Mowen Family of 5!!!!!!

We are so excited that we passed court today!!! Isaiah Kirubel and Kaleb Surafel are forever our sons!!!!

Making Some Progress....

It’s been a few busy days, I haven’t had time to blog. Then we have been going to bed early when back at the guest house. I’m not sure when I’m going to have the time to blog when we have all three boys with us!! We are still waiting to hear about passing court. Yesterday we found out that we have a positive MOWCYA letter, now we are waiting for the judge to review our case again. The court had meetings today, so the judge didn’t get to our case today. Maybe tomorrow….. [:)]
This week has been great with the boys. Kaleb is starting to respond a little more to us. He has fallen asleep in my arms twice now. I’m so thankful he is comfortable enough to relax and fall asleep. Jacob is going to Isaiah pretty easily and he will let Isaiah walk around with him, BIG improvement! Brad and Isaiah enjoy playing soccer with the other boys at the TH. I wish we would have passed court right away, but I am thankful for this time for everyone to get more comfortable with each other. We have gotten Kaleb to laugh a little too, he smiles pretty easily when people say hi to him, but he doesn’t really give people smiles with eye contact. But he is making a little progress every day. I can’t wait to see how much progress we can make once we have him full time!
Please continue to pray for us to pass court and for the bonding process.

Harar/ Dire Dawa

We went to Harar today! Jacob is from Harar and we didn’t get to visit there last time we were here. I was really excited to go see where he was from, and his first orphanage. We left our guest house at 6am to head to the airport. We flew to Dire Dawa, which was about a 45 min flight. We checked into our hotel and then drove about an hour to Harar. We stopped and bought some bananas to take to Abenezer Orphanage. Then we went to the new orphanage building. Abenezer changed building about 7 months ago. Jacob was in the old building, but the same people were working there. They were so excited to see Jafar! They couldn’t believe it was him because he has gotten so big. It was sweet to see them remember things about him and his story. I was impressed how much they remembered about him. We got a few more details about the day that he came to the orphanage. We got to meet the guard who brought him in and named him. We got to see the road that he was carried down (cars can’t drive down it). I wasn’t expecting this to be emotional, but it really was for both of us. Jacob was great, he didn’t react to anything. The guard wanted to hold him and kiss him and Jacob went right to him. This was huge because he has only let one other guy hold him here. He isn’t a huge fan of other guys holding him. We also got to take pictures with his first nanny and the officer that helps with the paperwork for Abenezer. They were all wonderful and it was so nice to know how much they care about the kids.
Abenezer Orphanage is small and since it is far from Addis, not many families visit there, so we were warned that they don’t have much. We were able to bring 26 cans of formula that was donated by a family in out small group and all the diapers we could buy from a store bought from some donation money my mom had received. When we walked in we first went into the babies room, there was one little boy without a diaper on. We were glad that we had bought a few diapers, but we also know that in a week or so they will be out again, and so it wasn’t a permanent fix, but that baby is at least sleeping with diapers tonight. If you go visit an orphanage outside of Addis, take all your donations there. The store room was pretty scarce and pretty small. When we walked in the doors with two soccer balls, the kids started cheering and singing. They didn’t have much to play with.
After the orphanage visit went for lunch, then to drive/ walk all around the city. We got to see the wall around the old city. It was built to keep the warriors out. There are 3 old main gates to get into the city. We got pictures of those too! Then we went into the old city and got to walk around a little bit. We bought a beautiful basket and some coffee. Harar is known for great coffee. The coffee factory was very small and only a few people worked there. The workers were sitting there chewing chat (a drug) on the job. Harar is also known for the hyena’s that come out at night. The people of Harar have befriended the hyenas and feed them so they will protect them and not eat them. People can feed the hyenas at night from their hand or their mouth. We weren’t there at night, but Brad might have been interested if we were.
Then we went back to Dire Dawa for the night. Since it was Christmas Eve there were people outside singing Christmas carols by a fire. My mom really wanted to go, but we were all tired and went to bed early. The bed was probably the worst I ever slept on and it was a long night. But Christmas morning we woke up and had breakfast downstairs with the Simon’s and Job. Then we drove around Dire Dawa (Dre Daw wa) and stopped by the local zoo. It took less than 10 mins to see everything. They had one hyena, one ostrich, several monkeys and birds, a couple owl, rabbits, and chickens. And in the middle of the zoo was a playground for the kids. The poor hyena was all cut up because it had tried to get out.
Next we headed back to the airport to fly back to Addis. We ate lunch then went to the TH to see Kaleb and Isaiah. Isaiah was happy to see us and was waiting by the gate. He got to go to church to and sing Christmas songs. We got a little (I mean very little) bit of eye contact from Kaleb today, it was the best day with him. He actually sat on our lap or let us hold him the whole time. It was the least amount of crying I think we had too! He doesn’t like to be told no, or if he can’t do what the big kids are doing. We tried to teach him to put his arms up in the air when we ask him how big he is, he started to catch on and liked when we all cheered for him when he did it. Isaiah thought it was pretty funny when we were cheering too.
Such a different Christmas Day than what we are used to, but it was nice to be relaxed and getting to know Jacob’s history better and spend some more time with Kaleb and Isaiah. We will celebrate Christmas on January 7th, the Ethiopian Christmas.

