Lost & Found

Don't forget to predict Matthew's birthday and measurements for the chance to win a Starbucks gift card!

************************

Last Sunday, while at church, I lost my son.

My mom, dad and I were all in the general vicinity of each other and Garrett was standing there. Suddenly my dad asked where he was. We looked around and didn't see him. Then we all took off in different directions. I quickly swept the foyer and, when I didn't find him, I dashed out to the playground thinking that he might have taken himself to the slides. He wasn't there so I ran back into the sanctuary and scanned the stage, sure I'd find him climbing around by the drums. I didn't see him there, either. I saw my parents still running around, Garrettless, and I started to get a little worried. As more and more people began searching and coming up empty handed I became more and more scared that he'd somehow been taken. After about five minutes went by and there had been an announcement made over the sound system to be on the lookout for him, he still wasn't found. I ran into the parking lot and felt the emotions rise. My mom saw me and told me not to cry because we would find him. Thirty long seconds later I heard the call that he'd been found.

And don't tell me I should have checked the drum set because I did! It's just that my previous church's drum set is a lot bigger and in a cage and everything is much taller than my son. Before I called the police and actually went into cardiac arrest, he started banging on them and the sound person heard him.

I felt relief rush over me and then, my son, who had no idea that what he'd just done had almost given me a heart attack, got an ear full about how that really scared Mommy.

Today, that sweet little guy looked at me and matter of factly declared, "Want my baby Matthew now." It was as though he was simply asking for a cookie or a bath or his daily viewing of Cars. And I wondered if the boy has a single clue as to what he's really getting himself into...

***************************
Today I was doing some figuring. From the day that we started actively attempting to conceive the baby who would eventually be Garrett until the day we welcomed him into our arms was 688 days. We had started trying to conceive him on September 1, 2004 and he was born on July 20, 2006. We started trying to conceive our second child on April 1, 2007. In May of 2008 we decided to switch our focus to adoption. Matthew is due on February 27. So, if he is born on his due date, it will be 699 days from start to finish. I find the numbers to be almost eerily close to one another. I also find myself hoping she delivers eleven days early.