Love for Lucas

International Adoption Picnic 2010

2010-09-17T20:47:00.003-04:00

We were blessed to be able to host our first annual International Adoption Picnic in August. Friends from all over joined us to celebrate our wonderful children. If you would like to join us next year just send me a message and I'll be happy to add you to the invitation list. :)

Happy New Year!

2010-09-17T20:35:00.002-04:00

For my friend Erin who is fascinated by the Ethiopian calendar. :)

From Wikipedia:

The Ethiopian calendar also called the Ethiopian Ge'ez calendar, is the principal calendar used in Ethiopia and also serves as the liturgical calendar for Christians in Eritrea belonging to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, Eastern Catholic Church and Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea. It is based on the older Alexandrian or Coptic calendar, which in turn derives from the Egyptian calendar, but like the Julian calendar, it adds a leap day every four years without exception, and begins the year on August 29 or August 30 in the Julian calendar. A seven- to eight-year gap between the Ethiopian andGregorian calendars results from alternate calculations in determining the date of the Annunciation of Jesus.

Like the Coptic calendar, the Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of 30 days each plus five or six epagomenal days, which comprise a thirteenth month. The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar, but their names are in Ge'ez. The sixth epagomenal day is added every four years without exception on August 29 of the Julian calendar, six months before the Julian leap day. Thus the first day of the Ethiopian year, 1 Mäskäräm, for years between 1901 and 2099 (inclusive), is usually September 11 (Gregorian), but falls on September 12 in years before the Gregorian leap year.

The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2002, which began on September 11, 2009 AD of the Gregorian calendar. The year 2003 will begin on September 11, 2010.

Summer 2010

2010-07-21T15:02:00.005-04:00

Summer 2010 is flying by. We've enjoyed our first camping trip already and countless hours near the pool. Lucas is scheduled for another surgery on August 3rd, and we leave the 5th for another camping trip. After that we will have to start thinking about school again and getting supplies and clothes ready. I am so blessed to be able to spend the summer with my children. Here are some of our highlights so far.

2010-07-21T14:59:00.000-04:00

Spring in New York

2010-04-15T10:37:00.005-04:00

We have been blessed with a warmer than normal spring here in Northern New York. It has been great to be outside and feeling the warm air. Here are a few pictures to let everyone know what we've been up to these last few months.

Lucas is doing amazingly well. His language development continues to amaze me. Everything is in a complete sentence now with the incorrect word thrown in from time to time. Words like where, when, who...are still confusing to him. Pronouns are now used, though not always the correct gender, which is funny to hear. There are some phrases that we use everyday that Lucas thinks are just one single word. For example, he says "wash your hands" as "washuands". His tooth brush is his "brusher", he wears a "dress" because we tell him to to get "dressed" and he puts his pants and shirt on, so they must be his dress, right?.
He has a great imagination which might come back to haunt him, or us, someday. He will sit there and tell a story about him and daddy going hunting, getting bit by a deer and shooting it with a yellow gun as if it were 100% true. If you didn't know better you would believe it, scary! I'll have to remember how good he is a lying when he becomes a teenager.

Thinking of Ethiopia

2010-01-09T17:38:00.005-05:00

For your viewing pleasure.
We have been thinking a lot about Ethiopia as the people from that country celebrate Ganna (Christmas) this week, January 7th

It's official!!

2009-12-30T14:47:00.002-05:00

He is now officially Lucas Digafu Bertram! As of Dec. 23rd 2009.

on the mend...we hope

2009-12-27T10:58:00.002-05:00

Lucas had tonsil and adenoid surgery on Christmas Eve to try to help his severe sleep apnea. We were scheduled for January, but had to be moved up because it was so bad. The hospital and staff was great and they (or Santa) even surprised us with 12 presents on Christmas morning for Lucas to open. I was very discouraged because the sleep apnea was still there after surgery and the doctor suspects that it might have something to do with his tongue or his brain. This morning, however, I have a shimmer of hope. Last night his oxygen monitor only went off 7 or 8 times compared to all night long before surgery. If the surgery was successful the doctor said it may take some time to see the results because of swelling. I'm soooo praying that the improvement I saw last night is just a small step in the right direction.
I want to thank my prayer partners from all over the country (from Oregon to New York)who have been holding us all up in prayer. Whatever the outcome it will be God's will and I'm sure it will be good. Thank you all so much!!!

Pictures from Luke's first snow.

Ho,Ho,Ho

2009-12-12T12:24:00.003-05:00

Lucas informed me he was scared of Santa. Well, he wasn't. He go right up on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a "Big Guitar" for Christmas. Avery said he wants a helicopter that really flies with a hook. I'm pretty sure Santa makes guitars, but the helicopter is questionable. We'll see.
We had a great Breakfast with Santa and also saw our friends the Disbro's. The last picture is their youngest two and our youngest two together. Fun!

Oh Christmas Tree.....

2009-11-28T14:39:00.002-05:00

Thankfulness

2009-11-28T09:31:00.005-05:00

One year ago this week (November 25th 2008) we received our referral for our sweet son Lucas Digafu Bertram.

Seeing this picture for the first time our hearts were overflowing. These beautiful eyes started us on a long journey of concern, worry and a bunch of prayers, as we hoped to put a smile on his face.

He is all energy and all smiles now. We are so very blessed. God knew this was our son so long ago, before we even considered adoption. And now he is here with us and we are a whole family. Thanks be to God!

Halloween Fun!

2009-10-31T22:13:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Winter's Coming!

2009-10-12T19:11:00.004-04:00

We have enjoyed watching the seasons change with Lucas. He thinks the word for cold is "Winter's coming". Every time we are out in the cold he says "Winter's coming" to tell me he feels cold. It all come from those mere chilly days this summer when he would shiver and I would look at him and say "Oh just wait, my boy...winter's coming." He really has no idea what is ahead of him. I hope he enjoys the snow. If not, it's going to be a very long winter.

The pictures below are from our trip to a local pumpkin patch. The wind was blowing and the temperature was so cold. Much colder than I thought when I dressed my children in only sweat shirts (yes Avery had one and put it on right after the picture was taken).

Oh yes, Lucas....Winter's Coming!!

Time flies...

2009-10-05T16:54:00.006-04:00

Forgive me for the mess here. I couldn't move the pictures after I posted them. We're off the Luke's school for a reception for all the international students new this year...about 15 of them. The original post is below.

Apple picking with the Disbros and Kellys. They both have children from Ethiopia as well and we had so much fun!

Luke's first day of Pre-K.

Benji's shop is under way.

We have been home a little over 4 months and words can not express how happy this little man has made us. He lights up our lives and we are all smitten.

For those of you who have followed our saga...Lucas does NOT need skull reconstruction surgery. We will go for another CT in three months to be sure, but the neuro-surgeon says his brain is just fine and Benji and I do not want to fix what isn't broken. His head will always be shaped a little "funny", but once you know him for a little while you really don't notice it much at all. I don't think it will slow him down at all.

As you can tell from the lack of posts, school has started again and time to myself is rare. I'll give you some picture high lights of the last few weeks. Enjoy!

First Hair Cut (in the United States anyway)

2009-09-04T19:15:00.003-04:00

Grampy Irv gave Lucas his first hair cut today. Well, first USA hair cut anyway. As with my other children I saved a lock of his hair for his "baby" book. The other kids then wanted to see their first hair, which I'm proud to say I was able to produce for them from their baby books. It brought back some great memories. Lucas did great and looks wonderful! Enjoy!

The Whole family

2009-09-03T20:56:00.004-04:00

It was so nice to get a visit tonight from our son Gavin. He is headed off to college and settling into his new apartment this week. This is one of the rare occasions that we have been able to get a family picture with the WHOLE family. It always seems strange to take one unless everyone is together. When I was getting my classroom together this week I realized the only picture I had off all of us was in the airport when we arrived home from Ethiopia. After all that traveling we weren't looking ourselves and Lucas looked scared and shocked. I'm really disappointed with the quality of my new camera, but at least I have a few new pictures. We'll have to get a professional one taken soon. Enjoy!

So Long, Summer...

2009-08-31T17:58:00.004-04:00

The boys and I have been enjoying our last week of summer. Kara has been spending time with her cousins and having a great time at their camp, but I've sure missed her. Within the last week we have gone to Old McDonald's Farm with my friend Chelsea and her kids, gone Putt Putt golfing, gone to lunch with my Friend Robin and her kids (one adopted from Ethiopia like Lucas), had dinner and a bon fire with the Paige and Woods families, and gone fishing at our camp with Robin and the kids. What a GREAT week. Here is a week in pictures for your enjoyment!

This was a special trip for just Avery and me. Kara and I had a special trip too, but it involved shopping...as usual (NOT my favorite thing, but it was fun this time).

From the above picture you can tell Robin and I didn't get much adult conversation on our lunch date. Even at McDonald's I was chasing Lucas the entire time.....Phone calls are great!

Sweetie Pie was so excited to catch her first fish. Lucas still is scared of them, but he loves to run to the camera to take a picture whenever anyone else catches one.

Lucas took this picture of me along with many others that were far less recognizable. Fun!

We are taking the good with the bad....And Oh It's So Good!

2009-08-23T17:55:00.007-04:00

We've had a rough couple of weeks at the Bertram house hold. My camera died (we had to buy another one), my Email account was hacked (If you've emailed me, I haven't gotten it), our big freezer died while we were camping and we lost all the food in it (had to buy another one), Our VCR and stove are acting like they should be replaced (but we can't afford it right now), Lucas had CT and MRI and we haven't yet gotten results, and we missed all but one day of Vacation Bible School due to appointments and our one and only three day long camping trip of the year.

Other than that....things are great. We had family visit last month from Ohio, Florida, and Colorado. Lucas loved meeting his Aunts and Uncles from out of town. "Unple" Mike was a huge hit because he twisted the boys on the swing.

We saw the best meteor shower I've seen in years, and all the kids saw awesome "shooting stars".