Day 6

Today we spent the morning and afternoon at the TH. We left for lunch at Bon Café (not our favorite). We finally got some smiles and giggles out of Kaleb. He likes to be thrown in the air. He is 30 lbs, not so easy to throw in the air. But he liked it. Right before lunch we got to celebrate little Solomon’s first birthday with his parents and all the other kids at the TH. Matt and Margaret bought a cake and everyone was excited for a piece. As all the singing started, Kaleb started to throw up. Brad had the pleasure of getting puked on today. Yes, this is the 3rd time one of the boys puked on us in 4 days. The nannies started to ask what we fed him, but we didn’t give him anything today. Not sure what is causing him to throw up so much, but the doctor thinks maybe he is over eating. They feed them like crazy in the TH. All of Kaleb’s food is mashed up for him, but he can drink out of a cup on his own. Isaiah was missing the tablet today because he liked to play Angry Birds. We left it at the guest house on purpose because he would play it all day if he could. We built the legos with him again, he really likes those! Jacob is really starting to warm up to Isaiah. Another boy here, Ashenafi, loves Jacob and he plays with him every day. Today Isaiah started to get a little jealous and tried to get Jacob to play with him instead of Ashenafi. It was sweet to see! Isaiah is pretty quiet so it was sweet to see him show some emotion.

Day 5

We spent the morning and afternoon at the TH today! When our van pulled up, Isaiah was peeking out the gate watching for us. Then he jumped in the van to hug us before we could even get out! He was excited that grandma was feeling better and came back today. We spent the morning taking turns playing with each our of sons. It’s a total tag team effort  Kaleb loves to walk laps around the outside of the TH. Brad and Isaiah went for a run around the house. After a couple of laps, Brad was way out of breath, Isaiah didn’t seem faded at all. Ha!
We left for lunch with other AWAA families and Kaleb went down for a nap and Isaiah went back to the other TH for lunch and a rest. We were back at 2pm. Kaleb was still sleeping, so we sat on the porch with Isaiah and Jacob. Isaiah liked playing Angry Birds, some other kids came to play too. It was somewhat relaxing of an afternoon. Kaleb didn’t quite have as much energy, so he actually let me hold him for a little bit. We have quite a bit of work to do to bond with him. Please be praying for us.
I got to take some pictures for another AWAA family today. They have been waiting since their July court date to come back and get their infant son. Well in the mean time, they have decided to adopt a 10 year old boy too!! I’m so excited for them!! Today their older son came to the TH and I got to take pictures of their 2 boys together!! Job, an AWAA guide, kept saying “their mom is going to be so happy to see them together!” They are coming here next week and I can’t wait to meet Debb, the mama!
My goal today was not to get puked on. On Tuesday Jacob threw up on me and on Wednesday Kaleb threw up a lot on me. Awesome. Just one of the joys of being a mama! Thankfully both boys were feeling better today and no one threw up!!
Someone from AWAA went to court this afternoon and our MOWCYA letter wasn’t there yet. They will check again tomorrow.

