Jacob Lee will be here soon!

I just realized it's been quite some time since I've posted! Sorry about that! I just returned from a missions trip to Panama last week. I am so so so glad that I listened to God's nudging for me to go. It was my first missions trip and I was pretty anxious about not knowing quite what to expect and also that I'd be away from Steve for the longest I ever have. But, let me tell you something - where God leads, he guides and when you obey him you can expect blessings. I remember telling Steve a few years ago that I felt like there was something God wanted me to do before he blessed us with a baby. I wasn't sure what that meant at the time but now I'm pretty sure it was to go on this trip. It was a big step for me to sign up for this since I was so worried about how my anxiety would be (I know, anxiety about anxiety, crazy, right?). But leading up to the deadline to sign up for the trip God made it more and more obvious that I was supposed to go, including sermons about stepping out of the boat and getting out of your comfort zone to grow. So I signed up to go...on the last day of the deadline. And then guess what happened? About 19 days later we got the first phone call about this adoption possibility!!! I am just in awe of God's ways! The trip was great. I got the opportunity to pray over lots of girls and feel the Holy Spirit move during the conference we helped with down there. 

Time has gone so quickly with so much to do to prepare for baby's arrival. The due date is 9/10 (which is the day that Steve proposed to me) so it's only a month away, if he can hang in there until then! I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. It's continuing to be an awesome journey. So far we've been to 4 ultrasounds and I'm going to EM's dr appointment on Aug 21st. Next week she begins her weekly appointments where they'll be able to tell if she's started to dilate. 

I can't emphasize enough how amazing and strong EM is. At her last ultrasound, she told us she had something in her car for us after dinner. She bought us a diaper bag filled with all kinds of goodies - onesies, socks, blankets, a baby book and more! And she also got us a keepsake box that we can keep things in like his hospital bracelet and all. But the most special items she gave us in that bag was a huge gesture - 3 old onesies that belonged to each of her other sons. It meant so much to us, now I'm going to start tearing up thinking about it again! I'm so glad Jacob will have something that belonged to each of his brothers. 

This weekend we'll be starting to get our bags packed so we're ready when the time comes. The nursery is painted and has new carpet but we're waiting for the dresser to be delivered. Here's are some pics of the awesome painting job Steve did and the cute light switch plate he made! 

And here's the most recent ultrasound pic from July 10th. Baby was 4 lbs, 8 oz at this point and measuring in the 68th percentile.

EM wrote up her birth plan and it's been sent to the hospital already. She wants us in the delivery room and to cut the umbilical cord. She also wants the baby to go to me first so we can start skin-to-skin contact right away. As long as the hospital has an open room, they'll let us stay in it overnight while the baby is there. Once the baby is discharged we'll need to stay in PA until the paperwork is cleared with both PA and NJ so we can cross state lines with the baby. We ask that no one visit us while at the hospital so we can respect EM's time with the baby as well. Once we're discharged and in the hotel, we welcome visitors to keep us company since we'll be there for 5-10 days. 

Please continue to pray for us and the EM and the bio father. Eeeek, it's really happening! :-D