Friday, July 31, 2009

Here is How it all Went Down


Referral Day

Tuesday, July 28, 2009!

First I need to say that this week has been a whirlwind...I think we are still in shock but it is wearing off and we have a baby boy!!!!!!!! Can you believe it!!!!!

Yvan and I work together at a business he started 10 years ago and this week has been our busiest week ever I think work wise which is why it has taken me so long to post this..between work and staring at wee baby boy's photos...well...you get what I am saying.

Tuesday right after work we were supposed to see our physiotherapist for a strength training session together but I was so exhausted that I decided to re-schedule but Yvan went anyways. While we were at the office I said to our receptionist (who is new) that if we got a phone call from our social worker this week to be sure to transfer her to my cell immediately. I told her this because I knew referrals where in and was hoping beyond hope we were in the batch. Oh and I wanted to be the one who got "The Call" :)

So, Yvan went to training and I went to the post office to pick up a parcel that turned out to be from this lovely lady. What timing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I got home I was so nervy and jumpy because I was anticipating the phone ringing for us this week...so I said to myself "Self, don't get your hopes up that they called today but just check the call display before you listen to messages."

So, I hit the scroll button and low and behold the call display said "Govt of Sask" which I have been told it says when you get "The Call". I just about peed my pants.....I pressed the message button and heard "you have two new messages" but the first message was someone else and I pressed skip (sorry to whoever it was if I haven't called you back yet) and the second message was from our social worker and I heard:
"Hi Rana and Yvan, I have good news for you"...well I screeched really loud (our tenants in the basement were probably WTF?) and then proceeded running around the house looking for the phone.

Once I found it I immediately phoned Yvan but didn't get and answer ARGH! so then I tried calling our social worker and she was still in the office..it was 5:30 and she was still working....she said "Congratulations you have a 6 month old baby boy!!!!"
All I heard after that was something very much like the teacher on Charlie Brown - "Maw, maw, maw....and then she said "I will email you his file!!!!!!!!!!!"

I knew I couldn't open this up without Yvan and I wanted to open it up really badly but I also wanted to surprise him so I here is what I did....yes, I really did this! I was actually quite calm the whole time I was talking to her....who would have thought...anyways I:
Drove to the dollar store..well actually I was going to go to Staples first and then I thought "no the dollar store is better, it will have everything I need".

I whipped thru that store grabbing bristle board, glue, anything that said "It's a boy" on it and had them do up some helium balloons....then I drove like a mad woman and home to get ready for when Yvan got home.

I made a giant sign ( the one we are holding in our referral announcement photo) and put the the balloons in front of the garage door...then I sat on our back deck stairs with my giant sign waiting for him to come home.

Oh ya, first I called the physio's office and told Tenille (receptionist) to tell Yvan to come home immediately because it was an emergency....Yvan called me 30 seconds later concerned and I said "You have to come home right now, don't stop at work, I will tell you everything when you get here!"

Yvan will tell you I said this very calmly and in a very neutral sounding voice...he said he thought:

1. Someone died 2. I was leaving him (?) 3. We got out referral


But he thought 1 and 2 were better chances of happening then our referral! Ha!


Here is the sign I made for him:

Balloons in front of the garage door


Yvan arriving home....


When he looked up at me on the deck and saw me holding the sign he started crying....which in turn got me bawling!!! We just stood crying and hugging!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




About to see our wee son's face for the first time!


We went and told Yvan's parents and sister - we had to give Yvan's dad and story about how we had to show him something at his condo they were renting because Yvan's mom and sister were there cleaning it so they could rent it....we got them all out on the balcony and I pulled the big sign out from the vehicle and they all started crying and screaming....Yvan's sister was hilarious....if you live in a 10 block radius of the condo you heard her screaming and Yvan's mom was crying and his dad was hugging us!!!! :)

Their new tenant happened to be at the condo getting some stuff organized for her move and she just happens to be an old friend from a way back....so she got to be part of our referral day too!

Thanks A! You are hilarious!

Then we went home and went to next door to Yvan's brother's house (yes, he lives next door to us) and called him from the back yard and told him to come outside.


He shed some happy tears too!!!!!