Day 4 Court

We started the morning off by going to court. We left the guest house at 9:30am. We stood in the crowded waiting room for about an hour. At 10:35am we went into the judge’s office with two other AWAA families. Both of those families are adopting little boys from Harar (where Jacob is from). All 3 of us are going to visit Harar on this trip! Both of those families already had favorable MOWCYA letters and they passed right there. So happy for them!!! The judge told us that she thinks that MOWCYA made a mistake and she requested a new letter for the afternoon. We left hoping to hear later today or tomorrow morning.
Then we spent the afternoon at the TH with the boys. My mom wasn’t feeling great, so she stayed at the guest house. Brad and I were going to be split three ways for the first time. But when we got there Kaleb was sleeping. Isaiah and I made a boat with legos. It was nice. He loved it! It was a great bonding time for us. Kaleb woke up about an hour later and Brad and I took turns chasing after Jacob or Kaleb. Everyone here keeps telling us how busy we are going to be when we get home 
No one from AWAA was able to go to court to check on our case today, so maybe tomorrow!

Day 2 and 3

Day 2
We spent the morning with the boys at the TH. My mom kept Jacob (in the Ergo, so the nannies couldn't scare him) out of our sight, so he had a much better day. That allowed Brad and I to spend all morning with Kaleb and Isaiah. We played soccer, volleyball, and chased them around. Kaleb is quick, we can't let him out of our sight for a second :) Kaleb thought it was really fun to climb into David's van *our driver). He thought he was hot stuff when he was sitting on the seats. I got to feed Kaleb some mushy food again, he won't sit on my lap to eat, but he at least let me feed him. i tried to give him some fruit snacks, but he had a hard time chewing them. All of his food is mashed up, he never has to chew. He has thrown a few fits when he doesn't get his way. When it was time to take him back to his room when we were leaving he threw a huge fit. I wish I could say it was because he wanted to stay with me, but I know it was that he didn't want to go into his room. He loves to be outside and having freedom.
This afternoon we went to the post office area for some shopping. We didn't even buy anything, ha! I felt too rushed. We want to go back and get some special things for Kaleb and Isaiah, but we have plenty of time for that. We ate dinner at the guest house and tried to go to sleep kind of early. I have been having trouble sleeping, like only getting about 2 hours each night since we left home. Jacob has been sleeping great at night, but not much a nap since we are out and about.

Day 3
Today we spent the morning at the TH again. Kaleb sat on my lap to eat today! He really seems to care less about us but he loves attention from anyone. This bonding is going to be a challenge. Isaiah had fun using our camera to take some pictures. He loves any chance to play soccer (football as he calls it) or just to talk to us. We found out that he had to go to court when his birthdad did a couple of weeks ago. Through a translator, he didn't seem too affected by it. Anytime we try to ask him how he feels about something, he always replies that he doesn't care, whatever makes us happy will make him happy. He is such a pleaser. Jacob played with Isaiah a little bit today. Isaiah thought it was cool when Jacob would pound it with his fists. Jacob even let Isaiah hold him for about 2 minutes today. We are making progress! Isaiah is such a good big brother to both boys. He shares all of his snacks and food with both of them (and us). He always watches for them on the stairs, etc. It is sweet to see. We met with the Doctor at the TH today. No big surprises, most of it we knew.
We also got to take pictures for other families today. It has been such a gift to us when we received pictures from others, I was happy to pay that gift forward!

Meetcha Day!

Today was our Meetcha Day with the boys! Even though we met them last year, today we got to meet them as their mom and dad! They were so sweet! Isaiah was holding Kaleb's hand as they walked out of the door at the TH. Isaiah came and gave me a big hug then hugged Brad. Brad picked him up in a huge hug. I picked up Kaleb and he was smiley and happy (thank you Jesus)! Then Isaiah came and hugged me again and he had tears in his eyes. Such a sweet moment to see him so happy too! Isaiah remembered Jacob too. He went up to him and said Jafar! I almost got a picture of all five of us looking at the camera-almost :) Isaiah was calling us Mom and Dad all afternoon, it kept surprising me. It was so sweet. Kaleb says some words, we just don't know what any of them are :) It sounded like he said Mom and Dad a few times, but we weren't sure. He remembered so much about us from last spring and from things in the care packages. He asked about our animals and if we had a car at home. he about fell over when he found out that we have two cars. He wanted to see pictures of our home. I totally meant to take some before we left, but I didn't, shame on me. Brad will have to do that when he gets home so Isaiah can see our house before we go home.