Lucas is amazing and can talk like I can not believe. He is such a wonderful boy with a friendly personality. While camping he would ride his "motorcycle" around and wave and say hi to other campers. He is NOT shy at all and acts as if he owns the place where ever he is. Confidence is a good thing.

The boy who we thought couldn't smile, smiles all the time and loves his family. He and Avery are acting like brothers that have been together for years (I don't know if this part is good). Lucas will steal Avery's stuffed animals and run around the house with it one minute and the next minute Avery is tickling Lucas until he can't stand it anymore. Our house is full of activity. I'm kind of looking forward to returning to school just to have more of a routine. But, return to school means closing the pool. Lucas has been in the pool every day of the summer and loves it. I don't know how he is going to adjust to a life with no pool. Time will tell.

Friends...help needed

2009-08-16T12:10:00.002-04:00

I've been hacked! My email account has been compromised and I can no longer open it or get to any of my email addresses. If you and I were in contact with each other via email could you please search yahoo for my new email address and send me a message? I'm afraid to post it here, but I think you can find it using my name. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. I'll post it on the HOLT yahoo group for my HOLT friends if I can get back onto the group, but I think it all revolves around your email address and I'll be locked out.
Thanks,
Christa :(

Now I lay me down to sleep.....

2009-08-07T13:04:00.004-04:00

I thought it would be fun to share some of the things Lucas thanks God for at prayer time before bed. It is one of my favorite times of the day...and not just because I finally get some peace and quiet. In addition to thanking God for his family, including each member individually, here are a few of my favorites. Every night is different and Benji and I share a laugh every night at some of the things he comes up with.

"Thank you God soap."

"Thank you God daddy's hat."

"Thank you God flowers."

"Thank you God Kiley. (Kara's friend)"

"Thank you God water jump."

"Thank you God camper."

"Thank you God bubbles."

"Thank you God peanut butter."

"Thank you God swing set."

"Thank you God daddy truck."

"Thank you God horse. (we don't have a horse, but he really likes them...from afar)

"Thank you God my bike."

Since we have a broken camera I'm adding an old "sleeping" picture to this post

(taken in Ethiopia).

Car Ride

2009-07-23T10:42:00.002-04:00

Today Lucas let me know he wanted to get out of the house. Here is our conversation:

Lucas: "Mommy, car ride."

Mommy: "Car ride? Where do you want to go?"

Lucas: "Chicken nuggets"

It's official, it took less than 2 months for our boy to become a McDonald's fan. "I'm lovin' it!"

Language Development and more "Summer" fun

2009-07-22T13:08:00.003-04:00

Lucas continues to amaze me with how fast he is picking up English. He is doing great with concrete vocabulary like car, flower, bike, cow.... Other concepts are more difficult so he uses them incorrectly such as "Digafu a good girl" or "Up stairs, mommy?" (when he means down stairs). His favorite phrases are "Digafu do it" and his newest "Look, Mommy". Yesterday for the very first time he was asked by a stranger what his name was and said "Lucas Digafu". We have been working so hard to transition him to his American name and I for one was beginning to give up hope as he always calls himself Digafu. It was so exciting to hear him refer to himself this way. We are fine with him being Digafu, but you would be surprised how many people can't say it. I'd hate for him to go through life correcting people all the time, but if that is what he chooses, it's fine with us. We will still legally change it to Lucas Digafu, but he can go by whichever he chooses.

We are having a cold and rainy summer in northern NY. We have dodged the rain enough to have all kinds of fun, however. Here are a few of the highlights:

A Very Sad Day!!

2009-07-16T14:46:00.003-04:00

Wednesday morning I found that my cat was very weak. I noticed he hadn't been eating much, if any, for a few days and because of his age, I was anticipating the worst. So, Tuesday night I took these pictures of my precious boy knowing they may be the last. Sure enough, we made the trip to the vet and Jackson did not return home with us. Lucas watched me cry and silently joined in with tears streaming, but not a sound. I don't know if he was sad about the cat or if he just knew his mommy was sad. He has been talking about the kitty non stop since then telling anyone who will listen that "Kitty go doctor" and "Kitty sleepink" and even "kitty in Daddy truck" I've had my cat longer than, my home, longer than my husband, and longer than any of my children. He would have been 16 years old on August 10th.

After a morning like that, we visited another doctor with Lucas. His cranial/facial specialist also didn't have very good news for us and I will post more later after testing is complete and second opinions have been obtained. Let's just say we are in for a very full summer with many doctors appointments. We would love any prayers you can send our way. :)

Mama's Boys!!!

2009-07-15T15:39:00.003-04:00

Those of you who know our family know I LOVE to go fishing. Bass and trout being my favorite. Benji could care less and so I go with my father (for bass) and my mother (for trout) or by myself. Well, I'm raising my boys right!! We had a great fishing trip this week (Luke's first) and the sun fish were plentiful. I spent the entire time putting worms on and taking fish off, but I didn't mind at all. It was so much fun to watch the excitement and hear the squeals of joy every time another fish bit the hook. Lucas never got too close to the fish, and seemed a bit concerned that they were getting hurt, but he did have a good time after he saw that we only catch and release. If any of my local friends want to join us, just give us a call.

Sweet Birthday Wishes!

2009-07-14T14:46:00.003-04:00

Our newest addition just celebrates his first American birthday. He shares his special day with our daughter Kara. Together they blew out candles and opened cards and gifts form friends. We were so blessed to have good weather on a day that was predicted to have sever thunderstorms. I would love to share more pictures, but our camera seems to only work for a few pictures and then quits. Thankfully it worked during the cake portion of our day. We had about 40 guests who shared a meal with us and enjoyed swimming and fellowship. I hope everyone had a good time, we sure did.

Don't all kids stick their hands in their "first" birthday cake? I love the look on Kara's face. She can't believe he just did that.

Our sweet, loving little boy...and...Fourth of July!

2009-07-05T12:45:00.005-04:00

Here is an example of what a wonderful little boy Lucas Digafu is. We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family. Yesterday as I was trying to get in a few pages of the book I'm reading There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene, Lucas Digafu jumped onto my lap and started pointing to the Ethiopian girl on the front cover.

This prompted me to turn to the pictures inside the book (which is about the struggle of an Ethiopian woman to care for the numerous orphans in her country) and show these pictures to him as well. One picture in particular is of a girl named Mekdes who is crying because she has just been dropped of at the compound run by Haregewoin and is dealing with recent losses in her life. Lucas saw this picture and I used it as an opportunity to teach him some emotion words in English such as sad, cry, and hurt. He repeated these words many times and I could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. He got up and went to the freezer where we keep a pig shaped ice pack that we call Boo Boo Pig. He pulled it out and brought it over to the book and put it on the picture of the sad little girl (to make her boo boo feel better). What a caring and loving little man!!!

Fourth of July in Northern New York was cool and windy, so...... we decided to fly kites. I can't tell you all how much fun it is to do these fun activities with Lucas and see him experience them for the first time. After the kite flying, we went to my cousins' (Denton and Amy's) camp at Greene Point. We had a great time and Lucas Digafu loved to watch the "Pretty Lights" in the sky at night. Our family's newest American celebrated his first Independence Day in style.

The Toothless Wonder!!

2009-07-03T15:28:00.003-04:00

Digafu had two teeth removed today. Dr. Pat and his assistants were wonderful and would have kept him if I would have let them. They all took turns carrying him around and showing him each of the rooms. They really were amazing and I would recommend them to anyone needing oral surgery.

The extractions did make for a fussy boy, however, and who could blame him. But after his nap he was his old self again and hopefully he will feel better now that he no longer has two rotten teeth in his mouth. I'll leave you with a picture of him trying to show his beautiful gaps and the concert he and his brother put on this afternoon. We are hoping for a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight! :)

News Update

2009-06-29T13:54:00.003-04:00

A meeting of the Mini-United Nations (MUN) was held in Northern New York this afternoon. Representatives from India, China, Ethiopia and the United States were in attendance. The delegates decided that summer should be the official season of the MUN and swimming and swinging are to be the official sports. A great time was had by all and they are all hoping for another meeting soon.

Summer is here!!!

2009-06-20T17:18:00.004-04:00

Check out this cool dude. My friend Courtney and her mom Joyce showered Lucas with new clothes including this "Church" suit. Unfortunately, he wants to wear it every day and it hasn't been clean for church yet. He LOVES it and never wants to take it off. Can you blame him? It's adorable and he gets all kinds of attention when he is wearing it.

Summer means eating outside!!! We enjoyed a wonderful evening on Benji's birthday and ate out by the pool. It's so much fun watching Lucas enjoy himself and begin to feel like part of a family. He seems to love it here and we have yet to see any sign of "home" sickness. I pray this continues.

And what would summer be without running through the sprinkler? Our friends Jon & Tara Abbott and Schreene & Jon Babcock gave Lucas a summer outfit and his first sprinkler. He and Avery LOVE it. The run through a couple of times and then grab it and point it at each other like a water gun. Great Fun!!!

The first "comment" and Kara's busy life

2009-06-13T13:44:00.005-04:00

OK, we got our first "comment" yesterday about our family. While out to eat a stranger told us how cute Lucas was and then asked "Is he a fresh-air kid?"

I'm so glad I have that "kindergarten teacher" personality where I just blow everything off as if it's no big deal and explain how things really are. With five year olds, these comments are common and expected, the kids are just curious and don't know. It's a little different coming from a fifty year old, but he too was just curious and didn't know. No harm was meant and I was proud to advocate for international adoption. Let's see if I handle these things differently after the 100th time.

Kara had a very busy week last week. Last weekend Kara had her first Prom and she and Chris looked wonderful. I'm posting a couple pics to prove it. :)

Then it was two days of long rehearsals and a recital on Tuesday. Allison, her dance instructor, never ceases to amaze me with what she does with her girls ( and a few boys). They were all so cute. Kara was one of her assistants this year and the little kids she helped were adorable. I didn't take Lucas. I thought we'd wait one more year, but I know he'll love it.

