Merry Christmas

We had a very fun filled Christmas as a family of five. Kobe started walking on the 23rd so he was a busy, busy boy. He was so proud of himself and enjoyed viewing the world from a different level. He knew how to tear into the presents so that made it even more fun. I think back to last year at Christmas time. We were sitting at the #1 spot for a boy. We longed for a Christmas miracle to see our son's face. God had different plans as we didn't get our referral until after our Christmas, but just in time for Ethiopia's Christmas. :) We feel extremely blessed as we celebrated our first Christmas together.

 

Baby steps

I know kids will do things when they are ready, but we have been unpatiently waiting for Kobe to take his first steps. He just about runs when he is walking along things. He needed to gain some confidence in the fact that he was okay and could actually do this. On December 12, he took his first real steps. (not accidental steps b/c he was falling...ha) He walked 4-6 steps in between Mom and Dad. We thought, "Look out now." He sit was quite reserved. He would walk between people but that was it. On the 18th, he finally walked 2-3 feet without anyone else in the room. Again we thought, "Look out now." He didn't really do much walking during the day at daycare. What in the world?! On the 20th, he walked the length of the living room. On the 21st, he was just starting to take a few steps at daycare. Last night we traveled for Christmas. We picked him up from daycare and put him in his carseat for the drive. When we got to our destination, this little boy walked...and walked...and walked. He walked more last night than we have ever seen. It is safe to say he is walking more than crawling. He is so funny to watch as he balances himself with his arms in the air. He is so proud and so happy with his new view. Now we have a new level of "trouble." :)

 

Adoption Day!

On December 11, we got in the car and drove 30 miles to the Courthouse in Ipswich. That is where we made our adoption FINAL and legal in South Dakota. Our little man's name was legally changed also. It was a big day that we had waited years for. Now the only thing left to do in regards to this adoption is to have one more home visit by our social worker once we have been home for a year. We will also have to submit yearly reports that get sent to Ethiopia every year until he is 18. After almost 3 years from starting the process, the adoption is 100% final!! What a great feeling!!! Happy Adoption Day!!!  Here is a picture of that day.

 

A big day is coming!!!

I wonder if the title of this blog post has anyone confused. What big day could possibly be coming? We have had lots of "big days" with Kobe. Tuesday is another big day in our lives. We will be going to court to readopt this little boy. He is legally our son right now. We will be legally changing his name. It is THE FINAL STEP in making this adoption 100% official. After almost three years in this process, we will be done!!! (With the exception of the yearly reports we must submit to Ethiopia) Kobe's adoption will be complete!!!! What a huge thing to celebrate!

Atlanta Bound

I recently booked tickets to Atlanta. There is an amazing adoption conference in January. The head of this conference is from our agency. I really wanted to go, but plane tickets from South Dakota to Georgia are not cheap. I accepted the fact I wouldn't get to go. I was very sad about it since so many of my adoptive mommy friends go and talk about it a lot. The registration was back in August. I believe it sold out in about 4 hours. The day of registration I was extremely sad. I got on Facebook and someone told me to go to my email. In my email was this message, "Your AGCI mama friends all love you SO much and we want you there! We all chipped in and I just registered you for January! I've got a check with YOUR name written on it for you to buy plane tickets and I know there are some moms who want to be your roomie! I can't wait to see you there and to give you a hug! :D" So amazing!!! It is still very overwhelming to know that these "strangers" pitched in to help out with my plane ticket. These ladies are some of my dearest friends even though we have never met. Due to the high cost of plane tickets, I know I won't be doing this again. I can't wait to go! I plan on making the most of this once in a lifetime experience. I am so thankful for these amazing friends that love me and care about me so much that they were willing to pitch in and help me to be able to to do something that I could have never done without them.

A long post since it is long overdue

Wow! Where does the time go? We have been home for 7 months already. 7 months!! It seems unreal that it has been that long already. It is interesting because when you are on the wait list the days drag and drag. Now being home with our little angel the days just fly by. We had some momentous days this week. First of all 7 months home means that Kobe has officially been in his forever family as long as he was in institutional care! Yippee!! What a milestone! Thank you God!

On November 11, 2011 Kobe was brought into the care of the amazing Hannah's Hope. (Our agency's transition home) The day was sure filled with mixed emotions for this mom. He came into HH weighing 6 pounds at 2 months of age. I believe with all my heart that he came into HH as a last ditch effort. People in Ethiopia know that HH has great care. There are many times when kids are taken to Hannah's Hope when they don't think the kiddo will make it. We were so appreciative of all that the Hannah's Hope staff did. Not only did they take the place of us, as parents, when we were a world away, but they nursed our baby back to life. We thank GOD over and over that He saved our son. It is an overwhelming feeling.

Days in our house are simply amazing. We are always amazed at the new thing that Kobe says or does. He is really getting good at copying us. Right now it is cute while that might not always be the case. ;) It seems he is changing daily. It is unbelievable as to how much joy this little boy brings to our lives. The other day, in church, Kobe was sleeping on me. Lexi said, "I just want to squeeze him." She then continued to say, "I want to squeeze him when he smiles and laughs at us too." Truth spoken straight from the almost 11 year old's mouth. I think we all think/feel that same way. It is like you cannot get enough of this little man. Words cannot express the amount of joy he brings into our lives.

Recently an adoptive mom and friend of mine posted a blog about life after returning home with the newest addition to the family from another country. She was asked to sum things up in 3 words. After she thought long and hard about it, she came up with exhaustion,grief, and isolation. I agreed with her post so much I did get permission to post about it in my blog.  Exhaustion: The adoption journey is truly exhausting...physically and emotionally. It IS different that having biological kids. There are so many "other" things that play into all of it. I've learned that it isn't as cut and dry as it was with the girls. There are lots more questions and lots more trial and error. It seems like there is always something I'm needing to change or looking into b/c I don't know what to do etc...For example, his hair! We had a great hair routine down. Now that we had a few days in the teens we have to find a new routine for the winter months. Another thing is trying to keep him warm when hauling him to and from the house. His little skin has never been in cold like this. He needs some time to get a bit more used to the weather. Thankfully he got to come home in April so he had a little transition. It just is always something whether it is actually child care or paperwork, etc.. Also-- it has been 10 years since we have had a little one running around the house. It is hard to get back into the swing of that craziness. I was 10 years younger when my last one was into everything in the house. ;) Grief: There is so much grief that comes with adoption. First of all, in all the happiness we have with this little boy there is a mother a world away that is missing her little boy. I hope/pray that she knows he is well taken care of and loved so much. I cannot imagine things being so bad that I had to give up my child. There is also grief in how are lives used to be. No we wouldn't change things at all. We also are constantly reminded of God's hand in bringing this little boy into our lives. No matter how much any child is wanted, the change of the family dynamics is hard. We went from being able to up and go whenever to having to make sure all bases were covered before leaving. We are back to diaper bags, carseats, and babysitters. Don't get me wrong...there isn't anything wrong with this. It is just a change. A change that is hard. There are times when we grieve our old pick up and go whenever lives. It comes with the territory. Isolation: For the first weeks home, we are told to limit contact with others in order to ensure proper attachment with this kid that honestly doesn't know you from any other person that has left him in his life. We did "cocoon" and limited the time with others besides our family. Then we slowly went out. Now we are back into our regular lives full force. So how can it still feel so lonely? A big part of it is that my friends are past their baby days which means I'm going through all of this by myself with nobody to talk to about what their kid is doing, etc.. Also--it seems my world revolves around this little boy. I could talk about him all day. I've realized the other day that things ARE different with Kobe than with the girls. I cherish my time with him more. I really struggled with telling anyone that. I felt very guilty, but it does make sense. #1-we waited, longed, prayed, ached for this new addition for so long. #2-we missed the first 7 months of his life. Therefore I think the time we do have with him now is so much more meaningful b/c of what we missed. #3-we are older and realize that in a blink of an eye these days will be just a memory. #4-holding your child and then leaving them a world away not knowing when you will return makes you not want to let them go. There are days when I just hold Kobe in the rocking chair after he is sleeping. Oh the thoughts and feelings that stirs up both good and bad. The summary of all of this...Adoption is so very hard yet it is so very rewarding! None of this will make sense to you unless you have been there and done that. I don't think I've been through anything as hard as our adoption journey and I don't think I've been through anything as rewarding as our adoption experience. My heart is always so warmed and full when I think of what a perfect fit Kobe is for our family. He brings so much joy and happiness. He is loved more than anyone could ever imagine. We thank God over and over for saving Kobe and for giving him to us. We thank God for His hand in this whole thing and His perfect timing. WE are the ones that are blessed. How can someone so little bring such joy?!

