It is official . . .

We were able to spend some time with Rebecca and our birthmother at the hospital this morning! Michael had his first opportunity to feed Rebecca and he did a great job. We so admire our birthmother for this gift of life she is giving to our family. Rebecca is such an angel and we love her to pieces.

This afternoon around 3:15pm (72 hours after we got to the hospital on Saturday) we signed the papers which made Rebecca our daughter! What an amazing feeling :) We went to the Wine Styles shop in Arlington Highlands and purchased some champagne for our celebration.

Then we headed over to our wonderful transitional care provider's home. Peggy took care of Daniel for a day before we had our placement with him in Sept. 2007. Peggy is going to be watching over Rebecca for a few days prior to our placement ceremony on Friday. It was a magical evening with Rebecca, just holding her and feeding her b/c it really feels like she is our daughter now. My heart just continues to melt every time I look at her and hold her. Michael and I both got to feed Rebecca and share some champagne and Mexican food with Peggy! What a beautiful and happy evening. This is the best feeling in the world and we cannot wait for Daniel to join us and be a happy family of four :)

A Little Detour . . .

A great evening out with Teresa at Cantina Laredo in Grapevine.






You know you are in Texas when the rental car counter has Texas Longhorns.


We spent the day running errands, doing some shopping (2 bears for Rebecca), finding a new hotel and visiting our sweet Rebecca Rose. This evening we took a fun detour and went out to dinner at Cantina Laredo with Holly's friend, Teresa. Teresa and her husband were in Tunisia for 2 years and just returned to Texas. Holly was thrilled to catch up with Teresa and we all had a great evening out eating Mexican food and laughing. We hope to see Teresa and her husband next week so that they can meet Rebecca.

Holding My Finger!

Rebecca Rose with Daddy and Mommy



What a little angel!




Many faces of Rebecca



Proud Daddy



Rebecca holding Mommy's finger - how precious!




Today was another beautiful day b/c we were able to spend time in the hospital with our little angel bear! Rebecca Rose is just so amazing. Rose is a family name in our birthmother's family so we are using Rose as her middle name to honor her birthmother.

Rebecca put her entire hand in her mouth today while I was holding her - obviously very advanced for 2 days old!

The best part of our time together was when Rebecca held my finger! My heart grew 3 sizes at least. We cannot wait for Daniel to arrive and meet his little sister!

More Rebecca Rose - Our Little "Angel Bear"

A gift for Rebecca from our birthmother



Kisses from Mommy




She is so adorable!




Daddy with Rebecca and stuffed animal we bought for her in May when we met her birthmother.



First feeding by Mommy



Strawberry-blond hair



A big yawn



So precious


Our little "Angel Bear"





Proud Daddy with Rebecca

We had so much joy in our hearts when we were able to visit with Rebecca and our birthmother at the hospital. Rebecca is such a little angel and she is so precious. She already has both our hearts wrapped around her finger! She is such a blessing from God and were are so happy to be here for her first days. No words can describe this feeling, and we cannot wait for Daniel to meet his little sister.

Introducing Rebecca Rose

Wow. It's now 9:17 pm CENTRAL Daylight time, and just a scant 16 hours ago we received a phone call from our birthmother that she was in labor!!! So, the fire drill began - check flights, let Mom & Dad know (so they could come down to take care of Daniel), get to airport, etc. I found out at 7:30 am that there was an 11:30 flight out to DFW - so Mom dropped everything to come on down (leaving Dad to drive down separately). We made the flight with 40 minutes to spare!!! What a feeling this was, again winging our way southwestern, (the direction, not the airline...) knowing that when we were to return just a few days hence with a little life... a child to be ours. So, the Good Lord smiled upon us and this whole endeavor. We landed early - had no message that a birth had yet occurred - so we grabbed the rental-mobile, and being told that the birthmother would love to have us there, went straight to the hospital. Just in time. Turns out that they had to perform a cesarean, and we got there 15 minutes before they were to wheel her back. So, Holly went in with the birthmother as she was being prepped,and then we followed to the room just outside the OR, where we heard our daughter's 1st screams. I have one thing to say about that (besides the fact that it was utterly magical and we wouldn't have missed it for the world) - the girl has some lungs. Daniel, you got competition, son. Then, 10 minutes after she was born, they brought her out for us to hold. That... was a moment we'll remember all of our lives. I got a bit choked up. Then they had to take her to the nursery. We watched her for about 1/2 an hour through the glass, then got word that our birthmother was back in her room and would love to see us. So we went and she looked amazing considering that she'd just had a c-section, so we hung out with her and her Mom for most of the next couple of hours, went to see Rebecca again, and then eventually went off to get a bite to eat. We finally got in the the hotel room about 9:00 pm CDT.
We can't say enough about what a wonderful person our birthmother is - and her mother as well.
Please enjoy these pictures of us meeting our daughter Rebecca.
Holly says I'm supposed to give the details. You know, scientific-like.
Rebecca Rose, born 3:40pm CDT, Arlington, TX. 8 lbs, 0 oz. 20" long. She has long fingers and toes, and a beautiful complexion, with (for now) a fair amount (but not a lot) of strawberry-blond hair. She is absolutely beautiful. We are so very, very blessed.

"READY"

Daniel always says "READY" in a loud voice whenever he is ready to go somewhere or do something. That is exactly how I feel about our journey - READY for our new baby girl to arrive in this world. We are just so blessed by our birth mother and by GOD. So I guess we will continue to be "READY" a little bit longer . . .

Almost here . . . .

We are waiting with great anticipation for our little bundle of joy to arrive in this world! We were anticipating that she would arrive the first or second week in July due to early contractions. So Holly packed all the baby things on July 1 (even though the due date is July 22)!

Two weeks later and here we are still, but getting closer every day :) Our pastor - Stephen - is even planning the placement ceremony for us. We are very blessed and really admire the strength and love of our birth mother.

We have been reading the "I am a Big Brother" book to Daniel at bedtime. He is going to be a wonderful and caring big brother.