These are some of the girls who have graduated and used to dance with Kara. They miss it so much. (Cassie & Ann Marie)

Two and a half weeks? Really????

2009-06-10T12:21:00.006-04:00

I'm the first to admit that the first week home was a little rough. No where as bad as I imagined, but rough non the less. Lucas would hit and pinch me (often), he could not understand even commands to keep him safe, which kept me running constantly, and he had multiple "hissy fits" every day. I felt overwhelmed. But, he slept well, he ate well, and he was attaching to us very nicely so I really couldn't complain too much. All the things I prayed about were going well. I guess I just didn't pray about everything, like I should have.

But....two and a half weeks??? Really??? I can not believe the difference two and a half weeks make. The hitting and pinching are very rare, He understands much of what we say, and the "hissy fits" are down to a couple a day and only if things aren't going his way (today he didn't want to get dressed, for example). And language.....WOW!!! He can repeat anything, and so far Lucas can say and understands the following:

Mommy, Baby (Daddy), Gabin (Gavin), Kara (with a rolled r), Abery (Avery) , up pa-lease, No Bella (our dog....who we sold Saturday), nice Ali (our other dog...who we don't have to sell), be nice, no hit, Bye-bye... see ya... chow (all three together), No thank you (when prompted), yes pa-lease (when prompted), Ba-rush teeth (rolled r), coffee, fa-rog (frog), nose, chalk, sorry person's name, cat food, underwear, horse (he is fascinated by horses) and I love you (He only repeats this one so far, but it is so cute). There are more, this is what I remember right now.

Two and a half weeks!! Really!!!

Here are a few highlights from the last couple weeks. Watch out Jonas Brothers...here come the Bertram Boys.

Kayaking at the cottage:

He loves anything that has to do with water...we installed the pool alarm last week.

Helping Avery and Grandpa plant the tomatoes (a yearly tradition, this year they planted three)

Our first trip to Country Bell for ice cream. The animals were much more exciting.

Just hanging out at home. Yes, that's the dog bed he's on (ugh!).

Wrestle time with Daddy. Now he's out numbered. :)

Day Seven in Ethiopia (May 21, 2009)

2009-06-05T13:49:00.004-04:00

Written by Benji:

Hooray!! Last Day!! Up at 6-6:30ish - power is off again. Breakfast as usual and then packing. We did a quick visit over at HOLT then we all went to the Leprosy Hospital to visit the gift shop. We got some nice stuff (table cloths, scarfs, a bag, dress for Kara, leather items....). It was back to the hotel for lunch and more packing. Lunch took forever and I don't think I got what I ordered. We won't miss this place much. We ordered Digafu Injera because I doubt he'll every get it (like in Ethiopia) again.Digafu got a short nap, we got him up around 3:45 and went to HOLT one last time. We got to see a picture of Digafu's birth father and say our good byes. Back to the Hotel to button up packing and say goodbye to the other families. And Good bye to Ethiopia..... :(We left for the airport with our driver, Dawit. He is a true blessing to visiting families. Very helpful and a wealth of information about his culture. We will miss having him nearby to ask questions about Digafu's heritage. He is a wonderful man.

Christa writing now:

The flight was long. Lucas Digafu was real good except when he had to be strapped down. When his seat belt was on he screamed the entire time and I mean loud. After the first flight I asked Meghan and Stefan (who were sitting quite a ways away form us) if they heard him wailing and they sure did. After that the flight attendants understood if we didn't have him buckled the entire time.

On the flight Digafu tried ice cream for the first time. It was coffee flavored and he loved it (a true Ethiopian boy). Sine home we have given him vanilla and he didn't care for it much.

He slept some and had to be with Daddy the entire time. I'm glad since we've been home he's learned to like me. That first week was heart breaking, even though I knew from reading that he would bond with one of us first...I wanted it to be me. Oh well, he loves me now and that's all that matters.

Our family and friends met us at the airport and words could not describe how happy we were to be home.

Day six in Ethiopia (Wednesday May 20, 2009)

2009-06-04T12:27:00.005-04:00

Written by Benji:

I woke up early, about 5:45, watched traffic and did crossword puzzles. Christa and Digafu woke up at 7ish. He played while we got ready for our day. All the families met for breakfast. Digafu and Tigist played ball and tag (or at least something like tag). At 10:00 we went to the care center for the Farewell Ceremony. All the children were sitting nicely in a horseshoe on little plastic chairs. Digafu walked in like he owned the place and went right down the line of children shaking hands and showing off his sunglasses. The nannies took our children up to be dressed into traditional clothes and even when they returned, Digafu had his sunglasses clipped on the front of his outfit. He wasn't about to let them go. He seemed so proud and seemed to know this was HIS day and it was his turn to be adopted. He must have seen this happen with other children and was happy it was his turn.

Tiakbech spoke and led us in prayer. Then, each of the parents got a chance to speak of care, concerns, and thank yous. Everyone had much praise and thanked HOLT and God for this amazing opportunity. There weren't many dry eyes in the place at that point. Dr. Fikru then closed out the ceremony with prayer. After we had cake, coffee and popcorn (coffee and popcorn are traditional servings in country) we spoke with Dr. Fikru about Digafu's scars and size. The orphans lunch came soon after and we were scheduled to go shopping and stop at he Embassy to collect travel visas. We left the kids there at the Care Center for a few hours (nap time). We said good bye to Digafu and that's when the "Meltdown" started. We could hear him wailing as we went to the office to check paperwork. Heartbreaking, more tears. We left feeling very guilty, but it had to be done. I guess it was his first lesson that mommy and daddy will always come back for him.

We (all parents) taxied from the hotel to the Sheraton Hotel to bank, Internet, and get some lunch "to go". It took a while to get there due to a soda truck that had flipped over at a major intersection. Broken glass was everywhere. Later our driver remarked about it saying "Coke" truck fell down.

After Sheraton, Dawit drove like a Nascar driver to the Embassy for paperwork. One couple needed to drop off paperwork at the German Embassy (more crazy driving) then we raced through town to stop at a souvenir shop. LOOK OUT SHEEP!!! We found out if you hit anything in Ethiopia you have to pay a fine. If it is a sheep, there is one price, if you hit a person there is another price. No, we didn't hit the sheep.

We stopped at this little shop for like an hour and got a boat load of stuff for 1965 birr, or $175 American. We went back to the hotel and traffic was still a mess from the overturned truck. Little kids on a bus next to us in traffic saw us and laughed, pointed at us and said ferenge (spelling?) which means foreigner. Ethiopians are so kind to foreigners. We stuck out like a sore thumb, but other than these children, no one stared at us or anything.

After getting back we rushed next door to get him. Mommy ran upstairs saying "Digafu". That boy came running and squealing into her arms. They giggled and hugged for a few moments until Daddy came up. When he saw me he couldn't get out of mom's arms fast enough (kicking and squealing). He ran up, we hugged and loved each other. It was a wonderful feeling, but bitter sweet as I feel bad for Christa. We went back to the room and relaxed before dinner.

At 6:00 we went down for dinner and SURPRISE, a new menu with cheaper prices, more to choose from, and Sprite to drink. Maybe they didn't like us bringing in Chinese food and eating it there the night before. The food was better!

Then it was upstairs for bath time. He LOVES the water. Mommy showed him a portable CD player and he listened to that until bedtime. What a sweet boy. Yeah, it's our last night !!!

Day five in Ethiopia (Tuesday May 19, 2009)

2009-05-31T15:14:00.003-04:00

Lucas Digafu slept in 'till 6:30 a.m.. Daddy was already up and said he woke up very content. When I woke up around 7:00 he was playing nicely on the floor with Avery's Magna-doodle. That seemed to be his favorite toy so far. We got ready for our day with new clothes and shoes. His favorite was the light-up "Cars" sweatshirt. I thought Africa was warm....not this week. We had a lot of rain and I think the temperature was in the 70's all week. We went down stairs, for the SAME breakfast buffet we've had every day, and met some of the other families in our travel group. After breakfast (Digafu ate a lot, again) we played in the lobby with the other families.

Meghan and I tried to confirm our flights (which we really didn't have to do) while Benji & Digafu played ball in the courtyard with Tigist and her daddy, Mark. Benji said Digafu and Tigist had a great time and were talking to each other in Amharic. It was so cute. He had been pretty quite for us up until that point, and so had Tigist. We returned to the room and ate bagels and peanut butter for lunch (we brought this from home and were very glad we did). We met Tesfahun at 12 for our Embassy appointment. The Holt social worker, Teiabech, went with us and in very fond of Digafu. It was a long, crazy, stinky drive to the Embassy, then a long wait for a short "interview". While we waited I noticed Tekiabech took the Magna-doodle pen out of Digafu's left hand and put it in his right and told him in Amharic to use his right hand. In Ethiopia the left hand was used to take care of "hygiene" issues, so I'm sure being left handed is discouraged. We're glad he can be a south paw now if he wants to.

At the interview we were asked if Digafu was the child referred to us, if he had any mental or physical problems, if he had and siblings, how he came into care and if we ever met or planned to meet his father. Done! Another step closer to being home. At this point I was getting pretty home sick and missed my other children a great deal.

On the way home Tekiabech took Digafu to sit with her in the front seat. I was so scared for him as the traffic in Ethiopia is worse than I could ever describe. He LOVED it. We saw him pretending to use her cell phone much of the way back. It gave Benji a break, as Digafu is a Daddy's boy and doesn't want much to do with mommy. I tried to not let this bother me. I knew that he would choose one of us to bond with at first, I was just hoping it would be me. Benji said "You do all the work and I get all the glory."

Since we were at the Embassy during nap time we decided to put Digafu down for a rest when we got back. He wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but soon was fast asleep. We had to wake him at 4:00 (which he was also not keen on ) so he would go to sleep at bedtime. Benji called his parents and they were thrilled to hear from us. Our dog had found her way to their house and was so happy to spend the night at grandma's house.

