Just to set up some context, we had been on the wait list for 9 months and had just heard that wait times were increasing again, now we were anticipating a 12-14 month wait at best...I remember I was driving home from work and heard my cell phone ring without enough time to dig through my bag and answer it. When I noticed that the number of my missed call was from a different area code, I just hit redial thinking I'd get someone who had dialed the wrong number. The friendly voice on the line answered, "Dillon International!" Our adoption agency...hmmm...I hoped nothing was wrong with our paperwork. I identified myself with the Korea program and said that someone had just tried to call me...I was immediately put through to Alice. Then, she said those unbelievable words...we have a possible girl referral!! I really shouldn't have been driving at that time...don't really know how I made it home. I frantically tried to get all the info I could about what the next steps would be - Alice would send us the referral report along with medical info in an e-mail right away. I called Steve, who was bowling with his team at work...ah, gotta love those team-building exercises and he assured me he was hurrying home at once! While waiting for him to get home, I paced and paced the house...I must've walked into and out of the nursery 100 times...I just didn't know what to do with myself. Finally, we reviewed the info Alice e-mailed us and talked to our pediatrician. He was going to look at the medical stuff and get back with us (he actually e-mailed us that night around 10 o'clock!). Meanwhile, Steve and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant to think and talk and emotionally eat. I think it was over dinner that we fell in love with this little girl that we hadn't met yet and had a lot of unknown health issues to address. It was a girl...we wanted to be parents so badly...there really was no question in our minds what to do...it was clear to us that this miracle in South Korea was destined to be a part of our family.
Picture taken with referral report on July 19, 2006 - look how crazy I look!
It would be 3 days later that we actually saw our first photo of Jee Hyeon (whom we would name, Sophie JeeHyeon)...we instantly fell in love with her big brown eyes! It would be a week from our referral call before we told a single soul about our blessed news! Our baby girl had heart surgery in Korea 2 days after our referral call and our agency advised us to wait until that surgery was complete before we made our official decision. I remember praying for her like she was already ours...it was the most nervewracking time for us. We kept our mouths shut about the potential GREAT news from everyone...my best friend, Casey was induced to have baby Riley the day after our call - it tore me up having to keep something so big so secret from her, especially while we were all hanging out in the hospital waiting for Riley to come into this world. We kept our mouths shut even while we were throwing a surprise birthday party for my mom that week - it was nearly impossible not to tell everyone, especially our family, when everyone always wanted to know our progress in the adoption process. It was such a relief when we had made that official acceptance and we could FINALLY make the round of phone calls to shout it from the rooftops - we were going to be parents! It was a girl!
Our first picture of Sophie...
Wow. That was all two years ago. My, oh my, how Sophie JeeHyeon has changed our lives! We are entirely confident that God led us to her - she has fit into our family perfectly! It makes us laugh to remember how scared and crazed we were on this day two years ago. It also makes us wonder how we will receive baby number 2's referral - I'm sure there will be a story to tell with that one as well...we can't wait to discover all that is ahead for our family.
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