Week in review. . .

So little Lando, here’s what happened this week. . .

Monday (September 26)- I go to school and during my first planning period I text your Dad at 10:59 am:

Mom: “i’m feeling it. 2day is the day.”

Dad: “?”

Mom: “referral”

Dad: “I hope you’re right. . . waiting sucks :)”

Mom: “it does”

Later in the day. . .

I am done teaching and am back in my office trying to determine what has to be done before leaving for the day. My cell begins to ring at 3:17 pm, I look at it, but I don’t recognize the number. I just know the area code is not one from Illinois. So I answer it. . .

“Is Kara there?”

Mom: “This is she.”

“Hi, this is K from All God’s Children.” 

As soon as I heard “K” I got up from my desk and walked through the connecting door, closing it, to Marcia’s room. (Marcia was in there talking with a student teacher, but I didn’t really notice.) K told me she wanted to talk to me about a little boy and somehow I asked her if I could call back in about an hour when both your Dad and I could be on the line together. As soon as I am of the phone with K, I call your Dad’s cell phone, it goes to voicemail. I leave a message about how we are getting the call and he needs to go home.

As soon as I leave the message I look at Marcia and said told her we needed to leave. (I think there was some cheering.) I go back into the office, being asked questions by the others, and call Courtney to say we needed to leave so I could take the call. 5 minutes later we were in the car. 

Mom: “go home 1 hr”

Dad: “I’ve got 1 hour 10 minutes. Clock says 3:20.”

I then proceeded to call your Dad’s direct line at work, where I got Moses. (Moses and I have talked a lot during this process.) I asked Moses if your Dad was available and I was told he wasn’t. I then told Moses he got the joy of telling your Dad we were getting the call and needed to go home. (By the way, your Dad is just staring at his cell at this point.)

Mom: “dude. getting call.”

Dad: “:). . . u called me dude???”

Mom: “boy” (as in, we are getting a boy)

Mom: “response?”

Dad: “Home now taking Joey out”

Mom: “ok. fire up the computer.”

By the time I get home, your Dad has the computer waiting. So at 4:22 pm we call K at AGCI. We get the voicemail. I try playing with the Flip camera, I can’t get it to work. We call K again at 4:28, we get her. She proceeds to tell us what she knows about you. We go through all of your documents and get to see your picture. (I do have to say, the first picture we saw was not the best one to start with. You have a really bad diaper rash right now. The first picture we saw of you was a close up of your diaper rash. I will say your second picture, it is our favorite.) While on the phone with K, waiting for you documents to download, I email them off to Dr. Gray for our consultation. 

After getting off the phone with K, your Dad and I just look at each other. We decide we want to tell our families in person so we make dinner. I will admit it, your referral is different. Your Dad and I are proceeding with caution and we know about what can still happen before you are officially and legally our son. 

Once we eat dinner we call my parents. Your Grammie has been bugging me for a bit about what I want for my birthday. I tell her I have decided what I want and would just like to meet half way for dinner. Your Grammie tells me they are too busy to do that on Wednesday. Last week we were invited to your Aunt Kristi and Uncle Justin’s for dinner. We declined since it was my birthday, but your Dad checks to see if we are still invited. We are. Your Dad’s family will be the first to hear all of the news about your referral. 

Tuesday (September 27)- Your Dad and I each go to work. For those who know we received the phone call, we do not share any information. When asked, we tell them we want to tell family first. Dr. Gray and I send a couple of emails back and forth about setting up a conference call. 

Wednesday (September 28)- This was a BIG day. I went to work, but your Dad had the day off and was tasked with a lot to do. He began his day with dropping Joey off to be groomed and then went to the dentist. From the dentist, he tried to get L to sign off on the social worker page, she wasn’t in yet, so he left a message. Your Dad then went home and waited to talk with Dr. Gray at 10 am. 

When I get to my first planning period, I check my phone to see if your Dad called to say how the call went with Dr. Gray. At a little past 11 am, he still hadn’t called, so I call him and we discuss what Dr. Gray had to say. Everything checks out and I call and email K at AGCI to say we are moving forward. 

I leave school at 3:10 pm to meet your Dad at the bank so we can notarize all of the papers and send them off to AGCI. On the way home, I realize I forgot to print off your transition plan and call your Dad to get ink for the printer and print it off. I get to the bank at 4:00 and get a call from your Dad saying it isn’t printing. From the bank I go to Courtney’s to use her printer and meet your Dad back at the bank by 4:30. Once we were done with notarizing the forms, your Dad goes to pick up Joey and I go meet Marcia who picked up a very special cake for me since I didn’t think I would get to Janet’s by 5:00 pm (by the way, I drove past Janet’s at 5 on my way home). 

Your Dad and I were supposed to be at your Aunt Kristi’s by 5:30 for dinner, I think we got there at 5:50. Your Aunt Kristi made an awesome dinner of steak, party potatoes, salad, and veggies. I wish I could tell you the whole story of dinner, but you will have to wait a bit for that. But your Dad and I didn’t say a word about our awesome news until dessert. Once we were done eating dinner and ready for dessert, I brought in the cake from Janet’s. This is how we told your Dad’s sisters, brother, Mom, and your cousins about your referral. 

That's right, K we told your Dad's family about your referral by using a cake. K, they are really excited about you and loved your pictures. Don’t worry, we didn’t show them the one of the diaper rash. They can’t wait to meet you.

After leaving your Aunt Kristi’s, your Dad and I went to the post office to mail off your paperwork. Can I just say, I love the automated machine at the post office! 

Thursday (September 29)- Your Dad and I had our transition call with Emily from AGCI. 

Friday (September 30)- K from AGCI calls to say all of the paperwork is great. 

Saturday (October 1)- Your Dad and I drive to Grammie and Papa’s house. When we get there, in addition to Grammie and Papa, were Aunt Meg, cousin L, Great Aunt Kim, Grammie’s cousin Mick and his wife Elaine, and eventually your Uncle Spence.

Soon after arriving, your cousin L needs to be changed. I discreetly grab one of your pictures and take L to be changed, but your Aunt Meg follows. . . Once L is changed, I tell your Aunt Meg she has to leave because L and I have secrets to tell. Once your Aunt Meg leaves the room, I close the door and show L your picture. I tell her this is her cousin K and L of course says, “Uncle Wuc’s baby!” L and I talk about how it is a secret and she needs to give the picture to Papa. We talk about how to hold the picture and L holds your picture over her heart as we walk out of the room. L walks over to Papa and says, “Here Papa!” (L of course was really proud of herself). Papa asks L what it is and your Aunt Meg who is right next to him shouts, “You got another referral!” 

K, there were a lot of hugs and tears as everyone looked through your pictures and we answered questions. Of course, there were a lot of questions we couldn’t answer. Everyone wants to know when you are coming home, I so wish I could tell them. 

After leaving Grammie and Papa’s, we stop by a local gift store to look for a baptism gift. We didn’t find one, but we did pick something up for you. You are now the proud owner of. . .

Sunday (October 2)- We go north for A’s baptism and get to tell Aunt Jennie about you. We actually saw her parents first, so they got to see your pictures first. The baptism was great and of course lunch had A LOT of food and cake. 

So Lando, who we now know your name is K, this is what your referral week looked liked. We got to tell people in person about it and see their reaction. I loved we were able to see the joy in their faces and see the excitement for us and you. 

Love,

Mom and Dad