We had some more playtime in the room and then met the others in the lobby to play. Digafu loves the freedom of going to the bathroom whenever he wants and he does it often. Every time he washes his hands he gets soap and water on his hands and washes his face as well. Then he gets another handful of water and takes a drink. It's so cute how well he takes care of himself. The men went to get us Chinese food (our hunters) and the women stayed with the kids. This was good for me because Digafu likes me much more when Daddy's not around. He and Tigist had so much fun with the ball in the court yard and kept me very busy. They were talking away to each other, it was so cute. I was sad he wouldn't have anyone around to talk to in his language when we get home. I'm sure it will be very frustrating for him.

The men returned after about an hour and we ate. The power also came on, after being off since 4:00 a.m. I had to go to the Embassy with air dried hair. I don't think I ran into anyone I knew (tee, hee)

We returned to our room and played and then I gave Digafu another bath. He loves his bath!! I gave him some bath toys and he had a blast. Finally I had Daddy finish up so I could go send an email to the kids. The computer here is horrible. The keyboard is so old the letters are worn off. There is no hunt an peck here, you have to know your keyboard. When I returned Digafu was in his PJs and ready for bed. We played awhile longer and then put him down to sleep. Tonight we got tears, but after Daddy went over and consoled him he stopped crying and found his thumb. He was asleep in like 15 minutes. What a wonderful boy we have. We love him so much already.

Day four in Ethiopia (Monday May 18, 2009)

2009-05-29T12:34:00.003-04:00

*This journal entry was written by Benji:

We get him today!! We all had breakfast and went over to the center at 9:00. The kids came down to the office and Digafu rushed into Mommy's arms with a big smile. We played in the courtyard and the kids mauled Christa looking for Smarties. We played with the kids a while. Christa had to meet with the director about Embassy paperwork while I played call with the children. At 11:45 the kids went up for lunch and the parents went back to the hotel to do the same. We were told to pick up our kids after nap time (3:00).

We walked up to the corner.....wait a minute, I just had to pause to watch "naked" man walk up the street. It was my first time seeing him, but Christa has seen him before. ....At the corner Christa bought bananas and I some sandals for 35 birr (about $3.50).

3:00 p.m. we went to the center to get Digafu. He was happy to see us. The smile disappeared when the 3 of us walked from the center to the Hotel (next door) - nervous boy. We went up to our room and he was very quiet. Mommy had 4-5 toys set out for him. He went for the one with the wheels first, a little farm wagon. Christa showed him the magna-doodle. This he really liked, but no smiles yet. We played with that for about 20 minutes. Christa then blew up a balloon and we soon realized we might have an athlete on our hand. Wow!! Soon after, we started seeing some smirks and some grins. We gave him some apple juice, he gulped it down, more smiles. Little sounds and whispers soon followed and he even said "shint" which means pee-pee. Off to the bathroom! He did great. We have him water and some goldfish crackers for a snack. The juice and water kicked in and we did a lot of trips to the potty. No accidents though. The DeAndreas stopped by with Fisika (16 month old daughter). They were having a tough time and thought a familiar face would help. She fell asleep on her mommy's chest while in our room. They left and we played some more 'till dinner.

Around 5-5:30 we went downstairs to eat. Christa had oriental rice and I spaghetti with meat that we shared with Digafu. This kid is a bottomless pit. He loves spaghetti. He finally finished and then got down on the floor to play with a ball and truck the Lumpas brought down.

Back to the room for bath time. Christa made a bubble bath and he loved it. He loves washing himself and scrubbing his hair. He got a big kick out of the shower wand. He got out soon and mommy got him into his PJs. We played 'till about 8:00. I put in a movie "Barnyard" that he enjoyed intermittently. We all shared lots of smiles. 8:30-bedtime- He had a twin bed in our hotel room. Mommy helped him brush his teeth. I put him in bed with a blanket, but that didn't last long. He got up and out of bed. I told him no,no it's time for night-night. I put him back and he stayed down! He whined + whimpered for about 10 minutes, if that. He tossed and turned until he found his thumb and soon he was out for the count. We were amazed. He never awoke 'till 6:30 a.m.. I think we'll keep him. :)

What a great day!!!

PS- Digafu is 34 inches tall and is wearing clothes as small as 18 month. Don't yet know his weight.

PSS- We got up at 11:00 p.m. and called home (4 p.m. there) and talked to Avery, Kara, and Mom. Yeah!!!

Day three in Ethiopia (Sunday May 17. 2009)

2009-05-28T11:49:00.004-04:00

On Sunday the Care Center is closed so we did not get to see Lucas Digafu. It was very hard to know he was next door and not be able to see him. After a brief power outage in the morning we were about to get ready for Church. One of our travel group members had heard that we could request to go to a traditional Ethiopian church service instead of the more "western" and English version Holt had planned for us. It was great, but later we found out that our children get bussed every Sunday to the church we were originally scheduled to attend. We may not have seen them anyway, but I would have liked to have seen the church Lucas attended. The thing about Ethiopian people is that they never want to offend anyone for any reason. If we ask for a traditional service, they do everything in their power to give us what we want. The church we attended was Dawit's church and he called the pastor and had a translator set up for us and had front row seats saved for us. When we arrived they were singing and it was wonderful. People were singing along with the performers and making a high pitched fluttering noise with their tongues. There was a band, about 10 people in choir robes, and a lead singer. TV cameras were recording it and I'm pretty sure they caught Benji sleeping. His translator didn't work and he wasn't getting any of the message anyway, but I sure hope it looked like he was praying. Every time I thought he was about to snore I would put my hand on his leg and he would wake up. The service was very energetic. I thought it was cool (and yet another sign) that the pastor talked about the Walk to Emmaus passage in Luke (Lucas). The message of the sermon was to keep your eyes on God and then all else will fall into place and be fine. Once your eyes are open to God you seek to know Him more.

From church we drove about an hour to a beautiful resort (Kuriftu resort in Debrezeit). After a great meal I had a full body massage (and I mean FULL body massage). Benji played pool and ping-pong with Stefan and then we just walked around together and relaxed. It was beautiful there and I continued to be amazed at the extremes of this country. You can see extreme poverty one minute and then, just beyond a gate, extreme wealth. There seemed to be very little "Middle" class when it came to housing.

The ride home was crazy. An hour and a half of near misses and diesel fumes. No one would believe me if I told them how bad the traffic is in Ethiopia (because I tend to whine about traffic everywhere) but it really is unlike anything I've ever seen. We got to see a home that is the kind of home Lucas Digafu lived in with his father. Boy is he going to be in for a surprise when he sees his new home. Tesfahun got us back to the hotel alive and in one piece, thank God! We showered and got ready and then walked to the Addis Ababa Golf Club. Walking through Addis is so heart breaking. It is so dirty and there is so much poverty. Again, you see starving people begging on the street everywhere and then on the other side of a wall there is a beautiful resort or golf course, I mean unbelievably beautiful. There was a wedding going on outside the golf club and I wanted so badly to crash it and just see what an Ethiopian wedding was like. I could see rose petals on the aisle. Roses here are so cheap. I bet he petals were scattered an inch think on the aisle.

We ate PIZZA at the golf club and it was wonderful. After the golf club we walked to a store to get formula and then walked back to the Union in the dark. Two children who were begging followed us most of the way back. The girl was 11 and her brother was 8 (Avery's age). My heart was breaking. If you asked them "How are you?" they would reply "Hungry". We were told by other travelers that if you give out money you become instantly surrounded by other beggers, which would have been very scary at night in Addis Ababa. We talked with them (they know English) and then Mark in our group gave them a little money and they returned to wherever they came from. I wished I could bring them all home with us.

We returned home and missed our kids very much. Even the one who was right next door.

Day two in Ethiopia (Saturday May 16, 2009)

2009-05-27T12:18:00.004-04:00

Saturday was great!!! We spent two hours with Lucas Digafu. He came to us easily and even gave us both hugs and kisses. We discovered that he REALLY likes his daddy and at that point mommy was second fiddle. A man named Mesphin (sp?) was taking video and were glad to have been given a copy on our last day as our video camera did not work, ugh! We found out on this day that Holt got pictures of Lucas' birth father and I was very happy about that. I expected to see a very small man in the pictures as Lucas is so small, but when we saw the pictures on Thursday we saw that he was not real small. We noticed that many men in Ethiopia are "short" compared to men in the US, which surprised me, I always thought Ethiopians were very tall.

We got to ride to a "real" hotel, the Hilton. It was so different from where we were staying, but still not like home. There were armed guards at the gate and we were frisked at the door. Everything in Ethiopia was behind walls, some of which were topped with barbed wire or broken glass. Being the country girl that I am, It made me feel a bit uneasy. "Why the armed guards and barbed wire?????"

We had a great lunch at the Hilton and were also able to use the internet for about 30 minutes or so. It was great to hear from home.

Next, Dawit took us to the National Museum of Ethiopia. This is where the famous "Lucy" lives. The museum guide was very interesting and asked us a lot of questions. He really wanted to start the whole creation/evolution debate, but he picked the wrong crowd. I was a bit sick to my stomach so I waited outside for the others. I felt much better after Kristen shared some of her Pepto and we returned to the Union.
Our travel group was wonderful. Everyone was willing to share and help out wherever needed. Kristen and I shared a blow dryer and hair straightener. One time she ran up the stairs to bring it to me while it was still hot, as the power had just gone out. We were blessed to have such an awesome group. We became close with Jennifer and Mark because they also adopted an "older" child (two actually) and their daughter Tigist and Digafu really liked playing together. Megan and Stefan were our travel buddies on the trip home, more about that later...

