Our little girl w/ Lisa, just 24 hours old!
Meeting Ammon.
The two Elizabeths.
Elizabeth and me, three weeks after placement.
Lizzie enjoys her cake on her birthday!
I'm looking out the window right now, and it's snowing. Makes it strange to remember that three years ago, it was a warm spring day in Salt Lake City. It was a Friday. We had arrived on Thursday morning, since that was when the doctors were inducing labor. We waited at Andy's cousin's house (Thanks again, Jason!), and I don't know how he put up with us! I was pacing, pacing--nervous and jumpy. A call Thursday evening confirmed that Mama Lisa was still in labor. I barely slept all night, knowing our new baby might be coming into the world at any moment! We got "The Call" on Friday--that warm, bright spring day--that the baby (a little girl!) had been born at 11 a.m., April 28, 2006. We went to see her at the hospital the next day (Saturday). I was having a hard time grasping that I was the mother of a little girl--I who had always said I wanted a bunch of boys! But, there she was, in Lisa's arm. I reached out and stroked her looooong fingers and said her name. Her bright eyes popped open and she rolled them up and me, raised her eyebrows and that was it; I knew she was mine. Even Lisa commented, "Oh, look how she reacts to you already!"
That day was doubly joyful for us, because we met Nate and Lizzie's older brother Ammon that day! Wow, we can't imagine life without him and his family around! We're very grateful Lisa brought us all together!
Placement didn't occur 'till Sunday. And Lisa kept pushing the time back--Sunday morning...no, after they were discharged from the hospital...no, maybe in the afternoon... I sent frantic calls to my mom and sister, who both jumped in their cars and drove from Rexburg, ID and Boise, ID respectively to be there--whether to welcome the newest member of the family or comfort me in my time of grief, they didn't know. Lisa spent every possible moment with her baby, till the director of the adoption agency had to come from her nephew's mission farewell and tell Lisa it was time to go...she had to catch her flight back home, and we were waiting. We cannot blame her for wanting those precious extra minutes with that beautiful little girl.
Finally! At last! It was about 3 p.m. when the agency called and said we could come pick up our little Elizabeth Hazel. We were met with an extremely poopy diaper, which I changed with Lizzie screaming at me the whole time. We put her in a white onesie that we had in the diaper bag and headed to the hotel where my parents and my sister and her family were waiting. Tearful phonecalls were made to family and friends: She was ours!
I had never been able to imagine myself raising a little girl. And now, three years later, I can't imagine life without those bright eyes, beautiful smile and infectious laugh. She never ceases to amaze us. And, even though Big Brother Nate could do without her following him around and copying everything he does and says, we know the two of them are infinitely more happy because they are together. Lizzie has grown into a stubborn, adorable three-year-old who loves the movie Mama Mia and driving her big brother nuts.
So, Happy Birthday to my precious little girl. Thank goodness the song is right: You can't always get what you want, but sometimes, you get what you need.
Footnote: I had video of her birthday, but it has mysteriously disappeared into the strange digital world...I will keep looking.
You really have a knack for drawing your reader into your story and making her cry...of course, I was there for most of it too, so I remember..thanks for jogging that memory. So glad all is well and that Lizzie's birthday was great =)
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