A year ago today Greg and I sat on a couch in our social worker's AGCI office and hashed out the "state" of our adoption journey. It was probably one of the the lower moments of our life. I had just had my third surgery and we had been waiting for over a year to hear that we had a little girl from Nepal. We had spent December to April completely skeptical and uncertain of whether we could continue waiting for what seemed to be an illegimate process. After 4 months, we were just done. I called our social worker from school in April. I remember crying to her over the phone, desperate. She wanted to meet with Greg and I and see what options we were open to. So, we agreed to meet on Tuesday, May 11th.
She knew our story. She knew our life-after all, she had to write up our home study which included a 14 page biography. She knew about our loss, my struggles, losing my dad, ALL of it! She sat and listened to us share that we couldn't continue putting our hope into a country that seemed so confused, corrupt, and cluttered when it came to adoption. And then, she said "Let me tell you about what All God's Children is trying in Taiwan."
When she explained the program, it sounded too good to be true. If only it had been open when we started our adoption journey. We knew we would be matched with a birthmother and she asked several times how we would feel if the mother had a little boy. We both agreed that it didn't matter (we could repaint our pink room if we needed to!). Little did we know that about 12 hours before, miles away in Taiwan, our baby had just been born. Chung Wei, 5lb. 5 ounces, 20.5 inches long was born on May 11th, 2010!!!
It wasn't until Tuesday, June 8th, that we knew that the sweet baby born on May 11th was set aside for us. Kate, our case manager called on the busiest day of my year-the last day of school. It had only been a couple weeks since we had terminated one country's set of papers and signed up for the Taiwan program, and then, we got the call. I will never forget sitting in the parking lot of Mason Intermediate and talking to Kate, who asked me if I thought we would want this little boy. I didn't even hesitate. Of course!!! She sent us pictures within minutes. We had a baby!!!
The next day I went to my teacher workday and struggled to even get my work complete. That night we recieved an email. We needed to name our baby. Hmmmm.... We hadn't even thought of that. My mom said we should pick a name that means gift. So, I Googled it, and Nathaniel came up. Nathan. Nathan Wei . Perfect!
And now, Nathan Wei is a one year old! We are so lucky we've been able to experience so many firsts with him. Our first zoo trip. Bubbles. Easter. Mother's Day. So many wonderful moments. And while all those big moments mean so much, I find myself cherishing the little ones just the same. Feeling him grip my finger as we walk through the yard, watching Greg show him how to make pancakes, and seeing him notice an airplane in the sky for the first time. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring!
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| Daddy shows Nathan how to make Homoelle pancakes. |
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| The tulips at the zoo made for the perfect picture! |
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| Nathan didn't care much about the candy in the egg, but he liked banging the egg together! |
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| We couldn't get Nathan to stop bang, bang, banging his eggs together to pose! |
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| His first Easter outfit was a little big on him, but he'll fit into those 12 month clothes soon! |
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| We spent his first birthday getting pictures taken at Portrait Innovations, going to OT at Children's, and then to his FIRST McDonald's trip. Colby got to feed him his first french fry. Hey-it's okay in moderation, right!? |
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| More please! |
