Sunday, July 8, 2012

The Tale of Audie Lynn's Arrival!

     It felt like any other day, I kissed Ferrari goodbye and headed to pick up my niece, Grace.  I was taking her to swim lessons that morning, and was going to spend a few hours with her while her mommy spent some time with Grace's new baby brother.  As we were loading up the car after swim to head to Target, my phone rang.  It was my hubby asking if it was a good time to talk because he had some good news.  At first I told him no, but he proceeded to tell me the information anyway, and I am so glad he did!
     He said he had received a phone call from the adoption agency and that there was a baby girl ready to go home from the hospital today! We just needed to go meet the birth mom first.  She had picked us out of the matchbook, but was anxious to meet us in person to know if we were the right couple for sure.  I was SHOCKED, EXCITED, SPEECHLESS!  I just started crying, which sort of upset my niece in the back seat.  I think she thought I was still mad or sad at her because of her mini-tantrum as I drug her out of the swim school jungle gym.  I kept explaining to her that I was crying happy tears but she just stared at me with the weirdest look on her face, poor girl, hopefully she isn't scarred for life :)
I booked it towards home, because Ferrari informed me we only had about an hour before we needed to meet with the birth mom.  I apologized to Grace for not being able to take her to Target, and dropped her back off with her mommy.
     I sprinted up my stairs grabbing the car seat and a bag.  I will admit we didn't have much to put in the bag, because all we were really told was to have the car seat ready.  I did have one outfit hanging in the closet that I thought would fit her, but no bow.  If you know me at all, I HAD to have a bow for her to wear coming home from the hospital!  So here is where I come clean... I stole one out of the Owl Love You Forever donation bin.  I know, I know, I am terrible, but it was for an amazing reason and I do promise to replace it!!
     We stopped at Baby's R Us on the way to at least grab a couple bottles, diapers, and wipes.  I had my sister text me a list of other essentials for the first day home, because I was not thinking clearly enough to come up with what I would need on my own.  We literally raced around the store, throwing stuff in the cart, it was so much fun! The check out lady asked, "Is all this for someone's registry," I said, "No."  So she asked, "Oh, are you guys just restocking your shelves?" I said, "No."  She looked at us sideways, so I felt the need to explain that we are adopting and just got THE call.  She had nothing to say to that, and instead handed me a gift receipt.  I'm still not sure if she just didn't believe me or what, but I did catch her name, Maddy. I thought her name was cute and immediately began to think about what this little girl's name was going to be.  We didn't have THE ONE picked out.  We had a short list, but as we began rereading our favorites, they all seemed like horrible options.
     Before we knew it we arrived at the agency, & my stomach was in knots.  Was I wearing the right outfit, did my hair look ok?  Hubby kept playing on his iPhone, and I told him to put it away so it didn't look like he was obsessed with it, haha.  I was so worried that she would see us and not like us anymore.  My fears were set at ease as soon as we met, her birth mom is SO incredibly sweet.  She noticed my hair cut and color was different than in my match letter, which caught me off guard.  This girl knew her stuff, and suddenly I felt like I should have updated our match letter.  Then she said she loved the hair cut & thought it looked similar to my wedding photo and I began to relax :)  We sat in a small room and talked for two hours.  It was incredibly surreal, I just couldn't believe that it was finally happening.
     Once we got the "approval," we headed over to the hospital to take OUR DAUGHTER home!  Talk about one of the weirdest feelings ever- park, grab the empty car seat, head up to the nursery, load her up, and head home.  I felt like I was doing something illegal just walking out of the hospital with this adorable baby girl, how could she really be mine?!? The nurses were incredibly helpful and so sweet, giving us some extra diapers and formula!  They explained the basics to us, how to feed, burp, swaddle... it was the fastest Parenting 101 course I've ever heard of, but surprisingly helpful!  She was 6 lb 4 oz, 19in long and just PERFECT!

Our first family pic!

All ready to head home!
     As we were on our way home I brought up her name and almost simultaneously we said that her name should be Audie Lynn!  It fits her perfectly!  Audie is the Dutch pronunciation of Arie, and since the twins were Arie & Hadilyn, we melded their names to come up with Audie Lynn.  We are just in heaven with our new addition, I feel like I can't thank God enough for blessing us with her!  She has been home a little over 2 weeks now, and we are LOVING every minute of it!

