Getting Baby Selah

We've had Selah for almost two weeks now so I thought I'd give insight into the day we got her.

On Thursday we made the trip down to Murfesboro Tennessee to stay with Logan's cousin.  We had a wonderful visit and great breakfast before we left on Friday morning.  We made the trip down to Mississippi and were nervously awaiting the text to get our little girl that evening.  We made it to the hotel, checked in, got ready and left for dinner.  While at dinner we got a text at 7:30ish pm saying they were at the hospital getting her baby check up.  Getting the baby well check was necessary before parents could sign consent to terminate parental rights.  The agency thought it wouldn't be too much longer. Therefore, we finished eating and headed about 15 minutes away to the area in which we were going to meet.  The agency wanted parents to sign and then for us to arrive because they wanted to meet us. The agency would not give us the exact location only the area, until they signed as they didn't want us to arrive early.  We went to the beach, prayed, walked around… and ended up sitting in a McDonalds parking lot until 11 pm when we found out we'd have to wait until Saturday. The hospital emergency room would not fill out the form because it was not an emergency :(. To be honest at this point I was so emotionally and mentally exhausted I didn't even care.  I actually fell asleep in the car waiting for the text.  So back to the hotel we went!

The agency said they had put her in Foster Care for the night and that they had a doctor who was going to make a house call in the morning to do her well check up and sign the paperwork.  The birth mom had to work until 2 perhaps she could get of at 12 but they'd let us know.

Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel.  We got ready and packed up.  We then headed to the house we were going to be staying at.  A friend of mines brother happened to live in Mississippi and have a second home by the ocean he uses on weekends.  Its a beautiful home and we are so grateful and thankful that he is allowing us to stay here.  Once we got here we quickly unpacked.  We had yet to hear anything from the agency and it was about 1130.  We were still nervous but not as much as we had been on Friday.  At 12:01 pm we got a text giving us the address and saying we need to come now.  We were now about 30 minutes from the address.  I've never had logan speed on purpose but I was so excited we "flew" to get her.

Once we found the place, yes we got a little lost, we pulled up to a white fence with a huge, beautiful white home with large pool in front of it and the ocean across the street.   There was a large swing hanging from a tree and two little girls swinging on them.  As we pulled up a lady came to us that was pushing the girls and said follow me I'll take you to where they are.  At this point I realized that these were Selah's older sisters. They were beautiful little girls.  The youngest one came up to me, grabbed my hand and walked inside with me.  She melted my heart right there and in a weird way a sense of calmness came over me.

As we walked into the pool house, which was expensively decorated, we saw the Birth Mom and Dad. The first thing that came to my mind was to give her a hug and introduce ourselves so thats what we did.  We then sat on the couch and talked with them for about 20 minutes.  They had a few questions for us, What we like to do?, If we want more children?, How long have we wanted a child?, Was our family okay with having an African American child in the family?, etc. They were all questions we were prepared to answer and the conversation flowed well. The birth dad did most of the talking and the mom was very quiet.

The foster mom then walked out with Selah.  She had just made her a bottle and asked the birth mom and dad if they wanted her.  The mom chimed up and said you can give her to the adoptive parents.  My heart was so full of joy as I gently grabbed her from the foster mom. (The foster mom happened to be the owner of this mansion as well as the notary, and her relative happened to be the doctor who did the exam on her in the morning and thank you God for working all these details out in such a short time!) I just kept staring at her. Logan answered questions and my heart felt content.  I then asked Logan if he wanted to hold her for a bit, trying to remember this process has been just as hard and long for him too. He held her for a bit and then we asked the birth parents if they would take a picture with us.  We got a few pictures of all of us together and then the mom sat down next to me and held her baby. She didn't start crying, which I'm thankful for as I'm sure I would have broken down too. She kissed her goodbye and handed her back to me.  We hugged again and she said she knew she'd be okay with us.

We started to walk out and the birth dad and Logan went to get her diaper bag that they wanted to give to us.  I held Selah in my arms as the birth mom and I walked out and stood by the car waiting for the guys.  She looked at me and said I loved your profile and I feel so much better meeting you guys.  She said I'll be okay until I get home.  We hugged for a while and I continually thanked her, perhaps too many times.  As the boys came out she kissed her daughter goodbye and with tears in my eyes I thanked and hugged her again.

We gently placed her in the long awaited car seat in our car and drove away with our little girl.  It was overwhelming and a beautiful blessing that came to us after much prayer and heartache.  We thank God daily for this little girl in our arms.  She has been such a wonderful, happy, and content baby.  Praising God for this gift!