Early Christmas!

"Merry Christmas!"

That's what Liam's case manager said when she called at 11:00 this morning.

I sat in stunned silence for a moment, unsure of whether it "meant" something or she was just giving me a cheerful greeting to begin her phone call.

You see, today was the day our court hearing for the TPR for Liam's birth mom was supposed to begin; we wouldn't even know until today whether our case made it into the court room today, because they schedule 5 trials to begin every Monday.  We found out last week that we were second on the docket, and the case who was ahead of us might not be ready to begin today; but we still wouldn't know for sure until this morning.  I didn't go to court, because it is an hour drive, and it didn't make sense since we didn't know if it would begin, and I wouldn't have been allowed in for the trial anyway, since I was subpoenaed.  

So I was expecting the CM to call, and had to assume trial began today, since court started at 8:30, and she wasn't calling until almost 3 hours later.  But that was the most I could hope for.

"Um...  Does that mean you have good news for me?" I asked slowly.

"Yes!" she replied excitedly.  "BM terminated her rights voluntarily!"

"Really??  I mean, really??  It's done??"

"Yep!  The judge asked her all the questions and went though everything, and then she left.  Then I gave my testimony and he scheduled the adoption!"

She then proceeded to give me the date for the adoption, and then went back and told me a few more details about her conversation with BM before court.  

She's coming on Thursday for a home visit, so I may hear more about it then, but honestly I doubt there's much to tell.  

Three years ago today, we got the same exact Christmas present.  This was the very same day Hunter and Kaleigh's TPRs were finalized.  (***CORRECTION: I went back to check the facts, and Hunter and Kaleigh were actually TPR'd a week earlier.  My apologies for the mistake!!***)   Liam's adoption date falls just 4 days after theirs!  Which is way cool, because we'll have an AWESOME way to celebrate Hunter and Kaleigh's adoption day this year - and they'll all celebrate at the same time every year.  It's just really cool.

And of course we are humbled and grateful to God for His mercy and grace, shown to our family and to our sweet little boy who has already brought so much joy to our lives.  We are blessed beyond measure.