A couple of weekends ago we flew out to

Colorado Springs to visit our baby momma.

Amy really enjoyed watching Dumbo on the airplane while she chewed as many pieces of bubble gum as humanly possible. She now claims gum to be her favorite food.

We are crazy about Sammi (& her friends),

and we are spoiled to be matched with her.

We went to Cheyenne Park Zoo on a whim and had a great time feeding giraffes.

And we had the orangutans and gorillas all to ourselves.

We bonded. :)

This gorilla tried to share his lettuce with Amy.

Look at those crazy beavers!!!

I am feeling comfortable and confident enough to spill the beans about our family now.

We are having a baby!!! A BOY!!!

(and by "having" I mean adopting).

Mike and I mutually decided that our family needed a 4th member, and a few days later we were matched with a birth mom in Colorado Springs! It happened perfectly fast!

We were presented with a birth mother situation 2 days after we signed up with Adoption Information Services that we knew was the right one for us. We felt it in our bones, in our hearts, and in our brains. It gave me goose bumps. Everything about it felt right. We rushed to get our paperwork and profile in order to apply for this situation through an agency that AIS highly recommended. Then the birth mother (and her friends) took their time and carefully considered about 10 adoptive parent applicants by their profiles, ultimately choosing ours. It is so humbling and flattering to be chosen by someone to raise her child as our own.

We had a conference call of sorts on Super Bowl Sunday. By this time we were fully committed, both emotionally and financially. You can imagine the stress and awkwardness we felt in anticipation of this introductory conversation! Mike & I were on speaker with my phone, and Sammi and her two best friends were on speaker 2 time zones away. We all asked questions and got familiar with each other and Sammi expressed a few wishes for her son that Michael and I are excited to fulfill: He will be raised Christian, and a Bronco's fan!

We also discussed names. Our top few choices were Owen Andrew, and Andrew Bronco (even though Mike won't even take me seriously with this one, I LOVE it). Sammi's one and only favorite name was Andrew, and she wasn't so crazy about Bronco as a middle name either :(. I guess I'll settle for it being his nick name.

He is due May 28th. We are planning on naming him Owen Andrew...unless something else comes up or Michael comes around to Andrew Bronco. I'm not holding my breathe.

Sammi was thoughtful enough to send me this ultrasound picture of him a few weeks ago. When I received it I was at the tennis courts having just finished up a lesson. I burst into happy tears and about fell out of my chair. I then got in my car and drove home, leaving my raquet, bag and shoes at the courts. (I do have pregnancy brain, you know!)