Great Week

Jacob is making progress!!! This past week it has been amazing to see all the changes, little and big, in Jacob! He started to give kisses, and he doesn't like just one. It's usually like 10 kisses in a row- So sweet! He will laugh and smile when you kiss him back!! We haven't heard his blood curling screams for close to 2 weeks now. Praise be to God for healing our precious son!!!!! He still cries a little when he is hungry and tired, but not his scary creaming fits. He reaches for us too! He started to reach a little if yo held your arms out, but now he holds out his arms when he wants us. MELT.MY.HEART. I love that my son knows me and that I will take care of him and that I can comfort him!
The first few nights that we had Jacob he screamed literally every ten minutes and kept his hand on both of us to make sure we hadn't left him. He refused to sleep in his own crib, he preferred to be right next to mommy and daddy. It has been over 10 weeks since our Gotcha Day and his healing with sleep has been incredible. There have been slow changes since the beginning, but the big news is the past 2 nights Jacob slept in his crib all night. He is still waking up to eat 1-2 times a night, but when we woke up to tell me he wanted to eat, it was a normal baby cry-not screaming.
We are so thankful that God choose us to be his parents and that we get to give him lots of love and help him heal! We love him so much!! Our little guy gets 1000's of kisses everyday, I just can't help it!! :)

We are Diving Back In....

for Adoption #2!!! Today we had our first meeting to update our Homestudy. We also have begun our additional training that our state requires to adopt children over age 4. This time we will be requesting 2-3 kids ages 0-8, we think! We are trying to be much more open this time around, and we are open to special needs this time too. A special needs adoption can mean many things: clef palate, HIV+, handicap of some sort, heart murmur, etc. We are just waiting to see who God has in store for our family! It's so exciting to think that our children are already born and just waiting for a mommy and daddy and brother Jacob! Please join us in praying for our kids wherever they are right now. We pray that they are feeling loved and taken care of until we can take care of them ourselves. At this point we are going to adopt from Ethiopia again. There are many delays going on in Ethiopia adoptions right now and the wait for an infant is LONG. But while we were in Ethiopia there were many kids ages 3-8 that totally stole our hearts, we are hoping there are some kids in that age range that God will place in our family! Jacob totally loves older kids, so he is going to love having bigger brothers and sisters! I can't wait to see how our family ends up- it's going to be better than I ever imagined or dreamed!! Go God!

Home ONE Month!!

What a wonderful month this has been! Brad went back to work a few days after we got home, so Jacob and I have had a lot of time to hang out by ourselves. I love it! My poor house probably doesn't. Since I spend all my time playing with or holding Jacob, not much gets done at home. I'd MUCH rather be spending time with Jacob than cleaning up, I just hope our guests agree! :) It's amazing how much eaiser it is being a parent at home in the states. We loved the simple life we were living in Ethiopia, but its also nice to have things to help out!! The high chair at meal times has been wonderful!! I can actually grab a bite to eat between feeding him. When we first got home Jacob wouldn't sit on the floor and play without me sitting RIGHT by him or he wouldn't sit in the exersaucer or jumpy toy, but as the month has gone on he is a little more comfortable being out of my arms. He will usually last about 5 minutes now before he wants to be picked up. That usually allows me enough time to do something very small around the house. I love that every decision we have to make is all about Jacob and that he comes everywhere with us!

Here is Jacob playing on Thomas the Train at his cousins house!

1st Post Placement Visit

On Friday we met with our Social Worker, Susan, for our 30 day post placement visit. The State of Illinois requires a 30 day post placement visit, and our agency requires a 30 day self post placement. I need to get going on the report we need to do! But our meeting with Susan went great! Once Jacob woke up, he greeted her with a smile and was content being held by me. We talked about how he was transitioning, etc. She thought everything was going great too! It was great to be able to introduce Jacob to someone that was a huge part of getting the paperwork done to bring him home! Our agency also requires 3, 6, and 12 month post placements visits and reports, so Susan will get to see how Jacob continues to adjust to our family and life at home!

First Time Swimming

Jacob LOVES swimming!!! As soon as we put him in the water, he started kicking, splashing, and laughing! He was a natural! We put him in a floaty things and he started kicking and moving himself around. Here are some pictures from his first day in the pool!

After 2 hours of swimming Jacob was ready for a nap!

7 Months!

Today Jacob is 7 months old!! He is growing like crazy!
Here are some highlights from his last month
-he has gotten 3 teeth
-loves swimming and loves to splash and kick
-gained at least 3 pounds
-met lots of family and friends
-can sit up all by himself
-started to scoot backwards
-found his voice and likes to scream
-eats 2 jars of baby food everyday now

We have been home for almost 3 weeks now and its amazing to see how much he has changed and grown since he has been home. Someone asked us if we are overwhelmed being first time parents at home. We both laughed and said it has been so much easier since we have been home. In Ethiopia we hardly had anything to help with Jacob. We have really enjoyed the high chair at meal times and Jacob likes to be in the exersaucer for short periods of the time. Also while we were in Ethiopia Jacob would only take two 30 minute naps, but since we have been home he will sleep in the swing for at least an hour in the morning! That's about the only time of day that I get anything done! :)

He continues to wake up several times a night, usually to eat about 3 times and a couple other times to make sure we are there. He goes back to sleep quickly, thankfully! I'm thankful I don't have to go back to work until August-it makes the middle of the night feedings a lot easier. I also love that I am able to comfort Jacob and meet his needs. He had many nights of not having anyone giving him one-on-one attention. I am thankful that God is letting me be the one that can comfort him in the middle of the night! Just an FYI-Brad is still working so I let him try to get some sleep! He is a very helpful Dad too!