Referral Day

I wanted to get this down so I wouldn't forget (yeah, right!) I don't know if many of you will bother reading as it may get long and ramble LOL

The day we received our referral for our son was a pretty busy day. It was our last day at the beach so I spent some time packing and then we went out to the beach. Annslee played with her cousins ~ surfing and duck, duck goose : ) Gigi came out and watched her while I went to load the car. We then started out on what would turn out to be a 7 1/2 hour drive to our friend's house near Atlanta. I have to admit I was getting tired and cranky, we both were, and when the phone rang at 8:33 pm (Eastern time) I picked it up with a sigh. I then heard T's voice and didn't know whether to be excited or afraid. I then settled into the thought that she was calling b/c I'd left her a message about FINALLY receiving our renwal for our I 171 H. (If I had been thinking clearly I would have realized she wouldn't call about that on a Friday night LOL) Anyway, she asked if I could talk and I ask if it was good or bad. She then said "how about a child referral?" UMMMMM...what?? Please remember that it is just me and Annslee in the car, she is NOT happy about still being in the car, I am on a road I have never been on, it is dark ~ you get the picture : ) I told her I would need to get off at the next exit to write stuff down. You see, I am not good at driving and writing Vietnamese at the same time! I got off, pulled into a Zaxby's parking lot and took down the info. I honestly don't remember much of what either of us said. I don't know if it is b/c I was shocked or b/c Annslee was saying "get out Mommy, Annslee all done" over and over from the back. I do know that when she said his birthday I thought I misunderstood as I was expecting an older child. She said she sent an email with pictures and so I got back on the road so I could get to a computer ASAP. She probably thought I wasn't excited b/c I was pretty calm but honestly, I was stunned. After 21 months of waiting for it to happen, the entire call took 11 minutes.

I called Daddy to tell him and I think he was stunned too. He really didn't say much and I did go ahead and tell him to look at the pictures. We wouldn't be home until the next day and I had no intention of waiting so why should he! His mom had called a few times to check on our drive so I told him to be sure and call her for me. I then spent the rest of the drive calling everyone I could think of. Poor Annslee was stuck in the back listening to me on the phone but she did great and watched Lit*tle Bill for the 100th time (this show is her new fav). I remember I kept thinking we would get our referral at the beach (last year!) and we would have still been at the beach to get it this year but I left a day early so we could get back home so Daddy could have the weekend with us : ) I also had been carrying my small camera everywhere because I planned on having Annslee take my picture getting the call but that didn't happen so no pics of the actual call.

We pulled into our friend's house and they of course had already received a call from me with the news. Daddy had called to say the pics weren't there yet so I chatted for a few minutes but then headed to the computer. Annslee was on my lap and I pulled up his pictures. I hate to admit it but I was worried about how I would react. We spent years preparing for a daughter/sister, I wasn't sure if I was really prepared for a son/brother. This was my second time experiencing this...I had the same fear many people have confessed to having, can I love any child as much as I do Annslee? I wanted to be as excited as I was when we got our referral for Miss A but worried I wouldn't be. I have to say, when I pulled them up and said "Annslee, there's Coby" and she grinned and said "baby brother" I was HOOKED! Seeing his two fingers in his mouth sealed the deal~ that was a look I knew, he looked so familiar to me. I printed off his pictures b/c I knew I would have to look at them over and over. He gets more and more handsome everytime I look at them.

*yeah, he is fuzzy..sorry but had to do it.



I took the printed pictures to the room we were staying in and put them on my bag. I went back out to visit with everyone and later when I came back in, Annslee was on the bed looking at them. Yes, I have pictures of that moment but sadly, can't post them as you as you can see Coby in them : (

I drove home the next morning and first thing Monday morning we signed and sent our acceptance papers. There was no doubt, this is our boy! I have a word that is now familiar on my lips that I never dreamed I would say "son" , isn't it amazing how God works. We now wait for approval from the US side which is taking 60-100 days...I have November in my head for travel. Maybe we'll have the same family day we have with Annslee (Nov 14) We are just anxious to bring him HOME!!!