My last blog post was October 13.  It’s hard to believe and seems like a lifetime ago.

Eight days after that post, our lives would change forever, for the second time.  It has taken time to catch my breath, catch up on sleep and catch up on these moments.   Well, because of the amazing 4 pound, 10 ounces baby boy that entered our family’s world…eight days after my last post.

In an instant on a Friday evening, we went from wondering if we would close the chapter in 2017, to believing in the same hope that brought us our daughter six years ago.

Hope is a very powerful tool that inspires others to believe in something more powerful than a feeling or emotion.  Hope is a way of thinking, a way of life.  It is one of the main reasons I began this blog seven years ago.

Hope is contagious.  

So eight days after my last blog the phone rang, and we were chosen.  This time was different, we didn’t have months to wait for the outcome, we had days…two to be exact.  When we arrived at the community hospital we felt so small, holding our breath and waiting for each new moment to unravel.  Moments later we were in the NICU.  We were told to be prepared to respect the wishes of the NICU, and that sometimes these hospitals are not as open to adoptive parents.   The expectations set were quite the opposite of the days we had in this place which we will always hold near and dear to our hearts.  We were greeted by warm hugs and smiles by a group of women who had years of experience in taking care of the littlest of babies.  They showed us how to wash and dress and invited us into a private room that had been held aside for us.  Wrapped in a swaddle, lay our unexpected bundle of hope, our baby boy.

Hope continued to amaze us day after day as our new journey unfolded.   The NICU nurses were able to get us a private room to stay for two nights leading up to discharge. They cried with us as we said our goodbyes, and exchanged numbers to keep in touch.  These tiny moments of connection were founded by a way of thinking, hope.  NICU nurses are the epitome of hope, and these babies are a great example of believing in it.  Babies born so young, so small, so fragile…prove to these nurses every day, that the power of hope is real.

The days to follow were almost surreal.  The day, Audrey got to meet our little boy for the first time.  The day we got to cross state lines and come home….the day he woke up to the world and hasn’t stopped smiling since.  The day I overheard Audrey singing Sweet Baby James to him from the other room.

Every day since has served as a constant reminder, that hope exists.  It exists in our daily moments, if we take time to see it.  It exists in the faces of those we love, it we take time to be present.  It exists in those around us, who take the time to give.  It exists every day, we just need to believe in it.

And moments like ours….serve as proof.  To never give up hope.  Because when we least expected it, hope happened upon us again.

Here’s to believing in your hopes…thank you for believing in ours…

With Love, L