Let me ask you guys, do you believe in love at first sight? The thought always seemed so cliche to me, but…it happened to me! Not once, but twice. So I am here to tell you, I’m a true believer in this hopelessly romantic gesture of falling in love with someone you know absolutely nothing about.

The first time I experienced love at first sight was with my husband, Luke. Those who are close to us are sure to be tired of hearing this story, I’m sure. Luke and I unofficially met in a parking lot at satellite location of Missouri Baptist University. This “unofficial” meeting involved only three words. Luke and I just happened to park near each other at similar times. Luke said to me, “Nice car.” This was nothing to him, but to me…I guess you could call it love at first sight. An overwhelming feeling washed over me. I knew I would marry him at this moment. Instead of informing him of this information that would have probably sent him running, I just responded with a polite, “Thanks,” and went on about my day. However, this is a different story and I would be happy at different time to tell you all about how I conned (kidding) this nameless boy in a Mustang to marry me, but for now, we will focus on the second time I experienced this love.

As I’m sure you could have guessed, the second time I experienced love at first sight was with baby A. 4:30pm, June 29th, 2016 I met a 8lb, 4oz baby girl. I was overwhelmed with love and tears! As I stated before in a past post, I was so thankful for Luke who listened to the woman who dropped baby A off as she explained legal paperwork to us. Before babies arrival, I only had a fuzzy, awkward angled photo of her before to stare at, much like I’m sure a pregnant mother stares at her sonogram of her unborn child. I didn’t ask, but I was wondering what Luke was feeling towards her at this moment. Do men feel that way about children they didn’t create? Did Luke feel like he was holding a strangers baby, or a baby that he would be raising and loving unconditionally? Did he have an overwhelming sense of love for this little one? Those were my questions I didn’t ask. I did not want to ask them, because I did not want him to feel guilty if he did not feel those things towards her. He was very clear when he agreed to take her in…we were FOSTERING.

Within the next hour, both of our families were over to see her. It was amazing. My brothers and sister and their families, my parents and Luke’s parents were meeting this little angel. We took pictures and took turns holding the sleeping baby. We even all went out for dessert!

Coming home that night was surreal. There was a tiny human who needed us to take care of her. That night, was so sweet. Just like any newborn, she woke up every three hours overnight.  This was so new to Luke and I, we both got up with her each time she woke up. I never thought a loss of sleep could be so exciting. I was in heaven.

The next morning, our caseworker came to visit. They are required to visit within 24 hours of placement. This visit, was when all of my questions for Luke were answered. The caseworker asked us a question I saw coming, but had been avoiding discussing with Luke. She stated that though the case goal was still for reunification, they want the baby to be in her preadoptive home and then asked, “Are you guys interested in adoption?”

I said nothing, I knew Luke said fostering only. I just turned and looked at him, with this sweet, sleeping baby in my arms. Luke looked back at me, smiled, and said…yes. He said YES! He too must have fallen in love with this baby, if not at first sight, then within the past 15 hours that we had just spent with her in our home.

As you can imagine, as time has passed we have fallen even more in love with her! We are so excited to finally announce in our blog, that our placement goal has changed! It is no longer reunification. It is now adoption. We still have many legal steps that will keep us waiting for her name to be the same as ours. We cannot wait for that day, but in the meantime we are patiently waiting and enjoying every minute of our lives with her.