So, I suppose I should just write down the story of Mason. It's been almost three weeks since bringing him home and we haven't really stopped to realize what has happened. We have been going about the same routine and have just added this sweet boy to it all! At least he's used to the noise and the dog noses in his face!
A lot of people I've talked to have commented on how quiet we've kept it and asked why we didn't tell anyone! Well, we didn't have much time to tell anyone and weren't trying to keep it quiet, it all happened so quickly this time around (which is what we wanted, yes, Chad)!! Sorry if this ends up being longer than I think it is in my head.
So, we were notified of an expectant mom (they are not birth moms at this point, by the way) on a Thursday night. She had come into the Bethany office to try to find a family for her baby boy, which was due a week later. We were asked if we wanted to have our profile book shown to her. Um, YES! So, she took five profiles home over the weekend to consider, ours was one. On Friday, we were told she wanted to meet us and another couple on Monday night. Ok, so we spent the weekend excitedly figuring out if we needed to be ready for next week, but tried not to be too sure, so we didn't really get anything ready.
On Saturday night, I was working at the spaghetti dinner at the clubhouse in our subdivision, having fun with all the neighborhood ladies, serving 3 meatballs and 2 pieces of bread per customer (plus our yummy Oreo cheesecakes Bella & I made for dessert, I should really post the recipe, super easy)!! They had a raffle for some baskets and this beautiful handmade afghan, which I put all my tickets into the bag for that blanket, just hoping it would be a sign. Sure enough, they called my name! Little did I know, that sweet Mason Alexander, was born about an hour before I won the blanket. When we got home from the spaghetti dinner, there was an email that his mom went into labor (not the plan) and our meeting with her for Monday was cancelled. I thought that may have been the end of it, since she would see him, hold him, feed him, and then decide she would take him home. It was ok, since we hadn't met and he wasn't ours to have.
On Monday, we were told the meeting was rescheduled for Tuesday night, she still wanted to find a family for him. They had both left the hospital Monday afternoon, but Mason went to a foster family's home, per her request. Chad, Bella, and I walked down to the pier to fish and I brought my camera to get some action shots (and in case we finally caught a big one with Bella's little pole)! While we fished, the sky was cloudy, but the sun's rays were hitting the water so peacefully, and swans were swimming across the sunny part, as if to say, no matter what, it is ok, stay calm (I know, it's corny, but yet another good sign).
I ended up subbing for my 5th grade partner on Tuesday, which was already planned the month before. It was perfect, since I didn't want to spend one more day waiting and wondering. The kids were fun and it kept my mind off of it. I drove back home, got ready, and we went to meet her and her parents. We had a wonderful conversation, there were tears by all of us, talking about what we all wanted for Mason...there was some laughter too, since we kept calling him Nathan and they kept asking, "who's Nathan?" (the name was heard wrong by the social worker in her voicmail). All in all, we thought it went well, but had to cut it short, since another couple was meeting with her afterward. I figured we wouldn't hear anything that night, as it was close to 8:00 when our meeting was done. So, we went to sleep, going over in our minds, what was said, and some pretty hopeful things in our favor, but we still weren't 100% sure.
On Wednesday, we woke up to a rainy, dark day (hmm, weird), and Chad had to go to court. Bella had ballet and couldn't miss it, although we both could've slept all day! As I was getting her ready to go, the phone rang. I knew it was our social worker, as nobody ever calls that early (they know we aren't up)! She asked me if we were ready to bring home a baby boy!! She said that our meeting must've gone very well! I was in shock. We had nothing ready, especially for a boy, and we didn't want him to wear pink the 1st day! I still had to take Bella to ballet, texted Chad that we were going to pick up our SON! He walked out of court and called me. After ballet, a stop at JCPenneys to grab every blue sleeper we could hold, and back home to pick up Chad, we were on our way to Bethany to sign papers, and to the foster mom's house by 2:00 to see Mason for the first time and bring him home!!
It still seems so crazy to think that we were all ready to update our home study, since it had been almost a year of waiting, and even consider having Bella as our only child, which we thought may have been the plan.
Now we have Mason, and he makes our family complete. It was the best surprise ever and of course, we want the best for his family, to never be able to thank them for letting us raise this sweet boy, to be the best little man he can be.
SO, that's the story! Crazy.
