Friday, July 18, 2008
We've moved!
I set up a new blog at Wordpress. The address is filipinobambino.wordpress.com. It has all of our past posts imported, as well as all of your past comments. Please join us over there in reading about our adventures with Ezekiel, our Filipino Bambino!!
Our Referral Story
Alright, I need to get this all down before I forget it all...
On Monday, July 14 around 3:15 pm, my cell phone rang. I was at work and didn't recognize the number (why I didn't have HIH's number saved to my phone is beyond me. Anyway...), so I didn't pick it up since I was at work. About 15 minutes later my office phone rings, and when I answered, Dave was on the line. He said, "Rach, are you sitting down? Karin (from our adoption agency) just called me". Okay, two thoughts ran through my head in the split second before he broke the news. The first was, "I know why she called, we are getting our fingerprints renewed soon and we just sent the paperwork in for that". And my second thought was, "If he is calling to say we got our referral, then that is a mean, cruel joke. We have another year of waiting. It's not like Dave to be mean like that". Yep, that was all thought in a split second.
Then he says, "We got our referral. We have a son! His name is Ezekiel!!" I answered by saying, "No... no... no we didn't. No we didn't! What???" When Dave started telling me details about our son I started crying. I just couldn't believe it, and I was in such shock. He asked me to call Karin so that we could conference call all together. I told him I wanted to do it in private, so I was going to go out to my car and call her. I shut the lid on my laptop, left my snack and paperwork sitting on my desk and bolted out of there. As I was running out, I was crying and the receptionist looked at me funny. I just shot her a half smile and kept on going.
I got in my car and called Karin. She answered her phone and said, "Happy Birthday, Mama!!!!" Ah, this is by far the best birthday present I ever could have imagined. We got Dave patched into the phone call and she proceeded to read us the 10-page fax she got with all of Ezekiel's information on it. I tried to write down as much as I could, even though I knew she would send the information to us by fax that day. My mind kept racing. She told us that we would hopefully get a picture the next day (Tuesday).
After Karin finished telling us the info and celebrating with us over the phone, she hung up and Dave and I stayed on together to talk. We were both in complete disbelief, and I kept starting to cry as the impact of what I just found out hit me. Our lives were turning upside down, and it was the best feeling in the world!! It's what we've been wanting for years now. While we were talking, Dave told me the story of how he found out...
(Rewind to 3:16 pm) After Karin tried to call me, she called Dave. He picked up the phone and she said, "Hey Dave! This is Karin." He wondered why she was calling her, and his stomach dropped as he thought maybe it was the referral, but quickly squashed that thought, knowing it was months out from now. She said, "I realized it was Rachel's birthday on Friday and I wanted to wish her a happy birthday!" With that, she started crying, then said, "Okay, I can't hold it in any longer - You guys got a referral!!!! I was trying to get ahold of Rachel and wanted to tell you both together".
While Dave and I were talking, he told me that he (oops) spilled the beans to my dad. I was a little disappointed, but it cracked me up that he couldn't keep his excitement in when he was trying to get ahold of me. We decided that we wanted to drive to each of our family members' houses tonight (except the ones who live far away) to tell them. We met up with each other in the parking lot of the hospital in my parents' town so that we could finally see each other and celebrate with each other in person. As soon as he got out of the car we hugged and grinned at each other. Dave grabbed my hands and we started jumping up and down in a circle (we're dorks, we know :) Then we drove to my parents' house to tell my mom and grandparents.
Karin had faxed us E's information, and the cover page said, "It's a BOY!!!!" So that was what we used to surprise people. My favorite reaction was my younger sister C. She lives in the same town as my parents, so after we told my mom, we drove to where she was. I kept her talking on the phone so that she wouldn't leave before we got there. Thank God my sister is a talker. I just let her talk. I don't think I could have held a conversation since I was so excited about telling her the news!! We pulled up into the driveway and I said, "Hey C, you should come outside right now". She came out and I held up the sign as she walked toward me. She freaked out and started screaming/crying/hip hip hooraying, then hugged me and we started jumping up and down for joy while we were hugging. She was so happy to finally be an auntie and to be getting a nephew, as she has 2 little girls. We called her fiance to tell him the news, and I filled them both in on the story of how we found out. She just kept crying and smiling and exclaiming how excited she was, and how surprised she was as well.
