Our Beautiful Baby Boy

How is it that a name and a picture can stir in us such incredible love? How can one phone call change our lives forever! We got the call; our son, our beautiful baby boy is ready to come home! We are emotional, excited, overjoyed, nervous, and so blessed. God is so good!

And here he is!

Jeremy Arthur Phumlani Hoogstad

born Feb 16, 2010

referred to us April 28,2010

Here in the Hoogstad household we are reeling! We had given up hope that we'd receive a call this spring and were so wonderfully surprised. We are dazed, walking in a dream. We sit and stare at the pictures of our son and memorize every detail of his precious face. We are overwhelmed with joy, and with preparations!

Baby Jeremy, a name we are trying out as much as possible, came with the name Arthur. His birth mother, of English South African background, named him after his great grandfather; they share a birthday. We have given him his other names.

Jeremy, Marc's middle name, means "Exalt the Lord", and it completely reflects our feelings. Exalt the Lord! Praise His name! Glorify the Lord with us!

Phumlani, Jeremy's third name, is the name of his birth father, a Zulu South African. Phumlani means "rest" and we pray that Jeremy's birth parents can rest in the Lord and be at peace with their decision to relinquish their child and give him to us to raise. We want to honour them and so have used names from both of them so that they will forever be a part of Jeremy and his identity.

These last few days have been emotional, overwhelming, and wonderful. Every few hours it seems, we receive new information about our son. We've met with our Canadian social worker, signed papers, looked into flights, called family members, and have wandered around in a daze, unable to even think straight. It's an incredible experience.

So now, our dreams, our thoughts, our hopes for the last year and a half are becoming real. In just two and a half weeks our lives will be changed forever. Our family will be complete and our son will be home. Our family tree will grow in the most beautiful way as Jeremy Arthur Phumlani is grafted in. We covet the prayers of family and friends over the next few weeks as we prepare to travel and unite with our son, and also in the months and years to come.