I’m not even quite sure where to begin. But the world has turned upside down for the Duffys – in the best way possible!

A month ago, I went into the office after hearing that a birth mom that had looked at our book was leaning towards another family. Still, I wanted to keep my phone nearby – just in case. The night before, when our social worker called to tell us about the situation – I had a good feeling about it. That night I talked to one of my best friends about it and cried about having that feeling – because I’d been here before. And having hope, but not too much hope was a balancing act, I know every woman who is trying to get pregnant or waiting for an adoption placement knows. You hold back your fear of disappointment AND you hold back your hope that this might be the time it works out!

I walked in to work kicking myself – my good feeling was just proving the advice of others to not get the cart before the horse. Fifteen minutes after sitting down at my desk, I panicked realizing my phone wasn’t out of my bag. Missed calls and urgent texts to call back ASAP.

Steve was the one tell me. “We’re going to be parents.” (Steve was literally in the middle of a job interview when he got the call!)

I called my mom. I freaked out about all the things I needed to do. There was a group gathering outside of my office – so when I walked out – all I could say was that a birth mom picked us. I kept adding – but “It’s not official. Things could still change.”

The next couple of hours flew by from racing home, calling colleagues and supervisors to tell them I needed to leave abruptly, finding dog sitters, packing for the unknown adventure awaited us in Tucson. To needing to decide on a name – our social worker called and asked us if we had decided. We had not.

Steve then added “There’s a name that keeps coming up for me. Riley.” I liked it. I looked it up and one of the meanings (Irish) in origins was ‘Courageous’. One of the things we talked about was the courageous act of his birth mom – so Riley was perfect.

I added Joseph – after my Grandpa Joe. The best grandpa. A kind and loving man.

We decided this gave our soon to be son, lots of options for nicknames and names. Riley, Riley Joe, RJ, and of course, Duffy. We loved it. It fit perfectly.

We got to Tucson and walked up to Riley’s birth mom’s door – and waited. She had been through a lot – a hard labor and emergency c-section. We understood when we were asked to wait and that she needed more rest.

Without going into all the details, that week would involve a lot of waiting. A lot more of holding back emotions – hope and fear and joy and sadness. But at the end of the week, we got to witness how God takes something brutally hard and can make it beautiful. We left Saturday after spending time with Riley’s birth mom – someone we love and will always honor and celebrate in our family. We hope to have a beautiful relationship with her going forward.

Riley’s birth mom had one big request – that we include the name Reyez as a middle name. It means ‘King’ and carried a lot of sentimental value to her family.

We came to Tucson as a couple, but left as a family – with our little sweet faced, healthy, baby boy. Our ‘courageous grandpa king’ as Steve’s best friend dubbed him.

We cannot end this update without saying Thank You. We were very open about our process for adoption. Without everyone’s help – we would not have been ready to put our match book before birth moms by April! Your donations, cupcake orders, yard sale shopping, eating tacos and engaging in our various raffles – along with the matching grant we received from LifeSong helped limit how much we had to borrow to pay our agency and other fees.

We cannot wait for Riley to hear about how this family and community came together to help us bring him home! We also cannot wait to share pictures, but we are waiting until our court date in July before posting! Stay tuned!!!

And last update – on July 12th, Riley will have his first court appearance in Mesa, Arizona. Where our petition for adoption will be finalized! If you’re interested in attending or watching (there is a link that can be used to watch online!) – just contact me or Steve.