Happy Referral-versary to Us!

One year ago this morning, I checked my email inbox for the 2 millionth time in two months to find an email from a very long, Rwandan sounding email address. The subject line was "Adoptee Matching File." My heart has never beaten faster than it did during the moments it took to open the email and read the following words: Please find attached the child matched with your family. I'm sure I squealed at that point. There were two attachments. The first was a letter "attributing SAFARI Moise" to our family. I shook myself out of my shock and got Chad on the phone. "Honey, it came! The email came. I'm forwarding it to you right now. It's our referral...only I can't tell if we have a boy or a girl. The letter said something about "he". I think it's a boy! I haven't looked at the picture yet!" While he waited for the email to travel the wires (or whatever they travel), I opened the second attachment. It seemed like an eternity before the above picture appeared on my screen. Tears of relief and joy instantly flooded my eyes as I laid my eyes on him for the first time. "Oh, Chad, he is beautiful!" I could hear evidence of the same thing happening to Chad as he loaded the picture seconds after I did. (The pink jogging suit confused our eyes, but we reread the first attachment to find it did say "he.")



November 9, 2009, was just the beginning of the joy we have experienced from Cooper joining our family. In fact, we cannot imagine our lives without him. I'm so thankful to God for making me his mommy! Obviously, his daddy feels the same way.