I give up

I hit a point today where I just told God, "I give up."

"This is Your battle, You are in charge, You can see the bigger picture, I've got nothing left, I give up!"

Our hearts are weary, we are frustrated, sad, and doing our best not to turn on each other.

We've been trusting God and HOPING that each day would be The Day, week after week after week. We are on week 8 of waiting, with no forward movement, no reasons being told to us, and knowing that every other family is out of the running.

We keep getting encouraged by caseworkers that everything is in our favor and this person wants us and this other person wants us and they aren't looking at any other families and if they were going to turn us down they would have already... but still nothing concrete. Nothing to tell the handfuls of people that ask for an update each week, we are still heading to the mountains with friends this weekend, minus one adorable 5 yr old who we thought for sure would be with us and playing in the snow with his new buddies.

Honestly, a huge part of me doesn't even want to go. I know we will have a great time with our friends but everywhere we go lately we feel like we aren't complete.

Lord, I have known from the beginning that this is in Your hands, and I have "given" it over to you at least a hundred times but it's not making it any easier, it's not making me ache to know my son any less. Lord, once again we give this to You, please fight for us, for him, quickly.

We are as sure as we can be that this is our son. So, we wait. We aren't even sure what we are waiting for anymore since there has been no news for 7 weeks, no communication as to a plan for them to make their final decision, no idea when they will take that step. I have never felt so powerless and so fragile. I don't want to talk about it most of the time, but it's all I can think about all of the time. We just want our little boy. Please pray for something, anything to move forward this week and for peace for our hearts.

Mostly, pray for peace in his heart. I can't imagine being a little boy with out a home or parents, or friends, or a school or anything at all to call his own, nothing and no one that he can count on being there tomorrow.

Sweet boy,

We think about you all the time and can't wait to have you home with us. We wish so badly that you were coming away with us this weekend. We know you will love Rocko, Jack, Auntie Julie and Mick, but I promise we will do this again with them and make such fun memories together. God doesn't always make sense to us, but we have learned to trust Him anyway. We love you with our whole hearts and we will be together soon.

Mommy and Daddy

Update on waiting...

We are still waiting. Small things happen each week that let us know we are not going backwards, but we are not really moving forwards either. We are pretty much standing still.

Anthony's caseworker has sent our home study to his GAL who is a lawyer appointed as an advocate for him. And that's where it sits.

I will be talking to his caseworker again this week and asking a few more questions, but other than that, there's nothing we can do until they tell us they want to come for a home visit. His caseworker says that 4 of them will make the decision if they think we will be a good fit and then they will call for a home visit.

Before we left on our trip last week I was anxious, sad and didn't have very much peace but I came home with lots of peace and am doing my best to continue to trust that God see's way more than I do and that His plan is perfect for us and for our little guy.

I was playing baseball with my friend's two boys the other night at the park and couldn't help but picture Drew and our little man there too next summer, or even next month. I realized as much as I am not into sports that I could learn and play and watch whatever our guys wants me to :) I had a blast with Rocko and Jack and can't wait to add our guy to the lineup (is that a baseball term?:) Rocko has already offered to teach him all about sports, so he's one lucky kid!

Here's a few of my favorite moments over the last week. I am trying my best to stay in the moment and live present right now in the wonderful life I have instead of constantly longing for life with our little guy.

Beautiful beach, sunshine, new friends to laugh with and my handsome, happy, relaxed, suntanned husband. Those are things I could have missed out on...

waiting...

One time a sweet southern grandma whom I adore, called me patient among a few other sweet things. She said it to my very sweet & patient sister in law, Sarah. Sarah laughed.

Okay, so I'm not the most patient person. If you know me at all, you know this. I have however come a long way in the past few years in the area but I am still never going to be called patient and not laughed at :)

So, we are waiting. Waiting, and waiting more. I have dreams about kids in our house, about holding a little hand as we cross the street, new school clothes and I tend to linger at the backpacks a little too long as I walk past. Which by the way, when did backpacks get sooo expensive?

We have nothing else to do on our end, but wait. Pray. Wait. Distract ourselves with WAY TOO MANY house projects and wait some more.