 

6 months home

Today marks 6 months home. Thinking back to that day 6 months ago brings so many emotions. After roughly 22 hours of travel with a 7 month old baby that we barely knew, we were home!!! Sometimes it seems as if it was just yesterday we brought our little man home. Other times it seems he has been here forever. What a true blessing he is to so many.

 

Throwing in the towel

We feel we have been chasing the wind in regards to the past medical stuff with Kobe. He went in for liver enyzmes. I asked about constipation. The next thing I know is that he has an inflammed esphogus. Wow did we jump around a lot. Jason and I didn't really want to go through the Upper GI anyway, but when the doctor got on the phone and told Jason how important it is....we went with it. I have an adoptive dad that is a radiologist. He said that inflammation can NOT be seen in an Upper GI. What?!?!?!? Seriously!!!! We already felt we were getting the run around. We trust these doctors as we don't know medicine. Frustrated! We are very, very frustrated!!!!! We are throwing in the towel on all of this medical testing. Jason and I both feel nothing is wrong. I said yesterday we need to realize that parental instinct is right most of the time. Yes there could be something there, but I would think that we would notice some symptoms. He is happy. He is eating and drinking well. He is sleeping fine. He is developmentally on task. I just feel we would be seeing something if he didn't feel good. I know the doctors need to tell us to continue to search for the problem. I understand that is their job. They also don't want to be sued if something isn't checked for. We have done some invasive testing with this little boy who seems fine!!! I wonder how much of their findings are some what normal. These doctors don't deal with kids from a third world country on a daily basis. They don't constantly deal with kids that were very malnourished when they were first born. I'm sure both of those things have to play into his medical "workup." Time will tell. We hope we aren't missing anything and would feel awful if we stopped looking for something. We just feel we are looking for problems that aren't really there. We hope and pray we are making the right decision.

Upper GI results

Monday Kobe had an Upper GI. The hardest part was having him not eat for 8 hours. Our appointment wasn't until 10:30 (which is a lot of awake hours for a hungry little one year old) He drank the barium decent as he was starving. He wasn't impressed that they were holding him down.  We found that his esophagus is inflammed. So the doctor diagnosed him with acid reflux and gave us a prescription of Prilosec. He would like to recheck him in a few months to see if the inflammation was down. If not, he thought he might need a scope. My goodness we are doing some invasive testing on a little boy that has NO SYMPTOMS!!!! It is so frustrating!! Of course we want the best for Kobe. We want to make sure we aren't missing something. Yet I'm not sure how much these doctors know (or have experience) with little people from a third world country. It is hard to keep testing, testing, testing when he seems okay.

A wise friend (and also adoptive mom) suggested being tested for H pylori. Her kids tested positive for this and didn't have symptoms.

Today I contacted our International Pediatrician. We had to have a certain doctor review Kobe's medical information before we said "Yes! We will take this child." She has lots of knowledge when it comes to all of the special things that these little ones may have. I'm at a loss as to what to do next. She did agree H pylori would be the starting point. She has had to work super hard to convince other doctors that kids can get this. Kids don't usually get this, but it is seen in International adopted children. She did say a scope might be the best way to find some specific answers instead of flying blind.

I have an appointment in town to get him tested for H pylori. It would be nice if we could get to the bottom of this.  I'm sure this update is clear as mud. As long as you feel the same as we do. :)
 

One year pictures

We tried numerous times to get some pictures to remember this little boy's first birthday. He was a stinker! He would smile and laugh until the camera was brought out. ;) Due to the talent of the photographer, she was still able to get some great pictures. Thank you, Sarah! Here is one of my favorites.

 

Upper GI scheduled

We went to Sioux Falls a few weeks ago to see a GI doctor in regards to Kobe's liver enzymes. The doctor wasn't concerned with the numbers. When we talked to him about Kobe's hard stools, he decided to do an x-ray. They saw his diaphragm was high and wanted to schedule an Upper GI. We weren't really sure if this was necessary. We kind of felt we were testing him to find nothing was wrong. We weren't really concerned about things b/c he didn't have any symptoms. So the nurse called to see about scheduling the Upper GI. I told her we had decided not to do it. After talking to the doctor, she called back. The doctor said it really needed to be done. The doctor even got on the phone and talked to Jason. Okay...apparently we should do this. ???  They are concerned about some sort of hernia. Who knows?!! On Monday, he is scheduled for an Upper GI at 10:30 with an appointment with the doctor to follow. I'm dreading this so much. He can't have anything to eat for 8 hours before. He can have clear liquids for 4 hours ahead of time. I can't imagine. I do wonder how they will get him to drink the chalky barium. Maybe he will suck it down because he will be starving!  It could be interesting. Needless to say, I'm hoping we don't find anything. It is hard not knowing if he just is going to have some abnormalities or if there really is a problem. I don't need to have an answer. We don't have to test him to death. Yet, we don't want to overlook something. We will see what comes from this. Your prayers Sunday night/Monday night would be appreciated as we prepare for this test. Thanks!

First Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday!!!
It is so hard to believe our little boy is already one. Time always
seems to go fast. It seems faster when we missed the first 7 months of
his life. When Kobe came home at 7 months, he was very delayed
developmentally. Yet within a few weeks of being in a forever family,
he was caught right up to where he should be. So doing everything from
rolling over to sitting up in weeks makes time seem to go so much
faster.

I have many emotions today. As any mom, it is hard to accept your baby
is one. You are happy they are getting bigger, but know how fast time
goes. We never like the thought of losing our "baby". Since it is an
adopted child celebrating his first birthday, there are so many
thoughts and feelings. My heart is heavy thinking of Kobe's birth mom.
How is she doing today? Is her heart aching for the child she gave up?
Or is she content knowing he is so loved and taken care of? If only
she knew what a blessing this little boy has been in our lives. Today
I sit back and think about the last years of our lives. We never
thought we would adopt, but God had other plans. The whole process has
been filled with many ups and downs. Adoption is not an easy road, yet
the rewards are countless!! Kobe brings so much joy to other people's
lives just by flashing one of his contagious smiles. I can't imagine
our lives without him. He truly is the perfect fit into our family. It
is my prayer that his birth mother be comforted and have peace that he
is truly loved. What a hard decision to have to make. She loved him so
much she was willing to do what was best for him. What a selfless act!

