1. Our friend works at our Oregon adoption agency, and she was the one to call and tell me we had been accepted. Having someone we love and that loves us deliver the news was a precious moment- not life altering, but wonderful.
2. There are quite a few adoptive families at the school I work at, and my students are excited. I've been able to have some really great conversations with students in adoptive families and their parents- families that can empathize and rejoice over the little things.
3. Our nursery has turned into a hoarder's paradise. People have donated SO MUCH stuff that we've been selling on Craigslist and Ebay- and it's helped us a ton before we even get to the garage sale. Not only are we purging our own house (it's unbelievable how much we have to get rid of), but we have been able to go through everyone else's stuff and it's more fun than I would have thought! To be honest, Paul gets virtually all of the credit for this- he has been the one spearheading this campaign. He is way more organized than I am, and the way that he's been attacking this is just incredible, and I'm so fortunate to have him to work on this.
We've also gotten to meet some really interesting people through Craigslist (obviously), but also people that we're so glad to be passing this stuff on to. We met a grandmother that was fostering her grandkids, and bought both twin mattresses because the kids had been sleeping on the floor. She was ecstatic that we gave her the sheets to go with it, and we got to see her grandkids- the cutest children we had ever seen. As she left, she asked us to email her when we brought the baby home, so she could give us hand-me-downs.
Another couple came to look at the couch and saw a bunch of things from a recent delivery of stuff- and this guy's eyes went wide. As it turned out, the couple had just moved here and had brought almost nothing, so they spent the next hours going through boxes and picking out decorations, rugs, dishes, pots and pans- they pretty much got their entire house stocked up, and they want to come back when we have the garage sale.We have also been really forthcoming about why we're selling everything, and more than one person has given us more than we were asking because they're excited that we're adopting- these gifts and support from strangers are a blessing that we're never sure how to accept but we're so excited by them.
4. We got our first baby gift. I was telling a friend about this thing I had seen and really wanted, and she texted me the next day to say it was on its way. How special this moment was, she'll probably never know- it was one of the random, beautiful reasons why I love her, and there's something in the nursery closet that is actually for our baby.
5. I'm visiting my family this week, and it might be the last time I do this alone. Talk about weird realizations- there have been a bunch of small things where we say, "this might be the last time before the baby," and actually processing that information is insane and beautiful and it's weirding me out.
6. (an update) We are being assigned our social worker! This means we have a few meetings with him/her and then we're done with our home study, which is equal parts exciting and terrifying because we have a $6,000 bill due as soon as we complete the home study.
I'm sure every family that's expecting their first child says the same thing- the little things are important and seem to make all the difference. We're learning that as we go along, as we sell every bit and bauble that comes our way. There is no item we've had donated that's worth $40,000- we're getting there through $5, $20, $100 items that are selling. The little things mean a whole lot, and we could not be more grateful. Thank you! We love you all so very, very much.
