More Photos

I love that she spends time on her Little Einstein play mate. We have one just like it at home waiting for her!!!

What fun is life if you can't share it with your friends???

PHOTOS!!!!

One of the reasons we LOVE our adoption agency is that they take such good care of the kids before we are able to bring them home. Today, we received what is called G's, "Social Report". 15 pages of pictures and information about her care at the care center including her schedule/routine, how much she eats, when she sleeps, how she likes to go to sleep (rocked), what she does when she wakes in the night. She screams when she is hungry or wet, but is pretty happy otherwise. We can see from the photos that she is holding her head and looks like if she hasn't rolled over yet, she will very soon. We are so blessed to have this information before we travel. We can tell that the nannies love these babies and will miss her!!!

If any other babies are in the photos, I have blocked their faces for privacy reasons. 

Counting to 10

At school this past week, B's class had an Easter Egg Hunt. It was not the most challenging assignment as most of the eggs were in plain sight. The teacher explained that everyone could have 10 eggs.  I was most impressed when, just a few minutes after entering the area, B walked over to show me his basket. He had collected exactly 10 eggs.

Sunny Memories

We spent an afternoon this summer having a family picnic. Notice B's short hairdo. That was the last time I cut his hair with the clippers. It was a bit short. 

Bragging Rights

B joins T & G'ma on the putting green for Father's Day last year. He is pretty good at the course. His favorite thing is to help you put. By help I mean picking up the ball and carrying it across the green and dropping it into the cup. This means we only golf with family if he is with us. I don't think the other members of our golf course would appreciate this help. 

My Hero

You may think he is planning to work on a construction site. I know I did. However, when I asked B what he was doing, he said, "Playing Guitar Hero." Notice the strumming...

Evolution of a smile

FINALLY

This giggle shows how happy I feel! We received the news this afternoon that we can leave on 4/2 to pick up G!!! God is Good!

One step closer

Today we received G's new birth certificate issued with T & me as her parents. We should hear by morning when we can travel. Hopefully, we will be part of the 4/3 travel group. We got a new photo - posted on the left edge here.

Let's hope we get good news tomorrow and I can start booking our flights. 

Why Adoption? Why Ethiopia?

WHY ADOPTION -

As we wait and wait and wait for a travel date, I thought I would put down some general adoption info so people who feel like reading can get caught up on our journey...
If you got our Christmas letter and read it, most of this is a repeat of info posted there.

Beautiful B was due to arrive on June 12. I had quit my job in the fall and was happily spending the spring getting ready for his arrival. I had a nasty cold and cough and just felt out of sorts. I saw my doc for my regular check up on April 22. He gave me some cough syrup and told me to rest up. My blood pressure was a bit higher than normal, but not outside the normal range. My protein levels were a bit high, too, but I normally had afternoon appointments and this appointment was first thing in the morning. T and I had our last birthing class on April 25 and I had a bit of a back ache. By the time we drove home, I was fully reclined in the car and suffering from sharp pain in my shoulder blade area. A quick call to the doc on call and we were back in the car to get checked out at the hospital.

Upon arrival and a quick exam, I was told I was staying at the hospital until I delivered the baby. I was showing signs of pre-eclampsia. My blood pressure was sky high (180s/100s - I can't remember exactly). Proteins super high. Time for magnesium and a long hospital stay. I was 7 weeks from my due date and a bit freaked out. By morning, the docs decided that I wasn't going to be able to carry him for 3 more weeks and if I couldn't last 3 weeks, it was better to deliver him that day and let me get better.

B was born that night around 10. He weighed 3 lbs 13 oz and was just 16.75 inches tall. He went right to the NICU to get monitored. THANKFULLY he was ok. He never needed breathing help and he slept his days away. He needed light therapy for jaundice (almost all preemies do) and he had to learn how to maintain his body temperature. He also had to learn how to eat enough to grow - without sleeping through each feeding. In 17 LONG days, he was ready to go home.

My doc told me that any subsequent pregnancies of mine would be considered high risk. They don't know a lot about pre-eclampsia and can't predict if you will have it again. If you have it, again, it can be much worse. Since pre-eclampsia can develop into eclampsia and eclampsia can kill both Mom and baby, we figured God was telling us that all additional children in our family would be adopted.

WHY ETHIOPIA -

First, Ethiopia is a county of desperate need: 4-5 million orphans and that number is growing, expected to reach nearly 20 million within 20 years if drastic measures aren't taken.

Second, the government of Ethiopia has recognized that they have a desperate situation on their hands. They don't have the social services in place to help feed, clothe and educate the millions of children who have lost one or both parents. As a result of this realization, they have cut much of the red tape that used to exist in international adoption. They are making it easier to get the children into the homes of families who want to love and raise them.

Third, when adopting from Ethiopia, the adoption process, including travel in-country, is quick and regimented. With Todd's hectic work schedule, we knew from day one of the process what to expect from the day we arrive to pick up G until the day we leave for the US.

Fourth, Ethiopia is a beautiful country full of beautiful people. A country full of people who love their children and have immense pride in their culture.

I could go on...

Happiest Place on Earth

We traveled to Disneyland in November. Though the weather wasn't sunny (we got rained out of a few events) it was a perfect time to visit. The crowds were small, as were the lines. T had some work meetings in the area, so it was nice to combine the trip. We spent evenings listening to Santa read bedtime stories and B enjoyed getting autographs from the characters around the park. 

The Whole Family enjoying the Disney Characters

B posing with that famous mouse. 

B really enjoyed the train ride that had lots of silly noises. T was able to get away from meetings to spend some quality time in the park.

J's personal favorite - maybe that has something to do with her school mascot??

Too bad this puppy can't come home with us! I have a feeling he is house trained. 

On her way, soon...

Our one and only photo of G. 

Only 5 weeks old (I think).

Hopefully we'll have hundreds more to share, soon.

Tripping Down Memory Lane

2 yrs 6 mo - Happy Halloween!

2 yr 4 mo - Playing in Daddy's shop

21 months - loving his new hair style

15 Months Old - happiest baby ever

Welcome to Our World

As we transition from a family of three to a family of four, we decided to jump on the blog bandwagon. I will make an attempt to post pictures regularly, since that is why you are all logging on. I will practice with some older photos of B. Welcome to the trip down memory lane. 

Here is B's one month photo. Can you believe they let us bring home a little person who was that small? Can you believe it was nearly 3 years ago??