After a short rest we were taken out to a traditional Ethiopian dinner by Dawit, Tamaret, Dr. Fikru and his wife. Other than meeting Digafu, this was the highlight of the trip for me. The Ethiopian dancers were amazing and I found myself thinking of Kara and Allison all night long. They would have loved it!!

We called our kids when we returned to the Union and caught Kara at home. It was the best 7 minute and 5 second conversation of my life. I missed them so very much.

The power was out all day Saturday from about 6 a.m. to 6ish p.m. I began to realize how hard it is for HOLT to communicate with their staff in Ethiopia.

Day One in Ethiopia (Friday May 15, 2009)

2009-05-25T10:32:00.007-04:00

We met our travel group for breakfast at the Union Hotel. They are all wonderful people and we were so happy to get to know them. After breakfast we went to the Holt Office for introductions of the staff and then we were taken upstairs to meet the children. As soon as we walked in the door there were children everywhere. Benji had walked in before me and was Digafu right away.

He said "Christa, look!" and was pointing down. There in front of him was the smallest little boy I'd ever seen. We knelt next to him and looked into those beautiful eyes. The eyes we had thought were so big in the pictures seemed smaller on such a little man. They are still big, just on a very small body. Tekiabech (the Holt social worker) knelt down and told Digafu "Digafu this is Mommy" and he walked up to me and took a hug. We were instantly in love. He wasn't too sure about us yet, but we hoped by Monday he would be. (We found out we get to take full custody Monday instead of Tuesday.) We spent about 45 minutes with him and then Tekiabech came and said the US Embassy called and said the picture Holt had sent for his travel visa was not right and needed to be retaken (it needed a white background). She said he and two other children had to go have them retaken. I assumed they would be taken to another room and "snap" it would be done. Nope, they were taken to the Embassy, I think. They were gone about an hour and a half. Before he left we noticed he is very possessive of the toys. We hope Avery understands this when we get home. He loves anything that uses technology like daddy's watch and the cameras. He is very smart!! He never talked around us, only made noises when other children took away his toys. If we had more time with him on that first day I bet he would have opened up more. While he was gone we played with the other children. They loved all the attention.

Everyone we talked to in Ethiopia just loves Digafu. Our driver and all around go-to guy, Dawit, spoke highly of Digafu as well. He said Digafu is very active and very smart and that he was sure we would like him. When we first met Tekiabech that morning she said Digafu is VERY smart and that she calls him the little Professor.

Upon Digafu's return to the care center it was time for the children to eat lunch. We had been all ready to return to the hotel when they returned so we of course changed our minds and stayed a bit longer. We watched as the children sat on little plastic chairs at small plastic tables. The nannies served them traditional Ethiopian food, here is what I call it "orange mush and yellow rice mush on ingera". Benji and I don't care for ingera at all. It's a thin, sour pancake type bread. We tried it at dinner Friday night for the first time and decided it wasn't for us. We watched the kids eat for awhile and then left because Digafu would not eat with us around. The other families had had enough by then as well. We all wanted to be with our children, but the care center can be overwhelming with all those children fighting for your attention all day long. We were only there 3 hours, but it felt much longer (only one hour with Digafu).

We were missing Kara and Avery so much, but realized we had made the right decision in not bringing them on this trip. The food is not "what they are used to" and it's, well, a developing country which is a lot poorer than I ever imagined. I'm so glad we are able to give Digafu a life in America. I have never felt so grateful for being born in the USA before in my life. If anyone reading this has any way to help those in Ethiopia PLEASE do all you are able to do. My heart aches for my son's birth country.

These images are from our drive around Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia

That afternoon Dawit took us on a tour of Addis Ababa and to a coffee shop. The coffee in Ethiopia is very thick and rich. I'm a coffee drinker at home, but in Ethiopia I had to switch to Pepsi. Many people love the coffee, but I like mine light. That evening I tried to email home but the internet was down and wouldn't work. Overall it was a wonderful day and very eye opening. We went to bed anxious to see our little boy again soon.

LOVE for Lucas Digafu!!!

2009-05-22T21:10:00.003-04:00

We have so much love for our new son. I will blog more tomorrow, but wanted to add a few pictures before I fall asleep. He is a true joy and a gift from God!!! Enjoy!

We're Here!!!!

2009-05-14T15:46:00.001-04:00

After a long flight we have arrived at the Union Hotel. Everyone here goes out of there way to help. I'll try to blog more after we meet Lucas. Good night!!

2009-05-12T16:53:00.001-04:00

Create your own visitor map!

To tide you over....

2009-05-11T16:32:00.006-04:00

Now that Lucas Digafu is officially our son I am "allowed" to post pictures of him. I was going to wait until he was home, just to be on the safe side, but I decided to let everyone have a glimpse before we leave. There will be MANY more when we return, I promise. Enjoy!!!

Packing

2009-05-10T21:44:00.002-04:00

We've been packing for three days. And that's after having Lucas' things and one bag of donations already packed. My friend Laurie is bringing us medical donations tomorrow and to be honest I'm not sure where we are going to put them. We may have to take out some clothes and just wear the same thing all week. We each have two large suit cases to check, a carry on suit case and a carry on bag. I hope we can bring it all, according to the web site we can for only $100 extra. The hardest part was getting the documents ready. It wasn't hard, more time consuming. We had to download and print documents from USCIS, have some things signed in front of a notary, get copies of everything and check and double check to be sure we didn't forget anything.
I have felt sick for two days but I know it's only my nerves (thanks, Dad). I'll feel better once we get on the plane. I had hoped to get a bunch of meals frozen up before I left but that couldn't happen with the short notice. I'll be lucky if I am able to leave my friend Rhonda any sub plans (She is taking my place at school). I know she'll do a great job, my students are in great hands. I'm going to miss them all so very much. They have been through this entire process with us and they are so excited. I can't wait to introduce them to Lucas Digafu!!!
Please pray for safe travel, for paperwork to all be in place, for our children while we are away from them, and most of all for Lucas and for his transition into his new family to be smooth.
Thanks!!

wait, wait, wait, wait...GO!!!

2009-05-05T17:53:00.003-04:00

Well, when things move in this adoption process, they really move. We found out yesterday morning we passed court last week and Lucas DIGAFU is officially our son. Hooray, we are so excited!!! Then, in the afternoon we were given our travel dates. Are you sitting down? We leave next Wednesday the 13th. After all this waiting we were given only 9 days notice for our trip. WOW!!! We are scrambling to get plane tickets, hotel reservations, "crisp" money, a substitute teacher, lesson plans, donations, and to get packed. Oh yeah, and Friday is Avery's 8th birthday party with 10 kids coming to the house after school and Sunday we will celebrate his actual birthday and mother's day. Things are busy, but I couldn't e happier!!! God has answered many prayers. I'll TRY to write more later...but don't bet on it.
:)

A LONG short weekend ahead...

2009-05-01T18:18:00.002-04:00

Again today HOLT was unable to contact their Ethiopian staff. They believe today is an Ethiopian holiday (International Labor Day). This means we will not know if we are officially Lucas' parents until Monday at the earliest. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll update as soon as we know anything. Thanks for your well wishes and prayers. They really mean a lot to us.
:) I'm packing this weekend anyway! Might as well think positive.

No News

2009-04-30T16:00:00.006-04:00

Our adoption agency was unable to reach their staff in Ethiopia today. Therefore, we won't know if we passed court until tomorrow (we hope). We're in for another VERY long night and morning. Holt doesn't open until 8 or 9 a.m. on the west coast. The very earliest we will hear is 11:30. Boy, it's hard to concentrate when this is "out there".

Tonight I will work at our church dinner to keep my mind off things. Last week we were kept busy by our daughter's dance show. I can not tell you how proud we are of her. Her instructor is an amazing person (Alli) who loves her students as if they were her own. She puts a great deal of time into their dances and their lives and it shows. She and her husband are also in the middle of an international adoption so we have become very close this year. I will add a few photos from the show. It was amazing!!!!!

Lucas' first USA Doctor visit

2009-04-13T21:17:00.003-04:00

Well, Lucas had his first doctor visit today and the only thing missing was him. I had his video, his x-rays, his medical reports, and many pictures of him to share with his new doctor. Dr. K does not think Lucas' head is shaped funny due to the rickets as rickets usually effects legs and arms first, but he admits that the doctor in Ethiopia may have more experience with this. He was more concerned with Lucas' small size and after looking at the video and pictures thinks that the small weight we were given on the reports may be wrong. Time will tell. Dr. K is a wonderful doctor and I feel much better after talking to him. From our other children we have found that he tends to be a bit of an alarmist or overly concerned about things, and he was not too concerned with Lucas' health, so I'm happy we went.
There are 17 days left before our court date. Please pray that we pass the first time and can soon travel to get our son. Thanks so much!!

Hundreds

2009-04-04T13:44:00.003-04:00

This is how many times I have viewed the short video clip our agency sent us of our son in Ethiopia. What a blessing it is to see him move around and to get a good look at all of him. He is a tiny little guy, for sure. In the video he still doesn't smile, but I've been assured he does smile and even belly laugh. I've seen the video so often I'm afraid I'm wearing it out. I need to figure out how to make a copy of it somehow. If you live near us and want a peek, just stop by. I'd love to show him off!

Energy!!!

2009-03-31T13:12:00.003-04:00

The word on the street is that our little guy in Ethiopia has a great deal of energy. We have now heard from Becky and Margot and their families about their time with Lucas D****. Here are a few of the one liners we heard:

He is 100% personality.
He's non-stop fun!
He's a smart little cookie.
Do buy some running shoes.
I hope you've got enough energy.
He's a funny little guy.
He's cute, sweet, and silly.
I noticed him right away because of his winning personality.
He is adorable.

