazing experience to be able to witness her coming into the world.  Again we stayed the night in the hospital with her in a room down the hallway from A and A.  The next morning our attorney was there to get the papers signed so we could bring our new daughter home.  I have to admit that is probably the toughest part of the experience, waiting for those papers to be signed.  Although I was excited beyond belief, my heart also hurt for A.  Realizing she was making such an unselfish decision for her baby and ultimately helping complete our family.  She, like S is such a strong woman and I am forever grateful. 

This is a picture of all of us when we arrived at the hospital before Shelby was born.

Admiring my beautiful daughter.

Big sister rocking Shelby and singing a song.

Family picture at the adoption finalization.