welcome dax party

after your wedding, the next big event most girls plan in their lives is some aspect of a baby shower.  with failed pregnancies, failed matches, and a lot of waiting, we just really never thought this day would come.  but - it did.  this past saturday we were invited to head to roanoke and spend the afternoon being catered to for our "welcome dax party".  everything was a secret and we were not allowed to know any details surrounding the big event.  people had driven from as far away as pa  and western nc just to be there to meet and spend the afternoon with mr. dax.  months of planning had gone into the food selections, baking things, and even the adorable decor.  will and i had hearts overflowing with joy being surrounded by all of the family and friends that had supported our 8 year journey to find the family we've built.  it was great to celebrate and thank them for all they've done for us.

the highlights of the party were the delicious handmade chocolate truffles with baby deer adornments, the sign in station with a painting of watercolored deer and guest's thumb prints for tree leaves in the forest, the candy table with gorgeous turquoise ball glass filled with various types of candies and colorful treats, the deer cake with antlers (driven to the party all the way from asheville, nc), and as always my favorite paper straws - no party is complete without a good straw, and these were divine.

we had a great time reconnecting with old friends and their new little one.  we spent the morning chatting away and just reminiscing.  it was good to talk mom to mom with someone now.  its kind of strange, but not something i get to do too often just yet.  it was great for dax to get to spend time with friends and relatives who wished and prayed for him to join our family.  everyone wanted to hold him and give him the lovins.  we opened lots of presents and continued in the tradition of spoiling dax with everything a baby could ever need + more.

we returned home late sunday night and had to head off to our tax prepaper's office on monday afternoon to discuss how we should go about filing our taxes when we were still waiting on dax's a tin number.  husband kindly filled out all of the requested paperwork back in november of 2011 and we were told to wait patiently for up to 8 weeks.  we'd waited that, and then some and still no a tin number.  so i started calling, and calling, and calling.  finally, while we were out of town for the baby shower last weekend - they called me back and left me a voicemail.  great.  so tuesday and wednesday i spent every break i had calling and leaving more voicemails on the irs vm inbox.  apparently persistence pays off, because not only one, but two irs workers called me back in the past 48 hours to give me dax's number and apologize for the glitch in the system that prevented it from going out on time in the first place.  then, just as i was calling husband to tell him the great news about scoring the a tin number i saw an unmarked envelope in the mail box.  i opened it because it was from the courthouse.  i knew it had to be eitehr really good or really bad news.  one or the  other.  i opened the envelope and could not believe my eyes.

we received daxton's final decree - the papers state that he is legally our son forever.  i was so shocked i had to read it about 4 times to make sure i saw what i thought is saw.  then i called will and read him the papers (2 pages) word for word.  we were ecstatic!  this sweet boy is officially our son.  welcome home dax - welcome home.  we went out for a family dinner of three to celebrate, have a cheers, and enjoy a nice relaxing dinner.  we came to this same restaurant to celebrate our formal application's approval, so we thought it pretty fitting to have come full circle.