"One journey ends and another begins"
 Last Monday as my mother and I were tirelessly getting ready for our huge fundraiser that was set for this past Sunday, our long awaited phone call came.  It was from Teresa, our adoption mentor, our pastor's wife, and close friend...which made it even more special.  Teresa told me that we had a baby boy who had been born on September 11th and that both birth parents had chosen us and had signed their rights away...essentially, that there was no chance of them changing their minds and that we could drive to Florida the next day to meet him.  That moment was so surreal and as I immediately called Ron to tell him that we had a son, I could not grasp the reality of the words coming out of my mouth. 

The next several hours were a blur as we scrambled to pack and get on the road.  We drove a few hours that night and then stayed in a hotel, where needless to say I did not sleep enough to even count.  We headed out early the next morning and arrived at the adoption agency around 1 pm  where we finished a bit of paperwork and found out more details about our son and his birth family.  Several members of his birth family had sent gifts for him; which I am sure he will cherish in the years to come.  We learned of what a hard decision this was for his birth parents and of how, despite some unwise decisions made while his birth mom carried him, they both love him desperately.  It is very humbling and overwhelming to have been hand picked by Gideon's first parents to be his forever parents.  We do not take this lightly and will be eternally grateful for that choice.

Next we headed to the hospital where we met the hospital social worker and the charge NICU nurse.  It was so hard to focus on anything anyone was telling us.  The whole time all I could think was that my son was somewhere in that building at that I was about to meet him.  It seemed as though they talked forever about nothing and I was about to explode with anticipation.  It was still so surreal that the thing I had wanted so much and dreamed about, prayed for, hoped for, worked for, and thought would never happen...it was about to happen.  As we walked into his room, his nurse was changing his diaper, and there he laid...my perfect little boy.  Our entourage was light-hearted and giddy as we approached his incubator.  I was not light-hearted.  I was  overcome.  Overcome with joy, disbelief, grief over years of childlessness, but most of all by the graciousness and faithfulness of my heavenly  Father who had at long last given me the desire of my heart.  I stood there for a moment and sobbed somewhat hysterically  I must admit, and then I got to touch him, then hold him,  feed him,  and then  fall hopelessly in love with him.

Our Gideon Troy Wilde was born on September 11th at 7:57 pm.  He weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 16.92 inches long.  He was exposed, in utero, to some things he should have never been exposed to and this is why he spent the first 10 and 1/2 days of his life in the NICU.  These were not easy days for him.  He struggled (and struggles still) with some breathing issues and was prone to spiking a fever.  As we watched him improve and overcome his struggles, we became even more confident that we had named him well.  Gideon means "great warrior," and he absolutely is.  He is a tough, stubborn little booger, and began improving quickly from the moment we arrived.  I like to think was because he knew immediately that "we've got him."  He was no longer fighting alone, and he will never have to again.  I always wondered if I would "feel" like a mother right away when adopting or if it would take a while.  I will tell you that it was almost instantaneous.  We are both so wrapped around his itty bitty finger.  I have prayed for our child for so long and that he or she would live an amazing, godly life.  After meeting him, I have no doubt that he will do just that.  He is so special and will absolutely change the world, even if it is only to a small degree.  I, however, have learned not to limit God so it will be interesting to see how his sweet little life unfolds.

As much as we have enjoyed our time alone together as a family of 3, we are ready to get home and introduce our son to our family and friends.  It is so crazy how quickly your life can change completely.  Even though we will soon be home with our son, it is still important for us to continue our fundraising efforts.  We still have t-shirts available, which you can order through the form on the right hand side of this page.  We will also still be having our huge yard sale, bake sale, arts and crafts sale that was previously planned for this past Sunday.  We will share the new date for this as soon as we get it firmed up.  Now there will be a special guest at the fundraiser. ;) There is still the option to do a direct monetary donation through our youcaring.com page. The link to this can be found on the right hand side of this page also.  Our church was able to help us meet our $2500 matching grant goal, however, we have a couple more matching grants we will be hearing back from over the course of the next couple of weeks.  We are hopeful that we will be awarded more of them, so it is still very likely that anything you donate will be doubled.  Thank you all again for your support, prayers, and the sweet well wishes you have all extended to us over the last week. We love and appreciate you all.