announcing...

I have had a beautiful birthday, and now I have a BIG announcement…

This is how all my babies start (post-birds-and-bees stage, that is).

I could show you pages in old journals (had I the time to dig) from 1998, 2001, and 2005 that had these scribbled names, respectively:  Camryn Mae Reeves, Carson Elizabeth Reeves, and Callie Amelia Reeves.

[Actually, if I had the time to really dig, I could show you journals dating as far back as fifth grade with first names like Tiffany, Samantha, and Lauren… and last names like Fox (as in Michael J.), Knight (as in Jonathan, from New Kids on the Block), and… well, let’s keep the locals secret, shall we?]

So here we are.  2012.  And there’s a new name in my journal.  A new name the angels are speaking.  Because God made me a mom.  Is giving me the gift of a daughter.  Naming rights and all.

This time’s a little different than the previous three.  Rather than being tucked away in my belly region making me sick with nausea and love, Clara Rebecca Reeves is tucked away somewhere across the globe… Somehow I think giving birth will prove easier than the fight it’ll take to find her, pick her up, and fly her home.

All the sweet adoptive moms don’t want to tell me this is true.  Maybe they’ve just erased the pain from their memory, now that they’re back home with their bundle of joy.  I remember holding my newborns and thinking, “The pain was nothing compared to this joy.”  But in month nine, when I felt like I was going to explode if someone didn’t take this baby out of me yesterday… I was terrified, and rightfully so.  Today I’m excited, and happy, and can’t-wait… but I am also already utterly terrified at the unknown that lies in front of me in the next one to six years.  Unknown pain.  Unknown tears.  Unknown things that will go wrong.  Unknown wait.  Unknown building, hut, home, or orphanage.  Unknown bed or lack thereof.  Unknown face, suffering from unknown scar and disease and neglect and disorder… Mine.  

Did I mention unknown wait?

So we’re adopting.  Speaking of unknown, we don’t know anything yet.  We don’t know what country.  We don’t know how old.  We don’t know what medical or developmental conditions.  We don’t know how much.  We don’t know how long.  I’m open to all your questions.  They’re easy to answer.  “We don’t know.”

It’s like we have a marathon to run, and all we’ve accomplished so far is waking up, and getting out of bed.  [We told God “YES” about two months ago, and this morning, after birthday breakfast & coffee, still in our pj’s, we clicked "SEND" on our formal application.]  But today will be consumed with one thing:  The 26.2 Miles.  On marathon day, you don’t plan a shopping trip or a family reunion or a clean-out of the garage.  It’s marathon day, for cryin out loud.  What I’m trying to say is, my blog and my life will be primarily consumed with this adoption until Clara comes home.  And for those of you who are a part of my life or my blog or both, I’m truly sorry for that.  It will get old, I am sure.  You will think, “I am so tired of hearing about this adoption.  Can’t she talk about anything else?”  Nope.  Sorry.

But I want to promise you, friend, two things.  I don’t take these two things lightly.  I remember when all our friends were having babies and suddenly every conversation was consumed with what Sally Jane and Johnny Bob could and couldn’t do that was just sooooo precious or sooooooo hilarious or soooooooo earth-shattering.  That is not what I’m going for when I say I’ll talk about our adoption nonstop.  I am so extremely serious about the following two promises.  Here are my two promises to you, my friend, until I bring Clara home:

1-    I will never say (on purpose) that everyone (that’s you) is supposed to adopt.

2-    I will never (on purpose) ask you for more than a prayer and $10.

I will explain each of these promises in detail in future blog posts.  Speaking of, this is the last post for this blog.  Coming soon is a new blog address that will knock your socks off (haha), which I’ll share with my husband Dan.  It’ll be a place you can keep up with Clara’s story, plus other surprises.  But today is just an announcement.  A celebration!  Good news!  Can you believe it??  The Reeves are gonna be 6!  Not 5!  Its pretty stinkin’ exciting.  And I just had to share it with you.   On my birthday blog. 

P.S.  I realize that there’s a good chance Clara is old enough to have already been named.  We do not know if we will be able to name her or not.  (Yet another unknown! J)  But with all my babies, I’ve gotta call them something when I’m talking to God about them.  Poor Camryn was Colten Whitfield forever, because I just knew she was a boy.  Haha!  God knows who I’m talking about.  For now, she’s Clara Rebecca.  A future blog post will explain precisely why.  But I just wanted to get that straight from the start.  Thank you for praying for her today.