What a blessing it has been to receive these updates from other HOLT families. We are getting more and more excited to go and get him and bring him home to his FOREVER Family. Please remember us on April 30th. Better yet, think of us on April 29th as court will take place in the middle of the night between the 29th and 30th.
Sweet Blessings to all :)

Good news from afar....again

2009-03-29T21:01:00.002-04:00

Our Holt friends Tracy & Mike just returned from Ethiopia with their sweet little girl. As many of you know, since the last families who have traveled we have found out quite a bit about our son and his health issues and have been very concerned for him. I just received an email from Tracy that has put my mind at ease. I will share part of it here:

Let me start by describing that I am sitting here with a big smile spread across my face. I hope that I can only give you a gift of comfort and peace in knowing that D**** is every bit the "normal" three year old boy.

Would you be surprised to know that he is one of the more active boys at the center? He is very outgoing , energetic, and anxious to be held. He loves to play and be read to. My son and my husband both remarked at how strong his throwing arm is (how young can you start tee-ball in your area??? tee hee). One time, when I was looking at a book with him, I was naming things in English and he was repeating the English word. I made a note to be sure I told you about that, as I was quite impressed!

I bet you are wondering about the shape of D*****'s head... None of us were taken-aback by the shape of his head. If you take a good look, you can tell there's something different, but it's not anything that makes you really stare, if you know what I mean. I questioned more in the picture you sent to me than in seeing him in "real life". I guess because when you see him in action, you know he's got it all together. And I am sure you have figured out that I little hair will cover the scars.

Mike's additions are that D***** is one of the quicker learners in the group, and that you should get ready for an energetic little boy!

Words can not express how at peace I am at this moment. Thank you Tracy and Mike.
We have two other HOLT friend families who just returned and I'm sure when they are rested I will hear even more from them about our son. Thank God for this wonderful group of friends and for this wonderful news!!!

Emotions

2009-03-27T16:26:00.002-04:00

Wow!! What an awesome feeling! We expected our court date to be around May 23rd (3 months after our dossier got to Ethiopia) but now know it will be April 30th. I am very excited, but a bit guarded. The last time I felt excited like this was the day we received the first picture of Lucas with a slight smile on his face. Then, within a few minutes I learned of his scars and rickets. This time we have the wonderful news of court, but I'm waiting for the Fed-ex truck to get here with the x-rays and the report about them. I really hope the good news continues.
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I can't tell you how much they mean to me.

Court Date!!!

2009-03-27T15:32:00.001-04:00

We have a court date. It is April 30th. I'll write more later, I'm off to take Kara to dance.

X-Rays

2009-03-25T17:02:00.005-04:00

Our agency informed us on Friday that they have sent us some X-rays of Lucas by Fed-Ex. We are expected to get them on Thursday (tomorrow). Of course my first question was "Are they of his head? Chest? What?" I was told they were of his head and wrist. Wrist??? Yet another area of Lucas' body that has had an ill effect from the Rickets. I hope the report that comes with the x-rays will shed some light on the severity of his problems. The not knowing is the hardest part.

We are expecting to hear about a court date any day now. I check my email often for information and leave very disappointed most of the time. It is really starting to wear on me. I'm not alone though. Many families from our agency are in the same boat. There are some families that have been waiting 9 weeks to hear about court. We have officially been waiting only 4 weeks. I sure hope we all hear something soon. I'll leave you with some pictures that show how we have been filling our time.

Father/Son Cake Bake

Bella home from "Puppy School

Kara was a dancer in the musical Little Women

Does God have a plan for my life?

2009-03-21T15:27:00.003-04:00

I passed a billboard the other day that said "Does God have a plan for my life?" To be honest, I've never spent too much time thinking about this question. I have just kind of lived life and tried to be a good person without thinking I have been headed in any particular direction. All that has changed. Looking back at this adoption, and my life, I realize that God does indeed have a plan, a big one. I believe this entire thing, from years and years ago has been His plan and His doing. As far back as finding a wonderful man to share my life with who would be willing to take on such a life changing event. Then there was the kindergarten class that I'm sure He hand picked for me to soften my heart to the needs of others. There was the growing of my faith the last few years that resulted in me listening to a Christian radio station (which I never would have done a few years ago) where I heard about Lysa Tirkirst (sp?) and her adoption journey. And of course there were the many "signs" He gave me to lead me in this direction (which my friend Rhonda has witnessed with me on many occasion). And, even though I tried to talk myself out of it, God would not let this idea of adoption leave my thoughts, ever.

And now, as we struggle with the news about Lucas' physical problems, I realize God made sure we had accepted our referral months before learning of these problems. He did this so that we would fall in love with our boy and realize that he was meant to be ours. Honestly, if all these problems were in the initial report, before we loved him, I'm sure we would have thought twice about accepting the referral, or at least asked many more questions. God knows how best to let our lives unfold, that's for sure.

God does have a plan for my life and that is being a mom to Lucas. I do not yet know why, but I know it is meant to be. This boy is going to do great things one day, I just know it.

Photos, pictures, images abound..

2009-03-14T09:37:00.002-04:00

This week our adoption agency sent all families with referrals a CD that contains hundreds of pictures of the children in HOLT's care in Ethiopia. The Pics are from the trip made by HOLTs Board Members in late January when our son was still in Durame. They had so many photos that they couldn't go through every one, pick out the child, and match it with the correct family, so they sent us all the entire CD. It has been so much fun seeing the children and staff in Ethiopia. Some of my HOLT friends have been sharing the "image numbers" of their children so we have been able to see each other's kids, which is great. While many children were in 1 to 5 photos, our son was very popular with the HOLT staff and is in 30 of them. I wish I could share them here. In some he is wearing traditional Ethiopian dress and looks so adorable (in others he is wearing girls jeans with a pink bow and pink and orange striped shirt. LOL). We were able to better see how his sweet head has a "funny" shape from the malnutrition (Vitamin D rickets) and that he has a VERY outty belly button. And of course, now that we have seen him with other people, we see how very small he actually is. We'll easily be able to carry him around like a very young child, which will help with our bonding. This is good because many children who are adopted at an older age need to go through the steps of a baby/toddler with their new parents to build trust and attachment. We are looking forward to feeding him -lots- and watching him grow. I'm not sure what size clothes to take when we travel, but I'm thinking 2T, if that gives you an idea of how small our boy (who will be 4 this summer) really is.

Because of the new information we were given when Lucas moved to Addis, which was very different than what we were given originally, we have requested a video of him interacting with others. We've been told by HOLT staff that his speech development is comparable or even better than his peers, but he is now in Addis where they speak Amharic and his language is Hadiyegna. So our poor boy is already in a situation where no one speaks his language and just as he begins to learn it, we will be bringing him to America and he will have to start all over. They tell us he is active, alert and playful, but still pictures just don't show this. We're looking forward to a video.

From what I understand about Rickets, Lucas' head shape and small stature could be permanent, or could be reversed with proper diet. Time will tell. Whatever the case, we hope being in America will give Lucas a life that is full, happy and healthy. We know that God has given us this little boy for a very important reason, and we are anxious to watch him grow and find out what that purpose is. We are so blessed to be able to do this, especially in the bleak economic atmosphere currently in our country. Please continue to pray for Lucas, his care givers in Ethiopia, a quick court date, for us to pass court the first time, and safe travel. We really appreciate your prayers.

He can SMILE!!!!!

2009-03-06T20:57:00.002-05:00

We received an update today from HOLT with new pictures of Lucas. HE CAN SMILE and we've seen it. We now have the cutest picture of him in a frame right next to the ones of our other children. He is healthy, active, and playful. He is now in Addis Ababa at the care center there, where we have heard over and over about the loving nannies and staff. We also have HOLT friends who are leaving this month for Addis to pick up their children and have said they will hug him for us. What a blessing this is!!!!

Some of the information we received about Lucas' past was troubling. He was given some "treatment" by a traditional healer to try to cure a small problem he had and the treatment was far worse than the original problem. As a result, he has many small scars on his head. This does not effect his current health, but will be quite a conversation piece for him in the future. We will have to think about ways to help him answer the many questions his peers will have as he goes through school.

It was such a joy to see that smiling face today and we pray a court date will be given to us very soon.

NEWS!!!!!

2009-02-24T13:28:00.002-05:00

While I was posting the pictures of what we do while we wait....we received an email from Jennifer at Holt. Our Dossier arrived in Ethiopia yesterday. What's next, you ask? It needs to be translated into Amharic and then they will give us our court date. YES!!!!

Killing Time

2009-02-24T12:33:00.009-05:00

While we wait for notification about our court date, we try to keep busy. Here are some of the things we have been doing:

My mom came home from Florida for a visit. We went with our friends the Eveleigh's to the zoo in Watertown. It was COLD, but fun.

We do a lot of playing in the snow, since we have so much of it. I can't wait for spring!!!

We've sent our puppy to a two week school so she will be under control before Luke gets home. Many Ethiopian children are afraid of dogs, so we want to be sure she is well behaved.

Addis Ababa Video

2009-02-23T10:05:00.002-05:00

This week we were lucky enough to receive a video of the Christmas celebration at the Care Center in Addis Ababa. Our son in not at this care center yet, but it was wonderful to see the nannies who will soon be caring for him and the love they give the children.
We also got to see, in the video, the sweet little boy who we originally tried to adopt. I had heard from other travelers that he was at the Addis care center and it was so amazing to see him and how he interacts with the other children. I'm so glad to know his forever family will be traveling to get him very soon (children get moved to the Addis Ababa Care Center shortly before they are united with their new families). No news yet about the dossier being sent to Ethiopia yet. Keep praying please!

Wrong verse

2009-02-17T11:01:00.001-05:00

It is PROVERBS 25:25, not Psalms, that says "Good news from far away is like cool water to the thirsty." Thanks Sunshine and Brandon for our good news from far away. :)

News.....

