Amazing

Tonight's meeting could not have gone any better. We are THRILLED with the way things went, and soooo happy and excited to be moving forward! I'll try to give you the play-by-play :)
We left the house around 3:25, at my insistence. Who cares if we are early? I just didnt want to be LATE! So we drive and drive...for the first few miles we were both pretty quiet. Uncharacteristically quiet. We both noticed it :) We still agree that we werent nervous. Just excited about the endless possibilities. SOOO many thoughts swirling through our heads!
We drove and drove some more and finally got off the exit. After about 30 minutes of wrong turns and opposite directions, we finally figured out where we were going, and were able to get D there, too. :) THANK GOD we left early! :) We were the first ones there, and D asked us not to go in without her. She arrived about 15 minutes after we did and the three of us parked and walked in together. We got a nice big round table for 6 and waited patiently for them to arrive while reminding ourselves what we werent supposed to talk about.
They finally arrived and it was like we were the only ones in the whole place...in a crowded restaurant. I awkwardly gave T a hug and shook L's hand, while Eric just opted for the hand-shakes. I had a little indication that T is not a touchy-feely kinda girl, so the hug was probably not the smartest move, but it felt right in the moment so I refuse to second guess it now.
So the introductions were made and they sat across from us with their social worker, A.
T is a very strong-willed, thick-skinned, serious, down-to-business kinda girl. She came right out and said she was nervous, but that she "knows this just feels right". She told us very matter-of-factly "i looked at a LOOOT of profiles and none of them felt right. I just LOVED yours. From beginning to end, everything was perfect." From there...it just flowed. She asked a ton of questions, none which made us feel awkward or uncomfortable. We answered with truthful, from-the-heart answers, and T was kind enough to say "that's exactly what I wanted you to say" a few times.
L is a pretty quiet guy. Athletic and handsome. Didnt ask too many questions, but enjoyed some laughs and good conversation about sports and teams and our background. We really hit it off with both of them.
The questions went back and forth a few rounds. T asked us if we want to be in the room for the delivery (!!), and we said we arent sure the hospital will allow us, but appreciate her offering to allow us that "close" to the delivery. She asked if we would be willing to be at the hospital after the baby arrives. Uhh...? DUH!! :) OF COURSE! :) She was happy to hear that we will be willing to be there if she wants us there, and are totally willing to back off when she gives the word. She said she isnt sure how she wants it to be, but that she is going to rearrange her hospital plan as the anwers come to her.
She asked if we had any names picked out. Our agency had suggested that we tell them a list of names we had been considering, even though we had our hearts SET on Whitney. We agreed since "Whitney" seems to be a "love it or hate it" kinda name,...and people are NOT afraid to tell us when they hate it. So...she asked me about names....and I hemmed and hawwed and finally said..."well, people are NOT afraid to tell us when they dont like our name, but we kind of have our heart set on 'Whitney'". She said..straight face...."yeah, ok". I said "you dont like it". She said "no...i dont...but she's your kid, so you guys can name her what you want."
(!!!!!!!)
So, the conversation continued to flow, and T mentioned that she had been thinking of two names throughout the pregnancy. Kyla was the first one (and we have a nephew names Kyle!). And the middle name Faith. We were sooo excited! Faith has been on our short list of middle names forEVER! We have grown in our faith so much, and we have begun sharing our faith with others a lot lately, and we have to keep the faith that God has the perfect plan for us....so "Faith" has always felt "right" for a middle name for our little girl. So we were thrilled that T liked that name, too. Sooo...Whitney Kate will likely be Whitney Faith in the end :)
Time went by reallllly fast. We were there for 3 hours and I was constantly trying to remember everything they both said. Word for word. I didnt remember much :(
BUT, we DID get to take two pictures together, which will be special for years to come. And at the end we couldnt stop telling each other how happy and excited we were to meet each other. And you coudl tell we all meant it. L even gave Eric a huge hug!! :)
At the veerrrry end, I turned to T and said "so, you still feel good about this?" and she threw her head back and said, emphatically, "Oh,..i feel even better than I did before! Yeah, I know this is right. I know it."
Oh, what an amazingly surreal feeling. This young couple has made this HUGE HUGE HUGE decision in their lives. They have chosen US to raise their child. And they feel GOOD about it! I am just amazed at God's grace and plan and faith in us! :) We are BEYOND blessed and on cloud 9 right now!
T said that our profile really stood out to her for several reasons. She loved the pics of the house and especially of Bailey :). And she really liked that we have a new niece for Whitney to grow up with. She said that the saying at the end (top left corner of the blog) "Faith is taking the first step, even when you cant see the whole staircase" is what really made us stand out even more. She said she loved it cover to cover, but that quote really helped her a lot. She said she could see our faith and she knew she had to have faith that she was doing the right thing.

Oh, one last thing. I didnt get to touch her belly. BUT, the baby was kicking like CRAZY the whole time, according to T. (In all fairness, she ate an oreo-ice-cream-cake-dessert....so that baby SHOULD have been kicking!!) But I like to think it was because we were there and she cant wait to meet us :)
I suppose i COULD have asked to touch her belly...but c'mon. I just met this girl and she didnt exactly LOVE the hug I gave her int eh beginning...so I let the belly rubs go. :) Maybe another time. (Although D snuch in a brief belly run as we left, and I was jealous!)

So...thats the latest. Now we wait for word from the agency when they have a scheduled csection date. T has a doc appt next Wednesday and said she would call the agency with any news or updates if there are any. And she said she would send pics of her kids to the agency for us to keep. (Oh yeah...duh...the pics of their other two kids are STUNNING! GORGEOUS!!! BIG brown eyes, LOOONG eye lashes, perfect curly brown hair to put lots of bows in :)....SOOOOOO cute and smiley!!) So she is sending pics for us to keep, and she hads already written a letter to Whitney, but she said she plans to revise it again now. :)

Oh, and they loved the album with the pics of Whitney's room. She got a little teary-eyed when she looked at that, and I could tell she realllly liked it and wasnt just saying it. She meant it. :) And they loved the pic of the bookshelf with allllll the children's books I have collected through the years. L said that was his favorite pic since he knows their son really loves books now.

Hmm...I am sure I will remember more later and I lay in bed thinking about alllll the details over and over. She thought it was cute that I know she only has 64 days til her due date :) She said she could tell we are excited, and was happy to hear that our family and friends are as excited.

Overall, it was perfect. No one ever told me I was going to have to practice for the day I would meet my daughter's first parents....and it turns out I didnt need any practice. Things went great. God had this all lined up. Through all those IUIs, IVFs, negatives, lows, bad results....through it all....it was leading up to this. And it was totally worth the wait.

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH For all of your thoughts and prayers through this whole process, and through the years of waiting for this little girl. We are soooo soooo soooooooo blessed to have each and every one of you. I can not thank you enough. EVERY DAY, I thank God for the blessings He has given us. He has truly given us the best friends we could ever imagine. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!