When Michael was 10 weeks old, we were finally allowed to bring him home.  My mother drove all of us to the big event, as her car had air conditioning while ours did not.  Plus, I don't think she would have missed it for anything.  The foster parents were kind enough to have taken several photos of us at the Placement Ceremony.  Some adoptive parents call this "Gotcha Day!"

After the event at the adoption agency, we stopped at a restaurant to get a lite dessert.  We had stopped there for lunch on the way up, but were afraid to be late to the adoption agency.  We thought we were something else... going in first time, just 3 adults... going in second time, with a baby added!  It turned out though that the restaurant was close enough that the employees had seen this scenario many times before.  Oh well.  We headed home and arrived at nighttime.  Our cat Chubby, and my Mom's cat Ari, both came out to sniff this new "creature" who had just come home.  We all fell asleep pretty easily that night.  (The next day, Michael was too fascinated with his new home... he would not take a nap!  So, that second night was an easy bedtime for all of us again.)

When Michael was seven months old, our adoption became final.  We had decided to do it in the state where Michael was born, so that the paper trail for descendants someday might be easier.  (I am into genealogy myself.)  We traveled up in the frosty cold, and spent the night before sleeping over at my Dad's house.  My Mom was joining us for this other big event, so she met David, Michael and I at my Dad's house and we drove in together.  That morning, everything was covered with frost and new snow, and it was just gorgeous.  We arrived at the lawyer's office as instructed.  We all headed to the courthouse and only had to wait a brief time before being ushered inside the courtroom.  It was the first time I'd ever been inside one.  The lawyer explained all the rules: no photography during, what to do when, stand at certain times...  The judge had already read over our file and was familiar with our adoption saga.  He had David go up on the stand first, and then I went afterwards.  I was so nervous, but was able to think straight.  After I had been dismissed from the stand, I took my seat again at a table, and scooped up Michael from David's arms.  Michael was babbling through most of the event.  He had dropped a toy and as I leaned down to retrieve it, I nearly missed hearing the judge say that everything was in order, and he was granting our adoption.  Poof!  We were parents.  We took a photo with my Mom, our lawyer and the judge, after the proceedings.  Then we left the courthouse for a very nice lunch at a restaurant, and stopped at a couple of other places for significant momentos of the day.  Later, we drove to my brother's house, splurging for a pizza dinner.  (Being wintertime, there were relatives who had wanted to attend but could not, due to colds and such.  My brother was not sick, but had to work that day, and couldn't get off.)  Our lives have been so blessed.

~As told by Gayle, from her journal...
 
When we were still going through our pre-marital counseling, David and I agreed we wanted to have 4 children.  We were both 35 when we got married, and we started trying to start a family ASAP (our wedding night).  It took a year to finally get pregnant, but at 10 weeks, we miscarried as we learned there had been twins  in there.  We were heartbroken.  That was in Sept 99.
 
Believe it or not, just about that time, someone I knew from my childhood, had just conceived a child she wouldn't be able to keep (although she wanted to).  About 9 months later, I learned that she was pregnant and looking to place her baby with someone she knew already, for adoption.  My sister told her about our struggle to have children, and so she chose us.  It was 8 days before she would give birth, by c-section.  As we had not been actively pursuing adoption, we had to make a quick decision after much prayer.  We visited the birthmom the day before Father's Day, so she could meet my husband and vice versa.  We all had a lot of questions for each other too.
 
The next morning, on Father's Day, early (before anyone else had woken up ...and we were at my sister's house with her family of 6!) I was browsing a book, thinking about possible names for a boy.  (The birthmom was pretty sure it was a boy, and gave me the picture from her last ultrasound.)  I already knew my answer to whether or not we should do this, was a resounding "YES!!!"  David had not yet come to that point, but after he woke up and found me in the living room, he told me he was in agreement too.  I was sorry I had not known earlier, or I would have given him a father-to-be Father's Day card!
 
I knew we had to give him the first name of Michael, and after much browsing, I found Isaiah for the middle name.  David agreed right away.  We phoned the birthmom and told her, along with what his name would be.  She told us she would fill that in on the birth certificate, so only his last name would change on all the records.  She really liked the name too.  She advised us to go get him an outfit to wear home from the hospital, and while out shopping for that (we each chose something...one for a hot day and one for a slightly cooler day ...in June!) we also found a baby book for an adopted child at a Hallmark store.
 
Our little Michael Isaiah was born the next morning.  Unfortunately, it was too short of notice for each of us to get off of work, and we lived about 120 miles away, so we were not able to see and hold him in person until the following weekend.  However, my sister and my mother were able to go in and see him and his birthmom, taking a lot of pictures for me and her to share.  The day he was born, I was finally getting some much sought after hours at the portrait studio where I worked, and as customers who had seen me work so hard to get good pics of their kiddies asked me later, "Do you have kids?"  I got to smile real big and tell them, "Yes, my son was born just this morning!  We are adopting!"
 
 
At a quiet time, I phoned the hospital and got to talk at length to his birthmom.  When she realized he was getting hungry, she waited a minute or two until he cried, and as she held the phone close to him, I got to hear him for the first time.  (She then quickly plugged the bottle in though!)  I phoned a flower shop in her area and had flowers delivered to her in the hospital, once I had her room number.  She had him room in, which I was fine with.
 
As his birthmom dressed him in one of the little outfits, when it was time for the social worker to take him "home" (to the foster parents' home), she was crying (my sister told me).  When I heard that, I cried too.  (It makes me cry, even now.)  It was such a sacrifice she made for him, our sweet little boy, and we are forever grateful to her, and to the Lord.  As our first 2 babes left us, our little Michael was just starting out, and we didn't even know it yet.
 
 
Our first day meeting Michael...
(both above and below)
 


Until the day he turned 10 weeks, he was with foster parents, while all our paperwork was completed, including the interstate compact.  In the meantime, I was so blessed to be able to go visit him in the foster parents' home every Tuesday and Thursday.  David and I went up together every weekend to visit him there.  We stay in touch with not only the foster parents, but also the adoption agency.  And of course, we stay in touch with his birthmom.  We have sent updates and photos to the agency for the birthfather, but since Michael was only a few months old, he has not showed up at the agency to collect the later mailings.  We figure he will someday though, so we still mail them.