We proceeded to drive all the way over to Dave's parents, who also had a great reaction. I called them on our way up to thank them for my birthday present (and to secretly make sure they were home). They had just finished supper and were relaxing, so I got off the phone with them and we continued on our way. We got there about 45 minutes later and knocked on the door. We heard them say, "Oh! How nice! Dave and Rachel are here! I wonder why?" As they answered the door, we walked in with our sign. Dave shouted, "We got our referral! It's a boy!" They were so surprised, and wanted to get some champagne to celebrate, but we let them know we were trying to get to the rest of Dave's siblings yet that night. We told them a lot of what we knew about Ezekiel's story, and had a great time celebrating with them.
It was great fun telling Dave's family that they were getting a new addition to the family. I only wish we could have told our nephew J - he is on a camping trip for 3 weeks in the mountains. I have to say he is my favorite teenager, such a cool guy. I can't wait to tell him the news when he gets back.
After we got home, we quick went over to our BFF/neighbors' house - Aaron and Nikki. He had gotten a tattoo that weekend, so we wanted to see it, and of course surprise them with the news. We walked in all non-chalant and listened to Aaron tell us about the tattoo. They were about to tell us another story about their weekend when I said, "Wait, before you start your story I have a quick question for you - how tall is Sam?" They told me and then I said, "Oh, well OUR son, Ezekiel? He's 29 inches tall!!" Then we held up our sign and they stared in disbelief for a split second before screaming and hugging us (we woke Sammy up, oops). My favorite part was that while I was hugging Nikki I told her that Ezekiel is almost exactly 2 weeks younger than Sam. She started crying even more then and praising God. We are so amazed at His goodness!!
We got our picture of him on Tuesday, and fell absolutely head over heels in love with the face of this little boy we already loved from his paperwork. I just wish I could post his picture for the world to see, but due to Hague Convention laws, I can't post his picture until we have him home with us forever. But if I see you, I can promise you that I'll have his little picture out of my purse to show you before you can say, "Filipino Bambino".
On Monday, July 14 around 3:15 pm, my cell phone rang. I was at work and didn't recognize the number (why I didn't have HIH's number saved to my phone is beyond me. Anyway...), so I didn't pick it up since I was at work. About 15 minutes later my office phone rings, and when I answered, Dave was on the line. He said, "Rach, are you sitting down? Karin (from our adoption agency) just called me". Okay, two thoughts ran through my head in the split second before he broke the news. The first was, "I know why she called, we are getting our fingerprints renewed soon and we just sent the paperwork in for that". And my second thought was, "If he is calling to say we got our referral, then that is a mean, cruel joke. We have another year of waiting. It's not like Dave to be mean like that". Yep, that was all thought in a split second.
Then he says, "We got our referral. We have a son! His name is Ezekiel!!" I answered by saying, "No... no... no we didn't. No we didn't! What???" When Dave started telling me details about our son I started crying. I just couldn't believe it, and I was in such shock. He asked me to call Karin so that we could conference call all together. I told him I wanted to do it in private, so I was going to go out to my car and call her. I shut the lid on my laptop, left my snack and paperwork sitting on my desk and bolted out of there. As I was running out, I was crying and the receptionist looked at me funny. I just shot her a half smile and kept on going.
I got in my car and called Karin. She answered her phone and said, "Happy Birthday, Mama!!!!" Ah, this is by far the best birthday present I ever could have imagined. We got Dave patched into the phone call and she proceeded to read us the 10-page fax she got with all of Ezekiel's information on it. I tried to write down as much as I could, even though I knew she would send the information to us by fax that day. My mind kept racing. She told us that we would hopefully get a picture the next day (Tuesday).