Our agency made us aware of the fact that there will be days in our
child's life where they will not be themselves due to a "trama
anniversary." The child may be unconsolable or just out of sorts
around the anniversary of something in their lives. This amazes me
since they are so little when some of these events happen to them.
Research shows that the trama part of your brain has great memory.
Some possible tramatic events could include a hospital stay, date they
left their parents, date brought into the orphanage, etc...Kobe has
been out of sorts the past few days and I'm thinking this could be the
case. We tried to take pictures on Sunday and our little smiling boy
wouldn't smile. The other night things were really bad. He was extremely
crabby.  He is fine at daycare, but that doesn't surprise me. Kids usually act up
more for their families where it is more comfortable.

We had a great night celebrating! Kobe loved his cake. He also loved the simple things such as the balloons. It wasn't fancy by any means, but still very special to us.

Medical update

It sure is nice that I haven't had to have a medical update for a long time. Now I have two of them. First of all, we took Kobe in for allergy testing. We knew he couldn't drink milk, but we weren't sure if it was b/c he had a milk allergy or if he had lactose intolerance. Before dealing with this, I thought the two were the same. ;) Thankfully he doesn't have an allergy which means we are hopeful he will outgrow it. Being intolerant means his body has trouble breaking down the protein that is in milk. He will be drinking almond milk once we decide to switch. I wasn't sure when we should switch from formula to milk. I was waiting to see the cost difference b/c the two. Well..they are almost the exact same price so that doesn't help to make the decision. Almond milk does come in "shelf safe" cartons which is great b/c that means it doesn't have to be cold until it is opened. After much searching, we were able to find the single serve almond milk. We can get it at HyVee and it is almost double the cost of the bigger containers. We will see how this plays out since we don't have access to a HyVee. I just hate the thought of having to tote around a small cooler thing for his milk. Time will tell. We will go back to the allergy doctor in January to see if he can tolerate things cooked with milk. Until then...no milk and milk products. (If you look at labels at all...EVERYTHING has milk in it)

On another note, there has always been concern over Kobe's high liver enzymes. Even after being home for 5 months, they still haven't ever been within normal range. The Infectious Disease doctor is referring us on to a GI doctor. She just wants to make sure she isn't missing anything. We will be getting a call from that office and will make an appointment once we hear from them. This means another trip to Sioux Falls. So it goes. I just hope we get an answer.

Even with all of this going on, Kobe continues to be such a happy little boy that brings joy to every person he comes in contact with. We are so blessed!

A "new normal"

Our "new normal" started this week with the start of the new school year. We were so blessed to have gotten our little man when we did as I was able to have 5-6 weeks with him before the chaos of summer hit. We have been home a little over 4 months. In that time, there has been LOTS of Mommy and baby time. I've been dreading school starting for this reason. When Kobe came home at 7 months old, he wasn't very good at supporting himself. He didn't roll over or sit up, etc.. He was developmentally delayed, but caught up less than a month of being home. While we missed the first 7 months of his life, we still got to see many firsts. What a blessing. However...this has also made time seem to fly even faster. Part of this is why it is hard for me to be away from him all day every day. I miss him so much. The first day he went to daycare all day (for a trial run) Lexi said, "Kobe not being here is killing me." If his 10 year old sister thinks this, imagine how his mommy feels. :) It certainly was a long, hard week of transitioning back into the swing of full time work, full time daycare, and Daddy coaching and being gone a lot. We did survive the first week! :) Hopefully it gets easier from here on out. Kobe loves daycare which makes it easier on me. I know I'm having a harder time with it than he is. The first day he acted kind of strange around all of us when we got home. I can't put it into words, but he acted different. That was the only day we really saw any difference....until today. After 5 days of daycare now we are home. He is really out of sorts. I'm sure it is confusing to him.

He continues to army crawl, but is crawling more and more. (still not all of the time though) He does pull himself up all of the time and is getting pretty good at walking along things. It is crazy how much more stable he is getting on his feet. He can even bend down and pick up a toy and not fall down. Watch out!!!!

I'm posting a picture of the first day of school.

 

4 months home---11 months old

Picture #1--Referral picture at 4 months old.
Picture #2--First day home at 7 months old.
Picture #3--Current at 11 months old.

Lots to update about

When we were on the wait list, the days would just drag on and on. Now that we are home, the days fly by. I don't post as much as I used to b/c there isn't as much to tell. Sunday will be 4 months home. Wow! Yes time does fly.  It is so hard to believe we have been home for 4 months.

Kobe has changed so much over the past 4 months. His newest trick...pulling himself up on everything. Boy are his arms long. ;) He has been army crawling for a long time. He gets on his hands and knees all of the time, but doesn't use that as a mode of transportation. Tonight I saw him crawl as much as he ever has so I believe soon he will be crawling as fast as he was army crawling. Nothing is safe!!!

Soon our little boy will be going to daycare full time. I know he will do much better than his mom will. We have spent lots and lots of time just Mommy and baby. It has to be done, but it will be hard. I have gotten spoiled b/c for 4 months I have been able to stay home with him. He has grown and changed so fast b/c he was delayed when we brought him home and he caught up quickly. I will miss all of the time that I spend with him. I'm sure we will both be happy  to see each other when the day is over.

I finally set up an appointment to have Kobe tested for allergies. I wasn't too concerned before since he was just on formula. Now as he gets closer to being a year, I need some guidance as to what kind of milk we will transition to....coconut, almond, or rice. I'm hoping that we can get some more concrete answers as opposed to trial and error. The 2 times he was given milk based items, he threw up every 10 minutes for the first hour and continued to throw up for about 4 hours.  Do we need to keep him away from the big milk items like milk, yogurt, and ice cream? Or do we need to keep him away from everything that has milk in it? I hope we don't have to do trial and error. I hope that the testing gives us some answers. I will feel better having a professional on our "team" through this.

When we first brought Kobe home, his labs were whacked out. His liver enyzmes were very high. We were sent to an Infectious Disease doctor. He had an ultrasound done on his liver and everything looked good. This ID doctor has been keeping an eye on his labs. He was just re-tested the beginning of August. His liver enyzmes have dropped, but are still higher than she would like them. We need to re-test again the beginning of September. If they haven't dropped enough, she is going to refer us on to an Internal Medicine Doctor. I made the mistake of looking on the internet to see causes of high liver enyzmes. All that did was freak me out. I hope/pray that those levels will be down next blood draw and all will be well. I need to remind myself that God already knows what is going on. He chose this child to be ours. He is truly the perfect fit for our family.

Lots of changes and testing going on in the next few weeks. We certainly would appreciate your prayers. Thanks much!

Here is a picture of Little Mr. Trouble.

3 months home

It is so hard to believe we have been home 3 months. When we were on the wait list, days drug on and on. Now that we are home, the days just fly by! I've tried to keep the journal as real as I can be. The rewards are great, but the struggles are very real also. It has been quite the transition to go from the independence of a 14 year old and a 10 year old to a busy, moving little baby. With the struggles, there is so much joy!!! It is unreal the joy that this little boy brings to our family, friends, and our community. Every day we see more and more of what a perfect fit he is for our family. We continue to feels God's hand in this journey as we ALL have experienced so many changes in the past 3 months. I want to thank you for your constant love, support, and prayers. The wait was so worth it and we can't imagine our life with our little trouble making monster. :) I'm posting a picture that was taken on our first day home and a picture at 3 months home. What's love got to do with it? EVERYTHING!! :)

Baptism

Kobe was baptized last week on Mommy's birthday. "Blessings" became the unset theme of his baptism. There were so many things that fell into place. God has truly blessed us over and over. It is very neat to stand back and see the many blessings God has given us. Here is a picture of our little man in his baptismal gown that was made 27 years ago by Great Grandma Elsie. Kobe was the 24th great-grandchild to be baptismed in this special gown. Yet another blessing. (He was less than impressed to be taken yet another picture)

I'm also including a picture of Kobe in his traditional Ethiopian clothes.

