Here we go...

Quick arrival...loved all the same.

It has been quite whirlwind of the last few days.  We've known we were going to adopt for quite some time and knew it would take some money to be able to make everything happen.  We have been so so appreciative of everyone and their help in helping us to earn as much as we were able to to make that dream a reality.  We were in a position that we felt we could officially get in the adoption agencies books and start to be considered as adoptive parents.  We finished filling out all our adoption application, got our home study, background checks, and everything else done so we were officially in the running.  We didn't expect anything really to happen for some time, but wanted to get the ball rolling.

At the beginning of April we were presented with a profile of a birth mother that was 15 and due June 5th, 2015.  We didn't know much about her other than that but felt like this could be one to pursue.  The way the adoptions work is that it is a birth mother's choice as to who she wants to adopt her child.  Each adopting family creates a profile book of themselves that is presented to the birth mother for her to choose the family for her child.  After getting this profile, we decided to let our family be presented to the birth mother.  We got a call from the adoption agency April 6th, 2015 saying that a birth mother was trying to decide between us and another family for the adoption of her little girl and wanted to have a phone conversation with each family to help her to make her final decision. Mike was in night classes but left early so we could have a conversation with the birth mother.

At 9:30pm we received a call from the birth mother named Morgan.  After talking with her for several minutes we learned she is a fun girl, full of life, loves to laugh, and knows the baby she is carrying was meant for someone else.  Her mother, is adopted herself and the whole family is extremely supportive of the decision that Morgan has made to place her daughter for adoption.  We hung up the phone, of course hopeful of the possible outcome, but not wanting to get our hopes up.  We received word from the agency just 5 minutes later that Morgan had chosen us to adopt her daughter!!!  Woo Hoo!!!

The next day, we announced the arrival of a little girl in June and stayed up late finishing the remodel of the nursery that we had begun weeks earlier.  Mike placed Krystle's phone on silent at night because of the many notifications that were coming from social media of people offering their congratulation.  We went to bed, tired from working on the nursery and were in a dead sleep.  Krystle got up about a quarter to three to use the bathroom and looked at her phone once she got up.  On there, among all the Facebook notifications, was a notification of a missed phone call and a missed text message from the adoption agency.  The agency was calling to let us know that Morgan had gone into labor at around 11:30pm and that she wanted us to drive down to St. George, UT (about 5 hours away) to meet her in the hospital.

WHAT!? This is a joke, right?  We just barely found our we were chosen to be parents but we've got another 9 weeks to prepare for this baby.  So we pack a suitcase with some clothes, gas up the car, and drive on down in disbelief, fear of the unknown, and entire shock of what was going on. We were still a few hours our from St. George when we were told that Morgan had given birth to a little girl at 5:12 that morning.  6lbs 3oz 19.5".

So many things were going through our heads... What are we going to do with a baby that is two month's premature?  How are we going to work it with Mike still working and taking 20 credits of school as well?  How are we going to pay for the medical expenses, let alone get the remaining money we needed to finalize the adoption?

Once we got there, we walked into the hospital, running on nothing but adrenaline, and located the room where Morgan was being held.  We walked in and were immediately greeted with hugs and a feeling like we had known this family for years.  We were introduced to this pink little girl and asked if we had chosen a name for her.  We had, but didn't know if Morgan had already chosen a name for her.  Morgan wanted us to name her so we chose the name Quinn Morgan Larsen.

While talking with Morgan and her family, we found out that the agency had actually given us the wrong due date.  She was supposed to be due May 5th, not June 5th. We were grateful she was only one month early and not two.  The doctors said she is very healthy and would not have to spend any time in the NICU. We spent the rest of the day sitting in the hospital room, talking with Morgan and her family, getting to know them a little more.  What an amazing family.  They are so full of life and love!  We are so grateful and blessed to be forever connected to this wonderful family. They have made such a huge impact on our lives.

We left in the afternoon to go pick up some things that we still didn't have, like a diaper bag, car seat, and other baby essentials. We got ourselves a hotel and basically both laid there all night, too in shock to sleep.  The next morning the hospital had a few more checks to do on Quinn before she could be discharged, which she passed with flying colors.  We brought her home the day after she was born. Happy, scared, and clueless parents.