2009-02-15T22:04:00.002-05:00

I think it's Psalm 25:25 that talks about Good News from afar. I'll have to go look it up when I get off the computer, but I wanted to share the good news we received today from our HOLT friends who just got back from Ethiopia.
Even though every picture we have says otherwise, Lucas CAN smile!!!! Sunshine and Brandon visited the care center in Durame and gave our little guy some love and attention. They say he is reserved, but DID smile with them while they were showering him with attention. As they arrived at the center the children all ran up and gathered around them....except Lucas who sat back and watched from afar (while eating a lollipop). I think he sounds like his Daddy already, quiet and reserved. They went on to say he has many friends there and is a very handsome boy. I wanted to ask them a million questions (and did email some) but realize they have probably told us all they can. They are home with twin toddler boys and I'm sure will be far too busy to email us every little detail of their time with Luke. We are just so grateful for the information they did share. It is amazing how much this little picture into his world means to us. I hope I am able to repay the favor to another family when we travel to get our son.

I171-H

2009-02-13T16:47:00.002-05:00

We received our I171-H today. This is a "notice of favorable determination concerning application for advance processing of orphan petition". It was for this form that we needed to get our fingerprints done on December 31st. It is from US immigration and is needed before we would be given a court date so...."One Less Thing" (again, you have to use the Forrest Gump voice when you read that phrase).

We are sending the I171-H, our notarized travel release forms, and our program fee to HOLT this week. Then we truly only can wait, and wait, and wait. Prayers please for paperwork to move quickly from place to place, for nothing to get lost, and for our documents to be translated accurately and quickly. Pray ALWAYS for Lucas and his caregivers and for the other children in care in Ethiopia.

We have some cyber friends coming home this weekend who may have held & hugged our son while they were in Ethiopia. I'll pass along any news I hear. I can't wait to find out if he can smile. :)

Safe and Sound and Dress Our People

2009-02-07T19:39:00.003-05:00

We received conformation that our dossier made it to Eugene, OR and "It looks great." I'm so happy about that. We are praying that things go quickly so that we travel well before August. We just found out that the courts close in August and September (we don't know when or for how long) If we haven't passed court before then, we will have to wait for them to reopen.
This is all happening in God's time so we will continue to keep our trust in His perfect timing. The next things we will be expecting is our I174h form from USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and then confirmation from HOLT that our dossier is in Ethiopia. We'll keep you updated.

Dress Our People
A "Walk to Emmaus " friend of mine, Debbie Underwood, started a mission called Dress Our People. She began making dresses and sending them to countries in need. She now has other people helping her and they have sent their clothes, that include dresses for girls and shorts and shirts for boys, to many places. I recently connected with her and will be transporting some of her clothes to Ethiopia when we travel. I am so excited to be a part of this mission and can't wait to share about the reaction of the children as they get their clothes and the special surprise tucked inside each outfit (a homemade hand puppet).

ON THE WAY!!!!

2009-02-03T17:08:00.003-05:00

Benji took our dossier to Fed-Ex today! I'm so glad it's on it's way to Eugene Oregon, but it was hard to let it go. There was hours and hours -no- days and days of work involved in that little package. I also admittedly have a problem with the fact that I no longer have any control over how quickly things progress. It is bitter sweet. Part of me is thrilled it is out of my hands, and part of me is not. It is completely in God's hands now. That is a good thing.....Do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself?

The dossier will be reviewed by HOLT and they will let us know if we need to fix anything (Please God, let it be perfect). If all is well it has many more stops to make before it gets to Ethiopia. They will notify us when it get to Ethiopia, but then it must be translated and then we are assigned a court date. We wait for our first court date which should be in about 4 month from now. Most do not pass court the first time so then we will hear when our second court date will be (about six weeks after the first). Soon after we pass court we are given travel dates ( four to six weeks after we pass court). So, our time line is no longer 5 months to two years, now we can estimate from 6 to 8 months. Does this mean I just entered my second trimester?

Lucas' birthday is in July. I would love to meet him when he is still 3 years old.

Sweet Feet

2009-02-01T12:18:00.002-05:00

We would love to share a picture of Lucas with you, but Ethiopian rules are understandably very strict. We are not able to post his picture until he is officially our child according to the Ethiopian court. Since we don't even have a court date yet I thought I would give you a little teaser. Aren't these the most beautiful feet you've ever seen? Please pray that his caregivers are giving him all the love they can and that we get our court date soon.

Yet another glitch....

2009-01-30T16:06:00.003-05:00

It just so happened a friend told me part of her adoption story today. How some piece of her paperwork didn't have the correct date or something. When she took it to be fixed the people there told her they couldn't help and it would take repeating some of her prior steps to get the paperwork "fixed". She just sat there and cried. As she cried another person who overheard what had happened called her into her office and you guessed it, "fixed" the problem.

Why do I tell you this? Well....

Today we got our certified documents back from NYS Department of State. In my cover letter to them I went into great detail about HOLT's requirement to have a GOLD seal on the certification. Guess what.....no GOLD seal. I called, waited on hold for a long time, and told my story to three different people before talking to the person who actually processed my documents. Everyone up to this point was very kind and understanding. She, however, was very short with me as if she didn't even want to hear what I had to say. She said I would have to send them back in and (out of the kindness of her heart) would wave the fee the second time around. I explained that the money was not the issue, it's the time and I had written these requirements in my cover letter. She said she didn't read the cover letter, in her first breath, and then in her next breath said to be sure to write in my next cover letter that it needs to be done quickly......Still using my sweetest voice and trying so hard to not sound annoyed I asked, "If you didn't read my first cover letter how do I know you will read the next one." She said to just write ATTENTION "her name" on the envelope and she would take care, of it but there was nothing else she could do and I had to send it back in. Our call ended with no apology from her what so ever. I was floored.

This is where my friend Kelly's story comes in. I realized that just because one person couldn't do anything to help me, maybe someone else could. Long story shorter, I called back, more holding, talked to the supervisor and she is sending what I need in the mail and it should be here Monday. This means our dossier should be able to be FEDEXed to HOLT on Tuesday. PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

HOME STUDY

2009-01-24T17:38:00.002-05:00

Finally, we got our home study Friday and I sent it overnight to Albany. Once we get it back I will overnight it to HOLT. I asked HOLT for some kind of time line and they said "about" 4 months after they get our dossier we should have our first court date. We have been told to expect not to pass the first court date, and the second one will be 6 weeks after the first. Travel will be 4 to 6 weeks after we pass court. So.....we still have quite a wait ahead of us.

I must say I have begun to get a bit nervous. This is a huge step in our lives and I know it will be a lot of hard work at first. I just feel so very confident that this is the right thing to do. There will be ups and downs as Lucas adjusts to his new life and our family changes and grows with it's new addition, for sure. I'm just so thankful to be able to offer a better life to this precious boy and hopefully give him the future he deserves.

Update

2009-01-22T18:49:00.002-05:00

We received a new update on Lucas today along with a new picture.....still no smile, but cute non-the-less. It is so exciting to see that email in my inbox and know that news about our boy is attached. The update says he eats well, has completely adapted to his new home, and gets jealous when the care takers carry other children. It says he runs and jumps around the house, he "accepts" orders and listens to stories. I can't explain how wonderful just this little bit of information is. I've read it over so many times already.

Still no Home Study, but it should be here tomorrow. I have the envelope already addressed to the NYS Department of State and as soon as it comes into the post office they are going to call me and I'll get it and send it on. I hope we have it back from Albany next week so we can send the dossier to HOLT.

There has been all kinds of action within our HOLT family this week. Passed court dates, people getting ready to travel, and three new referrals. These people may be the ones we travel to Ethiopia with so we are so glad to get to know them. Good luck to everyone!!!

No News/Bad News

2009-01-15T18:54:00.003-05:00

We still have no home study, but plenty of apologies.
Also we heard this week that things are slowing down in the Ethiopian adoption world. We asked if our case might be expedited because Lucas is an older child who "knows" what's going on, and we were told no. I'm sure ready for some good news. Come on Home Study!!!!!

On the bright side....many of the families I correspond with who are also working with HOLT did pass court this week and will be traveling to get their children the first week of February. We are so happy for them and hope beyond hope that our son gets moved to the child care center in Addis Ababa so these friends can hug him for us.

Oh Where, Oh Where has our Home Study gone....?

2009-01-10T08:39:00.003-05:00

Our last home study visit was on December 15th. We saw the completed HS via email on December 16th (Our SW had it almost finished before the last meeting). It was then sent to our HS agency to be printed on letterhead, signed, notarized, and certified. We have not seen it since. We were told it would take 7 to 14 business days from when they received it to get it back to us complete. I know things often take longer than expected...but sometimes I just want to scream to all those involved "Don't you realize we have a beautiful boy just sitting in Ethiopia waiting for all this paperwork to get finished?"
We are so lucky to have gotten our referral so soon, I feel very blessed. But sometimes I think it might be easier if we were not matched yet. If we didn't have that beautiful face to look at every day (all day), knowing that each day that goes by with the next step not finished is another day he goes without his forever family. It is so hard that this part of the paper chasing is out of our hands. We have to rely on the timeliness of others. (I know.....major control issues!!). So, again I will tell myself that this will all happen in God's timing, not ours. But I know God doesn't want us to sit back and do nothing...otherwise He wouldn't have started us on this journey.

Shots Thursday went fine. FYI, the yellow fever shot stings a little going in, but doesn't hurt at all the next day.

Ethiopian Christmas

2009-01-07T09:24:00.003-05:00

I found this information on a blog that I follow. http://vinceandalisa.blogspot.com/ I thought you all might find it interesting...I sure did. MERRY CHRISTMAS LUCAS!!!!!

