** As you might have noticed on Instagram we officially met our girls for the first time YESTERDAY, so I wanted to catch you up with everything that has happened this month to get us to this point! **
Tuesday, February 3rd, I was sitting at breakfast with these friends, telling them I thought it could still be a while before we heard anything about our adoption, and I was really feeling ok with that. After all, it hadn't even been two months since we'd been officially certified and on the Central Adoption Registry as a waiting family. We hadn't heard anything from our agency adoption specialist since then, and I thought about maybe sending her an email the next day just to check in and make sure we were all set, and there was nothing else she needed from us at the time.
The next day, Wednesday Feb. 4th, I was on my computer with headphones on when Mr. Ladd came into the room with the phone in his hand, waving at me and dramatically mouthing the name of our agency adoption specialist. Was this seriously the call we'd been waiting for? Now way. She must just need some piece of paperwork that was missing or something. But the fact that she wanted to talk to both of us at the same time told me this was big. The dogs chose this very moment to go nuts at the front window about a passerby, but after getting them settled down and frantically grabbing something to write with, we heard "I'm calling to tell you you've been red filed for two little girls, J is 1 1/2 and V is 3." As soon as she said that the tears started for both of us. We choked them back and immediately started to picture ourselves as the parents to these girls as I shakily asked questions and wrote down barely coherent answers.
She gave us the little information she had and asked if we wanted to pursue placement. She wanted us to think about it for a bit and get back to her. She reminded us that of course there was always a possibility we would not be chosen for the girls, but she thought we were a strong match and had a very good chance.The red file meeting was scheduled for 10am on February 19th, which meant two weeks of excruciating waiting to find out if we were chosen or not. We knew we were not the only family being considered for J and V. At the red file meeting our specialist and agency reps for the other families being considered for this sibling set met with J and V's DCS case worker who ultimately made the final decision. The families are never present at this meeting, and I'm so glad. I was a train wreck that day, and so grateful someone else was there representing a much more put-together version of us. It was a long day, but at 1:15 on Thursday, February 19th we got the best phone call we've ever received...
To be continued tomorrow - How I Met My Daughters Part 2: Chosen
To catch up - The Best News Ever
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