A light at the end of the tunnel.

It's no secret that we have struggled to adopt for the past two years. It's been a long and very emotional journey.

Thankfully, we are almost done.

Hopefully.

The heartbreaking part of adoption is that nothing is final until it is. And that's usually not until at least 24 hours after the baby is born. Most people keep their match a secret until placement but because of all the support and help we have had from friends and family, we felt that we needed to be open about our amazing news to share with those who have journeyed with us.

Although anything can happen, and we have experienced it all before, we are very positive that this little girl will be placed in our arms come October.

Over the past couple years we have been in touch with an adoption agency out of Utah that houses and cares for birthmothers throughout their pregnancy. The amazing thing about this direction is that you will not be scammed, the birthmothers are heathy and supported and placement chances are higher. The negative side is the cost.

After all we had been through taking the "inexpensive route", we were ready to take the plunge into the more "sure" and safe waters. We started our adoption fund to help out with the fees and moved forward with The Adoption Center of Choice.

A few weeks ago we were presented a birthmother profile that seemed promising. She had great health, sounded very strong and was looking for a family like ours. We asked for our information to be sent to her. Not even 2 hours later we got a call that she wanted to talk to our family. And ONLY our family.

It was hard not to get excited, but we stayed calm. After all, we have had our fair share of the word "no" and so we prepared ourselves for the same answer once again.

When we spoke to her our worries were drained from our hearts.

This was it.

She was easy to talk to, understanding, very positive and exactly the person we hoped we would be matched with.

Soon we heard the words we had been waiting so long for. "She has picked your family."

To say that we are excited would be an understatement. Although we still hold on to some concerns that have been caused by previous disappointments, we are feeling so sure and ready to bring this little girl home. We have started to prepare and can hardly wait to bring her back to all the wonderful people who have helped bring this amazing baby into our family.

We are so touched and extremely humbled by all the help that we have been offered.

If you would like to help support and care for our birthmother and assist in bringing home our "Little Sunshine", as Sam has been calling her, check out our fund at www.adopttogether.org/mattandholly

More updates to come!!

Exciting news

Thanks to everyone who has donated to our AdoptTogether fund thus far, we have been able to reach nearly half our goal in only one month, which makes it all the more exciting that we have been chosen by a birth mother to adopt a baby girl, due in early October.

We are so humbled and thankful to have such loving and supportive friends and family surrounding us during this adoption process. We are so happy and excited, October can’t come fast enough.

If you’d like to be a part of helping us bring this little girl home, please visit our website www.adopttogether.org/mattandholly

The Kla Ha Ya Day Fair

This weekend we enjoyed the Snohomish Fair with my family. Sam was so excited, he had been talking about it all week leading up to the event.

This kid LOVES rides.

Me and the hubs.

My Dad's tribute band played downtown so after his show we all headed into the Fair together. It was great to have them with us this year.

The valley is so beautiful and we went right at sunset which helped the views improve!

"Hi, I'm Sam. I'm 4!"

We may be a little concerned that our son was born without the "fear" indicator. Not sure I have ever seen him scared.

Sam begged to play the fishing game and I obliged (only because it's a guaranteed win...I'm a cheapskate)

He caught one!

Sammy picked out a blue frog for his prize and then continued riding the carnival rides.

Matty and I decided to test our age and ride the "Hammer."Aparently it's not thrilling enough for Matt.

Since when is laughing like a crazy maniac NOT acceptable on rides? I guess I didn't get the same memo that Matt and his little neighbor got. Whatever, I had fun.

Matt had THIS face on the whole time and my fear of falling or a broken ride turned to fear of getting vomited on.

Spew the other way, Matty!

Okay, so we didn't puke or die.

Sam and I rode "Big Pink" while Matty sat on the side lines thinking of dirty innuendoes about it.

Our final carnival ride was the carousel and Sammy chose to ride with Bub....

...and make funny faces every time they came around.

So glad he's easy to please! This little boy loves Carnival's as much as his mommy and daddy!

Thanks Bub and Grandma for joining in the fun!

Sam's first hike

Sammy and I met up with our friends, The Allen's, to check out Heather Lake in Granite Falls. We had researched that the hike was a little over 4 miles round trip, but we were unprepared for the hard trail. The rocks and roots made it hard for Sam's little legs, but he did great!! We made it to the lake where we enjoyed the view, lunch and all of the frogs in the swamp.

I am so proud of Sammy for being so strong! I think my little hiker and I will be checking out more trails this year. Who's in?!