The Story of Cordelia

Maybe you guys should sit down.  I blogged.  It's a shock I know.

People have all sorts of questions about Cordie and how we got her so here is her story.

On October 13th, Josh and I got back from the beach and found a note from Bethany saying that we had been officially approved and were a waiting family.  That was a Monday.  On Friday morning, I was on the phone with Mom when I got a call from our social worker.  I saw the name on caller id and pretty much hung up on Mom to talk to her.  She said she had a "situation" she wanted to discuss with the two of us that afternoon.  I immediately started to cry!  I called Josh all sobby and excited and he was very nonchalant.  It was the longest afternoon in the world, or so I thought, I had longer afternoons in store.

We met with the social worker and heard a little about a baby girl who had already been born!  I was floored and excited and scared and so many emotions.  We took an evening to pray about it and told the social worker in Knoxville we would accept a meeting with the birth parents on Monday the 20th.

Monday was a much longer day than the previous Friday.  I paced around the house liked a caged tiger.  I tried to sew on the baby quilt, but my mind wouldn't focus, I'd look at baby stuff on Pinterest, but then I'd get worried the birth parents wouldn't select us.  Finally we headed down the road.  We were almost to the Bethany office when we got a phone call...the birth parents weren't coming.  We were crushed; Josh was mad.  I was so afraid that that meant they were backing out.  We had to turn around and come all the way back while we discussed what this meant.

On Wednesday the birth mother went to court and signed her surrender.  In the state of TN, birth mother's have 10 days to revoke a surrender.  Because the last day of a surrender can't end on a weekend, revocation would be complete on Nov. 3rd.  On Thursday we headed BACK down to Knoxville to try again to meet with the birth parents.  I was a basket case.  It's pretty much the biggest interview I've ever had.  It went well though.  The father liked cars so he and Josh were able to talk naturally.  Afterward Josh and I went to Firehouse Subs and dissected every sentence and nuance of the conversation.  I was on a roller coaster of emotions.

On Friday, I went to Wal-Mart to do some shopping.  In the middle of the store I get "The Call".  The call that said the birth parents had chosen us!!!  I wondered the store picking things up and putting them down and not settling on anything.  I also wondered through the baby clothes and petted all the small soft things.

We were then in a hurry up and wait stage.  We were nine days from having a newborn, but couldn't really prepare because it could fall through up to the very last moment.  We also couldn't tell anyone because it was confidential and unsure.  Each day I would report what the odds were that we would get the baby.  It was a complicated formula based on lots of unsure assumptions.  With each day I got more nervous and more excited.

On Monday the 3rd, we went to Knoxville to start signing paperwork.  Cordie had a doctor's appointment so we couldn't get her until 12:30.  We had about two hours to kill after signing documents with her new name.  We went to the mall and looked at all the stuff in the Disney store because we were about to get a princess!  When we got back they settled us on some seriously uncomfortable couches and brought in a tiny pink baby in a blanket.  I started crying as soon as she was brough in.  I hated to because I wanted to drink her in!  She was so perfect.  We fell in love immediately!

That's how we got our baby.  We currently hold the Northeast TN Bethany record for fastest placement haha.  When God decided to move, He moved quickly!

We do have an open adoption, so Cordie will get to have continued contact with her birth parents.
Her name isn't a family name.  I wanted something that was unusual, but instantly recognizable, nothing you would say "What is that?  I've never heard that."  I also wanted something with a lot of nicknames, but with a formal name for adulthood.  We call her Cordie, Eli calls her Chloe (bc he doesn't like Cordelia), and some people call her CC, so you can call her pretty much whatever.  In six months, we will have finalization.  Right now she is technically in Bethany's custody, but then she will be ours free and clear.

I think that pretty much sums it up.  If you made it through all that, I applaud your stamina!