So, that's what's going on. I email who I can, talk to the right people about some kids waiting out there. Think about our little boy, try not to think about someone else tucking him in at night and picking out his new backpack with him. I wonder what he wants to be for halloween, if he will want to trick or treat? I wonder if anywhere in his little heart he knows we are coming for him. Then we wait some more.

I had my itunes on random country music this morning and heard this line...

"Blood is thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood."

Now, I know Garth wasn't talking about adoption, but that's all I could think about.

I may have teared up, I may have thought about how much we love a little boy we've never met. I may have thought about all the people in our life who are so ready to love him too, no matter who he is. I may have tears in my eyes as I type this. I may.

And I may be having a hard time right now being patient.

This is the one decoration we have for his room so far, until we know what he likes...

Sending our home study :)

Our amazing caseworker will be sending our home study out today to 4 different caseworkers about 4 separate little boys. Tomorrow she will send our home study out to every county in Colorado as well so if there is a little boy we don't know about who could be a match they will contact us as well. At this point we are inquiring on every little boy under the age of 8 :) We feel peace that God has our little guy chosen and we just need to keep going through the process to getting to him. So we will wait and hear if any of these boys caseworkers will call us for a meeting. These are the next steps:

1. We get a call from a caseworker who invites us in for a meeting with everyone on the little boy's, "team" this can be up to 20 people :) They ask us questions and get a good feel for us as a family
2. If they still like us for him and we feel led to move forward with that little guy then we go in for another meeting but the tables are turned and they present the child to us. We ask as many questions as we can think of but we are not allowed to give answer about moving forward in this meeting.
3. We pray and sit with all the info we have and if we decide yes, then we meet our little boy and begin our transition!

Transition will look different for each child. It could be fast over a couple weeks or it could be slow over a months time. We obviously are hoping for fast :) During this time we will spend evenings and have him sleepover, give him his book we've made that many of you helped with, start personalizing his room, buy him some new things, enroll him in school (if he is old enough) and start making plans for him to be in our life forever!

We obviously cant wait to meet our son, but know that God's timing is best. Every big plan Drew and I have ever made has been interrupted and either completely changed or at least tweaked by God's ultimate plan so we are aware that none of this is in our control. We are just going to keep moving forward holding our plans loosely and listening carefully for His voice. Patience is key right now so pray that we continue to have His peace that passes all understanding.

Hey sweet boy,

We have done everything we can to get to you as fast as possible, but now we wait. We wait for a phone call or an email, we wait for meetings and all of this will be happening before you even know about us. I really hope it's only weeks until we get to meet you, if it was up to me it would be hours, but we trust that God has all of this in His hands. We pray that as soon as you are told about us your heart feels peace, that when you meet us you know you are loved, wanted and that you belong with us forever. We are already praying for your heart and little body to be healed by The God who created you. We know He has an amazing plan for your life little man. He has known since before you were born that you would be ours and us yours. I know it is hard to believe that there is a God who loves you when you have experienced so much pain in your little life, we can talk about that as much as you'd like. God created you and He has a beautiful plan to redeem all the hurts in your life, we are here to walk with you every step of the way. God has done great things for Mommy and Daddy and we will tell you about those too. My arms ache for you sweet boy, see you soon.

Love you, Mommy

Approved...

I didn't mean to post that but decided to leave it ;) I was going to elaborate and say that as of today our home study has been approved, my finger prints were found and processed, a very long couple weeks of moving, painting, remodeling, VBS, friends in town... is over. Your prayers have meant and continue to mean so much to us, so thank you!!!

We have NO plans tonight other than our caseworker coming over to have us review our approved home study :) We are going to relax together and try not to do anything productive. Then tomorrow back to responsibilities but only after we sleep in past 6am :)

Hey little guy,

We are so close to getting to know who you are and we can't wait! We already love you like crazy and are so excited to have you home with us. There are so many people praying for you sweet boy, you are so loved and so wanted. We are getting to you as fast as we can, see you very soon!

Love you, Mommy

Approved.

All at once!