Then we went inside our house and called my mom...she lives 2 provinces away.

I tried her at home, on her cell, at my Auntie's house...turns out they went camping and so I called her on my Auntie's cell phone and asked for momma!!!

We yelled "Hi Grandma!" and she said "What" and we said "It's a boy" and she said "Really!!!!" and proceeded to cry....and we in turned cried too!!!!!!!!!!!!


I called my adoption peeps right away - Ricki, Rhonda, Shannon, Cheryl, Sandi and Julie (Uh, Julie made me do a full on ugly cry because she was so emotional!!!)

And emailed my ladies-in-waiting - Hazel, Carolyn and Ramona. Our kids are all in the CAFAC foster home together right now!

Without all of these ladies I wouldn't have made it thru this wait....Yvan says thank you too ;)

Cheryl came over as soon as she could to congratulate us and take a peek at our wee baby boy!


This was the best day ever (aside from our wedding day!)

This is the day we became parents to a wee baby boy!!!!

37 comments:

Sherri said...

LOVE it!!! What a great story!!!!!!

Sherri

Chad, Laura, Sara and Seth said...

Oh Oh Oh, I've been waiting for the next post. Selfishly, I checked my blogs too late yesterday and did not want to be 65th on your comments of congratulations.

OMG, this is the best news EVER. A boy, a precious, beautiful, amazing little man. You are blessed with a son who will fill your life with more joy then anything in this whole world.

I am sooooo happy to finally hear of your long awaited news. We have been waiting so long for this announcement. I have wanted nothing more then for one of my favorite blogging friends to celebrate this amazing day.

Enjoy EVERY SINGLE second. Take it all in - take a moment to remember every feeling and emotion of all this...

Love ya,
Laura

Julie said...

Now I have tears again! Sorry about the ugly cry. I was just so relieved for you you know? I feel like so many people have been holding their breath for you (and for dear Evelyn). When I knew that you were going to finally feel the way that I finally feel, well, I lost it. I am so happy for you guys, and I love that you surprised Yvan that way. You guys are an amazing family. Big hugs. Enjoy every single solitary moment of this feeling. Have a party every week and relish in the rare happy part of this process. You deserve it.

Much love,

natasha salaash said...

That is what I have been waiting for Rana!!!!! Made me bawl too. did I mention how happy I am for you guys??????? Still waiting to see pics when you get a chance.
Natasha

JCB said...

OK. SO I check your blog EVERY day to see if your referral came in and of course the day you posted I was out of town!
I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO happy for you :)

Unknown said...

I am so happy for you! Enjoy every minute. Now you can start shopping for boy stuff. Thanks for posting this. Good news is what we need for every Ethiopian child.

You will rock as parents! Andrea C

Heather Blake said...

love the way you did it! Great job staying calm, as you made great memories for everyone.
Hugs and congrats
Heather

Connie said...

How exciting!! Congratulations! It's amazing how you can recall every moment of that day isn't it! I clearly remember all the feelings we had on our referral day!

Enjoy all the preparations and shopping while you wait to bring your son home!

HomoHausfrau said...

What an awesome story! Love your sign, too!

Ok, totally bawling at work here..... Must. Stop. Reading. Your. Blog. While. At. Work.!

haha

Valerie Z said...

OMG, I love this story!! Made me laugh & cry! Congrats!

Dianne said...

Love, love, LOVE it!!!

Carolyn said...

I am crying right now- and I am also covered in goose bumps!!! What a great story! I cannot wait till Ade is old enough to hear all about him- what a lucky boy to be loved SOOO much!


Carolyn

lyndsey said...

LOVE IT!!!! thanks for sharing your amazing day!!! It seems it went just PERFECTLY. YAY.

Let the shopping begin....

Lyndsey

Crackerslowe said...

I would love to see a photo of our new cousin!! All the ladies ( your Mum and My Mum in law and Auntie Kerry) are up on the lake celebrating right now! What a wonderful way for them to end their vacation.

Let us know when you have any new news,I am sure Auntie Gloria is going to be phoning soon, she must be one proud Grandma right now.

We did try to call, I am not sure if we have an old number for you or not, but i expect you are pretty busy right now.

