Nella Arrives!!!!

Hi there
What an incredible time this has been for Matt and I. I am not even sure where to begin!!!! We had signed up Faithful Adoption Consultants about 2 weeks ago and Courtney tries to help connect you with agencies that have situations available. On Monday, we got a call from Courtney with a situation about a little baby girl in Utah. We were both so excited!!! We told everyone we knew to pray that this was our little girl! I felt connected immediately and was so hoping that this was it!!!

We were presenting Tuesday morning! We had so much paperwork we had to get to them to be able to present. So Monday night we were busily getting things faxed and emailing paperwork. So Tuesday morning, the birth mom was going to look through all the profiles to see if she could find a family for her little one. We didn't sleep at all Monday night. We prayed and prayed and prayed that it would be God's will that this was our baby.

Tuesday at school was difficult, all I thought of was that there was a chance we could be parents Wednesday....did I forget to mention that she was due on the next day Wednesday.....it was exciting and so nerve wrecking.....SOOOOOO on Tuesday at 2:00 I got the call from Courtney that she picked us. I ran out into the hallway and cried.....I was going to be a momma!! I could not even believe it!!! Wow...there are no words for that moment! Just tears and thanking God for this gift! I called Matt immediately...he was still at work...he just said no way..no way....you mean it...we are parents!

There was much time for us to celebrate...we had so much to do..I was down in the bathroom as the social worker, owner, financial person called to help us get things set up. We had to set up flights, get paperwork to them, get things for the baby, and then get ourselves packed....it was honestly a whirlwind.

I didn't even get to see Matt until 7. Then our birthmom called us at 8 and then I wanted to get her a gift and so I ran out to Things Remembered. I got her, Nella, and me a bracelet that has an engraving that says Forever in our hearts.

So at 1:00 AM, Matt and I were finally ready to go!!!!!!!!! I didn't sleep all I could think about was holding this little baby and how amazing God is.....I was still in shock...there was going to be a baby! My baby, My baby girl.....

On Wednesday, we boarded the plane and headed to Las Vegas for a hour lay over then off to Salt Lake City. We talked about Nella and how awesome this is...how amazing God love is, and how many people were supporting us! We were in awe of the amount of love....from texts, to messages, to prayers, to helping us get there, to helping us with finances...just everything....wow we feel so undeserving and thankful at the same time

We keep ourselves occupied by making To-Do Lists, filling out Nella's baby book, completing paperwork for the adoption, and reading Baby Wise

When we landed we called Jodie, our social worker. She said our birth mom wanted us in the delivery room and she was at 7 so we needed to hurry. We hurried up and got our luggage and then heading off to get our rental car. The lady who helped us at Hertz found out we were adopting and gave us a free upgrade. The car was a keyless start....we couldn't get it started...here we are in a hurry and the fancy car won't start...finally we figured it out and heading out to get our girl. We followed Jodie to the hospital flying to get here so we wouldn't miss the birth.

By the way, Salt Lake City is BEAUTIFUL....the mountains are breath taking....when we arrived at the hospital, she was ready to push.

I was so nervous entering the delivery room....I wanted to run up and kiss her and tell her I was so thankful, but she was in labor so I was pretty sure that wasn't appropriate....I was wasn't sure how to be or what to say...there are no words...but I stood beside her and thanked her for everything and asked if I could hold her hand......I did...we rubbed each other's hands during the delivery....watching Nella be born was amazing....I will never ever forget it....during the delivery I would look at her birth momma and then her and honestly tears would just well up in my eyes...how do I ever express the depths of my gratitude...how can I tell her how much this little girl means to me....how much she means to me for doing this not only for Nella, Matt, and I, but our family and friends....how do I ever thank God enough for her......it was a flood of emotions.....

After Miss Nella was born, we watched her go the warmer and them check her over and then we got to hold her......she was so tiny with this little head of hair. She was wide awake and looked up with her with her big brown eyes....looking at me and saying you are my momma....as I looked at her and thought you are my little wish come true....she melted me right then and there....I was in love with her before she was here, but seeing her precious little face just melted this momma heart.....Matt held her next....the love he has for her when he looks at her just pours out of him....you can see that he is in love truly in love with this 6 lb 2 oz little Nella bean.....We had our first family pic and then headed to the nursery......Matt went got our birth momma some food from Wendys(that is what she wanted) and we just continued to thank her and love on her....I don't feel like she will ever know how much Nella means to us and how much she means to us.....she is AMAZING...our birth momma is the sweetest, selfless, compassionate, strongest woman I have ever been priveledged to meet. She is an ANGEL...

While we were in the nursery, we saw Nella have her first bath....she loved the water part and getting her little full head of hair washed. We struggled with getting her to eat...the nurse worked with her and me for long time, but we couldn't get the little peanut to eat.....We then called all our family and friends and texted them about little Nella's arrival. Later that night, we continued to share the good news of little Nella bean being born and we just stared at her....stared at this little gift, but such a huge gift....we are in awe of God's plan. I often wondered and dreamed of this day and how things would go and what our child would look like....but seeing her, feeling the emotions, meeting her remarkable birth momma......I am truly in awe and God's love is amazing......Oh how HE loves us!!!!!!!!!! We enjoyed our first night with Nella as a family....just the three of us....we sat and stared at this this little peanut....God IS SO GOOD