Happy Friday, Everyone! Can you believe next week is March? This year is already flying by..

You may have noticed, we changed the "Goal" total amount. Originally the total was $28k, which encompassed the $26,000 fee from our agency and then an average estimate of fees that aren't covered by our agency equaling the remaining $2,000. We took the $2k off and decided that we'd cross that bridge when we got to it. So that was the first change in our goal total.

Then.. We had the soon-to-be grandparents of Baby Powell each reach out to us. Due to both families donating larger amounts, we opted to do a direct transfer to us rather than via Pure Charity, just so we can pay the agency directly with these funds. We wanted to spend our focus today thanking and acknowledging both Daniel's mom, "Grammy", and my parents "Grandma and Grandpa" for their amazing contributions to our adoption fund, as well as their love and support as we going on this adventure to bringing our baby home. We know that this child will be so lucky to have all of them as grandparents - and will be beyond spoiled by them!

Unfortunately, I couldn't adjust the total to show that we'd "raised" those funds without the funds going directly through the Pure Charity website. So we just decided it was easiest to adjust the end goal amount. So to clarify any confusion, our adoption is still costing the same amount, but due to the gracious grandparents and ALL of you lovely people who've donated already, we're already at 54% of our goal! Holy Smokes, that's SO amazing! We're blown away at the generosity of our community and family and friends.

In other exciting news... We had a little photoshoot this morning with the fabulous Katie of Jaden Reese Photography! We're hoping to use some of those in our portfolio that will be shown to the expectant parents who get to pick from our book and other adoptive parents.. to find the right family for their baby! We're also planning on doing a couple more photos later once the nursery is complete, and Aunt Christine has already volunteered to do those! Which is only fitting, since we came home one day a couple weeks ago to a brand new crib on our door step .. from the one and only Aunt Christine :) She's not excited or anything, huh?

We've completed our training in Crofton, and now are just finishing up some paperwork, reading our books and counting down until our Home Study.. March 22nd! After that, our social worker will type up our report and submit it for approval. Once approved, we will receive a certificate and our portfolio will start being shown to expectant parents.. and then our wait OFFICIALLY begins!

We also made a change to the location of the upcoming Wine and Design, to accommodate more people :) Here is the link : http://www.wineanddesign.com/calendars/event.php?id=16189
There will also be a silent auction while were painting.. and of course cake balls!

Thank you all SO much for being apart of our adventure. We love you all!
-Daniel & Brandy