                                                   

 

God's amazing love

Anyone that knows me well will know that my grandma meant the world to me. She has been gone for 9 years now. It has always bothered me that she would never meet our newest addition to our family. If you are a faithful blog follower, you will know that at our shower I got a very special gift from my grandma. (With the help of my parents) We were in the process of adopting for over 2 years before we came home. There were many times when I thought about our newest little one's baptism. In 1985, my grandma made a baptismal gown for the great grandkids to be baptized in. 23 kids have used it, including both of our girls. For a long time, I was so distraught about not being able to have my grandma at our little one's baptism and not being able to use the gown was just as bad. We did get things figured out. Jason had a solution that made me truly comfortable. This past weekend we got the box that had the baptismal gown in it. There is a blanket that has been passed around too. I thought we would use the blanket for sure. I thought I'd try the gown on just to see how much too small it was. Ummm...IT FITS!!!! Seriously what are the chances that a 9 month old baby that weighs 20 pounds would fit into this gown my grandma made 27 years ago? God's hand is totally in this. Thank you God for not only the hug from my grandma, but that Kobe will be wrapped in her love on the day that he becomes a child of God. Only a story God could write.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth

This has been a long, tough week for our little man. He was exposed to Hand, Foot, and Mouth and actually ended up with it. Yuck! Not fun. It started on Tuesday night with high temps up to 104*. We had a long/short night. We were up constantly checking for a fever and spent quite a bit of time in the rocking chair with a wet hand towel on Kobe trying to drop his temp. He was miserable and just didn't sleep well between how he felt and me not leaving him alone. By Wednesday, the blisters came. The worst ones are on this arms and knees that are constantly scraped as he scoots across the floor. We also found the blisters were in his mouth and in his throat. Poor baby!! I am posting this almost 4 days after this all started. I can say that finally he is feeling better. He is smiling and the twinkle is back in his eyes. Finally he feels better. What a tough few days as he just hurt so bad. He voice is still a bit hoarse due to the blisters in his throat. I thought I'd post a couple of pictures.

Bigger blisters on hand

Knee

Elbow/forearm

Checking in

It seems like it has been awhile since I've posted so I thought I better check in and let you know what was going on. Not too much new here which is good news. We have been home 2 months and our little one is now 9 months old. This weekend he started to scoot. He hasn't been too busy this week getting into things, but the time is coming. (And fast I do believe) It is amazing to watch him respond to familiar faces vs strangers. He doesn't cry, but gets a look on his face and certainly searches for Dad, Mom, Micala, or Lexi. It is great to see he has attached to us as that was such a concern since he has had so many caretakers in his short life. He used to smile at everyone. Now he is more reserved on his smiles. He is still very happy, but there is true emotion behind the smiles.

The other day I tried making homemade baby food. I thought I could try and save a bit of money. It was actually enjoyable. Lexi was a great helper. We didn't even get everything done and the blender died. Too bad we borrowed the blender so now our "cheap baby food" has now turned into replaced a blender for a friend. So it goes.

Kobe is working on some new teeth. He has 2 on the bottom. The top gums are so red and swollen. Yesterday he was very out sorts. I wasn't sure if he was just getting spoiled or not. I feel bad b/c here he was hurt and I thought maybe he was just being naughty. Oops! So hard to know.

The summer is getting into full swing and we are busy, busy. This little man has brought so much joy to our lives in the 2 months he has been here. He really is a perfect fit for our family. We love him so much!!!!!

First post placement visit

Yesterday we had our first post placement visit with our social worker. It doesn't seem possible that it is time for this already. We have to have these visits at 3, 6, and 12 months home. The reports are due to our agency at 2 months home b/c the reports need to get to Ethiopia by 3 months home. So, we have been home almost 7 weeks and are doing our 3 month visit. Another interesting governmental thing. These first 3 visits are done by our social worker from Aberdeen. Then our family has to do yearly post-placement reports until he is 18 years old. I understand them wanting to know that he is doing well, etc.., but honestly I'd like to know who sees these reports for all of these kids until they are 18 years old. So thankful God blessed us with Catholic Family Services in Aberdeen that is willing to work with AGCI and our family. Our social worker is great. It is nice to be able to feel so comfortable with a social worker as I know some people get so stressed when they come.

Gotcha Day Frame

For a long, long time I have waited for the day that I would order a Gotcha Day frame. I was searching and searching for that perfect frame. I somehow stumbled upon the blog of a mom that made frames to help fund their own adoption. Honestly, I don't think I could "stumble" across this again. Seriously. (Apparently meant to be, huh?) Well after the long wait, we have a PERFECT frame to celebrate our "Gotcha" moment. I'm even happier to know that this purchase helped another family bring their child home as opposed to just paying a company. I had to share.

Not feeling well

Yesterday, Kobe was a bit out of sorts. He didn't eat or sleep like usual. It is so hard to know if he is just reacting to changes again or if something is wrong. He does have the big adjustment of having everyone home all day now instead of just his mom. He was also rubbing his ear. One would think "ear infection" with him doing that. However, he rubs his ears when he is tired. Once again...we didn't have a clue. I finally gave him some Tylenol. 30 minutes later, he was back to himself. Hmm...must be something going on. We decided to take him to the clinic today. After all of our medical bills, I thought paying the office co-pay for peace of mind would be worth it. Of course the one ear he has been rubbing was filled with wax so she couldn't see in it. Go figure. She did put him on an anti-biotic. It is pretty obvious something is up b/c he is not his happy self. Crazy thing though. When we came home, he was in the 5th percentile for his weight. 6 weeks later he is in the 25th percentile for his weight. Amazing what the love of a family can do.

As crazy as it may be...

If you notice since we have been home the posts are becoming further and further in between. Apparently I'm busier now than I used to be. ;) There are so many new things that I don't even know where to start. Of course Kobe continues to bring us such joy. His smile and laugh is just priceless. He loves his sisters!!! He has a favorite song. Okay now don't think I'm totally crazy. There is one song that comes on and his arms flail and legs go crazy. The girls sing it to him. I thought maybe it was because they were singing to him. They have sung other songs to him and doesn't get the same reaction. He will react the same way to the song even if the girls aren't singing to him. It may sound crazy, but we have all witnessed it.

Another "crazy" thing is that this kid, who has only been here for 5 weeks, knows what a "kitty" is. It doesn't matter what we are doing, but if we say, "Kobe, where is the kitty?" He seriously searches the floor until he finds one of them. He might not look for Mom or Dad, but will look for the kitty. :)

The other day I was rocking him in the chair. He looked up at the wall behind the chair and smiled. Ummm...what would have prompted this? He did this more than once. After much pondering, I realized the girls' pictures were up there. Call me crazy, but seriously what else would have prompted the smiling? This kid takes EVERYTHING in and missing nothing.

It has been 2 weeks since our doctor's appointment in Sioux Falls. She wanted to recheck his labs. His liver numbers were still a tad bit high, but nothing like they were. Thank goodness. Maybe getting the salmonelle out of his system helps to get the blood work until control. He had 2 people holding him down during the lab work. When we were done, I picked him up and he instantly stopped crying. Yes! He must know his mommy!!! :) He looked at one of the people that had held him down. His lip came out and he cried. This kid is no dummy! He knew they were part of the pain.

4 days after we came home, a doctor recommended him for Birth to Three. (A program to help with delayed children) We knew he would be developmentally delayed with being in instutional care. (even as amazing as Hannah's Hope is) We had our meeting 5 weeks after being home and he is average or above in every area. That is how much ground this kid has made since we have been home. Unreal!

