Tuesday April 19, 2005, was the day Daddy and I first heard about you! I will never forget that day, ever! We had just been up in Michigan visiting Aunt Mia, Uncle Lou, Jake, and Elsie for Elsie’s 3rd birthday, and we had just returned to St. Louis the night before (Monday). We didn’t check email that night, instead just unpacking and heading to bed. It was not until the next day, April 19th, that I checked voice mail and learned there was a message from Carol at our adoption agency, Children of the World. Her message said that she had emailed us and was trying to reach us, and that we should call her right away. Our son had been born!! As you can imagine, I was completely excited! I called Daddy to share the news and checked email, and sure enough there was a message from Carol. And not just a message: photos!! Here’s what the message from Carol said, and also the attached note from the doctor in Guatemala.
"Your son has been born. He is healthy, and here are some pictures. Call me after you have had a chance to look at the pictures. This is also the doctor's report stating he is in good health."
"Hello. This little one was born on 04/12 at a private health centre here in the city. The reported birth weight was 6 lbs 2 oz. Upon evaluation today I found this little one in good health with no abnormalities upon exam; his weight is 6 lbs, length of 44.1 cms, and head circumference of 33.2c sm. His lab results are still pending. Please find his pictures attached."
Of course, when I saw your photos, I thought we had the most beautiful little baby in the whole wide world! So completely precious!!!! We loved you right from the first instant of hearing you were born! Of course, we loved the idea of you well before you were born, but now we knew that this precious little boy in the photo would be our son! Your daddy and I were so excited, and I called Carol right away to say that we accepted the referral. I’m sure I had tears of joy in my eyes when I talked to her. The first order of business was to sign, certify, and authenticate (how we knew those terms well!) a power of attorney for the attorney in Guatemala to act on our behalf in the various court proceedings in Guatemala involved with the adoption. Carol sent me the power of attorney by email that afternoon, I emailed it to Daddy, and then drove out there for both of us to sign it. Then immediately we had it notarized, then I drove downtown to the Secretary of State’s office to have it authenticated and then dropped it off at the COTW office in Clayton. I was overjoyed that I could get all that done in one afternoon: home to Daddy's office to Clayton to downtown St. Louis and back to Clayton before 5:00. Everybody was so nice to me along the way, including one lady who helped me with change on the street for the parking meter. There was also a Cardinals baseball game that night, so traffic was very heavy. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get back to Clayton that night, but it all worked out fine. I wanted to get the completed paperwork back to COTW that night, since Carol was leaving the very next day for Guatemala and could take the paperwork with her, and I was happy to make that happen. We had been waiting for you to be born for so long, that I wanted everything from then on out to go as quickly as possible so that you could come home with us very soon. And if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, April 19th was also the day the Pope Benedict XVI was elected! I said to your Daddy when he got home from work: “We got a Papa and a baby all in one day!!” When the bells were ringing in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, I felt like in addition to celebrating Pope Benedict’s election, they were also celebrating that Mario was going to be an Anderson!!
