NEWS!

As of last night, E was at the hospital and ready for her C-section. She evidently had one with her son, so she is having one this pregnancy also. We have been praying all night for E, the baby and the doctors, and trying to get a little sleep. The sleep part hasn't really happened for me that well. We are calling the Bethany cell phone at 9 am today to find our more details and to find out if and when we can come to meet our little one!!! PLEASE PRAY for E, for the birthparent counselor that she will be able to minister effectively to E, and that God would be with the sweet little child. Pray for peace and comfort and discernment for us all. More to come!!!

STILL waiting

We heard from Carolyn this morning. Still no news. They informed us that E has passed her due date..................... and that they would let us know when something changes. They don't know when her next Dr. appointment is but the assume soon. Just wanted to let you all know that we know nothing more. Can you tell I am tired of waiting??? Just being honest here. We are just so darn excited and can't hardly stand it! Oh well, it will come. I am sure it is difficult for Bethany because they have to care for the best interest of the birthmom, the baby AND us. Me and my sister in law, Abby, decided yesterday this would be a stubborn little child! Either that or late all the time like me! Keeping you posted.......

Due Day

Well, March 16th has come and almost gone (for us anyways) and still no baby. We have heard nothing at all. No news good or bad. So we are STILL waiting. The anticipation is crazy! We rented No Country for Old Men tonight and are about to watch it so that we can just take our minds off things for a while. Maybe it will work. While waiting this weekend for the call, we had a great time! Got to attend Luke McCrary's wedding (my friend Megan killed in 2004 by drunk driver...her brother), had dinner with good friends for Hollie's Birthday, attended church at my parents church, went to TPAC to see Camelot and went to a homecoming party for my cousin Jordon who just got home from Iraq. Full weekend and had a lot of fun, but never really stopped thinking about our baby. Normal, I guess. So, we will keep you all posted, as usual, as soon as we hear anything. Keep praying for peace for both Eric and I and for E and for health and a safe delivery for the baby and E. Love you all!

Melita...we love you!

Melita, I always knew you were much more resourceful and creative than me! We love those names and I when I saw them this morning I immediately called Eric and he did, too! I am just now getting home to post from this morning, but we have made the decision. Cohen Bennett Moore or Marley Faith Moore should soon be joining us! We have sent word to E and along with the reasons for choosing these names. I hope she likes them. I hope she is doing well. Eric spoke with Bethany today and they said as far as they know, she is fine and still no news. But we do have names and can stop looking now!!!! Isn't this so fun! Okay, so I will post again soon, especially if I hear anything. We love you all so much and I know that Cohen/Marley will too!

names...

The names that we have for first names are definitely

Cohen -Boy

Marley- Girl.



Prior to reading the comments on the blog, we had talked last night about doing Marley Faith, in honor of E's reason for picking us as adoptive parents. I'll bet she said the word 'faith' 10 times during our meeting. Then, for Cohen, we thought of doing a french name instead of African since E has some type of educational degree having to do with french language, according to the paperwork. Her parents are Togolese, and when I researched it, the main language spoken there seems to be French. So, we just looked through and found some that we liked, and found Cohen Blaise. The meaning is not significant though. It would just be a french name in honor of her country.



Any other suggestions are more than welcome. Natalie and the Binges, please comment back, I would love to hear your suggestions. And everyone else, too. The boy name is really the one we are struggling with.

waiting....again

Well, waiting seems longer for some reason when I know the baby is really coming. The days drag by, especially when I am working. I seriously checked my phone 20+ times today. Not joking. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

E went to her doctor visit end of last week and all is well as far as we all know. She is still feeling very nauseated all the time. And guess what... she called asking for the names we plan to give the baby depending on if it is a boy or a girl. If you are like me, you are probably thinking, hmmmm...wonder why she wants to know that??? You may not believe it, but she wants to put the name we have chosen for the child on the original birth certificate. What is going on here....this is not like I pictured at all. Turns out I am not the smartest one, nor the one who should be in charge. So, we emailed back, giving the first names, but still have not settled on middle names. Natalie in S.Africa...any suggestions?

We'll keep you posted. Keep praying for E and for baby!

one week and counting.....

Well, E is due to deliver in one week, unless of course she comes early and Eric and I are beside ourselves with anticipation and excitement. We just really can not wait to meet this child. I can't wait to hold him/her and kiss his/her sweet cheeks. I have thought of E every day since we met her, praying for her each time I think of her. I feel a closeness to her that I wonder if she feels to me. Probably not. But I just can't help it. I have a deep sense of love and gratitude for her. Even if she decides to parent, I still think I will feel these feelings toward her. I really believe that God placed us in her life, even if it doesn't end up being for very long. I completely expect that we will be eternally linked through our child, but again, she has a choice to parent or to place the baby with us. As much as you think you want to prepare yourself for the worst, I have also found myself not being able to do that. I can not make myself feel a detachment from this child and this mom and I don't want to. Eric and I have decided that we are going to give all our love and prayer and feelings and devotion to this family starting 10 days ago, no matter what could or will happen. If she chooses to parent, then we can at least know that we gave her a choice. It will be more difficult on us this way. But we feel that the baby and E deserve nothing less. I don't want to think back on this time and feel like we gave less than we could've to the experience just because we wanted to protect ourselves from hurt. We have already experienced some fairly significant hurt and we are still living, still breathing, still here....so if the outcome hurts, I think we'll make it. However, I think this will turn out just fine!

Sooooooo, to answer your question, Tracy, I will say again, we are ecstatic, jumping for joy, crazily giddy about being parents. Eric looked at me the other day and actually said, "I'm like....giddy" with a huge grin on his face. Not sure if I said this in the last blog, but he was just so precious when I told him E had chosen us. Sticking his head in my chest, crying, laughing, kind of in disbelief...he was so cute. I love doing this with him. I love life with him. I can't imagine it without him. Good thing I don't have to. We had fun today, running erands, grocery shopping, and of course doing a little baby shopping, too! We actually just finished staining and painting a little chest of drawers and a really awesome toy chest for the baby's room. We did some 'cleaning out' to make room in our 'cozy' home for this new little one to join us. oh, and Riley is really excited (our dog). She wags her tail like crazy when we talk about baby.
girl name: Marley
boy name: Cohen
What do ya think??? We don't have any really great middle names, but are thinking of doing an African name in honor of E. We'll see. We are on top of the world and will share with everyone when we know something. One week and counting......

I also want to remind myself by writing typing this "aloud".... or saying it to someone else....
My God who has been faithful to me time and time again in countless ways and instances, despite ME....is faithful to this child who is inside of E and to the child, whether this one or a different one, He will bring into our home forever. This journey isn't so much about me or about Eric and I being able to experience parenthood, as it is about God's faithfulness and His love and His provision.

Praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live...Blessed are those who put their hope in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth and the ocean. He made everything in them. The Lord remains faithful forever. He stands up for those who are beaten down. He gives food to hungry people...The Lord lifts up those who feel helpless...The Lord watches over the outsiders who live in our land. He takes good care of children whose fathers have died. He also takes good care of widows. But he causes evil people to fail in everything they do. The Lord rules forever. The God of Zion will rule for all time to come. Praise the Lord.

Psalm 146