Kobe's new game is rolling, rolling, rolling. He was doing this a bit ago, but nothing like he does now. I realized my floor is not near clean enough after he rolled all the way across it. His shirt picked up plenty of fuzzies.

Tooth #1 and tooth #2 broke through this week. :)

The last day of school was yesterday. It was a very bittersweet day. It will be nice to be home more often as a family of 5, but I am sad that Kobe/Mommy days are over. Let me tell you...some days were very long and hard with just the two of us. Now we have settled into a new routine. I will miss our days together. I really sometimes have a hard time sharing my baby. #1--I'm used to having from midnight until 7pm with him just in my care. #2--We have waited so long for this little blessing, I don't want to let him go. #3--He is changing so fast, I'm afraid I'll miss something. I was gone for a few hours yesterday to help a friend. Kobe was hanging with Dad. He was starting to get fussy. As soon as I got home, all was well. He was the longest that I had been away from him. We need to slowly ease him into life outside our house. We need to slowly ease him into being away from Mom. It is a great comfort that he was fussy after I had been away for awhile. That proves to me that he knows his Mom. That is what makes the first weeks/months at home such a challenge...to get him to understand Mom is Mom and Dad is Dad. We will be here always! We will meet his needs! We will not leave him! Kobe may be a baby, but he has been through so much in his short life. We need to prove to him that we are here for him. We are seeing some great signs of attachment. Yeah, God! Since he seems to pick up on things so quickly, I think we are on the right track for attachment.

Thanks to all of you for being understanding during this time of yet another transition for this little man.  After the stories I have read about others that have brought their children home, we feel even more thankful that Kobe is such a laid back, relaxed, and easily adjusted baby. We haven't had too much "grieving" to deal with and believe me...this little man has gone through plenty. His behavior could be so much worse. So many have bouts of inconsolable crying. After all, they have been yanked from every thing they have ever known. As I look back, I see God's hand more and more in this whole adoption story. Kobe is a PERFECT fit for our family and God's timing was PERFECT!! I am so blessed to have had 5 weeks a home with my little angel before the chaos of summer hit. Yes the wait was hard. We knew it would be worth the wait. We knew God's timing would be perfect. The wait was still extremely long and painful. Wow! It is amazing! God was working every single detail out in this adoption. It is true that God's plan for us will not be late by one single day.

Birth announcements

US Citizenship!

We got this piece of paper in the mail. Certificate of Citizenship!!! :) Kobe was officially a US citizen when our plane touched down on US soil. This paper just proves it. It is nice to see. We now have to work on redopting so we can change his name...legally.

Growing so fast

We all know that kids grow fast. I am in awe at how fast our little boy is growing. I am with him constantly and can't believe how much he is changing. We have been home almost a month and WOW! When we first came home, we had to hold his back to support him. (Even if he was 7 months old) We knew he would be developmentally delayed. We also knew he would catch up quickly. One thing about being delayed is that we still get to experience lots of his "firsts." Since he has been home, he has rolled both from stomach to back and back to stomach. He can sit up for the most part all by himself. I'm still nervous about sitting him and leaving him, but he is doing so well. There are so many things that you take advantage of when you have a biological child. Something as simple as playing with their hands and reaching for everything. When he first came home, he didn't care about his hands. He didn't explore things or his environment. Now nothing is safe and it is such a blessing. Simple things like pulling hair or pulling on my necklace is a welcomed thing. Monday he found his voice. It is so fun to listen to him. It is crazy b/c there are so many times that I need/want a break from being on constant baby patrol. If I do get out of the house, I miss my little man soooo much. I just don't know how much he will change while I'm gone. (even if I'm just gone for a couple of hours) Even with all of the health issues we have had since we have been home, our little guy continues to be so happy all of the time. (except for when he is hungry) What a blessing it is have such a happy baby! I can't share enough pictures! (Hey--I have 7 months worth of picture sharing to catch up on) What a joy this little man has been! What a true joy!

The verdict is in!

The day before yesterday, I got a phone call from our pediatrican. The stool sample that they took Friday night in the Aberdeen ER tested positive for SALMONELLE! What?!?! That was the craziest thing I could have heard. After talking to a few people from our agency, I found out that some other kiddos have come home with this. Wow. I can't believe we were home for 3 weeks before we showed signs and symptoms of this. We again are lucky that we have only had one bout of this and that we have a happy little man.

Blessings

Keeping it real

I have always struggled with my posts. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but yet I want to keep it real. I don't want anyone to see just the sugar coated version, but that isn't the way it really is. I'm not sure if I should be sharing all of this, but I'm going to. Keeping it real! Keeping it real!

Yesterday was a super, super hard day for us....seriously the worst one since we have been home. Kobe threw up about 12 times in 2.5 hours. It was so often and so gut wrenching. It was hard to watch. I took him to the Bowdle ER. We were there for 3 hours and then were sent on to Aberdeen. By the time we got to Aberdeen, he was doing better. He wasn't throwing up and had actually kept some Pedialyte down. The pediatrician wanted us to go to the Aberdeen ER...so we went. After 5 hours in the Aberdeen ER, we have NO ANSWERS. Seriously?!?! It could be a milk allergy. It could be that he was constipated. Could be, could be. Then they said we should follow up in the office on Monday. I don't think so. If we spent all of that time in the ER and don't have answers, what good is it going to do to go to the clinic. Frustrating!!!!

He is on soy. We asked why he was on soy and nobody knew. So, yesterday I tried half milk based formula and half soy. It was 2 hours later that the throwing up started. I'm not sure if that was the cause or not. We could get him testing for milk allergies. I think we will just stick with soy for the next 4 months for sure. Then we will see. I'm tired of testing him.

I'm beyond exhausted on so many levels. I'm physically exhausted. I'm tired from dealing with all of this medical stuff. I feel we get the run around from the doctors, but in reality it is probably b/c they don't honestly have any answers. I stay home all day and don't get anything done. I can't get the house picked up, let alone clean. That bothers me greatly. Jason is coaching so I'm the only care provider until at least 6:30 pm.
I know things could be worse. I know things will get better. By "keeping it real" I will say that this is not easy. I don't have any room to talk about things not being easy. We have been through a lot in 3 weeks, but that is NOTHING compared to what our little guy has been through.  Even through all of this, he is a champ and brings such joy to us.

First haircut

We have been home for 3 weeks. It is amazing the things that have changed in those three weeks. I'm home all day every day with Kobe and I'm amazed at all that he is learning and doing. He has always had a few pieces of super long hair. Now his hair is really growing and those long pieces were out of control. So...he got his first haircut.

BEFORE

AFTER

To God be the glory

Yesterday we took off to make the 4 hour trek to the Infectious Disease doctor. We really weren't sure what to expect, what they would do, how long we would have to stay, etc...They drew blood and then scheduled us for an ultrasound on the liver in the morning. The doctor didn't seem to be overly concerned about things. We left the doctor's office and got to spend the night with some very special friends that also have adopted from Ethiopia. Their 2 adopted children and Kobe were at Hannah's Hope together so it was fun to have them together again...this time in the US. :) We weren't sure how the night was going to go b/c Kobe had to not eat for FOUR hours before the ultrasound. Well, that sounds fun for a baby that eats every 1.5-3 hours. We woke him up at 4:30am and I gave him cereal in his bottle. I had enough cereal in there he almost had to chew it. HA! Well...I was trying to fill that big belly of his. ;) He did well until about 8am. Then he was getting fussy. Soon we put him in his favorite place...the carseat. A hungry baby and his carseat = a not happy baby. The crying didn't last long and he was sleeping. He slept until we got checked in and ready for the ultrasound. While they were doing the ultrasound, another lady was in there and holding musical toys that lite up. He was loved it. Soon it was all done. Again..what a trooper! His attitude on life always surprises me.  We were told it could be 3-5 days before we hear anything. Before we finished our 4 hour trip home, we heard from the nurse. The ultrasound was normal. His labs looked good. There are still a couple numbers that are slighly elevated, but they have dropped tremendously. We need to do a recheck in 2 weeks to make sure the numbers are still going in the right direction. Thanks for all of your prayers. This has been quite the emotional roller coaster since we have been home. It has been 10 years since we have had a baby in the house. Then you add of this medical stress to it. I'm tired, but thankful! Hoping that our medical "troubles" are behind us for the most part and we can concentrate on enjoying life as a family of five. Thank you God for keeping our baby safe from major troubles.

