Meet our son!!

We got our PA yesterday so we can now share with you about the little boy we have been falling in love with!  We are completely excited to tell you about him!!   There are so many things we want to say.  To start with, here is our boy:

Isn't he awesome!!  We think this picture is from late 2012, but it is the most recent still picture we have.

And if you aren't completely in love yet (and even if you are), here is a video of him that we think is more recent. Watch the whole thing, if you can.  (Our favorite part is 1:18 - 1:25. Sweetness!)

Password is: tucker2

Be still my heart!!  I can't get enough of watching this video.

Okay, so now that you are head over heels in love (or is that just us?), here is some basic info about him:

He is slightly younger than Daniel, so when we welcome him into our family, it will be like having twins.  This is so beautiful to us because it means we were pregnant at the same time his mother was.  I have been especially drawn to this and feel a real connection to and compassion towards his birth mother. I can't imagine the very difficult situation she was in and the thoughts that she was going through during the same time Daniel was an infant.   While we were being brought meals and cared for well, she was struggling and wrestling.  I have so many thoughts about this.... but I will save that for another time and for now just say that this is a perfect example of God being at work all the time in ways we couldn't even know.

He is at an amazing orphanage!  We aren't sure how much detail we are able to share about this yet, but we hope that in the near future, we can tell you all about it.  God has truly protected and blessed him by putting him in this particular orphanage.

His "special need" is called pectus carinatum.  Simply put, it is a bone issue that is a protrusion of the sternum and ribs.  For our son, his sternum is pushed out a little bit and his ribs scallop out to the side.  Our son is fearfully and wonderfully made and was formed this way in the womb.  He was lovingly made this way by his Creator.  It isn't a result of an injury or anything anyone did to him.  Based on our conversations with our doctor, we think that it is mainly a cosmetic issue.  It is possible for there to be lung or heart issues that go along with this particular special need, but the tests run on him so far do not indicate that he has any other issues.  We won't know for sure about that until he is home and seen by a doctor here.

In God's amazing providence, there is a doctor who specializes in these type of bone issues right here in Raleigh!  Once our son is home, we will have him evaluated by this specialist and he will give us our treatment options.... one of which will probably be to do nothing.  Medically speaking, he should be fine with this condition!  Treatment options might include a brace or surgery once he is older.

Along with his medical file, we also have some precious baby pictures of him:

Thanks for reading this very long blog post, for loving us well, and for already having open arms to welcome our sweet son home.  We are grateful!  If things go as they should, we will be travelling in November to bring him home and officially make him a Harmon!!!  We are still working on his first and middle name. Will have it soon, we think. :)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!