Home From Vacation!

We're finally home from our Tennessee vacation. Five days with no Internet access and almost no cell phone service. I'm not sure how these people live, but we enjoyed it for the few days we were there.

We had time to just spend with each other. We explored some underground caverns, enjoyed the beauty of Cades Cove, rode some fun rides at Dollywood, had a snowball fight in the mountains and rode go-carts at the Nascar experience, just to name a few things. But most of all, we were just together. Devin was our fire master and kept a roaring fire going in the fireplace. We ate at the cabin most of the time and I loved all of us just sitting around the table together talking and laughing.

I'm so thankful for all of God's blessings this year. Mostly right now I'm so thankful that the timing worked out so that Devin could go with us on our trip. He has become such a natural part of our family and we love having him with us!

Well, I guess it's back to the rat race tomorrow. At least we have these fun and restful memories to cherish!

Vacation Time!

It has been an amazingly busy week full of preparations and celebrations. First, we surprised Devin with a “Welcome Home” party day. Some of his friends from the church he used to attend, surprised him at our church to join us for Sunday service, and then we all came back to our home for supper. It was so nice to have so many of his old and new friends together to join in support for Devin and his new life. He was so surprised by everything; I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing.

That evening, I told him that we had been invited by his friends to join them for one last service over at his old church. Little did he know, they had planned a small desert social for him after service also. I thought it was great having people who loved him all around him for a whole day.



Now we are on vacation in the mountains of Tennessee. I love it here. There is no cell phone reception, no internet, no texting…just peace and quiet and family time! We spent almost a full day on the road yesterday traveling. Devin is just beginning to learn the highs (and lows) of family vacations! I think he is overwhelmed at times with all of the estrogen around him coming from living with all males for the past many years.



I am so touched as I see Devin’s relationship with Jay beginning to bloom. Devin never had a good relationship with his bio dad and I’m not sure if he had any idea what a good dad he got in Jay. I sat in the back of the van yesterday and watched them talking in the front seat and my heart was warmed that Devin will have Jay around to teach him what it means to be a real man, how to treat women and how to be a father to his own kids some day. This is such an important relationship in a young man’s life and I hope Devin realizes some day the treasure he has in a dad like Jay.

Today being the first day of vacation, I tried to let the family sleep in and relax after their long day on the road. Of course, I was up at the crack of dawn and Devin was up shortly thereafter. We had some good time to talk and made some muffins. Devin was so anxious to get Jay up, it was cute! We went to the Hidden Caverns nearby for a tour. Me, a pretty serious claustrophobic, spent an hour 650 feet under the ground under solid rock! The things you do for the people you love!

Please pray for us as we continue to try to meld together as a family. Sometimes trying to bring our differences together is more difficult than other times, but we are committed to making this work. Devin is such a part of our family and my heart, that I couldn’t go back to the way things were!

My Knight In Shining Armour!

Quick story,but it certainly touched my heart. On Saturday mornings, Devin and I have gotten in a habit of sneaking away to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast since everyone else sleeps in.

This morning toward the end of breakfast, Devin seemed antsy and asked me a couple of times if I was ready to leave.

When I got up to leave, Devin shot out of the dining room like a bolt. I figured he had to go to the restroom or wanted to shop in the gift shop. When I came out of the dining room I saw that he was at the cash register. He was paying for my breakfast! I thought I would cry right there! He spent his entire allowance to take me out! It is so sweet how protective he has become of me. It speaks volumes to my heart.

Anyway, after a really hard and challenging week, at least it ended on a sweet, sweet note!

Placement Update

I don't have anything major to report, I've just had people ask me how things have been going with Devin now home for good. In short, it's been great. He's a kid, like any other kid. If I had a dollar for every time he lost his new glasses, I wouldn't worry about what the stock market is doing because I'd be a very rich woman! But every day he steals more and more of my heart away!