Follow up appointment

Yesterday we had a follow up appointment. Kobe's lungs sounded good. They had to do more lab work. We went to the pediatric floor of the hospital for the blood draw. It was nice to see some of the nurses again. They were so excited to see our little charmer. It is terrible to listen to him scream as they poke him. With the girls, I was always with them during these things. Last week, I was with him during the blood draw in the Bowdle ER as well as the Aberdeen ER. That was enough for me. He doesn't understand that I'm there for support and that I am not the one hurting him. So--I let them take him from me, poke him, and then bring him back to me. I wait with open arms to love on him and comfort him. I think it is best under the circumstances. We didn't have a video teleconference with the doctor in Sioux Falls. We have an appointment with her on Monday. We hope to get to the bottom of the crazy lab numbers. We are so glad we have just a happy baby. He really has been a trooper through all of this. His world was seriously taken away from him. He comes to America where EVERYTHING is different and then he has repeat doctor's appointments where they stick him, poke on him, etc... Poor thing. Yet through it all...he smiles! The smile of this little boy melts the heart of anyone that comes in contact with him. I think God has some big plans for this little boy. We are sooooo blessed to have this new addition to our family.

Medical updates

Lots of medical "junk" since we have been home. We got home early morning on Friday, April 13. By the night of the 14th, we were on our first "outing" with our little guy...to the Bowdle ER. It was the good ole' upper respiratory stuff. We got an anti-biotic and were put on a nebulizer.  Monday, April 16, we had an appointment with a pediatrician an hour away to do a complete check up for this little man that is new to our country. After blood work and a chest xray, he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was to continue the nebulizer treatments and got a different anti-biotic. We continued to plug away with trying to nurse this baby back to health as well as getting adjusted to all of the changes.

Saturday, April 21....when I gave him a bath, we noticed how much his chest was being sucked in when he was breathing.  About 10pm, Jason got paged for the ambulance for a transfer to Aberdeen. Shortly after Jason left, the phone rang. It was the PA from the hospital. Some how Kobe's breathing was brought up while they were waiting to transfer the patient. The PA suggested we come in before things got worse. They did lab work and another chest xray. Being in a town of 500 people, we are thankful we have a hospital. The PA wasn't comfortable dealing the pneumonia in a baby, so she recommended we go to Aberdeen. Kobe and I went home and packed some things. As soon as Jason returned from the ER in Aberdeen with the ambulance, we turned around and went to the ER in Aberdeen with our son. We got to Aberdeen about 2am. We waited until about 5 am before finding out they were going to admit us.  We spent 2 nights in the hospital. We were released last night. We have a follow up appointment tomorrow. We are also going to have a video teleconference with a doctor from Sioux Falls. She is an Infectious Disease doctor as his lab work still shows some concerns. I'm sure within a few days, we will be taking off to see what she can figure out. "Infectious Disease" doctor sounds bad, but basically these ID doctors are experts in all the troubles that can these little people can have when they come from a different country.

We thought we had a happy baby. Kobe has been such a trooper through all of this. He won the hearts of the nurses and they actually fought over who got to carry him back to the room after a procedure, etc...Since we have been home, Kobe has been getting up every 1-2 hours for a bottle. We are thankful that he will take a bottle and go right back to sleep. The last few nights before the hospital trip, he was getting up about every hour to hour and a half for about an ounce of formula. We thought maybe this was a coping thing for him as his bottle is the only comfort he has right now. Well--2 nights now (one in the hospital and one at home) he has slept up to 3 hours b/t feedings and waking for a full bottle. Apparently it was b/c he didn't feel good. We thought we had a happy baby, but boy what a difference it makes to have a baby that actually feels good.

We will be home 2 weeks in a couple of days. In that amount of time, this little man has had 3 ER trips and a hospital stay. Poor guy! Welcome to America. :(

We are so thankful God has blessed us with such an amazing little boy. He truly is a blessing. We are also thankful for the support people continue to give us. Thanks for the prayers. Please continue to pray that we are able to get to the bottom of the crazy lab work results. 

What is new?

We have been HOME for a week now. That just doesn't seem possible. While in Ethiopia, we had some major computer issues so therefore I didn't post much. Now we are home and for some reason I can't find the time to post. In the past week, our little man went from 70*-75* temps to frost at night. We got home early Friday morning and by Saturday afternoon we were at the ER with respiratory issues. Sunday our little guy rolled from his tummy to his back. We witnessed this in Ethiopia, but wasn't sure how "real" it was. He does it all of the time now, so it is real. ;) On Monday, we had an appointment with a pediatrician to do routine "just came home" check up. By then, he had pneumonia. Good thing we had taken him in on Saturday and started meds or it would have been lots worse. We have started cereal and recently baby food. Some days are better than others for the feedings. He loves his bottle. In the last couple of days, we have noticed a huge difference in his behavior. We think he is feeling better. We are surprised to see that he seems like he is getting on a schedule already. Awesome! Sure happy that he is adjusting to the 9 hour time difference. It has been an interesting, but amazing week. This morning I woke up and thought to myself, "He is getting chubbier cheeks. His hair seems to be growing. He feels heavier." This all from someone that is with him all of the time. I'm sure he will continue to grow/change quickly. We are so thankful to be blessed with this little bundle of joy.

Happy Easter from Ethiopia

We got to pick up our little guy today. :) We have been at the hotel since about noon. Things are very well. He is such a happy boy. We have limited internet b/c we have to be by the door to get a good connection, yet our battery doesn't last long. We are so so so blessed. Enjoy this picture until we can post more later. Thank you prayer warriors.

The bags are packed

Okay after our scare/freak out with the changing of how they do the visas upon entering the country of Ethiopia we did get some more information. They don't know for sure when the change will go into effect. Since we leave so soon, we should be okay. Wow..that was a nice freak out.

Well---the bags are packed! I'm impressed that they actually zip shut and that they aren't overweight. I had to finish up things tonight as tomorrow night we will be in church and then we leave early on Friday am. I know I over-packed. I really didn't have a clue as to how many clothes to take for our little guy. I know they say we can use the laundry services, but what cute clothes get to go and what ones stay? Tough call! I know I packed more food/snacks than we need. I think that we will want more snacks as we will pretty much be hanging out at the hotel the whole time. We are taking a hot pot with us with oatmeal, Ramen noodles, Easy Mac, etc...We will have more meals to eat so this way we can have American food more often than not. ;)

Tomorrow is my last day of school for the school year. Something I didn't expect 2 weeks ago. So excited to look at God's perfect timing. We leave the day after Jason's birthday. We leave on Good Friday. We get to pick our son up on Easter Sunday. What an Easter blessing! A new life starting on Easter. Praise God!

