Elijah Riley's Gotcha Day!!!

Our Precious little boy, Elijah Riley.
Born May 9th. Gotcha Day May 31
Just 4 lbs 11 oz at birth, now a growing boy at 5 lbs 6 oz.
























He is just beautiful and so peaceful when he sleeps. He is a very content baby and we are truly blessed.




















After he's been fed, he's wide awake for at least a half hour. He loves to look at mommy and daddy.























Long fingers - will he be a piano player or baseball player.

















He spit up all over mommy and himself within five minutes of our first meeting! Welcome to motherhood! This is his first outfit change!


























Proud Parents!












First Family Photo

Birthmom, Sara, was so brave and handed him to us. She is so precious and gave us the most amazing gift we could have ever asked for!

His first car ride as a part of the Barnhouse Family.

Stopping to Say Thank You

I'm so overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions. We had a rather restful night of sleep (thanks for everyone who prayed for that specifically). Still, I couldn't stand it. I didn't want to just lie in bed when I knew today was the day...TODAY IS GOTCHA DAY!

Along the way, I have documented all the little things that God has done to bless us in this journey. There was the free photo shoot from Adam Barnes to get that "knock out" picture of the two of us for the album, someone anonymously donated our Creative Memories album and supplies, we went to get our fingerprints done for our background checks and they told us it was "free". These are just a few of them...

When we first found out on Wednesday that we had just 3 days to prepare, people went into action. Everything we have with us has been bought by or borrowed from others. THANK YOU! We do not want to let your generosity go unnoticed or unappreciated. We are so humbled and so blessed by you!

The choir rallied around to put together an impromtu 'shower' in just one day - giving diapers, formula, and some traveling money. Haley, thank you for pulling together every baby item you own so that we could borrow it! Erin, thank you for getting the clothes and formula ready for us - and for having a hot meal prepared so that was one less thing I had to think about.

If you weren't convinced that God is "in this" before - how about this?! Check out at the hotel is 11:00 a.m. but we have to meet with the caseworker at 11:30 to go over all the paperwork. Ed went to the front desk to ask if there was any way we could have a room or place to meet. As God would have it, she is also adopted and said the meeting room is ours, uninterrupted, as long as we need it, free of charge. I just cannot get over Him! Thank You, Jehovah Jireh!

I still can't get over the fact that in just a few hours, our birthmother will hand over her son - and he will be our son. Just thinking about the sacrifice she is making brings tears to my eyes. What a bittersweet day! For her and her family, this is the end of their journey with this pregnancy and this little boy - and yet for us, it is just the beginning. One little boy. He's united the hearts of two families forever. I cannot even imagine what she must be going through today. While we rejoice in the miracle we are experiencing, I don't want to forget the grief she must be going through. Please don't forget to pray for Sara.

"From life's first cry, to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny." (In Christ Alone)

How fitting. We had no idea on May 9 that our little boy was being born. We didn't hear his first cry. But before he breathed his first breath, God had a plan. He saw his unformed body, He fearfully and wonderfully made him, and He had us in mind the entire time. When I prayed "Lord, wherever he or she is - be there too," He was there. I didn't feel him kick or hear his first cry, but God was already carving out my heart to be his mommy.

And today is the day we meet our son. Our Gotcha' Day.

Going to Get Our Boy!

Exactly one year ago today (5/29), these were the words I wrote in my journal:

"One of the things I set before me at the beginning of this year was to see God invade my faith walk through the journey of having a baby. I should be careful what I pray for! For more than a year, having a baby consumed me. Now I've seemed to move on to adopting. I can't wait to get started. But I sense God telling me to wait. I feel a deeper longing and that is for His peace. I have believed the desire of my heart was to become a mother but now I realize it's something more - it is to know my God, to have His peace in my life and to serve Him with all that I am. I'm laying it all down, Lord. I surrender. I give up the fight. I only want you. Help my longings to be filled with only you. Oh God, my heart cries out for YOU. May you satisfy me to the point of overflowing. May this journey - wherever it leads - take me to You."

In just two days, we will meet our son. Our "Gotcha' Day" will be May 31, 2008, just three weeks after he was born. We will travel to Ohio on Friday and the birthmother will place him in our arms just after noon on Saturday. These are truly prayers directly answered by our Sovereign and Faithful God.

I can honestly tell you this has been a journey of faith. By the grace of God, I have never asked "why"...I have always known this is what God has planned. I haven't always understood, and it certainly hasn't all been easy, but His providential plan is now unfolding.

Everyone kept saying, "When you look back, you'll see how God worked it all out." Can I just tell you that being in the middle of the center of God's will PRESENTLY HAPPENING in our lives is UNBELIEVABLE!!!

If I have asked why it has been to wonder why He's been so good to us, why He's blessed us beyond what we deserve. All I know to tell you is when I prayed for a baby - MY BABY - He did not say "no"...He answered with a GREATER YES. No, it was not my plan. No, it was not what I would have chosen. But praise God, His greater yes was so much more than I could have ever asked for!

Pray with us. We will remain in Ohio for 7-10 days while we wait for the court to terminate birthfather rights and give us permanent and unrevokable custody (hmm, isn't that like God's adoption of us as His chosen sons and daughters?!).

We cannot wait for you to meet our son!