It's now more normal to have him here than to not. I can't imagine him being anywhere but with us. Next week we're taking a Thanksgiving vacation to the mountains and I'm so looking forward to getting away with my family all by ourselves!

Actually, the hardest part of the adoption that we're working through is the adoption counselor we have to see for the next 3 months. Please pray for us as we have to meet with this woman who does not seem to listen to us and our opinions about some areas of Devin's life. We feel that because we live with Devin 24/7 and have known him since April and she's only met with him 6 times, that we might have at least as much insight into his life and psyche as she does, but she does not seem to agree. Plus, she's never been a parent, which is icing on the cake!

But we'll do whatever we have to do to make sure that this little guy is a permanent part of our lives, no matter how hard. I still lay in bed and am amazed that my dream is really coming true and that Devin will legally my son in about 79 days!
Sometimes you really do get what you wish for!

I've Been Tagged!

I found out today I was tagged by my dear friend Kelly, so I guess I have to tell you 15 things that I'm not afraid to admit.

Ok, here goes...

1. I love Jesus, but not nearly as much as I hope to in the future!

2. I am a sucker for old beach movies like Gidget and the Beach Party movies.

3. I am a HUGE gospel music fan, even the twangy stuff! (there, I'm out of the closet!)

4. There's nothing I like to do more than snuggle with my kids/husband.

5. When I was a kid, Dean Martin was my imaginary friend. (at least he could sing and was famous)

6. I happen to believe with all my heart that my 3 children are cuter and smarter than any other children on the planet, bar none...sorry!

7. When we were first dating, I pretended to cry so that my husband (then boyfriend) would hug me.

8. I wish I was a better friend and could form deeper relationships with other women.

9. I am deathly afraid of balloons and any other object that has the capacity to pop in the vacinity of my face!

10. I don't put clothes together well and my husband generally picks out any outfit I wear to any important event I may have to attend...and church!

11. I'm having converstations with my teenaged son that I never dreamed I would ...yipes!

12. I hate to talk on the phone and will look for any excuse not to. (come to my house and have coffee...that, I love!)

13. I'm becoming a bit obsessed with Facebook because I keep finding old friends from my past and love talking to them again!

14. I secretly wish I could afford an IPhone.

15. My children are turning out just like I wanted them to and I'm so proud of them!

Since most of my friends have already been tagged, I will tag only Myriam @ Brown Knows.

This is me...this was fun!

Home At Last!

Well, he's home! I am so glad that the last hurdle is over and the clock has started ticking down the 90 days until we can make this adoption final! There have been so many fearful tears this week. I was absolutely useless at work because this was all I could think about. Being the glass-half-empty kind of person that I am, I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and to be told that there was yet one more glitch...but no, my sweetie is home with his momma!

He's learning the joys and weirdness of living with women. Tonight Erica and I decided to do the paraffin wax treatment on our hands and feet. Of course, we got him to join in with us. It was a lot of fun and he was a good sport. What's next, a mani-pedi?

Thank you again for all of your prayers. They have been so much comfort and support to me. Time for another big-girl pill to make it through these last few weeks!

An End and A Beginning

Well, it's almost here. We are nearing the end of a very long process. Tomorrow Devin comes to live with us permanently!

In 1 Samuel 1:27-28, Hannah says, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. so now I give him to the Lord, For his whole life will be given over to the Lord."

There are so few things in my life that I have prayed fervently for and for years. Embarrassingly enough, for the most part after a few requests of God for something, I generally lose interest or figure the answer is "no" and stop asking. My prayer for my son was different. I have been asking God for years for my boy. I'm still in having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that this is actually happening. I had really begun to think it never would.

In the last few days I've really grown tired of people telling me about what great people we are because we are adopting an older child. We are nothing special and I am still amazed and humbled that a kid as special as Devin would trust screw-ups like us with his life and future. He has seen several times our shortcomings and imperfections and still has chosen to take this journey with us. I believe with all of my heart that I am the lucky one in this whole thing.