Off to see if I can sleep before the thought of sleep is far from my mind with a "new" baby in the house. 9 hour time difference on top of everything in his world being changed. We smell different, look different, sound different. We know the tough days/weeks/months of transition are ahead of us. It could possibly be the hardest part of this whole journey. Yet I have to remind myself that God led us to adoption. He has blessed us over and over. That will not end. His blessings will continue and He isn't about to leave us now.

I'm human therefore I'm anxious

I'm really ready for it to be Sunday and for our little man to be in our arms. People say to me, "Aren't you excited?" Yes, but to be honest I'm anxious. There are so many unknowns on so many different levels. I'm so emotionally and physically tired. I know it is just the beginning, but I feel I must get some decent sleep before this adventure is placed upon us. God has been with us every step of the way. I know He will not leave us. We know He already knows how our little guy will react to us, how attachment will go, how sick he will be when he comes home, etc...However, I can't help but to let my mind wander and wonder. I just want to get this next stage started. I wasn't sure if I should post this, but I've tried to keep this blog REAL.

I've been gone all day tonight. I get home and got on the computer to an email from our agency stating that the visa process in Ethiopia would change. Yippee..another change in government. When we landed last time in Ethiopia, we went and got a one time visa. Now they are changing it so that you can have an all the time visa. (good long enough to get you through both trips) Of course, the cost is lots higher with this visa. The biggest stress....nobody really knows when it will go into effect. People are needing to get their visa BEFORE they travel. Oh well that is just great news. We leave in three days! There is no way we can get a visa before we travel. We might be stressing for nothing b/c we don't know when this change is going to take place. Our agency has been super, super good. However, they sent the traveling families this email and they aren't available tomorrow due to training. Seriously?! Well--I know they will have lots of emails and phone calls to return when they get back on Thursday.

Breathe, pray, trust repeat. Ha!! So much easier to just FREAK OUT!!!

Shower

My sister in law gave us an AMAZING, over the top, shower!!! It was the best ever!!! Even better we are so close to bringing our little guy home. :) She told me we would bring him home right after the shower and of course I didn't believe her. Ha! I posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook so you will have to check them out there. I HAD to share this favorite picture with all of you. We have a dear friend that took pictures for us. Even neater than she edited some of them. We are so blessed. So very, very blessed. That is all I can say. Thank you all!!!

A gift from Heaven

Today was our baby shower. This post is not about that. That post has to wait until tomorrow when I can add pictures. ;)

Those of you that are close to me and have been friends with me for a long time, know how important my grandma Elsie was to me. Our oldest is named after her...Micala Elsie. She rode 3 hours to see Micala when she was less than 3 hours old. Special. She made a longer trip to visit Lexi in Bowdle after she was born. My grandma has 2 daughters, but I was given the special gift of her wedding ring. I have letters sent to me that have stories in them that nobody else knew. She was a special, special lady. There have been many times where I have thought about my grandma wishing she could meet this special little man. Today at our shower, there was a box from my parents and from Grandma Elsie. Hmmm?! In it was a jean quilt she had made. Tears! The sappiness continues as I have had time to think about this. My grandma made lots of these quilts. Each of the grandchildren got one. My girls never got one, but our little man will have one. My girls got to meet their Great-Grandma Elsie, but Kobe won't. My mom found this quilt that my grandma had made. It was an extra....or Great Grandma Elsie really has met our son and has now given him a very special gift. A gift from Heaven.

A wild and crazy ride

Here is a recap of the events of the week. Monday our filed was opened at the US Embassy. Yippee!!! Tuesday we were CLEARED by the US Embassy! What!?! Wowzers!! THAT IS AWESOME!!!! Seriously I don't know if anyone has cleared that fast. Tuesday was spent telling our good news and trying to decide what to do first with all that we needed to get done. Wednesday we woke up to the news that our Embassy appointment would be April 9th. April 9th will be our "Gotcha Day" and our little man will be in our arms FOREVER!!! :) Since we had a confirmed date, I needed to hear from our agency in order to know exactly what day we needed to be in Ethiopia and which day we would leave. Granted we kind of figured this out b/c we knew it was 2 days before and 2 days after, but I was waiting to hear the official word. Then it was time to book tickets. We had a couple of options to pick from.We put some tickets on hold. Then we had to email our agency with our intinerary. (They have to approve it so that we aren't getting their too early/late and that we aren't leaving too early/late.) After their approval, then time to BOOK those tickets. All of that on top of regular life's activities. Thursday and Friday for the most part were spent figuring out what the plan was for the girls while we were gone, getting our transportation to and from the airport figured out, making appointments for our little man when he gets home, as well as working on lesson plans. I currently have 4 days of school left for this school year. Needless to say, I was caught a little off guard when we thought it would be at least the beginning of May..at the earliest. Once again, God shows me that I am not in control and He continues to laugh at me thinking that I am. ;) I'm working on lesson plans for next week. I will be there for that week. The following week's lesson plans need to be done as we will be out of the country. The week after that's lesson plans are being done b/c I can't imagine I'll have the time/energy to get those done once we get home. Planning and preparing for 3 weeks worth of school is challenging. After we are home, I'll be going in each weekend to do plans...one week at a time. I don't have my school stuff totally done, but it is coming together nicely. Today is our baby shower which couldn't have fallen at a better time. Now it is time to focus on a baby!! Now only a baby, but OUR SON! We leave in less than a week. We have waited and waited and waited for this time to come. It will soon be here and it doesn't seem like it is happening. In 2 weeks we will be a family of five all under the same roof! :) When will this seem real? Our girls are 14 and 10 and we are going back to the baby days. Part of that is scary especially with all of the unknowns with an adopted child. WE CAN'T WAIT!!! This past week has been nothing more than a wild and crazy ride, but it has been awesome and the end result will be more amazing than we can ever imagine!

We are CLEARED!!!!

Where do I start this? Good luck sticking to one subject at this point in the game. Ha! I'll start at the beginning of our day. Both emails we have gotten from the Embassy came at about 8:00 am. Our file was just opened yesterday so I wasn't really thinking we would have much for email from them today besides saying they were requesting a police officer interview. At 7:15 am, I thought "What the heck! I'll check." What a blessing that was! I open my email and see a message (didn't look to see who it was from) and it said "CASE CLEARED" in the subject line. No way! Could be this for real? Okay...don't get excited yet. This isn't possible. I opened the email and read it. Yes it WAS possible. It WAS real! Jason was out of town with some school kids. Both the girls are in bed. I'm freaking out! I tried Jason's phone. No answer. I went to Micala sobbing and hysterically. I said, "We get to bring "K" home." We hugged, cried (sobbed), and thanked God. Then she asked if Lexi knew. Nope. She ran to tell her and I got on the phone. I did get ahold of Jason. Geez he went to breakfast without his phone. He thought he wouldn't be gone long, but....he was gone long enough. ;) At this time the girls are calling people and I'm calling people. So glad I had this email so early in the morning so we had time to share before having to head off to school. Micala has since said that she thought someone had died. I guess when she talked to my mom, she was the same way. :) She was crying so hard my mom couldn't understand her. So sweet!!! Lexi started to eat breakfast and turned and said, "I can't eat." These girls are ready to have their brother home.

The email from the Embassy said that they were booked the week of the 2-6. The head of HH had requested the 5th, but she didn't know they were booked. 2 things could happen. The Embassy will email her and say that date doesn't work, the next available is this date and we have the family put into that spot. Or they will say they are booked and then ask her to pick a date. We hope to know tomorrow when we get up. I'm guessing there will be some emails going back and forth b/t the Embassy and the head of HH. All of these emails are CC to us. Hmmm...wonder if I will sleep tonight or if I'll be refreshing my computer all night. ;)

It was pointed out to me that we got our Christmas miracle and now we are going to get an Easter blessing. Our referral was on the eve of Ethiopia's Christmas. Their Easter is the 15th so...he will be home (or close to it) by then.

