I've been meaning to write about our time down south and all of the traveling. All 3 kids are napping at the moment so I figure it's now or never!
Aaron and I drove the kids down to Grandma's house on Tuesday the 29th and then drove the two hours up to stay at a friend's house near the airport. We left bright and early on the 30th to make our 2,500 mile trek across the country. It was a crazy two weeks but it is fun to reflect back and see God's provision along the way.
A few fun provisions include:
-Aaron's old college roommate having friends in the birth city who lent us a pack n play and two car seats for the boys.
-The hospital having an extra birthing room that we "boarded" in for all three nights, even when it looked like we might have to give up our space. It was a huge blessing to be able to stay at the hospital (and an interesting experience to see how the cafeteria food differed than our hospital here. Corn nuggets or a fried breakfast burrito anyone? (Miraculously I only gained a few pounds on the trip haha).
-Staying at a friends house the night before our 6 am flight.
-My parents taking care of the boys for 4 nights so we could have time at the hospital w/o them.
-In-laws being our chauffeurs every time we have a flight out- as they live close to the airport.
We got into town and ate one last meal before the adventure began. We met up with our friend of a friend to get the car seats for our rental van. And then to the hospital we went for 3 nights. We got to see the birth mother and give her a little car package with Oregon goodies etc. She had come to the hospital all by herself, which I kind of felt bad about, but I was glad to be able to be there as a support.
At that point, Aaron had already flown home to pick up the boys from Grandma's, so it was up to me to be discharged with a baby I was still getting to know, drive through an unknown city by myself (I hate driving- especially in big cities- especially in big cities out of state lol), in a gimpy rental van, and keep everybody alive for 3 days. But I was especially reminded of the verse I helped Mateo memorize before we left. A verse to help him be brave being away from Mom and Dad for a while:
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
I soon learned that I needed that verse quite a bit myself! So many things about adoption are out of your comfort zone- but God doesn't promise that following him will be easy and comfortable. So sometimes, you just gotta suck it up, and do what you need to do :)
We did make it to the hotel- with only pulling over once- and we did just fine those three days. The first day was lonely but I enjoyed my one on one time with R...knowing full well that soon there would be THREE! We had lots of bonding time and it was nice to have that quiet time to get to know her.
Aaron had gone to the grocery store to buy food before he flew out, and the hotel had breakfast...so I didn't go hungry :0)
Monday the 5th I drove (and eventually found) to the airport to pick up the rest of my family! Then I only had to drive one more time out there (to take R to her check up the next day) and then my good-driver husband took over lol.
Yes, it was a big cramped having all 5 of us live in a hotel room for a week- but it was a good sized room- and we made it work. I am really glad that we got to have that family time together.
<More posts to come>