Happy Gotcha Day, Everyone!

1 Samuel 1:20b: ...and she called his name Samuel, for she said, "I have asked the Lord for him." Exactly one year ago today, not a day before not a day after, Russ and I received an email from our agency with pictures attached of a little 2-week old baby named Samuel. I felt in my heart before we even looked at the pictures that this was it! This was the one! Our coordinator even told the lawyers that chances were high that he was the one for our family. And of course, once we saw the pictures, our hearts were gone, completely captured by a two-week old blob.


Now, in the adoption world there's a holiday that is celebrated called "Gotcha Day." For each family it is a different date on the calendar but it all means the same thing: This baby is ours to keep. He is our son. It's similar to a birthday but for the entire family as a new branch is grafted into our family tree. It is the day I will cherish close to my heart even when Eliot is 14 years old and driving me insane and even when he is an adult w/ a family of his own.

All that to say, the Lord's timing couldn't have been more perfect. We found out today, exactly a year after accepting Eliot's referral, that we are out of PGN. We actually have been APPROVED!!! The ink pen actually signed in our favor this time making Eliot officially ours. It is absolutely inconceivable for me that this actually happened. Over the last year, this has been the step that has cost us everything while giving us everything. In case you hadn't put two and two together, this means we get to come home. "We".

Don't freak out and head to the airport quite yet. We have bits and pieces to take care of for the good ol' USA before we board a plane. We still have a few weeks of getting a new birth certificate, a passport and then waiting on the US embassy to issue us a Visa for little Eliot Samuel Mohr.


Eliot Samuel is officially ours.