It used to be about 4 weeks in between trips in the "good ol' days." Then the Embassy started to scrutinize every case. Seriously...I think we hold a record. I don't know if anyone has been opened one day and cleared the next. We are praising God for all of His amazing and wonderful things He has done. I'm so thankful that we have AGCI as our agency and Hannah's Hope as our transition home. They really are very proactive and try to be one step ahead on the paper "game." What a blessing! So the 17 months on the wait list were hard. Yet now that I'm at this point..it was better to wait at the beginning and to have things go fast now. Thank you God and AGCI.

I have so much to do. I will be taking the last of the school year off. We do not have this house ready for a baby to be here SOON! I haven't been able to do anything right now. I'm just spinning in circles. We are anxious to find out when our Embassy date it. Then we wait to hear from our agency to find out what day we leave and come back. We have to be there 2 days before the Embassy appointment and 2 days after, plus 2 days travel. I had a friend last night that prayed for a "wild and crazy ride" for us. Guess what....we got it! We might be leaving next week!!! We just need to get our date figured out so we can get things figured out for the girls, plus school, plane tickets, etc...

I got to talk to our case worker today. We missed meeting her in Ethiopia by 2 weeks. Then I was excited she was going to meet our little man. Then I was upset to think he was going to be in the hospital and she might miss him. Well--she saw him!! I got 6 new pictures. Very cool! He is so happy. Even another traveling family made the comment about the smiley baby. :) Sounds like he will fit in.

Thank you all so much for your love, support, and prayers! I know I could feel your prayers so often. We know that we have some very hard days ahead of us. We will still need your prayers. Our little guy will be plucked from everything he has ever known. He will be seriously grieving the loss of EVERYTHING!! We look different, sound different, smell different. It will be so hard in so many ways.

Until tomorrow when we have a date......

File opened

We got an email today from Ethiopia. (Those are fun to get) Bottom line, our file has been opened! One step closer. More than likely they will need to do a police officer interview. Sometimes they don't try very hard to contact them. At least we know our file is open and on their desk. I just hope and pray that they work hard to get us cleared. I've heard of enough cases where they just sit on the files. Please God don't let that be us. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming. Pray this boy home SOON!!!

SUBMITTED!!! :)

So I had a long post yesterday about not being submitted to Embassy.  Ha...funny!!! I woke up this morning with an email from Ethiopia saying WE WERE SUBMITTED!!!What a nice surprise! It was a great way to start the day. What does this mean? It means the staff at Hannah's Hope has given all of our paperwork to the Embassy. Now we wait for the Embassy to open our file. (Hopefully we will be notified of this) Then we wait for the Embassy to do all of the investigating needed to prove our little man is a true orphan. This is the frustrating part. The country of Ethiopia has already done their investigation. Now the US Embassy investigates. We are all for the legal part of this, but it really should be done earlier in the process. Our little guy is LEGALLY OURS as far as the country of Ethiopia goes. Now we wait for the Embassy to investigate so they can issue a visa. As I posted yesterday, this can still be a very long process. However...this truly is the last leg of this journey. We have one final hoop to get through b/4 this baby is home and into a forever family!!!! There really is no rhyme or reason to how/why the Embassy does what they do. We have no idea on a time frame. More than likely they will request an interview with a police officer. They might get in touch with someone and they might not. Time will tell. We continue to pray for this to go as smoothly and quickly as possible because this can really d-r-a-g out.

A few people have commented about this awesome thing we are doing. Seriously we aren't doing anything awesome or amazing. God called us to adopt an orphan from a different country. We simply answered "the call." We are blessed. We are the blessed ones that will get the opportunity to have one more child for us to love and will call us "Mom and Dad."Any of you that are parents know what a blessing a child is. Not only are we blessed to get to parent this little guy, we are blessed with some pretty amazing family and friends. The support has been so unbelievable. We have been blessed with a great support system. God has tested and stretched our faith. We have grown so much spiritually. We are blessed!!!!!

I can not hold back any more. I am posting a picture, but we can't show his face until we are home. Enjoy the tease. :)

No Embassy submission

Our agency submits to the Embassy on Mondays meaning most families hear of their submissions on Tuesday. Since it is as late as it is in the day, I'm guessing that means that we were not submitted this week. They say 2-3 weeks for submission. We are just a little bit past 2 weeks so we would have been pushing it, but....one could hope. ;) My thoughts are that if the Embasssy is going to drag their feet, let's getting submitted to Embassy as quick as possible. Right now the "submitting to Embassy" is really the staff at Hannah's Hope getting all of the legal documents ready for little Y to official be ours. Since we passed court, he is legally ours in the eyes of the Ethiopian government. They have to get a new birth certificate as well as some other legal documents before they can "submit" the paperwork requesting a visa. We know that the staff at HH is doing all they can to do this in a timely manner. It just takes so much longer doing this paperwork "stuff" in a third world country. It isn't as easy as sitting down at the computer, typing in some information, and printing it out. So we wait to see if we hear any word next week.

I did some serious number crunching last night. Lots of people from our agency are on the "Post Referral List." It lists when they got their referral, when they went to court, and when they came home. Funny I would even bother looking at this because there really isn't a rhyme or reason for how things happen. If I looked correctly, there have been 7 families that have brought their children home this year. Their wait between the two trips varied from 7 weeks to 15 weeks. There were quite a few at 13 weeks. 13 weeks puts us at the end of May. It certainly is better to be the end of May instead of June or July.If it gets too late in the summer before we get home, I'll have to take some time off at the beginning of the school year. That is a tough part of the school year to miss, but if I have to I have to. In the ideal/fantasy world, I'd love to be home the beginning of May. I'd selfishly like to be home with our little man for a couple of weeks just Mommy and baby before the chaos of summer hits.

Time will tell. Right now, I'm content and calm and trusting in God's perfect timing. There is a family that took 6.5 weeks to be submitted to Embassy. They were cleared the next week. What in the world?! No rhyme or reason. There is no sense in me trying to figure things out. It just helps my head/heart to have some idea. So...I'm holding on to the hope that we will be submited next week. I'm holding on to the hope we will be home by the end of May. If it is earlier...praise God!

I pray that I can continue to be content in His perfect timing. I pray that I can wait with a HAPPY heart and not a HEAVY heart. God has been with us for over 2 years as we took this leap of faith and ventured on this journey we never thought we would take. We know He won't leave us now. We also know that the hardest days are the days ahead. Knowing he is our son and not knowing when we get to hold him, kiss him, and love on him. We can't wait to share our precious bundle with all of you that have been so faithful to us on this journey.

RELEASED!! :)

I woke up this morning with a sense of peace and calmness. I just felt we were going to get good news. (Or maybe it was wishful thinking) We got the phone call we were hoping/praying for. Our little one is back at Hannah's Home. Thank you God! It would have been a long, hard weekend not knowing if he was in or out of the hospital. What a huge relief! The staff at HH even sent us pictures so that we could see with our own eyes how he looked. That was so appreciated!!! Since our regular case worker is gone, we have been working with a different one this week. She said she can't believe how different he looks in the pictures today vs the referral pictures. No doubt!It is amazing!God is good! Thanks for all of the love, prayers, and support during this time. We certainly felt them. Now we ask for prayers to get our little man HOME and in OUR arms forever!!!