I'm also humbled that my daughters are growing up to be the kinds of people that I had always hoped they would be. They have welcomed Devin with open arms and assumed their roles as big sisters in a way that I never dreamed they would. They've sacrificed without complaining and I'm so proud of them!

I'm so looking forward to the future and what it holds. God continues to show His faithfulness to me and my family over and over depite who we are.

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. -Mother Teresa

Ps 103:1-5
Praise the LORD, I tell myself;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, I tell myself,
and never forget the good things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He ransoms me from death
and surrounds me with love and tender mercies.
5 He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!
NLT

I'M A BOY MOM!

FAMILY PICTURES!

No great message today...just got our first official family pics with Devin back and wanted to share a couple. In the pic where Devin is jumping, I love the look on his face because I rarely get to see that pure unadulterated joy on his face. Not a care in the world, he's just havin' a good time!

We are so blessed that Devin chose us to be his family. He did have another family pursuing him at the time we met him, but he chose us and I'll forever be awed and grateful that he chose us.

There are lots more pics but these were a few of my favorites. The rest can be seen at www.corycallahan.com. He is totally gifted!

Much love!

Ode to My Sweetie!

It has been pointed out to me recently by someone that I love very much that in my blog I have neglected to mention the other members of the Rumeau clan in this process...especially my husband Jason.

I apologize profusely for this omission. There is no way I would be living my dream today if it were not for the faithfulness to the Lord shown by my husband.

As many of you know, adoption has been my dream all of my life. I talked about it even before I was married. For years it sat on the back burner of my heart. When I began to bring it up to my husband a few years ago, he was not ready to embark on the journey with me. I would like to say that I gave it all to God right away and waited for his timing...but that would be a lie. I just knew that if Jason could just see the need, God would touch his heart. My dear husband finally on his own decided to walk the road with me and see if this was what God had for us. He signed us up for MAP classes and began to seek God's will for our family.

It was actually Jason who spotted Devin's picture on the Heart Gallery and pointed him out to me. When our social worker Stacey unknowingly brought the same photo to us at our class and said that she would like to consider this child, my heart just melted and I felt strongly that Devin was going to be our son.

Jason has been my rock recently through all of the emotional ups and downs of our adoption process. He is a person who through his kindness, yet firmness, can really get things done!

Devin will never know how lucky he is to have a dad like Jay. He will learn from Jay what a real man of faith and character looks like. Jay and Devin have already started doing "guy stuff" together and although I intend to make Devin a complete mommas boy, I'm so excited for their relationship to grow.

I will never be able to express to my man how much his willingness to step out in faith and consider doing the hard stuff with God has meant to me. Jay has given me a great gift indeed, and the best part is I know he feels that he's receiving a great gift in a son for himself as well.

I love you baby!

Halloween Fun!

Silly me! I thought the kids would think they were too old to dress up for Halloween...I was obviously wrong. Our church had a booth at a local town festival and Devin and I worked handing out free water and candy. The girls joined us later and the kids went trick or treating...all this just for some free candy! Go figure!

Today Devin and I attended his last event as a foster kid. They had the premier unveiling of the Heart Gallery portraits for this year. For those of you not interested in the Heart Gallery, it is local photographers who do portraits of kids in need of adoptive homes to give them a more normal, less institutional look. This is the address to our local page in case you want to see what it looks like: http://www.heartgallerymetroorlando.org/index.htm. I had to see Devin's new portrait. I love the picture although he certainly looks a lot different now. So here's the unveiling of his picture before the public gets to see it...drum roll please....



Isn't he the handsomest kid you've ever seen? I'd vote an enthusiastic YES! Anyway, the kids seemed to have a great time at the party and I was glad that we went.

Tomorrow we have to take him back to GOV for his last week there. It will be so hard to let him go back; it's so much fun having him around and it's become so natural for him to be here with us. Please pray that the week goes by smoothly and quickly!
I'm so excited that we will all be together forever soon!