Lovely Photography from Dusty Perez at www.lilyphotographydp.com

Thank you all for the support and prayers during our journey over the past few years.

Beautiful photo captured by Gina Bacigalupi over at www.tinybirdphoto.blogspot.com

We are so blessed to have such supportive friends, family, and readers.
God is so good!



17 comments:

  1. Oh My Goodness!!!! This is beautiful! Congratulations! God is so amazingly faithful, isn't He?!!?
    Blessings to you all...

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  2. God is so good, ALL the time. So happy for you. I've quietly read through your journey the past few years. Praising God with u. --Julie (watt) fisher

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  3. What a beautiful story! We are so excited for your new family addition - she is such a blessing and gift from the Lord!

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  4. YAY YAY YAY! I'm so excited for you guys!!! What a whirlwind of an experience, Shay! You two are beaming with your little angel! I'm glad you "stole" the bow...you are so cute and it made little Audie even sweeter in pictures :) LOVE the way you picked her name. God bless you 3!~

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  5. So so happy for you guys! God works in beautiful & faithful ways! Audie Lynn is so very blessed to have you as her mommy & daddy! Your lives have been such a testimony & encouragement to so many! What a beautiful family! So so awesome!!!

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  6. We are so happy for you!! Audie Lynn is blessed to have you as her mommy & daddy. It's amazing when God brings everything together. May He continue to bless you richly and abundantly.

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  7. I LOVE the story!!! Thank you, I've been dying to hear it!! Audie Lynn is so blessed...I love how you came up with her name!!! (That's my middle name and my Ava's too!!! And of course we love A names!)Cannot wait to see her in person, let's make that happen as soon as you're ready!!
    Love to you!!

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  8. Congratulations! Seriously started tearing up reading your story- could not be happier for you, and she's gorgeous!

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  9. Little Audie couldn't have come to a better or more deserving family! I am sure there is a reason why this has taken so long, for you to be a family, but I know your blessings will be great. Your faith and good works is truly an inspiration to us all. So happy for your little family! Can't wait to meet her!

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  10. I hardly know how to respond beyond expressions of joy & gratitude. God is so good; and I have no doubt He knew just where this particular little girl was going to thrive. Her parents too.

    Congratulations.

    "Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness & blessing upon this precious young couple and baby. Be near them always to lead and to guide and to protect. We praise Your great name."

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  11. Tears of happiness and joy for you ... love reading of her arrival and how God brought your family together! Enjoy every blessed moment.

    Hugs and huge smiles!

    Gina Weeks

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  12. Wonderful story... you are so blessed and she is blessed to have you two as parents. keep the pictures coming she is precious.

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  13. So happy for you guys! I have never met you but I feel like I know you. I've heard Amber and several others from PVC talk about you. Hope we can meet in real life one of these days. We've prayed for your family and are so thankful for the way God provides!

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  14. What a wonderful story, thanks so much for sharing. Best of God's blessings to you and your family. And a HUGE "Thank You Jesus" for the birth mom who was gracious enough to carry Audie Lynn to term and recognize she couldn't provide her with the best of care.

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  15. You are such a deserving couple! Your story is so touching. I'm so glad you were blessed with such a precious gift!

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  16. This is amazing, I am crying tears of joy for you at this incredible story. What a beautiful precious little girl and such awesome deserving parents. She will be SO loved! Congratulations - so happy for you!!

    www.dominicandeyoungs.blogspot.com

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  17. Yay!!!!!!!! I've been waiting for this post to show up to make your little girl official and now I missed it inbetween my whirlwind of the last 1 1/2 weeks. I'm so excited for you guys!!!!! She is absolutely beautiful! I have to admit that I've known since the day you took her home, just because of a few coincidences. So I've been praying for your little family for the last several weeks. The day you posted this, I would have never thought that I'd type my response to your wonderful announcement while sitting next to my son. God is so amazing! Enjoy every minute with your little Audie! Congratulations Mommy!!!!!!!

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