The Foxhole: The Grand Finale.

Well, if you're looking for an example about how God moves in mysterious ways, then HAVE I GOT A STORY FOR YOU!

In fact, I have been looking forward to writing this post for some time now. It's rather lengthy - but there sure is a good pay-off in the end. Which is kind of like our life in Christ, now that I think about it...canIgetawhatwhatandawhoopwhoop?

It's been almost a month now since the sweet AG and I huddled down together in what I referred to as, The Foxhole (you can catch Part 1, 2 and 3 here, cuz I want you to be caught up.) So many things went through my mind in that foxhole...like, why does it take so dadgum long for me to get pregnant in the first place? Will Remi ever have a sibling that she will be close to - and them not be 14 years apart? Will all of these millions of dollars I spent in bows go to waste? Will my husband ever be able to raise the quarterback of his dreams?

But also there was the, "Why, why, why?" And the, "Lord, I just don't understand."

You know...things like that.

*Note to readers: I would love for there to be a fancy segue here, but sadly there is not.

About ONE WEEK into our Foxhole I received a call that went like this...

"Melissa, this is mom. I just wanted you to know that I met a beautiful, young girl who is looking for an adoptive family for her baby. I told her about y'all, but nothing may ever come of it so don't get your hopes up. Also, did you ever go buy yourself some new underwear?"

Uhh....

And that was it. Honestly. I decided then and there that "getting my hopes up" was an impossibility since being in a Foxhole generally means you pack very little, and, well, hopes are certainly one thing you don't pack for a Foxhole experience.

I mean, who has hopes in a Foxhole? It's a pretty grim existence.

So imagine my surprise when days later my phone rang and that "sweet, young girl" my mom had spoke of was on the other end of the line.

And imagine my surprise when she shared her story with me.

And imagine my surprise when she said she had been looking for a family for nine months.

And imagine my surprise when the family she said she was looking for sure did sound a lot like mine.

And then try to imagine how quickly I crawled out of my Foxhole, found my hopes, packed them up real tight, got in a car and drove to Texas.

Little did I fully realize on the Tuesday morning I went in for surgery, that only one week later I would walk into a restaurant and meet someone face to face who would give me one of life's greatest gifts. I will never forget meeting her for the first time and liking her instantly. I will never forget the way she told me, "It's you. You are the family I have been waiting for this entire time." And I will never forget how she slid every ultrasound picture across the table and told me, "They're yours now. They belong to you. They're of your boy."

Oh my word, I will never forget.

And I will never forget the day he was born and how I got to be a part of every second of it. I got to cut the cord!! ME!

But mostly I will never ever forget how from day one you all, my friends, prayed for me. You prayed for me broken heart and you prayed for my faith. And both have been restored, greatly. And I thank you.

So without further ado...allow me to introduce...

Rocklin "Rocco" Cooper Radke

Born September 2, 2008 at 5:42 PM.

7 lbs. 19 in. long

Remi is doing fine with all of this. So far. She enjoys feeding him his bottle, slapping him silly until he burps, and repeatedly asking if we can take him back and get a baby turtle.

But she does ask that you respect her rank; as if there were ever any question.

Our deliriously happy love to you all,

The Attorney General, Melissa, Remi and Rocco

One final note. This post will be left up for a few days for several reasons.

1. I want anyone who is late checking in to be able to share in our news.

2. Moving 8 truckloads of bottles from Texas to Tennessee takes time. And patience.

3. And I am really having to spend some serious time learning how NOT to get peed on when I change a diaper.

But I will be back very soon, I assure you. So please check back. As I feel certain my posts will be filled with questions that will need answering in a most urgent fashion.