A Trip to IKEA with the Murray Family

In the last post I talked about our visit with Katie and Scott Murray and family. On Friday afternoon we spent about 3 hours at IKEA. We all had so much fun!! Here are some pictures of our afternoon:
Jacob and Sam in the stroller-we got asked MANY times if they were twins
Amelia and her doll trying out a bookshelf
Brad and Mac being silly

Scotty sitting on a toliet

Mac trying out the toliet too

Mac wanted a ride in the stroller too

Friends...from Ethiopia to Illinois

We are so thankful for the relationships we have made on this journey. While in Ethiopia we met the Murray’s. They adopted a little boy about 2 months older than Jacob. We are so glad they only live about 3 hours away and we are able to continue our friendship! We spent the last couple of days with them. We love the Murray Family and had a blast with them. I only took 87 pictures in the 2 days we spent together. Here’s some pictures from our visit:

Here are the boys in April in Ethiopia at the Transition Home

Here are the boys in July 2011

All the Murray Kids with Jacob, these kids are so sweet and well behaved, even Spicy Mac is a joy to be around!
Katie and Tara with their ET boys!

The crazy mamas taking lots of pictures

Amelia is so sweet, such a tender caring heart. She is a great big sister and will be a great mom someday. She told me that she wants to adopt a baby from Ethiopia and she wants it to be her first baby like us-so sweet!

The boys playing with the new water toy

The dads with their ET boys

Buddies for life

They love eachother!

We spent a couple of hours at IKEA in the afternoon, but we took so many pictures I will make the next post about our fun there!

Then the Murray and Mowen families headed to the airport to meet the Snyder’s at the airport as they were coming home from Ethiopia with their 5 year-old daughter. But on the way to the airport we got a message that they delayed the flight due to bad weather in NY. So we went to eat dinner then started to the airport again, only to get another message that the flight had been canceled and they had to stay the night in NY. We were so bummed. We were all ready with our poster, Ethiopian and American flags and some very excited kids. Thankfully the Snyders flew in the next night, but we were unable to welcome them home at the airport. Lucky for us-they live close, so we will see them soon!

We met the Snyders a couple weeks before we went to Ethiopia and we have seen them a couple times since we have been home from Ethiopia. They only live 45 mins away from us. We are so thankful for their friendship too! Their 5 year-old daughter became very special to us. When we spent 2 months in Ethiopia we spent 5 weeks visiting the Transition Home every day then 3 more weeks of visiting several times a week. Aliya would run up to us every day and greet us with a hug and killer smile!! We can’t wait to see her grow up!

Homestudy is done!

Our 2nd Homestudy is DONE!!! As of Monday it was sent off to State of IL DCFS to be approved before we can send it to USCIS (US Immigration). Last time it took 9 weeks to get the approval, but another family just got theirs back in 4 weeks-we are obviously hoping for 4 weeks too! But if there is one thing that we are assured of over and over again during this process is that- God's timing is perfect! If anything would have gone slower or faster with our last adoption, Jacob would not be our son. It hurts my heart to type that. Jacob is our son and he is so perfect for our family!!! God's timing is perfect in everything, especially when he is building families!! So however long we wait, we know that it will be the perfect wait to bring us to our kids!!

Special Day

Today is a special day in Jacob's life because as of today we have known him for more of his life than we haven't. Jacob was 4 months and 14 days old when we met him and now we have known him for 4 months and 15 days! I'm so thankful that he has been held and loved on by us and many others for more days than he hasn't. The nannies loved him, but we love him more!! In the first 4 months of Jacob's life, he experienced more loss and trauma than I ever have in my 29 years of life. I'm so thankful that the 2nd four months of his life he has had consistency and LOTS of love and kisses!!
Jacob we love to the moon and back, twice!

Back In

Today we got the call we are officially back in AWAA's Ethiopia program!! Tonight we filled out all the agreement papers and we will fax them in the morning! We are so excited to see who God will add to our family!!! We have been working on our homestudy for the last month, so that is all finished. It will be going off to the State of IL to be approved next week. Last time it took 9 weeks to get it back, we are hoping for less :) Another family just got theirs back after 4 weeks, so hopefully they are faster now. Then we will send our homestudy to USCIS, and they will schedule a fingerprinting appointment for us. As we wait for this we will be collecting the parts of the Dossier that we need to send to Ethiopia.
Everyone asks if this time it will be quicker since we have already adopted once- basically the answer is no. It does seem to be going a little faster since we know what we are doing and where to go to get what paper, but most of the pieces of this journey are out of our hands. There is just a lot of waiting for papers to be approved and then the real wait will come when we wait for a referral. Our goal is to have our Dossier to Ethiopia by Christmas. What a present that would be!
There isn't a day that goes by that Brad and I don't talk about Ethiopia, what we miss, what it was like, who we miss, etc. Since we are adopting older children this time we also talk about what our kids are doing, etc. We pray for them daily, praying they are being taken care and loved on until we can be with them to love on them.
Thanks to everyone that is sharing in our excitement of starting the process again! God is so present in adoption and we are so thankful He is building our family through adoption!!!!

8 months old!

Today Jacob is 8 months old. Time is flying! We received J's referral when he was 2 months old, I can't believe we have seen the face of our son for almost 6 months and he have known our son for 3 1/2 months. He continues to be the joy in our lives. This month he had a sippy cup for the first time, eats tons of food from the table, and is starting to get up on all fours. He doesn't know what to do when he gets up, he usually flops down on his belly and moves his legs and arms quickly. He had his first Dr's appointment last week. He is almost 21 pounds and 28 3/4 inches long. He has gained over 5 pounds since we met him, lol! He screams at meal times, so its not fun to take him out to eat. We were out to eat with a friend and her kids the other day and her 3 1/2 year old asked me if I was done eating so we could leave. I guess Jacob's screaming was embarrassing her, haha!

The biggest change this past month is that Jacob is sleeping in his own bed!! For two weeks now he has been sleeping in his bed and he hasn't woke up screaming in over 3 weeks. Praise the Lord!! He is still waking up to eat usually one time each night, but he just has a little hungry cry now, its not the blood curling scream that he had before. We are so thankful that he is feeling safe and secure at home with us and that he isn't waking up scared or upset.
Here are a few pictures from this last month:

Jacob and I at one of his baby showers

He is reaching for EVERYTHING!
With Gramma (Brads mom) at the lake

With Nana (my mom) at the shower

in the new Bob stroller we got at a garage sale, he was having fun!

Cute gift from the Dreyfus's

Katie came to visit, so he wore his VA shirt

First time with a sippy cup, he likes it more as a toy than as a drink

Swimming with Dad in the lake (the float is a garage sale find, poor guy :) )

Playing with cousin Kaylee in the bounce house at the lake

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!