After Karin finished telling us the info and celebrating with us over the phone, she hung up and Dave and I stayed on together to talk. We were both in complete disbelief, and I kept starting to cry as the impact of what I just found out hit me. Our lives were turning upside down, and it was the best feeling in the world!! It's what we've been wanting for years now. While we were talking, Dave told me the story of how he found out...
(Rewind to 3:16 pm) After Karin tried to call me, she called Dave. He picked up the phone and she said, "Hey Dave! This is Karin." He wondered why she was calling her, and his stomach dropped as he thought maybe it was the referral, but quickly squashed that thought, knowing it was months out from now. She said, "I realized it was Rachel's birthday on Friday and I wanted to wish her a happy birthday!" With that, she started crying, then said, "Okay, I can't hold it in any longer - You guys got a referral!!!! I was trying to get ahold of Rachel and wanted to tell you both together".
While Dave and I were talking, he told me that he (oops) spilled the beans to my dad. I was a little disappointed, but it cracked me up that he couldn't keep his excitement in when he was trying to get ahold of me. We decided that we wanted to drive to each of our family members' houses tonight (except the ones who live far away) to tell them. We met up with each other in the parking lot of the hospital in my parents' town so that we could finally see each other and celebrate with each other in person. As soon as he got out of the car we hugged and grinned at each other. Dave grabbed my hands and we started jumping up and down in a circle (we're dorks, we know :) Then we drove to my parents' house to tell my mom and grandparents.
Karin had faxed us E's information, and the cover page said, "It's a BOY!!!!" So that was what we used to surprise people. My favorite reaction was my younger sister C. She lives in the same town as my parents, so after we told my mom, we drove to where she was. I kept her talking on the phone so that she wouldn't leave before we got there. Thank God my sister is a talker. I just let her talk. I don't think I could have held a conversation since I was so excited about telling her the news!! We pulled up into the driveway and I said, "Hey C, you should come outside right now". She came out and I held up the sign as she walked toward me. She freaked out and started screaming/crying/hip hip hooraying, then hugged me and we started jumping up and down for joy while we were hugging. She was so happy to finally be an auntie and to be getting a nephew, as she has 2 little girls. We called her fiance to tell him the news, and I filled them both in on the story of how we found out. She just kept crying and smiling and exclaiming how excited she was, and how surprised she was as well.
We proceeded to drive all the way over to Dave's parents, who also had a great reaction. I called them on our way up to thank them for my birthday present (and to secretly make sure they were home). They had just finished supper and were relaxing, so I got off the phone with them and we continued on our way. We got there about 45 minutes later and knocked on the door. We heard them say, "Oh! How nice! Dave and Rachel are here! I wonder why?" As they answered the door, we walked in with our sign. Dave shouted, "We got our referral! It's a boy!" They were so surprised, and wanted to get some champagne to celebrate, but we let them know we were trying to get to the rest of Dave's siblings yet that night. We told them a lot of what we knew about Ezekiel's story, and had a great time celebrating with them.
It was great fun telling Dave's family that they were getting a new addition to the family. I only wish we could have told our nephew J - he is on a camping trip for 3 weeks in the mountains. I have to say he is my favorite teenager, such a cool guy. I can't wait to tell him the news when he gets back.
After we got home, we quick went over to our BFF/neighbors' house - Aaron and Nikki. He had gotten a tattoo that weekend, so we wanted to see it, and of course surprise them with the news. We walked in all non-chalant and listened to Aaron tell us about the tattoo. They were about to tell us another story about their weekend when I said, "Wait, before you start your story I have a quick question for you - how tall is Sam?" They told me and then I said, "Oh, well OUR son, Ezekiel? He's 29 inches tall!!" Then we held up our sign and they stared in disbelief for a split second before screaming and hugging us (we woke Sammy up, oops). My favorite part was that while I was hugging Nikki I told her that Ezekiel is almost exactly 2 weeks younger than Sam. She started crying even more then and praising God. We are so amazed at His goodness!!
