Rinn Reflections

• On April 3, our profile went live on Adoption Network's website!
• On April 4 and April 10, we surprised our parents with the news that we were adopting!  
• On April 8, we received a call from Adoption Network that a birthmother had chosen us (less than a week of being on the website!).  We endured a heart-wrenching 24 hours before we decided that we weren't the right family for this baby.  This was a very difficult decision to make, but we didn't feel any peace about it.  As a sidenote, we found out one month later that this birthmother ended up backing out of her adoption plan and chose to parent her baby.  We realized that God had led us to the right decision and kept us from much heartbreak (though we also didn't know what heartbreak was ahead of us).
• On the evening of Thursday, May 7, we received another call from Adoption Network that we had been chosen by another birthmother.  Ever since the April 8 call, we had been praying that God would give us a very clear sense as to whether or not we would accept a placement.  Before we hung up the phone that night, we both knew that this was the baby for us!  (This also made for a very joyful Mother's Day weekend!)
• On Friday, May 8, we accepted this placement!  Baby Rinn was officially on the way!
• On Tuesday, May 12, we spoke with our birthparents for the first time on a conference call.
• On June 6, we drove down to Waco where we met our birthparents for dinner. 
• On June 10, I went to an ultraound appointment with our birthmother where we found out that Baby Rinn was a boy! 
• On October 16, 2009, Baby Rinn was born!  David & I were able to hold him about an hour after delivery.  The next two days were completely blissful as we cared for Isaac while he was in the NICU. 
• On October 18, 2009, minutes before our birthparents were supposed to sign their relinquishments, they changed their minds.  This was definitely the worst day of our life.  After spending one more hour with Isaac, we drove back home with an empty carseat and broken hearts.  It was absolutely devastating. 
• On October 31, 2009, our birthparents changed their minds about parenting and chose to give Isaac back to us.  It was definitely the greatest day EVER! 
• And today--April 26, 2010--was Isaac's Gotcha Day!  His name has been officially changed from his birth name to Isaac David Rinn.  We couldn't be more thrilled! 

What a special day for our family!  Isaac's adoption was finalized at the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio.  We headed down to San Antonio yesterday afternoon along with my mom (a.k.a.: Grandma Missy).  :)  Our lawyer was Melissa Hines, and she did a great job of putting us at ease and also making sure everything went smoothly. 

This court starts the day with uncontested cases, since they usually go so quickly.  Since Isaac's finalization was uncontested, ours was the second case that was heard. 

Once we were called to the bench, we were sworn in by Judge Renee McElhaney.  Melissa began asking Dave & me a series of questions regarding Isaac and our placement.  I cried through most of them, especially when she asked,  "Do you understand that, after this date, this adoption is permanent and cannot be changed?" 

We are now able to send in one last round of paperwork in order for Isaac to receive a social security number.  (Up until this point, he has only had a temporary dependent identification number so that we could claim him on our taxes.) 

Isaac's signed & certified Decree of Adoption

Isaac's favorite new toys are the Johnny Jump Up and the Exersaucer.  He also loves to roll around & has recently started rolling in his crib at night & during naptime.