Kyle and I have spent the last two days (and nights ;)) trying to not get ourselves too excited, or get “too ahead” of ourselves, but alas we found ourselves washing a load of baby clothes (and our ring slings ;)) this afternoon and I may have looked at last-minute airfare to New Orleans at some point (shhh). Why you may be asking?! Especially those of you who saw us on Friday evening and to whom we lamented how hard waiting with “nothing happening” was? Because we learned Friday night about a baby boy born in New Orleans last week, whose momma is planning on looking at family albums on Monday!!! Yes, like tomorrow Monday, yes for a baby boy who is already born (and doing well) and is just waiting for his first momma to choose his forever family and for them to arrive in New Orleans! Early in this journey (you know like a year ago when we first scrambled to finish our album, then waited anxiously to hear news) I thought it would get easier to wait, that it would somehow become routine for birth/first families to look at our album and try to know who we are and how much we will love their baby (and already do!) and make this difficult decision of who should be their child’s forever family….but alas, the exact opposite is true! Whatever it is that makes each showing of our album a little more nerve-wracking it is and we are both struggling to focus on anything but the possibility that this could be our baby, please pray for peace and patience for Kyle and I in the coming days (anyone else seeing a theme here?). We do our best to insulate Aviya from this part of the process, it is hard enough to understand and process this part as adults, we don’t think it would be fair of us to ask her to process this range of emotions with us too. Though I so look forward to the day when we get to tell her we KNOW who her baby sibling is and that we get to hold s/he in our arms very soon. Of all the people I’m excited to tell when our match happens, Aviya is the one I’m most looking forward to, assuming Kyle and I are together when we find out of course.
I cannot adequately articulate how much it means to Kyle and I to have so many people who care about us praying and thinking of us, our baby and our baby’s first family. It makes it a little easier to know that there are so many of you that are on this journey with us and feeling our anxiety and who will celebrate with us when the time is right. Thank you for that, thank you for being on this journey with us and thank you for your thoughts, prayers, encouragement and listening ears!
Please pray for this momma and her precious baby boy. Pray that she has the support she needs to make this decision, pray that she has incredible peace, pray for wisdom and most of all pray for her heart! Her heart is quite possibly breaking while making this difficult decision for her child, she’s sacrificing herself, going against her own instinct (to nurture and parent) because she knows that it is not in the best interest of her child to parent him. I can’t imagine what the last 5 days have held, or what the next week will hold for her, but I know that regardless of whether this is “our” baby or not, that this momma needs your prayers.
3 + 1 = four orrs 
We are praying for you and for that new mom. I hope that you receive comfort and can trust in God’s timing during the next few days. We are so excited for your family, wherever this journey takes you!