One year ago today was referral day!

I remember it so clearly. I'd been waiting for the referral call for weeks and was carrying my cell phone with me everywhere around the office, just in case. Then around lunchtime on May 24th, the phone rang. It was Sharon from CHI asking if I was sitting down. She told me that I had a baby boy and I think I said something like "are you serious?". I felt like I had waited so long and then the call caught me off guard and I was stunned. I had previously decided to drive to St Louis to get the referral packet. I couldn't wait to see his picture!

Still in my shocked state, I jumped in the car with my parents (thank heaven my dad drove), sister, niece and nephew and headed to St Louis. When we arrived, Sharon was ready with the referral packet of my 5 week old little boy. He was a whopping 8lbs 6oz at birth. I fell in love immediately! Wow - was it really a year ago already?

My life has changed so much since that day last year!
My house isn't nearly as clean.
There are toys everywhere.
There are always bottles to wash and lots of laundry to do.

And there's so much love and laughter. I love it when Lucas wakes up in the morning, all warm and snuggly and smiles at me (with 2 - 4 pacifiers in his mouth and hands). I delight in everything he does. I call my parents multiple times a day and start the call with "He's so cute! Guess what he's doing now!" And at the end of the day, when he's tired or fussy, it warms my heart that he only wants me to hold him - not Nana or Aunt Ali or even Grandad (who's Lucas' favorite!) Being a mom is better than I could have dreamed.

Here's his referral picture!



And this was my favorite picture! I received this one while waiting to travel. A group of CHI adoptive families took a mission trip to Vietnam and visited all the orphanages. One of the moms sent this picture to me. Wasn't he a beautiful baby?

More current pictures with Grandad!