My little strawberry blonde is SEVEN!

NOTE: My little man sure knows how to cover the holidays. In the third photo below, he's wearing a patriotic flag sweater and Halloween socks while checking out the Snowman birthday cake he requested. Oh, and note his tongue too. He often licks his lips and says, "Mmmmm," when he thinks something looks delicious. Silly boy!
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We said goodbye to baby Sarah just 11 months earlier. It wasn't our choice and we literally had no choice. She came to us as a 2 day old newborn, directly from the hospital, and after 6 weeks of loving her and caring for her around the clock, we said an abrupt goodbye.

So it was quite a surprise when I came in from the tractor that cold November day. A message on my answering machine asking me to call CPS. Normally, if you aren't home when a placement is being made, you are passed up in favor of a family who is immediately available. So it was nothing short of amazing when the caller stated, "If you want to accept this newborn placement, don't worry. We won't pass you up. Just return this call by first thing tomorrow morning when we open." I immediately made the call.
"Yes, we would like to accept the placement."

Carl wasn't home, so I climbed back on the tractor in my plaid CPO and red ear muffs (Clampett rides again!), giving a final crop to the faded blades of grass before winter laid its crystal blanket of ice and snow upon it. Excited. Apprehensive. A bit concerned due to Sarah's leaving. His familiar blue car slowly made its way up our 200 foot stone driveway.

"What?", he inquired cautiously, trying to read the noted expression on my face.
"We're getting a baby. A newborn. A little boy who will be released tomorrow."
That rare, special light began to shine in his sleepy blue eyes.
"Tell me more."
"He's tiny. And full term too, which concerns me. 5 pounds, 8 ounces. That's small. Oh, and they said he's adorable. To quote the nurse and CPS worker, he has a ton of red hair that stands up on his head. A red-headed half pint. And we pick him up tomorrow."

We were so very excited, yet concerned about how it would go. After all, we were second choice in placing him. Another foster family had his sister in their care so they had been asked first. However, even though his sister was in foster care, no one knew her mother was pregant. She delivered Reece just one day after the other foster family had a biological child of their own. So they would have had to take on "twins" in an instant. It was a lot to take on without advance notice.

There was an agonizing moment in this story where, like Sarah, Reece was going to be removed from our home. It had to do with circumstances out of our control again and Carl, believing Reece was leaving, sadly said goodbye to him before leaving on a hunting trip to PA. Imagine the sheer joy I felt when, 3 hours after he left (and with no way to contact him), CPS called me to assure me that Reece would be staying with us after all. I might add that this call came the day before Thanksgiving. Gee, think I had something to be thankful for that year? I literally (literally!) danced in my family room as I laughed out loud at nothing in particular, just filled with supernatural joy placed in my heart by the Lord. And yes, you could have knocked Carl over with a feather when I finally delivered that good news to him later that night.

And so, he became our son. As with all adoptions, the legal details took some time. But in the end (as it was in our hearts from the start), he became our son.
He is quirky, funny, filled with joy and passion. He's sensative and feisty. Curious, yet timid. He talks incessantly about anything and everything, and I cannot easily recall what our lives were ever like before the beautiful noise of him. As I type this, he plays with his beloved marbles and sings, "I love you, I lo-o-ve you. Say to the Lord, I loooove you."

And how we love YOU, dear Reece. Happy birthday to our little strawberry blonde. God has a great plan for your life. I am so privileged to be your mom, to have a front seat in which to watch it all unfold.

Toni