The Beginning . . . Part 2 --> THE CALL!

We were told when we were added to the Ethiopia list that it would be a six to eight month wait. We were open to a child of either gender up to 24 months. Starting the process over seemed unbearable. I couldn't believe that we were at the bottom of the list, especially since we had been in the actual adoption process since 2006.

Then came March 3rd at 12:00. We received the phone call that would change our lives forever. I teach third grade and we had just gotten back from lunch. I am really good about turning the ringer off my cell phone. However, I had forgotten to turn the ringer off on this particular Tuesday. So, I'm sitting at the front of my class, reading a story aloud to my students when my cell phone went off. I jumped up, apologizing to my students for not turning my phone off. I picked it up to turn it off when I saw that it was CHI.

I had a million things running through my head at this point. When I answered it was our case worker Toni. She said that she had my husband on hold and asked me if I had a minute to talk. I knew that this was it. . . the moment that we had been waiting for for 2 1/2 years. It seemed as though that moment was frozen in time. I could not believe what I was hearing on the other line. After Toni connected Alex and I on the same line, the first thing she said was "Today is the day." The first thing I said was, "Are you serious?" I was in such shock, I could not move. I had twenty third graders staring at me, wondering what was going on. Up until this point, I had not shared the adoption with them.

To say the least, the rest of the afternoon was filled with a lot of excitement. I called my mom, my dad, my mother in law, my best friend, and texted many others. I practically ran up and down the halls jumping up and down with joy.

March 3rd will forever be the day that our lives changed! I stared at my sweet boy's face so long!