Merry Christmas Eve!

**UPDATE** I finally got my pictures on here! And my computer works again...yea!!! Original post follows :)

Wow! Can it be?!?! I don't believe that it's Christmas time already! And the last time I posted on here...Thanksgiving!!!! So sorry guys! The month has just flown...you know...'cause I've been busy making everyone look beautiful for the holidays! :) But I wanted to get on here and let you all know that we are still alive and kicking and enjoying this beautiful snow that we are getting in Minnesota! So here's a quick run down of what's going on:

We got a beautiful Christmas miracle in the form of a baby boy...our newest nephew, Carter Alan, was born on December 18 at 7:56 a.m. He is a beautiful baby and we are so excited to have another nephew to watch grow up...and I'm sure Jon is excited to have another nephew to tease...as I'm sure all of our nieces and nephews are grateful for that...spread it around a little more :) Did I mention that he is a cutie?!? Well you be the judge:



Cute right?!? That's what I thought you would say :)

Last night we decided that even though they said we were going to get a blizzard we would stick to our original plan and head down to Rochester for the night. I had put together some little buckets with candy in them to put in the mailboxes at the Ronald McDonald House and I wanted to get them down there for Christmas. As nice as that place is I still can't imagine having to spend Christmas there...so I wanted to do a little something to hopefully give them some Christmas cheer! Plus we had a lot of pop tabs still to drop off...my Aunt Sue's school in Pillager, MN has been collecting tabs for us and everytime we've gone down to Rochester we've forgotten the boxes so we finally remembered to bring them this time...they were very grateful for them! And we had lots of other poptabs from a lot of you that have been bringing them into me...so thank you...you'd be surprised how fast they add up! After that we checked into a nice hotel, order pizza, watched some CABLE TV, and then went for a swim! It was just a nice relaxing evening. Then this morning we took our time getting up and then headed to the subway level to get us a Daube's cinnamon roll and some coffee...mmmm...yum yum yum! If you're ever in Rochester you'll have to get yourself a cinnamon roll...seriously...they melt in your mouth! Then we both went and conquered our fear and gave one of the greatest gifts you could give...we went and gave blood. Now I know some of you do this all the time and it's no big deal but for Jon and I...it's a big deal...he has a huge fear of needles and for some reason I have a huge fear of passing out (really...what happens when you pass out...I'd rather not find out...and I've always heard stories of people passing out when they give blood so I was not going to even try it). But we did it and we are both still here and feeling really good about ourselves...check us out:

They wouldn't let us take our pictures while we were giving blood. And yes...our arms still hurt because remember that cinnamon roll and coffee I talked about earlier...yea...well....I guess that's not the best thing to eat before giving blood...our time took forever...they told us maybe 5-10 minutes...pretty sure mine too about 25 and Jon's was at least that long! But...we both helped 3 people today for our 25 minutes of agony...and I think we'll do it again! :)

Let's see...hmmm...seems like I should have other news for you as well...oh yeah...remember that Christmas miracle that you all have been praying about...well...I believe your prayers have been answered!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you like how I was so coy about that!!!!!!!!!!! Let me tell you the details...and yes...I left this bit of news to see how many of you would acutally make it to the end of my post...sorry...it's getting a little long but hang in there...it's getting good! So about the adoption story....it was Wednesday, December 9th, and it was a snowy day here in good ole MN. The schools were closed, the roads were barely plowed, and it was cold...but where were Jon and I...out in the stuff! We had a meeting with our accountant so we thought we'd better go to it. Once we were out in the stuff we realized that no one else was so we might as well make a day of it! We went to Walmart, Cabela's, the shoe store, all over the place...it was that night as we were making our way home that I turned to Jon and said...that's it...when we get home we are looking up those vacations again and we are booking one for the last week in January...not even 15 minutes later my phone rings and I see it is our adoption counselor. She starts off by saying that there is a birthmom that she is screening us for...she has a few things she wants to see if we are okay with...like the fact that she has gestational diabetes and does that matter to us. There were some other things they asked that Jon and I didn't feel like were a big deal and our counselor then asked if we would want to say yes to this situation. Of course we said yes, thinking that they were screening a few other couples as well, and then our counselor says....great...'cause she has picked you too! What?!? That's it! Yep...and she is due February 8th (which is the boys' birthday...my heart about dropped when I heard the date) but because of her gestational diabetes and the fact that the baby is laying on her sciatic nerve and causing her a lot of pain, her doctor has agreed to induce her two weeks early,which means the baby will be born sometime the last week of January!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it?!? I still can't! It feels like a very good situation...she has actually placed a baby for adoption before and all that went smoothly so the agency feels very good about this one going good too! We feel better knowing that because it means she has done it before, knows the emotions that go with it, and still wants to give this little one up. When our counselor called us back to tell us that her counselor told her that we said yes they said that she was very excited! And she has already been to her lawyer to sign some paperwork that needs to be done before the baby gets here and we have also gone to our lawyer as well...we will be able to take the baby home straight from the hospital which makes me so happy...it will be fun to have a tiny newborn! Oh...and in case you are wondering why I haven't said a sex yet...it's because we want it to be a surprise...so start your guessing now :) We'll see who is right :) Okay..so was that some good news or what?!? We could still use some prayers because as we know, something could still go wrong. We just keep praying that the baby stays healthy and safe along with the birthmom and we keep praying that she doesn't change her mind...'cause even though we are trying to guard our hearts....we can't help but be excited!

Well I'll let your eyes heal now from all this reading...mine are getting a little heavy as well. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I'll keep you all posted!