Awestruck

The FedEx package arrived at 9:30am, 9/01/06. My dearly beloved called me at work to announce its arrival. I dropped what I was doing and rushed home…. only 1.5 miles one-way. (Yeah for working lclose to home!) He had waited to open the package until I got home. Together, we pulled out the pictures of our beautiful baby boy. Yes, I know all parents think their child is beautiful. I, however, generally think that most babies are hideous. (Sorry, they just are – all wrinkled and squirmish looking. They remind me of aliens.) But this little boy was breathtaking!! Our little boy!

We took out the video and rushed to the bedroom to watch. (The VCR is in the bedroom.) There he was… wiggling on his little Winnie-the-Pooh blanket. He had the hiccups, poor thing, but he just silently wiggled. He tried to move his legs when he was on his stomach, as if to get up. He was only three weeks old and already trying to run around! We were surprised at how big he was. By Guatemalan standards, he’s pretty big. We both commented on his long feet and strong legs. (I see soccer player in his future!)

I have to admit I expected to burst into tears. I expected to be hysterical. Strangely, I simply felt calm. My thoughts were, “Okay – there he is.” I’ve been waiting all of my adult life for him to arrive. Shouldn’t I be jumping up and down, freaking out, screaming like a banshee? Apparently not. This was it. Quiet awe at the television screen.

We’ve formally accepted his referral and now the wait begins. We’ve done everything we can on our end. We now wait for the Guatemalan government to approve the adoption and make it final. I don’t know what kinds of updates we’ll get and how much time will elapse between them. Right now, I’m just hoping the wait isn’t too long. The first step in the adoption process in Guatemala, more or less, is the DNA testing. Hopefully that will be completed in the next few weeks. Obviously I’ll update when I can. For now, I’ll spend time staring at the few pictures I have and re-watching the three-minute video clip of MY son.