We cried, we laughed, we cried, we laughed...and then some!
It was a day we didn't know if we were bringing a baby home or not- it was a day we were fully relying on God's will in our lives!
I am going to share with you just a few of the funny things that happened that day as I said I would in my last post, you can catch up here- If you haven't read it, you won't understand the BMW...so go back and read it before you go on!
Because bringing a baby home was a SURPRISE to our parents, (if we brought him home), we had to fake needing to go "somewhere" so my mom would watch Nathan and so she wouldn't question why we weren't at lunch at her house with all my siblings...after all, it was Grandparent's Day~ And a Sunday~ so normally, it would have been church and then to both sets of grandparents house! BUT...not this day!
When we left Nathan at my parent's house, we were so nervous!
It was lightly raining when we headed toward the destination of our baby, maybe.
We had each other and a BMW convertible.
What else did we need, right?
Well...EVERYTHING!
We didn't have anything for a baby anymore, other than Matthew's special things I kept, but everything else, crib, high chair, bouncy seat, and ALL the rest of the stuff, we had donated to charity and we were empty handed!
We didn't even realize it until we were headed to our destination, so we decided we better stop at Walmart!
Oh yep- because Walmart is where you go to get those things, right?
So, there we stood in the baby department, not knowing if we were bringing a baby home or not...we had a buggy and walked around like we were in the candy store but couldn't have any sugar! Know what I mean?
We were scared to put anything into our empty basket!
We started...
And forever later, we were done.
We purchased a baby blanket, a pack of bottles, a pack of diapers, a pacifier, wipes, a car seat/ stroller combo and that is all.
We ran into RW's sister in the baby section and we had a nervous giggle! She was buying something for our (maybe) baby.
When we checked out, we headed to that beautiful little car! Our family sized Expedition, parked at home...(what were we thinking?)
Well, it was sprinkling rain, so RW popped that tiny little trunk of the car, guess what? People with little bitty convertibles don't travel with a car seat/ stroller combo in the trunk! Nope, wasn't going to happen!
RW tried, he pushed that box, and it wasn't happening.
So, he takes it OUT of the box and fits the oversize stroller into the trunk (barely) and sets the car seat in the back seat, then there we were, rain coming down heavier with a giant empty box! Head hanging down, we left it in the empty buggy...we didn't have anywhere to put the box, we were getting soaking wet and I remember apologizing that we were "littering" in the parking lot!
So, we left and the image of the empty box in the empty buggy was in my head. BUT, it was a very special day, we were very short on time and what if someone needed that empty box, right? ;) Yes, someone needed an empty box! (an empty wet box, right?)
Okay, so now what?
Well, we decided that since we had such a hard time fitting the stroller into the trunk, we should probably stop somewhere and hook that car seat up so we didn't look like amateurs when we were picking up our baby. (maybe)
Stopped, we did.
We pulled into a gas station that was covered, because it was raining now, raining.
There was a man to the right of us filling up his diesel truck and his boat carefully watching the two of us...
I bet he still remembers us.
Why? Well, let me tell you why!
It had been six years since we had to place a baby in a car seat. Six years, they change a lot. And we had definitely never put a car seat in the back of a convertible.
The challenge began.
RW tried for about five minutes to figure out how to strap the seat in with the top of the car on...then he had the brilliant idea to take the top off so he could maneuver it better and I was saying "let me just read the instructions on the tag..." He took the tag off and handed it to me, that didn't help. {I am not a fan of instructions at all, that's the hairdresser in me, I guess...oh and BTW, if you think your hairdresser is reading instructions and measuring things, think again! ;) }
Back to the seat...
The man still staring at us...
Picture it- a 200 plus lb man climbing over and in the back of a little car with the top off, it was like watching an episode of the Jolly Green Giant playing with a Matchbox car! It was so funny!
After about ten, maybe fifteen minutes, RW FINALLY got the seat in! YAY!
I climbed in the front seat shutting my door giving that man a smile, like, uh huh, that's right, we nailed this! Now, we just need a baby!
RW excitedly put the top back on the car and climbed into the driver's seat.
WOAH, his knees were at his chin!
To get the car seat in, he had to move his seat all the way up, well that was fine until he had to fit his legs into the car.
The man still staring at us...
RW gets out of the car, taking the top off, again...
The man shook his head at this time with a grin.
Oy vey! I am thinking he was like Oh somebody please tell me they are not going to pick up a baby!
RW gets the car seat out and I get out because we needed to put it behind my seat. So everybody out of the car again, top off again...car seat moved to the other side!
The man still staring...
(I would have been staring too! It was a good show!)
We got that settled, then I climbed back into the passenger's seat as RW lowered the top back on the car and then he got in and it WORKED!
The man still staring...
RW cranked the car, I looked in the back seat and it was a success!
I looked at the man, now filling his boat and smiled...I kind of wanted to tell him it was okay, we had done this before...you know, to reassure him!
But then, again, maybe it was best if he thought we were complete amateurs!
The man smiled and laughed a little as I smiled at him! He shook his head and we laughed as we drove off...
That day...that shopping trip, that car seat, that BMW, that friends are things I am glad we have in our memory box!
Every single time we pass that gas station, we smile!
Every single time!
The day didn't end with maybe, but it ended with our baby! In that car, in that car seat!
PS- When we walked outside to leave with Will, we were SO glad we had that "challenge" of the car seat in privacy (well, except for Mr. Man that got a good laugh!)
If he had only known about our lives, about this car and about the other challenges we had gone through to get here, I bet he would have really appreciated this sight even more!
Grateful to God that my birthday gift (my BMW, Baby Matthew Weatherly) from RW was able to carry our gift from God to our home!
We started this day relying on God's will for our lives...and ended this day with "GOD'S WILL" in our arms and lives forever!
(That's how he got his name! We kept praying if this is God's will, then it will happen! God's Will became OUR Will!)
For more on our beautiful adoption story, read here.
Hoping you will smile today and not be afraid to fill your empty basket up!
That was an awesome story!!! I can totally see it in my mind because when the phone call came asking me if I would take a 2 day old baby boy, I had a bit of a carseat issue, and a pants issue..... I may have to blog about it. Thanks for the laugh! So glad you prayed for God's Will
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