The Count Down is ON!

We have started a count down for this baby boy to get here and guess what!?!  We have 16 days left!  We are so excited!  We have been trying to get ready as quickly as we can.  We are all so excited - Ella checks our countdown daily, and is usually the one to update it.  We have been cleaning and organizing the baby room, finding all of our old baby stuff, and buying some new baby boy things.

We  haven't updated anything about this adoption yet, so we thought we would do that so we have a record of it.  We got an email from our adoption agency in October (around fall break) saying that a birthmom would like to have lunch with us to meet us.   We met a few days later at Olive Garden and got to know her.  We instantly liked her and felt really good about the meeting, but didn't want to get our hopes up.  Well, our caseworker called us as we were driving home saying that the birthmom would like to meet Ella.  We set up a meeting for Friday (lunch was on Tuesday) at City Creek.  We got there and she gave Ella a present right off the bat.  It had a puzzle and bubbles in it for Ella, then buried at the bottom was blue binkies, and little blue booties.  I immediately started to cry and so did Erik.  Ella was a little confused, but soon we explained to her that meant we were getting a baby brother and she was excited.  Our birthmom also gave us a card letting us know she had picked us.  We were so overwhelmed and feeling beyond blessed.  We all went and got ice cream together afterward.  Later that day when we were talking to Ella about it and making sure she understood she said, "This just feels so right!"  We couldn't agree more.

So if everything goes as planned, the birthmom is scheduled to have the baby on December 14th.  She could definitely have it early so we are just trying to get prepared!

We do have quite a bit of money to try to raise in such a short amount of time, and will probably continue raising money after the baby is born to pay loans back.  We have already paid about 3/4 of what we needed to, but are still needing more.  We have applied for some grants and are waiting to hear on those.  And we truly appreciate all of the generous donations we have received.  We are planning a Christmas Auction on December 5th.  We have received so many generous donations, and would love to receive about 10-15 more!  We are also planning an improv workshop and show.  Lastly, we have our gofundme account (see funding tab)
and appreciate all donations there.

Thank you all for your love, concern, prayers, and support.  We have been continuously blown away and overwhelmed by the amazing friends, families, and even strangers who have so lovingly supported us in this journey!  We love you all!

Erik, Ali, and Ella