Week 24!

Ultrasound!

On Tuesday we went in and had our ultrasound. It was such a neat experience. The little babe was resting and so he/she wasn't moving around too much. It has its little hands up by his/her face almost the whole ultrasound. It will be interesting to see if our little one sleeps like that after he/she is born. Baby was in the 63% percentile for weight and the heartbeat was 147 bpm. They did move our due date up 4 days to June 4th. I have gained 10 pounds in the first 21 weeks and I am actually starting to look pregnant! We are so thankful that everything went well and baby looks good!

Reflecting on God's goodness

So far 2009 has been filled with amazing reminders of God's goodness. After we got home from spending a wonderful 9 days with Jack's family in Minot, we received a notice in the mail indicating that we were selected to receive a $3000.00 grant from Steven Curtis Chapman's organization, Shoahannah's Hope, towards our adoption expenses. WOW! We also got a letter from our adoption agency letting us know that in 2009 our adoption expenses would be increasing $500.00. Wouldn't you know that that same day we got a check in the mail from some dear friends our ours for $500.00. These evidences served to remind us that God's hand is leading us and He is providing for our needs. A year ago we were really at a loss trying to think how we could come up with almost $20,000 to adopt....here we are a year later and God has provided all the money we need to adopt our son or daughter. Jack and I are just overwhelmed by how God has provided for His will in our lives!

In addition to our praises on the adoption front, today marks pregnancy week 19. It is hard to believe that next week we will be half way done with this pregnancy. I think that I have felt the baby move, but I am a little uncertain since I have never done this before and I am not exactly sure what it feels like. We have our ultrasound scheduled for January 20th....can't hardly wait to see this little one up on the screen. :o)

Blizzard and Snow Days!

So we officially are having our first blizzard of the season. It started snowing last night and hasn't stopped yet. We have snow drifts in our backyard as tall as I am...which makes it very hard for Charly make his way down the deck to do his business. The blizzard isn't supposed to end until tomorrow morning...school has already been cancelled! So that means a snow day for me and a work day at home for Jack tomorrow!! Little blessings from above!

Pregnancy Week 15!

More blessings of 2008!

Well it seems like God is growing the Keller family by leaps and bounds! After contacting our adoption agency, we learned that our paperwork has been over in Ethiopia since October 22nd! That means that we would be able to get a referral of an infant boy next month...the only thing is that since we are pregnant...we will have to be put "on hold" until June. After Baby Keller is born, we are able to go off of "hold" status to receive and accept a referral. After that, it will be 4-6 months until Baby Hope's homecoming! That means that we will have two children under one years old at this time next year! Although we are thankful for the precious time that we will get to spend with our biological child...we are so very anxious to bring our little boy/girl home from Ethiopia. Since we started the process last October...the entire process will take a little over 2 years. We trust that God's timing is perfect and so we believe that God is preparing us to receive a double blessing...everyone tells us that we will be "busy". I can't think of a better "busy" to be...I have dreamt about being a mommy since the time I can remember and both Jack and I look forward with longing to hold our two precious children in our arms!

There won't be just two Keller babies next year....three Keller babies will join the family in 2009. We found out that our brother and sister-in-law are also pregnant and due in July. Oh how sweet to experience the miracle of this baby too! God is so good!

An Unexpected Miracle!!

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him." 1 Samuel 1:27

During the week of September 29th, I had the joy of sharing the story of Hannah with my Pre-K students. We talked about the faithfulness of God and his ability to answer even our most "impossible" prayers. Little did we know that God was in the midst of doing a Hannah-sized miracle in the Keller family!
On October 3rd, God showed Jack and I how truly BIG He is! We discovered, to our complete surprise and joy, that we were pregnant! Many of you know the journey that we have been on the past couple of years, but for those of you who don't...we were told that we might never be able to have biological children. I am not sure what exactly Hannah felt after the Lord allowed her to conceive Samuel, but I am sure that I felt something similar.
For days, Jack and I secretly rejoiced in this miracle! We were beyond thankful to think that in a year...we will have two miracles...our beloved Ethiopian child and a little Keller.
A huge answer to prayer was answered just days after we found out that we were pregnant. We contacted our adoption agency to find out what the protocol was for pregnant families in the process of adopting (something we had never even looked into). We found out that they were very supportive of pregnancy and allowed us to proceed as planned. It was just another evidence of God's hand upon this whole journey.
On Monday, November 3rd we went to the doctor and got to hear the baby's heartbeat! What a thrill that was. We are 10 weeks along and we are due June 7th or 8th.
Praise be to the God that does do above and beyond ANYTHING that we could ask or imagine!!