We got our picture of him on Tuesday, and fell absolutely head over heels in love with the face of this little boy we already loved from his paperwork. I just wish I could post his picture for the world to see, but due to Hague Convention laws, I can't post his picture until we have him home with us forever. But if I see you, I can promise you that I'll have his little picture out of my purse to show you before you can say, "Filipino Bambino".
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
New Name
So I'm considering switching over to Word.press because I like some of their features, but I want a new name to go with the new blog. And ideas on a good name? I want the name to encompass our life, rather than just the adoption. Plus, I don't want it to have our names in the address. My creative juices are sapped, since I can't get my mind off of this sparkly little peanut I get to call my son.
Let me know in the comments what you think the new name should be!
Let me know in the comments what you think the new name should be!
REFERRAL!!!!
On Monday July 14th, Dave and I received the referral for a healthy 15-month old boy. His name is Ezekiel. We have a son!!!
I'll blog more later, for now I'm savoring this feeling (and frantically writing lists of what needs to get done in the next 4-6 months)!
Oh, I'll do a new poll now. We were all wrong on the last one!! I didn't even make my birthday an option for how soon we would get our referral. So vote on the right-hand side, and let us know when you think we'll bring E home to stay!
I'll blog more later, for now I'm savoring this feeling (and frantically writing lists of what needs to get done in the next 4-6 months)!
Oh, I'll do a new poll now. We were all wrong on the last one!! I didn't even make my birthday an option for how soon we would get our referral. So vote on the right-hand side, and let us know when you think we'll bring E home to stay!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Birthday wishes
I have to give out some awards from the birthday wishes I received this weekend (thank you to everyone who sent wishes for a great day - I'll blog about how fun it was in a minute)...
Longest birthday song - Nikki and Aaron Petersen
Cutest: (in a tie with G's b-day song below) Nephew E singing Happy Birthday over the phone, then yelling P-U at the end of the song!
Most hilarious - Gale and Jeanne - Dave's parents (read below)
Most embarassing - Dad (read below)
Sweetest - Grandpa coming up the stairs and saying "Happy Birthday Rachel!" in a sing-song voice. If you know my grandpa, you can hear it in your head and know it sounds sweet :)
More funnies - Dave forgetting it was my birthday until I reminded him that morning; Dave and my dad planning out a birthday surprise (and me hearing every word of the conversation); and Melissa's Facebook Happy Birthday song to me (stating who was singing it)
So I woke up that morning, and Dave was downstairs watching the news. I went about getting ready, thinking it was strange that he wasn't coming upstairs to make a big deal about my birthday (we do entire birthday weekends for each other, we love birthdays that much). He came up about 15 minutes later and sat on the bed while I finished getting ready, talking to me about his day. I finally said, "Are you forgetting something?" And he yelled, "Omigosh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I'm just spacing out this morning!" Made me laugh (a little).
Then, as I was walking into work I noticed that the receptionist smiled at me a little extra as I walked in and asked, "How is YOUR day going today????" I just smiled and said "Great!" As I rounded the corner into my office, people were coming out of our office area grinning at me. I walked through the doorway and saw this:
Ah the joys of working with your dad... At least the consensus was that everyone thinks I am 2.5 years younger than I actually am (yes, my dad made a spreadsheet with the results - crazy man). So yay that I still look young for my age!
We went out for lunch as a team to one of my fave restuarants - Bakers Square (what can I say? I love pie!). Dave "surprised" me by showing up at the restaurant. Here is how it went down - my dad was talking on the phone (we are two offices away from each other), and I heard him say my name. Of course my ears perked up (who's wouldn't?!). So I heard him say, "Rach will be so surprised... That's a great idea... How are we going to get a table big enough without her finding out?... Ooo, good idea... Okay, you call and tell her you can't come to lunch!... See you there..." I was nearly peeing my pants giggling. It took all I had not to laugh when Dave called to tell me he couldn't come to lunch, and I had to pretend to be sad. When Dave walked into the restaurant later, I fessed up and my dad said, "But I was in the corner of my office hunched over, I didn't think you could hear me!!" That made me laugh even harder!