There is so much happening all at once. Literally in this moment many things are happening and just in general this month, much is going on. I have a quick minute for some reflection before the dryer is finished so this is going to be unedited thoughts from me during a nuts time in my life ;)

"God works in mysterious ways", feels very real right now. A few friends have asked me if I am overwhelmed, and until two nights ago when I had to leave our house and the endless painting and come to the apartment to eat ice-cream and watch How I Met Your Mother...other than that night I'm not really overwhelmed. Friends have asked me if i'm scared. "Doesn't the foster care system scare you?", "Does the thought of taking on a 5 yr old scare you?" "Isn't this all a little bit scary?" Honestly, my answer has been, no. Fear is not what I am feeling. As caseworkers present little boys to us, tell us their heartache, their story and ask if we want to know more, we do. When we read books and talk to other parents and watch videos online of speakers, fear is not what I feel. I feel sadness, sadness for them, for their mom who messed up too many times to get them back, sadness for me and Drew that we couldn't protect them, that we didn't even know their face until now. I feel determined. Determined to walk through this journey God has us on with perseverance when it's too much, when I don't know what I am doing, when I want to give up. We have hope, we know God has this path for us and we know He has great plans for our little boy. We know He wants healing and restoration for him way more than we do and we believe that if we are willing and seek Him that He will use us to help that happen.

We are so very close to knowing who God has for us and right along with all the serious feelings we are having we are so excited! Excited to see his face, to know him, to put his room together with some of his favorite things and pray over him as he sleeps. We can't wait to be parents and we are not scared. At first I was hesitant to tell people we aren't scared because I didn't want anyone to think we are under educated or naive, but now I just really think we have God's peace that passes all understanding. He has us in this place and He is right here with us. These lyrics are playing in my head as I write this...

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us

And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other

Our God is Healer, awesome in power, Our God, Our God...

(Chris Tomlin, Our God)

I have never done anything before that I have known more clearly that God is with us than what we are doing with adoption.

Hey little guy, we are so close to getting to know who you are! We pray for you a lot, we pray that God would begin healing your heart and planting hope that you will have a mommy and daddy soon who will never leave you and never hurt you. I know that is hard for you to believe because your tiny heart has already been through so much and been hurt so many times but after some time you will believe us. Daddy and I painted your room the other night, we just went with a boring color so that you can tell us what you like and then we will paint again! I am so tired of painting but for you little guy I will paint whatever color you want! We have a few books and clothes for you already and the bed that Daddy slept in when he was little. Our friends have even been collecting little things for you and can't wait to meet you! We have the sweetest, most amazing friends, you are already so loved! I love you so much and I pray that even though we haven't met that the love I have for you is with you, that you feel it when you drift to sleep at night, or when you are scared or lonely, or maybe when you are celebrating something fun. I pray that you are safe and that God whispers our love to you in every quiet moment. You've already changed our lives and we don't even know your name, I will tell you more about how later :) See you soon sweet boy.

Love you, Mommy

Wherever You Are, my love will find you

I wanted you more than you ever will know, so I sent love to follow wherever you go.

It's as high as you wish it. It's quick as an elf. You will never outgrow it...it stretches itself!

So climb any mountain... climb up to the sky!

My love will find you. My love can fly!

Make a big splash! Go out on a limb! My love will find you. My love can swim!

It never gets lost, never fades, never ends... if you're working... or playing... or sitting with friends.

You can dance 'til you're dizzy... paint 'til you're blue...There's no place, not one, that my love can't find you.

And if someday you're lonely, or someday you're sad, or you strike out at baseball, or think you've been bad... just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair. That's me, my sweet boy, my love is right there.

In the green of the grass... in the smell of the sea...in the clouds floating by...at the top of a tree...in the sound crickets make at the end of the day... "You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say.

My love is so high, so wide and so deep, it's always right there, even when you're asleep.

You are my angel, my darling, my star...and my love will find you wherever you are.

You are loved.

Wherever You Are, my love will find you

By Nancy Tillman

This is one of the two books we have purchased to read to our sweet boy. We met with our caseworker again last night and she told us to start asking around and deciding what pediatrician we are going to use, what school or preschool our kid will attend... start getting ready.

We could have a little boy in our lives as soon as the end of July. That is the earliest, and there is always the chance it could be months away but she seems to think it will move fairly quickly for us from this point.

So, for lack of a better word, I do feel myself nesting...which is hard when we aren't in our house. I can't get his room ready, I can't buy him anything because we aren't sure who "he" is yet... there's not a lot I can do. So, I find myself reading these books and praying for him, wondering about him, dreaming about him, even thinking about him as I get my hair cut, wondering if he will think I look like a Mommy... I know it's all kind of silly.

