One thing I have noticed pretty consistently is how difficult this time of year is on waiting families. There is something about having "a baby by Christmas" that seems to consume your soul when you are in this process. With our son, we were in October, & we were giving up hope on being matched by Christmas. I had saved up ALL my vacation & time off the whole year, in hopes of using it when we got matched. Finally I had to admit it wasn't going to happen & take a week off. Sure enough the first day of my vacation I find out we were selected as a top 4 family on a little boy, and 3 days later we were selected! He was home the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Isn't that the way it always works? Though we are settled on the fact that we won't have our daughter by Christmas, it is still a difficult time. We remember Thanksgiving as being such a happy time & its when we really became a family. I am also feeling a little bittersweet about Christmas this year as its probably the last where he is an only child & I want those memories to be sweet. We hope that this upcoming year fulfills our dreams of having a daughter, but even if it doesn't, Christmas is such a special time of year for us and our son. ( The picture above is Tuck holding his Daddy's hand at the Alley Theater waiting to see a production of A Christmas Carol, it was his first live theater show & he loved it!).