Then for supper we (and a lot of my fam) went and tried a new restaurant in my hometown - Richards. It had AWESOME food, and great wine! A friend of mine from high school helped open it, so he was working that night and was excited to see us, which made it even more fun. The atmosphere was phenomenal, and we all had a great time.
After supper we played cards with my parents and grandparents (another one of my favorite things to do!), and then drove home. On the way home I listened to The Longest Birthday Song Ever (see above) by Aaron and Nik, and listened to this message from my in-laws:
FIL: (sings birthday song) ...Happy Birthday, sweetie! We love you! J, want to say happy birthday?
(long pause)
MIL: Is it still on? (shuffling noises)
FIL (mishearing her question in the background): Well no, I left it on for you. Aren't you going to leave a message?
MIL (confused by his answer): Well yeah, you already hung up!
(incoherent discussion over whether or not the phone got hung up)
MIL: Oh well, apparently... (click, then dial tone)
On Saturday I got a "Rachel Day"!! These are my fave - Dave leaves for a few hours and I just get the house to myself, and I get to relax, read, watch tv, etc. It was so nice. Then in the afternoon/evening we tried to get to a movie, but missed it by a few minutes, so we decided to go to IKEA. Dave was in the mood to start decorating the kids' room (yay!!), or at least get some ideas. We had lots of fun walking through there, taking measurements, and we even bought some bedding for our kiddos that was on crazy discount.
After IKEA, we thought we'd check to see what time the later movies started at the cheap theater. We got there with plenty of time, so we decided to go see Baby Mama. I thought it was HILARIOUS!! We both laughed so hard through the movie, and were surprised at how well written it was. After the movie we went home, and played more card games. Today was church, and then more relaxing. I'm currently procrastinating. I mean, it's my last week of class EVER (no MBA for me, thankyouverymuch), what better thing to do but procrastinate more than ever this week?!?
Longest birthday song - Nikki and Aaron Petersen
Cutest: (in a tie with G's b-day song below) Nephew E singing Happy Birthday over the phone, then yelling P-U at the end of the song!
Most hilarious - Gale and Jeanne - Dave's parents (read below)
Most embarassing - Dad (read below)
Sweetest - Grandpa coming up the stairs and saying "Happy Birthday Rachel!" in a sing-song voice. If you know my grandpa, you can hear it in your head and know it sounds sweet :)
More funnies - Dave forgetting it was my birthday until I reminded him that morning; Dave and my dad planning out a birthday surprise (and me hearing every word of the conversation); and Melissa's Facebook Happy Birthday song to me (stating who was singing it)
So I woke up that morning, and Dave was downstairs watching the news. I went about getting ready, thinking it was strange that he wasn't coming upstairs to make a big deal about my birthday (we do entire birthday weekends for each other, we love birthdays that much). He came up about 15 minutes later and sat on the bed while I finished getting ready, talking to me about his day. I finally said, "Are you forgetting something?" And he yelled, "Omigosh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I'm just spacing out this morning!" Made me laugh (a little).
Then, as I was walking into work I noticed that the receptionist smiled at me a little extra as I walked in and asked, "How is YOUR day going today????" I just smiled and said "Great!" As I rounded the corner into my office, people were coming out of our office area grinning at me. I walked through the doorway and saw this:
Ah the joys of working with your dad... At least the consensus was that everyone thinks I am 2.5 years younger than I actually am (yes, my dad made a spreadsheet with the results - crazy man). So yay that I still look young for my age!We went out for lunch as a team to one of my fave restuarants - Bakers Square (what can I say? I love pie!). Dave "surprised" me by showing up at the restaurant. Here is how it went down - my dad was talking on the phone (we are two offices away from each other), and I heard him say my name. Of course my ears perked up (who's wouldn't?!). So I heard him say, "Rach will be so surprised... That's a great idea... How are we going to get a table big enough without her finding out?... Ooo, good idea... Okay, you call and tell her you can't come to lunch!... See you there..." I was nearly peeing my pants giggling. It took all I had not to laugh when Dave called to tell me he couldn't come to lunch, and I had to pretend to be sad. When Dave walked into the restaurant later, I fessed up and my dad said, "But I was in the corner of my office hunched over, I didn't think you could hear me!!" That made me laugh even harder!