Congrats again, And I can't wait to have a family reunion with our newest family member!

CinnamonOpus said...

Great story! Congratulations again!

Tanya said...

I am reading this finally and crying!! I am so happy for you!!
Congratulations!

hazel said...

Aaaww, you just made me cry again, Rana. This is all so beautiful. What a great idea to surprise Yvan with that sign. I had to LOL that he thought you were leaving him - not that that is funny at all, just that he had NO IDEA. The poor guy must have been sweating bullets on the drive home.

I love all the pictures you took together - you will cherish all these memories for the rest of your lives. And Ade will be very thankful that you documented it all so well.

Much love to you guys,
haze

Kristin Hickman said...

Wow what an amazing story, thanks so much for sharing it with us! What a very very lucky little boy!
Keep us posted on the next stage of the journey, I can't wait to see that first family picture!

Stephanie said...

Such a great story!! Even though I heard it from you before...I still got all teary reading it again!

Congrats and lots of love to you!!

Steph ;-)

The Hattons... said...

Great story. Thanks for sharing all the details. It was wonderful to read.

CONGRATULATIONS again!!

darci said...

well, I'm crying! wow, that is a great story! love it, and so excited for you!

Julia said...

I can't even express how happy I am for you.

See how lame that sounded?

I truly cannot express it.

Kelly said...

Now? I am verklempt. Don't mind me *sniff*

Celebrate amongst yourselves.

Danielle said...

OH GAWD!! Yup....I'm crying now too!! I love how you surprised Yvan with the news!!

Brendan and Mary said...

I am crying too. Wow!!! What an awesome day!!!! I'm sure Ade will love hearing about it and looking at the pictures with you!!!!

Congratulations (for the tenth time)!!

emily said...

Oh man, this is so beautiful. I'm totally crying AGAIN! Thanks : ) So very happy for you. I can't believe you were able to make that sign! Wow, good for you.

And if you are sharing or have time... I'd love to see a photo:
mike.emily.k@gmail.com

june said...

I think you're lucky Yvan didn't drive off the road!!! Amazing willpower there woman, to not just blurt it out on the phone. Great story, won't it be fun to put in YOUR SON'S memory book?? :)

ps - boys are the best. :)

BCMommy said...

So wonderful!!!

Please, if you are sharing, send me a pic.
clairee_wee@hotmail.com

Would love to share in your joy and see his wee face. I'll bet he's an angel!!
Claire

The Turgeon Expansion said...

YEAH! This makes me so happy to hear you be able to post this bestest day ever (ok top 2)..for now, wait till gotcha day!!

Love, the Yvan reaction...death, leaving or referral...HA!

Barbara said...

I'm SO happy for you. I watch your comments on Haze's blog all the time and I'm so glad your kids are together now, and hopefully for a lifetime! Good luck with the journey home.

Ramona said...

you just made me cry--- again! Love this post so much! I can't wait to see the next months go by and see Ade home. I'm so so so so happy for you guys!
Ramona

sandi said...

you made me cry... couldn't be happier for you guys

Claudia said...

I love, love, love these 'how it happened' stories. And I especially love yours - I love the options that Yvan had for why you might be demanding he come home! Too hilarious!

So glad you wrote this down... apart from the vicarious pleasure it gives all of us, it will be great for you to remember in years to come :)

Sharla said...

Love the story...love that you finally get to be parents even more!

Karen said...

i love referral stories! Thanks for sharing yours! Made me cry too ~ such joy!!!

Megan said...

I am so sorry I am this late reading/posting this. I am so very happy for you two... really THREE! I can't wait for you guys to travel. Awesome story too!! Ok now I am off to completely catch-up!! Sweet baby boy!! I have goose bumps!!

Carala said...

That is a GREAT GREAT GREAT story! Hi, I'm Carala...friend of Jessica Braun. We are adopting from Russia...(long story) and have been on a long long journey for 2 1/2 years now. So, I was a bucket full of tears as I read your referral. I know our day will come...but it's hard as you know. Anyway, CONGRATS on your referral! That is soooo exciting! I love good news! :-)

Carala
www.jellemasjourney.blogspot.com