Honestly, patience is being replaced with trouble falling asleep, daydreaming about "him", tears when I read these books or pray safety and healing over his little heart. Patience is getting harder and harder to rest in.

Any other little kid books we should buy to read our guy?

Home Study Bound!

We have another meeting with our caseworker this coming Tuesday! Then after that we have 3 more meetings on the 23rd, 28th and 30th, those will constitute our home study. The word home study is misleading because it has nothing to do with our home. It is a process of interviews that ends in a 20+ page document about us. Our actually home inspection will take place the 3rd week of July:) Hopefully, on June 30th we will get to actually talk about specific children.

Honestly, we can't wait to bring a little kid home and are spending way too much time daydreaming about his room, his birthday parties, what sports or whatever he will like to do, reading him books before bed and finding out what his favorite flavor of ice cream is. Im saying "he" because it is most likely we will be placed with a boy :)

I was talking to a friend at work today and told her we have been garage sailing and buying bunk beds off of craiglist...she just smiled and said it's just like being pregnant, I'm nesting :)

I also want to say that as much as we hoped to be placed with a little kid in August, it could take longer, so please pray that our process is quick and smooth and ends us with the little boy God has planned for us.

House Pictures Pre- Closing

Drew and two guys from work did our home inspection yesterday. I came a long and took some pictures. Here's a few...

Master (still with their furniture)

Kitchen pre-construction ;)

Living Room (still with their things in it)

Backyard (before we re-do some things)

Drew inspecting things:) and our realtor in the background

Documenting...

I really wanted to document this process. Mostly for me and our kid, but I'm finding myself having a hard time saying much more than the facts and timeline every few months. Believe me, way more is going on in my head and heart then I am writing here. I don't feel like I am really documenting the process as I had hoped.

Just as I am writing this I am remembering the summer after my freshman year of college. I had taken my camera on a camping trip gone wrong the previous fall and it had gotten wet and ruined. I didn't have the money to spend on a new camera and it had been months since I had been able to take a picture of something I wanted to remember. I just wasn't documenting my life how I had hoped. I remember coming to a conclusion one day though. The places I was going, the things I was seeing, the memories I was making... all of those things just belonged to me and whoever I was in the moment with. I know it sounds cheesy but it is truly what got me through my time with out a camera.

So, as I was thinking about how I just haven't been documenting this process how I wanted to, and I thought over the things that have happened, tears shed, prayers whispered, questions asked, feelings hurt, understanding felt, support offered, conversations had, hands held, hugs given I realized maybe those things don't need documented how I thought they did. Maybe those things just live in me, and with the people who were there with me. I don't remember everything that happened those months with out my camera, but I'm pretty sure I remember the things that mattered. This doesn't mean I am going to stop keeping boxes and boxes of "keepsakes"; notes written, pictures drawn, encouragement given. I'm not done taking pictures, spending hours looking through them and wanting to document all the little and the important things.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that the things that are not documentable, the things I wish I could capture and revisit as often as I want are possibly not meant to be captured. Shopping for bunk beds, picking out books to read at bedtime, unexpected conversations while we should be working, listening to certain songs over and over and over in the car so I can memorize them to sing as I tuck him into bed, tears that surprise me as I pray for a kid that I've never met, excited friends asking a million questions, moments of catching Drew out of the corner of my eye and knowing he was made to be a Dad, seeing glimpses of the mom I want to be, small moments of knowing with out a doubt how gently and deeply God loves me, Drew and our little kid. Those moments and more, there's no pictures I can show you and no documentation of what was said, what was felt, what was shared, and I'm more okay with that then I was when I started writing this :) All these things are documented in me, Drew and the people we walk life with.

But, now to document some very documentable things....

I started this post last week before two major things happened!

We got a house!

And we met with our caseworker who told us we are not very far away from getting placed with a little kid! We should be all certified and just waiting to take possession of our house which will happen mid July!

We've been writing to our future kids for a while now and so I thought I'd write to this little kid on here a few times as well...

