Matched!!!

Back when we were going through the adoption process with Ellie, I kept things pretty quiet until after we brought her home.  There were some circumstances with her adoption that really kept us on the edge of our seats and it was our first adoption so we were all sorts of nervous.  I told myself that the next time around I wanted to be more transparent so that we could really utilize this blogging community I have found for prayers and support!

At the beginning of December I was contacted by our Adoption Agency that we had been selected by a Birthmom to meet with!! It was the best news I could have received and Thomas and I were overjoyed with the news!!  We were told that the Birthmom was due at the end of March with a sweet baby girl.  

We had thrown around the idea of setting up a meeting immediately but then had to reschedule due to unfavorable driving conditions and we became a sick house.  So we set up our lunch date for New Years Day!!  The drive to the city our agency is in is about 6 hours so we made plans to head over on NYE and spend the evening with my family that lives there (what a blessing they are to us to let us stay with them for all of these trips!!)

On NYE we got up and had a leisurely morning and got all packed up for our weekend away.  Then we hopped in our truck and started our road trip to meet our potential birthmom!!

We talked about why we were going on a road trip and Ellie was super excited.  She was a total champ in the car for basically the whole drive! I think it helped that she got to play with my old iPhone that I put a lot of games and apps on for her.  After about 2 hours into our drive we came upon snow!! Ellie was so excited about it and said that Elsa brought all the snow and wanted to build a snowman...seriously it was so adorable.  We made our pit stop at our favorite restaurant for burgers and friend mushrooms and let Ellie out in the snow.

It was freezing cold and super dry so the snow was basically just powder - so we couldn't build a

snowman :( but girlfriend still had a blast with it...until she stepped into a big pile and sunk right to the bottom and it got all in her boots!!  Thankfully our lunch was ready so we went inside to get warmed up!

We tried to plan our trip so the second leg (the longer of the two) would happen around the time for Ellie's nap and Praise be to Jesus, she actually fell asleep right on schedule!! I can't even....sleeping pictures of the babe are my favorite!!

Ellie woke up about 30 minutes before we made it into town and as we were driving down a side road to my family's house we got to see deer or "Reindeer" as Ellie affectionately calls them.  The snow and their ears just made for the perfect picture and I am so glad I was able to capture this!! Once we passed them Ellie kept asking to see the reindeer again, lucky for her they are all over the place!

Once we arrived at my family's house we got settled in and had dinner.  My cousin has a daughter who is 1 year old and when Ellie saw her she said "That's my baby sister!!!" It was the most adorable thing but we had to explain to her that they are cousins and we would be "meeting" her baby sister the next day at lunch.  They had all sorts of snow gear for the 1 year old - that my little munchkin was able to fit into just fine.  We went out on their street for some sledding and to "build" a snowman.  The snow here was super dry again so I just had to find various sized blocks of snow to stack on top of each other...Ellie was completely satisfied with my creation so bonus points there for toddler imagination.

  here is my little snowman ;)

Then we came back inside and Ellie found "Finding Nemo" which is one of her absolute favorites so we put that on for her, and she watched it in a basket ... her favorite!

After our fun filled day of riding in a car for 6 hours, playing in the snow, and sitting in baskets the babe was pooped and fell right asleep ... did I mention I love sleeping pictures of my babe?

On NY day we got up and had a fun morning with my family before we had to leave to meet up with our Birthmom.  Ellie was having so much fun playing with her cousin and just adored her so much.  

We had a fantastic lunch (at our favorite place) and meeting with the Birthmom, Ellie was on her best behavior at the restaurant which I knew she would be but I was worried about it because she is a toddler.  The birthmom texted me before I had a chance to after our meeting to thank us for driving over and to confirm that we are her choice for parenting her child!!  Happy New Year to us!! Just praying that 2016 continues to be a fruitful year for us and that everything goes smoothly!!

After our meeting, we got back in the car and Ellie promptly fell asleep!  We were able to transfer her from the car to the bed back at my Aunt's house.  We chatted with my cousin and then she left to take her daughter home for her nap and then when Ellie woke up and came into the kitchen she asked "Where baby go?" meaning my cousin's daughter and we told her that she left.  Ellie started to just bawl that the baby was gone.  Oh my word it seriously was the sweetest thing I have ever seen, so we explained to Ellie that the baby went back home for her nap and we would see her later for dinner.  That seemed to calm her down and she was back to her happy self again...and back in that basket ;)

We headed out to Chuck E Cheese for dinner and Ellie had so much fun riding on the little mini carousel there and climbing up into the jungle gym area thing and coming down the twisty slide.  She was just a menace running all around and I am so happy that she enjoyed her time.  We are so looking forward to adding to our family and I know that Ellie is going to be the best big sister.

And one more photo of her sleeping...because, duh!!

Thank you for all of your support.  We would appreciate prayers for our process to continue on and to go smoothly!  I will keep y'all updated as things come up....like my nursery inspiration!!!

♥ Ashley