Fast Forward one year from our REFERRAL date

Has it really been a year ago since we "got the call"? Unbelievable how an entire year has passed since we "got the call" letting us know of our 3 wonderful children in Colombia awaiting our arrival as their forever family! I knew I was feeling nostalgic today for some reason, and I'm positive this is the reason why. Just a year ago today was when we learned of the sibling group that Colombia had matched especially for us, however they were a little off with their information. The agency goofed on reporting back their information. They told us there were 3 children, which turned out correct; 2 boys, 1 girl, again correct; ages 9, 7, and 9 months old, and again were correct; BUT they said the baby was the girl - INCORRECT. We learned the next day that the youngest, the baby, was a boy and that the girl was the 7-year old.

What was so odd about that situation is how God prepared our hearts to know the agency had given us wrong information. See, upon receiving THE CALL, I called Rick with the information. I then called my mother, then my mother-in-law with the news. Upon relaying the information to my mother-in-law I told her the only thing I knew were the ages and genders of the children. Upon telling her that the baby was a little girl, she remarked, "Oh, too bad that baby isn't a little boy." I thought, "What a bold statement -- what a brash statement!", and at the time I was a bit offended, after all I was feeling so thankful for God's blessings in bringing our children forth, and couldn't understand why my mother-in-law would interject the desire to be choosy over whether the baby was a girl or a boy. Perhaps she said it because she had only known how to raise boys and had no girls to raise. Or perhaps it was God's way of showing me what was to come...

Well, that night as I slept (amongst the tossing and turning most of the night), I dreamt a crazy dream. I awoke remembering the dream which took us to Colombia and as we prepared ourselves for the meeting of our children, we were meeting with the Colombian officials who continued to stall the meeting. We were so eager to meet our children and could hear their voices around the corner in the next room but the Colombian and adoption agency officials would not allow us to meet them just yet. They kept saying they needed to tell us more of the children's situation, etc., but they found it hard to explain to us. Finally one of the Colombian officials told us that they didn't know how to tell us this but they had it wrong all along... that the baby girl wasn't a baby girl but instead was a baby boy. So in the dream I was shocked and doing my best to handle the fact that we now had a baby boy waiting in the next room, and that all the pink dresses and patent leathers we had brought would not work, we'd now need boy stuff... then I awoke. I shared the silly dream with Rick and he blamed it completely on what his mom's statement of wishing it was a baby boy. Reality indicates the dream was God's way of preparing us for what was to come, because later that day we received a phone call from our agency letting us know they confused the children and their ages, and confirmed that the baby was a boy, not a baby girl as earlier indicated. (But who knew because I do encounter some far-fetched dreams from time to time.)

When they called with the confirmed information on the children, we were also told of their names, which stayed the same upon adopting them. We chose to keep their first and middle birth names intact in order to preserve their Colombian-born identities, being respectful to their birthmother for naming them, and remaining consistent with their identities as they've always known them. This just worked right for our family and upon hearing each child's name was something we never wished to change. Actually, God answered prayers as I lay in bed that night before that crazy dream. I prayed that the little girl would have the name Dayana. Why, you ask? Well, since my middle name is Diane, I prayed my adopted daughter would come to us with the spanish version which is Dayana, and prayers were answered! Thank you Jesus! The next day brought news that my daughter's name is Karen Dayana! Cool, huh! Isn't God just so awesome?!!!!

Such blessings have come in knowing these three children:

******* Fabian Jesus, Karen Dayana, and Luis Alejandro *******

They have been little treasures to our family and to their sister, Marissa Helena, We have so much to be thankful for! What a joy to be bonded together as a forever family! WOW, hard to believe it's approaching one year together as we will celebrate that milestone next month. Where does the time go? It definitely feels like it's going Fast Forward.