Dear little kid we've never met,

We can't wait to know you, play with you, snuggle and laugh with you. We wonder what your name is, your favorite color, if you like sports, what kind of birthday cake I will get to make for you and what color you will want us to paint your new room. We hope and pray that wherever you are, you are being loved and taken care of. We pray for God to protect you, your little body and heart and to plant seeds of hope that He loves you and that very soon you will have a mommy and daddy. We aren't going to be perfect but we will never leave you. You will have aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents and lots of friends who already love you too. I know your life is scary and so uncertain right now, but we are getting to you as fast as we can! I pray you sleep sweet tonight with God's peace that passes all understanding. Daddy and I will see you soon... Love, Mommy

24 hours of training complete!

We completed our final 12 hours of training with P127 last weekend. It was a long weekend, neither of us are very good at sitting for hours and hours! It was worth it though, every hoop we jump through gets us closer to getting our little kid :)

Next...

• I meet with a couple people and make our final decision on which agency/county we are going to move forward with
• We get our CPR/FirstAid Certification
• We attend the Empowered to Connect Conference
• We attend two hours of a local adoption support group
• Have our friends and family fill out support covenants
• We turn all of our certifications and hours into our caseworker
• We begin our homestudy/background check/fingerprint screening... this is where the waiting begins

We are buying a house this summer as well and cannot finish our homestudy until they approve the living space we will be bringing our little kid into. Our hope is to close on a house in July, move in, take the vacation Drew earned through work in August and then be ready for our little kid to come home when we get back!

In the meantime we are reading a gazillion books, talking, praying, dreaming, looking up how to build cool bunk bed, stressing about what sport he/she might want to play and how much things like cleats, uniforms and bikes cost, picturing Drew heading off to go fishing with him/her in his truck, lingering as I walk past the little kid clothes section at Target, planning camping trips with our friends in my head, crying as I think of the hurt in his/her little heart and wishing I was the one tucking them into bed at night, wondering what it will feel like the first time they call us Mom and Dad.

Honestly, all that mixed with the fears of not doing this well, of not loving enough, of exhaustion as I read and learn about attachment, trauma, loss and grief and knowing that all of my energy will be spent on this sweet little kid, knowing that how we are going to need to parent this child for his/her heart to heal is going to take so much work and patience and that our friends might think we are nuts for parenting so differently than you would a bio kid.

Our days are strung with a mixture of worry, fear, hope, excitement, faith, trust and wonder. As we prayed for our little kid last night before we fell asleep I asked Drew how he knew God wanted us to do this. As he answered me I drifted off to sleep with a sweet peace of having a loving Father who knows us, loves us and is intimately involved in our lives and sharing a life with a man who seeks that Fathers heart in all he does.

One thing I know for sure...the little kid we get to bring into our lives is going to have the best Daddy in the whole world.

(Drew filling out one of our many questionnaires)

12 of 24 hours complete!

We finished the first half of our certification this weekend. It was A LOT of sitting and being fed junk food. By the time we got home Saturday night we both felt sick! BUT, it was a ton of information and we met another couple about our age who live in Denver and are on a similar road to us. We got to grab lunch with them and they are going to come over for dinner before our next weekend of training which is the 18th and 19th. We really feel blessed to have met them. We feel sort of like the minority in the process being young and that we are choosing to adopt before we have bio kids. So, when we met Andy and Megan and we realized our many similarities we knew this other couple was going to be a huge blessing to us during and after this process!

So, after we complete this next weekend of training we compile all of our certifications (listed in the post before this one) and give them to Project 1.27 to process. At that point we have to choose ONE county or agency that works with P127 to move forward with and they will run our background check, process our fingerprints and then begin our home study. After we choose we will only be able to adopt out of their waiting children, this is where we are asking you to be praying for us. We believe that God has already chosen who will be our kiddo and that He is in control of this whole situation. We want to move in His shadow, not too far ahead or too far behind. At the next weekend of training all of the counties and agencies will be there to answer questions and tell us about their process. We were told they will also have pictures and profiles of their waiting kids which is where emotion enters and my extremist and impulsive tendencies want to jump in and try and take control of the whole thing.

To be completely honest everyone in that training room shared they wanted a young child, some said boys, some girls, some said they would be open to 2 or even 3 siblings. The average age of kids waiting and ready to be adopted is 10. There are exceptions to that, and we are hoping to not go older than 8 just because we are young. We have had a certain picture in our heart for a while now and have held it close to us not telling many people what we think God might have in store for us. At the same time we want to hold all of our expectations loosely and know that we are not in control.

