Congratulations are in Order

We are now officially the proud parents of Jeremy Arthur Phumlani Hoogstad!

Today, at about 12:30 pm we met our son for the first time. We got to hold him, and kiss him, and then we got to take him home! Glorify the Lord with us! Let us exalt His name together (Ps. 34:3 -- our family verse.)

I didn’t know how I’d feel, the first time seeing Jeremy. It’s something you picture over and over while you’re waiting. Today I felt a little nervous, and excited, and actually a little numb. But when Daphne, the woman at the baby house, handed him to me, a wave a emotion swept over me. My heart jumped to my throat and she placed him in my arms. It was incredible. Our eyes brimmed with tears and we held him tight, taking turns to hold our little guy. Marc and I spent an emotional time on the couch just looking at him, talking to him. He has the brightest eyes and the most adorable hairstyle. And HE SMILES! How incredible it is when you make your child smile! How even more incredible when you are meeting him for the first time and he breaks into a big wide grin; it’s makes you rejoice with all your heart. Unfortunately it was not possible for us to go into the baby house to see where Jeremy had lived the last three months. We would have liked to see his room and his crib and to meet his caregivers, but Daphne has promised to email us some pictures of those things so that when Jeremy is older he’ll be able to see where that part of his life took place.

After picking up Jeremy, we drove straight to the court. I was very nervous about the court, having never been to one before. But it was so relaxed. We met the magistrate in his office and basically watched him read our paperwork. He was very personable and very happy for us. Then he signed a lot of documents, looked up, and said, “Well, Congratulations are in order!” And that was that. We took a few pictures and brought our baby home. This afternoon has been wonderful. It was a relaxed, quiet afternoon just playing and talking and feeding and rocking Jeremy. He didn’t sleep much, but was content the whole time. Now, he’s sleeping peacefully in his “cot” as they call it here in S.A.

We are filled with gratitude to the Lord for what he has done for us. Jeremy's name means "Exalt the Lord!" And that is exactly what we are doing.