Ready... Set... GO!!!

In a nutshell, We are now the proud parents of a newborn baby boy! Introducing Gus Elliott Lee-JesitusIn honor of this big change in our lives, I have changed the look of the blog as well. I still can't believe it actually happened. A little over a year since we joined Adoption Connection and 10 months of waiting in outreach, we are finally DADS. Let me catch a breath! This is the first time in 5 days I've had a moment to sit down and collect my thoughts...

On Monday the 24th of November, 4:00 pm, it was just a normal day at work when Adoption Connection called to tell me there is a couple that had just given birth but couldn't keep him. They chose us out of 5 profiles! If we agreed to it, we would have to take the baby home the next day. We scheduled to meet at the UCSF Hospital at 6:00. Between 4 and 6, I had to scramble to finish my work, tell my bosses I need to take a leave of absence and call David to tell him the news.We met the couple at the hospital, met Gus, got to know everyone a little bit, set up an appointment to take the baby home the next day, and then left. We then went to Target to buy 2 cart loads of baby stuff. Without knowing what to buy, we just threw stuff into the carts willy nilly. Sleep that evening was interrupted and strange.The next day (Tuesday), we went back to the hospital at 11:00 in the morning to be there for his discharge. We were actually at the hospital until 4:30 because things just took a little extra time. It was an awkward moment when the birth parents left. It seemed like they wanted to keep it short but they were visibly sad yet resolute about their decision.

After they left, the nurses gave us a quick lesson on what to do. I could tell they thought we were totally unprepared. They offered to have a nurse come to our house to give us pointers but I haven't heard anything since we left the hospital so maybe that won't happen. After the crash course, we made an appointment to see a pediatrician and then signed 2 forms and left the hospital... Um, that's all we had to do? We could not believe they let us take a newborn infant out of the hospital after only meeting him the day before.Now we are getting settled into a routine and he is a very sweet mellow kid. This is one Thanksgiving we will always remember.

Equality For All (except gays)

Despite our best efforts, Proposition 8 looks like it will pass by a narrow 52-48 margin. That means the citizens of California voted to insert language into the constitution taking away rights from a group of people. Usually it's the other way around and we GRANT rights to disenfranchised people.I'm incredibly saddened by this turn of events and yet have hope for a couple of reasons. One reason is Barack Obama won the presidential election and I believe he will be an ally for us. I mean, he even included gays in his winning speech last night! I don't think Bush ever did that. Another reason is young people are not nearly as threatened by homosexuality as older folks so when the older generation dies off, we'll be left with a loving utopia where everyone is treated with dignity and respect...The final reason is this whole gay marriage thing has really filled me with a sense of community and justice. Last weekend we stood outside in the pouring rain holding signs for "No on 8". It felt good to be a part of something at a grassroots level. It felt even better when people driving by in cars honked in our favor or told us they were definitely going to vote No. Even though we lost, the fact that we came so close this time gives me hope for the future.