I am not sure if I mentioned this in the last post but we are also house shopping:) We hope to move in July, so even though this certification is going quickly we don't feel good about bringing a child home until we are in that house. All that to say, we have a lot we are trusting God on right now:)

Please be praying for us, that we have an insane amount of wisdom when it comes to choosing a county/agency and choosing a home. Also, that in the midst of training and house shopping and certifications and dreaming about being parents, reading books about attachment, grief/loss and how to love a child well who has been so deeply hurt that our marriage and relationships would stay strong.

4 Hours Down!

We are in Loveland settling into our hotel room for the night. We just completed our first 4 hours of certification training and head back in at 8am tomorrow for 7 more hours!

We are soaking in a lot of good information and even made some friends who live in Denver. We bonded over Drew's Oregon hat and the fact that we are the only 20 somethings in the class :)

We are so excited to be on this journey and already completing half of our certification this weekend!

They suggested tonight that we start memorizing scriptures about fear, protection (spiritual warfare) and trusting God. Any suggestions?

Details, Details...

So, ever since I posted everyone seems to want more info, particularly the when of it all :) We are new to this whole process but I will do my best to lay out a timeline the best as I can with the information that I have.

• Attend Project 127's Orientation (Did this last week)
• Fill out a spiritual questionnaire and have a Spiritual Interview with one of our pastors
• Get CPR/First Aid certified
• Fill out A LOT of paper work
• Go to our local police department and get fingerprinted
• Attend two weekends full of trainings (March 4/5 and 18/19)
• Hand in ALL of our paperwork and certifications to Project 127 for them to process and put into a file (takes about a week)
• Choose a county/agency we want to work with
• Submit our file to them and they will start our background check (which can take a couple months to get back)
• After they get our background checks back, we will begin our homestudy which takes about a month, but we cannot complete until we are in our new house which we hope to be in by July
• Time passes... (hopefully not more than a month)
• Get a call and talk with caseworkers about a certain child
• We decide to move forward and transition the child into our home
• After 6 months we can petition for legal adoption
• We get a court date and become a family!
• HUGE Party at our new house to celebrate our new family!

Orientation

Last night Drew and I attended an orientation.

If you know us at all you know we love kids and we have even surprised most of you by making it this long into our marriage with out having babies yet! Well, recently we decided we wanted to start our family, we also decided thatwe wanted to do that through adoption. After lots of conversations about what this could/should look like for us we decided to move forward with adopting a child legally free for adoption who is already waiting in foster care for someone to bring them home.

There is a really great non-profit here called Project 1.27. We began the process of becoming certified to adopt out of the local foster care system by attending their orientation and paying our fee to take home a very large application packet :)

"Our mission is for there to be no legally free children waiting to be adopted in Colorado foster care by 2014. Our method is to recruit, train, and support families from local churches to adopt these children."

Project 1.27 is named after James 1:27

I am going to do my best to keep a sort of journal of this process on here for two reasons. One being my own personal record of dates and stories. Reason number two is to hopefully debunk some myths about adoption.

P1.27 encouraged us to bring friends and family who had expressed an interest in supporting us on this road so we invited a handful of special people in our lives in hope that a couple of them would be able to make it. The odds were stacked against us in our head... the orientation was a good 1hr 20 minutes away and time is a hot commodity in the busy lives of our friends. We knew whether they could attend or not that they loved and supported us so we just threw it out there and were completely overwhelmed when they almost all said yes :)

The cheesy and sentimental side of me couldn't resist taking a picture to remember the night we began this process and who so selflessly drove up and sat through 2 hours of a meeting they didn't have to be at with us. They talked a lot about a support 'team' last night and one thing we can check off our list is one really amazing team :)

That is one reason we knew we could do this, we aren't perfect and are aware of the challenges that lie ahead, but we are incredibly supported and loved. We aren't going to have to walk this alone and look at all the people who are going to love on a kid who thought that no one loved them at all! Another cool thing is that there are more friends and family who for whatever reason it may be proximity or timing weren't able to attend...lets just say we have enough support to share...but we don't wanna :)

And yes, Drew's brother Troy has a frisbee on his head. He's going to be a fun uncle!