Today the country of Ethiopia will celebrate Christmas. Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in Africa and follows the Julian calendar (thus, celebrating on Jan 7th). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's birth is called Ganna. Ganna is actually the name for a hockey-like game played with wooden sticks and a round, wooden ball -- it is believed to have been played by shepherds and still played today.Christmas trees are not apart of their celebration, however, the manger scene is!
On Christmas Eve, Christians attend church (for some, this service can last well into the morning). On Christmas day, many Ethiopians wear a traditional shamma, which us a thin, white cotton wrap with brightly colored stripes across the ends – it is worn somewhat like a toga. Everyone goes to the early mass . Upon arrival, everyone is given a candle and the congregation walks around the church 3 times. Then they gather in second circle (men and boys are separate form girls and women). The choir sings from an outer circle, and the inner circle is from where the priest serves Communion.
Traditional Christmas dish includes Injera, a sourdough pancake like bread, which serves as both plate and fork (which we will get to sample while we’re in Ethiopia). Wat, a spicy chicken stew, is also served. Giving gifts is not customary during an Ethiopian Christmas (hmmmmm!!! – don’t get me wrong, I’m all for giving gifts, but commercialism has warped our celebration of Jesus’ birth) -- children will typically receive clothes as presents. Families dance, play games and feast for the rest of the day.On Jan 19th, twelve days after Ganna, Ethiopians celebrate Timkat – a commemoration of Christ’s Baptism.
I’ve read that Christmas is important in Ethiopia, but that Easter is a much larger celebration. This is because death is considered more significant than birth.

Thanks Alisa for the great information.

More waiting

2009-01-03T16:32:00.002-05:00

We got an email from our social worker earlier in the week that Baker Victory Services didn't know where to send the home study and how many were needed. She had no idea and so forwarded me the emails between her and BVS. I let her know what was needed via email, but got her automatic out of office notice. Today she let me know she sent it to BVS (it's Saturday) so I'm sure I won't get the home study until mid week next week at the very earliest. Ugh!!! I can't wait to get this dossier out of our hands and send it to HOLT. I have nightmares of the dog eating it, or the house catching on fire, or coffee spilling on it and us having to start over. Pretty sad that I dream about our house catching on fire and all I'm worried about is a bunch of papers.

We go Thursday for more shots (FUN!! On my birthday). We decided to go ahead and get Yellow Fever as well as the ones we've already started (Hep A&B, meningitis, typhoid). This would put the kids number of needed shots up to 2 for Kara and 3 for Avery. It's looking less and less like they will go with us. By the time we add it up: the plane tickets, they get shots, Kara still needs her pass port, they won't like any of the food there, Kara doesn't do very well on planes, it might happen during the school year, and most people get sick from altitude sickness or the "Ethiopia Funk", it just doesn't make much sense to take them. We also would like some mommy & daddy bonding time before we introduce Lucas to the rest of the family. I'm still on the fence. It would be a great experience for them to see where their brother is from. We'll see how it works out.

Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray for Lucas as well as his care givers and the courts in Ethiopia. Travel mercies for all our new internet freinds who are traveling to get their children in Ethiopia this month.
Thank you all!!!

Living in a material world

2008-12-30T11:09:00.002-05:00

Why do I feel such a need to give Lucas THINGS? It's not as if he's ever had many things. It's not as if he expects things. I guess because I know my desire to care for his physical needs can not happen until we are together, I want to fill that void by giving THINGS. Well, I have found out that I will not be able to give him many THINGS while he is in Ethiopia. I have tried asking our adoption agency and even asking Internet friends who will be traveling to Ethiopia and it just can not happen. I will have to be content with keeping Lucas in my thoughts and prayers, and hope that those caring for him in Ethiopia are telling him about us and how much we love him.

Avery's quote of the day:
"Wouldn't it be cool it everything changed-up and Lucas came before your birthday?" Well folks, my birthday is next week, so I could tell Avery with confidence that that would not happen, but it was very cute when he said it.

Today we will take our computer to the doctor. It's not acting right, I hope it doesn't have a virus. So I will let you know what is happening later this week in case it has to stay at the doctor.
Tomorrow Benji and I go to the FBI for fingerprints. They call this biometrics now-a-days. This is a requirement of Home Land Security when someone will be bringing an orphan from another country into this country. Once our prints are cleared, we will be issued an I171H form which we need before we travel to Ethiopia. Every step we get taken care of puts us one step closer to getting Lucas home. To quote Forrest Gump "One less thing." (Be sure your read that with a Forrest Gump voice or it just doesn't sound right)

2008-12-29T17:22:00.002-05:00

Facts about Ethiopia

Total population: 77 million
The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year.
Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.
The average life expectancy is 43 years.
Ethiopia is home to 4 million orphans, or 12% of all children.
More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.
Literacy rate: 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.
Only 18 percent of children reach grade five.
Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.

Statistics are from the CIA, Save the children, WHO and UNICEF websites.

2008-12-29T09:49:00.003-05:00

Nesting

Yesterday we worked a little bit on Lucas' bedroom. I know it's early, but I just have this need to be all ready. It's like that feeling when you are pregnant and you are getting ready, same thing. I put up a border of blue and green leaves that will go with our FROG theme. Benji measured the windows and door to "finally" put up the molding. Last week we got new curtains and luckily they match the green in the border perfectly. I also made a frog pillow case with some cute flannel material I found at JoAnne Fabrics. I just wish they had more so I could make Luke a blanket.

Today we will send out another very small, very thin care package. We are restricted on what we can send, It has to fit into a letter size envelope and pretty much has to be made of paper (no books). We are sending more pictures, a card, two huge coloring pages, and a small fabric bag I made from the same material as his pillow case. I emailed HOLT to see if there was any way we could send more....we'll see.

A Little History....to catch you up.

2008-12-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

A Seed is Planted
Some time ago as I was listening to the K-LOVE radio station I heard the story of Lysa Terkeurst from Proverbs 31 Ministries and how she adopted two boys from Africa. The story touched my heart and I thought about it often. At the same time I was dealing with a classroom of kindergarten children who were very needy. Every day I would hear stories about having no heat, rats biting their toes while they slept, and having no running water. I spent most of my time that year providing for my student's basic needs and fitting their educational needs in wherever I could. All I wanted was to take them home and give them everything they needed. I knew I could not change all of their lives....but I could change the life of one child. I googled Proverbs 31 Ministries and saw this story that was on the Oprah show some years ago. http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/2007/07/oprah-show.html
Needless to say I was touched. I wiped away the tears and decided to talk to my husband.

Breaking the idea
I've told many people that it was my husbands job to talk me out of this...and he didn't do his job. As a matter of fact, when I brought up international adoption his exact words were, "Ya, know, I've been thinking about that too." I was floored! He mentioned our friends and neighbors who have adopted from China, India, and Guatemala and the joy that adoption brought to their families. He also said he always wished we had more children together (We are a blended family, one his, one mine, and one ours). I guess God was working on both my husband and myself at the same time and we didn't even know it.

Research & Development (part one)
I spent countless hours researching agencies and countries and each country's requirements and time lines. We knew we wanted to adopt an older child (those kindergarten kids were always in my heart) and I believed that we needed to adopt from a Spanish speaking country so that my daughter could help translate. God had other plans (he often does). The closer we got to deciding on a country and an agency the sicker I became. My daughter also seemed to want nothing to do with adoption at this point and we really wanted everyone on board in order to proceed. I ended up having a rough bout of Diverticulitis and convinced myself and and my family that there is no way we could adopt. I could not be sick like this and care for a 3 to 6 year old child who doesn't speak English. I began to come up with a hundred reasons why we just couldn't adopt and finally convinced the rest of my family to just drop it.

Research & Development (part two)
.....6 months later, after school one day, as if out of the blue, for no apparent reason, I got online and went to HOLT International's waiting child list (Our friends the Corron's have adopted from here three times). I went straight to the Africa section (funny, we were looking in Columbia before this) and saw the profile of a 4 year old boy. He sounded absolutely perfect for our family. I began to tear up and called my friend Michell to look at his picture to see what he looked like (she had a password and we didn't at that time). She emailed back that he was so cute, but it didn't matter to me, I had already filled out the online application and was just waiting for Benji to get home to hit the send button. As soon as he got home I read the profile to him and he said to go for it. SEND!!!
We shared the profile with our children and they were very excited...yes even Kara (who wanted nothing to do with this before). OK God, I see the timing is right now. (September 2008)

Heart Break
Well, timing may have been right, but the child we picked out was not the one God picked out for us. We spent days and days filling out paperwork, talking to social workers and reading about adopting "older" children and having a "transracial" family and finally found out that another family was matched with our "perfect" boy because they were farther along in their paperwork (we had not even started our dossier or home study). The heart break was devastating. I don't know the pain of a miscarriage, but think this must have been close to it. We received an email from Stephanie from HOLT asking if we would like to be transferred to the traditional Ethiopia Program and at that point I couldn't even answer her, my heart was so broken. After a few days, Benji said he felt the "perfect" little boy was a tool to get us back into this and that our truly PERFECT child was out their waiting for us. I emailed Stephanie and got the ball rolling.

More to follow......

2008-12-26T14:36:00.000-05:00

Continued from the post earlier today....

Whirl Wind
I was bound and determined to be the fastest person ever to complete a dossier. My portion of the dossier was done with in a month. Unfortunately, we have to wait for little things like a home study and authentications to be done by other people. While in the middle of the home study portion, we received a referral. Yes, you read it correctly, we received a referral for a beautiful 3 and 1/2 year old boy. Since we went the waiting child route first (Holt got to know us very well), and we were looking for an older child, we received our referral before we even have our dossier finished. HOLT contacted our social worker to be sure we would be getting a favorable home study and to see how far along we were in the paperwork. Currently we have seen the home study on email but have not gotten it in our hot little hands. It still needs to be printed on our HS agency's letter head and notarized and authenticated in their county. As soon as we get it from them we can send it along with a power of attorney paper to be authenticated in Albany. When it comes back the dossier is done and we can send it to Oregon (HOLT). They will send it to Washington DC, and then it will come back, and then they will send it to Ethiopia to be translated. Next we should get a court date, if we pass court we will be told when to travel. Everyone asks how much longer. We have no idea. Each of these steps could take a great deal of time or could go quickly. With recent changes in court requirements in Ethiopia, we may not pass court on our first try. My estimation is anywhere from 5 months to 2 years. I'm praying for months, not years.