Best Weekend Ever! Welcome Kara Lynn, we've waited so long for you

Sometimes your life can change fast- really fast. Ours has just changed, and we're really excited about it. And it changed fast.

Thursday, March 6th we got a call from our agency about a situation where there was a baby in the NICU in Portland. We got some details about her health, the mother's health, etc and agreed that we were willing to have our profile shown to the birth family.

Friday, March 7th we were called around 1:00 in the afternoon and were told that the birth family wanted to meet us at 2:30. A good number of people may have noticed that I (Kelly) called them, but didn't leave a message. After about 7 calls, I got a hold of our friend Damara and she was able to take our kids until our other friend Michelle could pick the kids up.
Off we went to Portland to meet this couple. The meeting was emotional as our hearts are broken for the decision that this birth family needed to make, but also encouraged as they talked about choosing what is best for their daughter.
They were drawn to us because Casey is a pastor, and I am adopted. They also thought that we looked like a loving family. We enjoyed meeting with them, and felt like they were quite resolved about their decision to relinquish.
Immediately after meeting, we were told that the couple wanted to proceed with us. We asked if they were certain that they didn't want to meet with anyone else, and it seems that they truly were certain!

The NICU nurses love our little girl.They HAD to put a bow in that hair!

Saturday, March 8th we set up a time to meet with our caseworker and advocate to sign papers up at the hospital. All day we were having a hard time accepting that this was real. There were mixed emotions of disbelief, nervousness, and joy. After our heartache in May, it was hard to get too attached to situations or to get too excited even as we showed up at the hospital. It's just hard to believe sometimes that something can actually go your way- or turn out the way you wish it would.
As we sat down and were read the legal documents, things started to settle in more, but it wasn't until we went up the elevator, walked in to the NICU and entered our daughter's room that it felt real at all!

She was in her crib all bundled up, and everything was so fast, so surreal, I can't even tell you if I got her out of her crib or if a nurse handed her to me. We always say we want to remember everything about moments like this, but it was more about what I was feeling in my heart.

Gayle captured this moment. I'm about to cry a little.

I held her first, and snuggled my little girl close to my face- and that's when I realized that I was living a dream. It has been my dream to adopt, and this was the moment I had been longing for my whole life, and it was simply beautiful. I wish I had words to write the fullness of my heart. Gayle, our caseworker, had tears in her eyes. I noticed that Casey had gotten the camera out, and I knew I was being watched.

But it didn't matter.

It was just me and Kara Lynn in that moment. Just me and my new daughter. All the heartbreak from waiting was healed. All the longing was fulfilled. In an instant, she was a dream come true.

I had had knots in my stomach all day waiting for the bottom to drop out. We were still guarding our hearts.

First time in daddy's arms

When I held her was when it was okay to let go of that fear.

Over the past few days we have had moments when we are overwhelmed by God's goodness, like we can't even experience it all at once!

Other details/facts:

• Kara Lynn is the name given her by her birth family. A few months ago, during the Women's Bible study at church, I saw the Greek words for joy and grace being chara and charis (the ch makes the hard k sound). I came home telling Casey that if we had twin girls that I would be tempted to name them some version of these two names. Kara is a version or adapted version for chara- joy or delight. Lynn is my middle name, and it has been on our list for potential middle names for girls. Of course we kept her name. Lynn means pretty or beautiful, and Kara means joy or delight- her name speaks volumes of how we feel about this beauty!
• We were expecting her family to be very emotional or upset when they were signing papers to release our girl. We found it to be quite the contrary! They were at peace and actually joyful that they were blessing us! Wow! It was an amazing answer to prayer that God is protecting their hearts and that they are rejoicing in the future they are giving Kara. Her dad kept referring to, "your daughter". 
• Kara Lynn has a full biological sister who loves her very much, and we hope that they will be able to have a sweet relationship. You can pray for Maddy that she will be at peace and adjust to letting go of her sister.
• Our little delight will be in the NICU for as much as 1-2 weeks. But we really don't know how long. She is very healthy, but she just isn't catching on to feeding. Once she feeds well for about 48 hours, she will be able to come home! Pray for us as we listen to the instructions and techniques for helping her learn to feed.
• We are going back and forth between our home and the NICU. Balancing the needs of Norah and Haddon and Kara is a challenge. Please pray for our oldests' hearts that they will feel very loved by us and "get enough" of us!
• It has been about 2 years since we began our adoption journey.
• We were about to begin the process of updating our home study and re-ordering photo books. We don't have to do that!
• Please be in prayer for provision of the final costs involved in adopting Kara Lynn. We are so thankful that we had the funds to simply transfer from one account to another and write a check! We had it all there! Praise the Lord! We don't have the funds on-hand to pay for the attorney fees, and we're expecting a hospital bill as well. Please pray as we work to get all those things situated.

 To Kara Lynn, 

"Welcome to our family."

- Haddon, your big brother on the day he met you.