SGC

Samuel George Cristian

The Decision

We had made our decision.  We chose our agency Families Thru International Adoption whom we would absolutely use again.  They guided our path the entire process, made sure each i was dotted and t was crossed.  We turned in our application in Sept 2005 and our dossier on Dec 27, 2005 including our preference for a boy.  DH's dream, and mine too...and the wait for boys was shorter.

The Name

Yep, we had the name before the boy.  We couldn't help it, we had been planning for years at this point.  There were not any other options, his name would be Samuel George.  Remember I said we were naive, we forgot to plan that his birthmother would give him a name.

The Referral

God had this day planned in your story Sam.  For weeks we knew our turn was coming.  We prayed extra hard around Christmastime for our birthmother.  I kept a concise journal of what we were doing each day.  It would be important to know what we were doing the day you were born.  1-11-06, our adoption coordinator called while I was at work, and we knew this was the call.  She delivered the news that our son was born on December 25, 2005 given the birthname Cristian.  We drove to Evansville the next morning to see our son's picture.  I will never forget the sight of his precious soul wrapped up in a red striped sweatersuit.  He was to be forever ours.

The Wait

It was full of hope and nesting.  But it was long and holidays came and went without our son in our arms.  I remember having a 4th of July outfit picked out, but it wasn't to be. 

Love at First Sight

March 11, 2006 marked the day that we held our son.  We gazed into his eyes, basked in his presence, time stood still for us as we soaked this experience in.  Grandma made the trip with us and fell in love too.  We could only tremble and pray as we left our son in Guatemala to return back to the US. 

And Second Sight

And then I couldn't take it any longer, I had to hold Sam again.  In late April 2006 Aunt Shannon and I packed up and headed back to Guatemala to love on him once again.  Maritiza (sam's foster mom) had a list of things she needed because Sam was larger than most babies she fostered.  We gladly purchased these items to leave for our handsome baby boy. We enjoyed Guatemala's reverent celebration of the Easter Holiday. But once again we were forced to leave Guatemala without our son.  I can remember packing a worn onesie in my carry on, and treasuring it's scent as long as it would last.

And Third Sight

Remember I mentioned we loved to travel.  And Guatemala was a short 4 hour flight.  I was working overtime earning time off and extra pay and it made these frequent long weekend trips very possible.  So, Dan and I packed up in late July for some Sam love.  He knew us when we saw his face.  He grinned. He was even bigger and even happier. We basked in his presence arguing over who would do the next feeding our hold him while he slept. Little did we know that in just 3 short weeks he would be...

Forever in our Arms

On August 16, 2006 Sam was forever in our arms.  Two days later our seamless embassy appointment confirmed he was forever ours.  It was at this point that we were able to relax and enjoy our son in his birthcountry.  We enjoyed the visit with our best friends Chris and Toni who flew down to escort us back to the US.  We returned home August 24, 2006 to an airport full of family and friends.