Then for supper we (and a lot of my fam) went and tried a new restaurant in my hometown - Richards. It had AWESOME food, and great wine! A friend of mine from high school helped open it, so he was working that night and was excited to see us, which made it even more fun. The atmosphere was phenomenal, and we all had a great time.
After supper we played cards with my parents and grandparents (another one of my favorite things to do!), and then drove home. On the way home I listened to The Longest Birthday Song Ever (see above) by Aaron and Nik, and listened to this message from my in-laws:
FIL: (sings birthday song) ...Happy Birthday, sweetie! We love you! J, want to say happy birthday?
(long pause)
MIL: Is it still on? (shuffling noises)
FIL (mishearing her question in the background): Well no, I left it on for you. Aren't you going to leave a message?
MIL (confused by his answer): Well yeah, you already hung up!
(incoherent discussion over whether or not the phone got hung up)
MIL: Oh well, apparently... (click, then dial tone)
On Saturday I got a "Rachel Day"!! These are my fave - Dave leaves for a few hours and I just get the house to myself, and I get to relax, read, watch tv, etc. It was so nice. Then in the afternoon/evening we tried to get to a movie, but missed it by a few minutes, so we decided to go to IKEA. Dave was in the mood to start decorating the kids' room (yay!!), or at least get some ideas. We had lots of fun walking through there, taking measurements, and we even bought some bedding for our kiddos that was on crazy discount.
After IKEA, we thought we'd check to see what time the later movies started at the cheap theater. We got there with plenty of time, so we decided to go see Baby Mama. I thought it was HILARIOUS!! We both laughed so hard through the movie, and were surprised at how well written it was. After the movie we went home, and played more card games. Today was church, and then more relaxing. I'm currently procrastinating. I mean, it's my last week of class EVER (no MBA for me, thankyouverymuch), what better thing to do but procrastinate more than ever this week?!?
Friday, July 11, 2008
Happy Birthday, Uncle Rachel
Yep, today is my birthday!! I am the big 2-8 today. Last year at this time, we were getting ready for our home study on Friday the 13th. I can't believe it's been a year since then!!
Isn't niece G just about the cutest thing you've ever seen? I love her little pursed lips :)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Storms
I'm working from home today, so I usually have the television on in the background and mostly pay attention to the news when the weather comes on (my favorite part!). Today I heard them saying that storms were heading toward Carver County. I looked out the window and noticed that it was a cloudy, but not scary cloudy. Then I stepped out onto the deck and turned around to look northwest. Holy cowsers!! It was super dark, greenish-purple. I took pictures of the difference between the views from my house, but it doesn't do the storm much justice.
The air felt calm, but about 2 minutes later, the wind came up so fast that all of the garbage cans from the neighborhood flew out onto the county road, and I couldn't even see the dealership across the street with the sheets of rain coming down. The wind sounded pretty scary, so I headed downstairs with Gus (who is definitely NOT afraid of storms, he wanted to play fetch). The hail started in, and the lightning was bright and close with loud thunder cracks and rumbles following immediately behind. Dave called and the weather sirens were going off where he was working, so he and his brother headed over to the gas station. As I was talking to him the power went in and out there. I told him there were straight-line winds, and that's why the sirens were going off (that's what the news lady said). I LOVE watching stormy weather come in. I think that if I loved school more, I would love to go back to become a meteorologist. Oh well, maybe they'll need stormchasers out our way and I can do training for that :) Fun fun!
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