Our life is going to be busy, busy, busy. Kaleb is all over the place and Jacob isn't too far behind. They pretty much went in different directions all afternoon. I'm so thankful my mom was here to help. I'm not sure what we are going to do when we are out numbered. :) Isaiah is so sweet and is so happy to be coming to Illinois and be a family. He wanted to share everything he has with his brothers and with us. He was looking out for both of his brothers while they were playing by the steps, it was sweet to see him step into the big brother role for Jacob right away. He really likes his name and responded to it right away. Another Ethiopian girl heard him tell someone that his name is Isaiah and she said something to him in Amharic. I asked what she said and he told me that she said "that's not your name, its K******" He just laughed.

Jacob cried a lot this afternoon. Part of it was he wanted me to hold him and part was that he didn't take a nap this afternoon and part of it was that the nannies scared him when they freaked out and seeing a Big Jafar and they tried grabbing him and kissing him. He wasn't a fan. This will be a big adjustment for him.

We are so thankful that all three of our boys were together today and we can't wait for the adventure that tomorrow I'm sure will bring! We will be going to bed earlier on this trip for sure!!

We're Back!

We have arrived back in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Jacob was an EXCELLENT traveler!! He slept tons and his didn't get sick at all (he had the flu the day before we left). It is so nice to be back in Ethiopia. It feels like a 2nd home. The sights and smells are just as we remember them. It was so nice to have Job, an AWAA guide, meet us at the airport tonight and take us back to the guest house. Jacob went right to him and was smiling and loved Job just like he did 7 months ago. It was sweet to see them together again! It is now 1am ET time and I am going to try to look through our suitcases to see where things are and then try to get a few hours of sleep before the roosters, dogs, and people are up and going at sunrise! Tomorrow we will get to see the boys again! Job told us that Isaiah has been counting down the days until we came back! So sweet that he is as excited as we are!

Thank you for the safe travels prayers, they worked! It was an uneventful trip! Also we showed up with 10 suitcases that were all about 55 lbs. The handheld scale we bought was not correct, ugh. We spent about 30 mins trying to rearrange a few things and tried to buy a new suitcase (not easy to find at O'Hare) and then a lady said they are about the close the ticketing counter. So we just went over there to see what they would say about the bags. The lady was SOOOO nice. She didn't mind that the suitcases were over 50 lbs. We were also told that we should be able to bring 3 suitcases each (2 included, but a 3 for humanitarian/missionary). But the nice ticket lady has never heard of allowing 3 bags without a charge, she got her manager and he said the computer automatically charges so there was nothing they could do. Oh well at this point we were going to just pay the fees (4 extra bags=$800-yikes) But when she hit print, it didn't charge us. Praise God! Brad told her our God is bigger than computers! So we are thankful that we have all of our luggage and it didn't cost us anything extra!!!

Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Busy Week!

We have been busy getting ready for our trip. I have been unbelievable calm. I have several friends that are stressed out for me! :) It's stressing them out that I am so calm. In some ways I know what to expect this time araound, and in other ways I have no idea what to expect. This whole experience will be such a different experience from last time. Last time we met this adorable 4 month old baby boy that came out of the TH smiling so big as his nanny handed him to us. We sat on the porch or on a blanket playing in one spot all day long. This time we are going to be greeted by an 11 year old and a 22 month old. I'm pretty sure that Isaiah will be smiling and excited to see us. I have no idea how Kaleb (22 months) will react to these strange white people who can't wait to hug and kiss him will react. We got to see several MEETCHA moments while we were in Ethiopia last time, and there were many 1-3 year olds that were not as happy to see their parents as the parents were. I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst case, but also hoping for a sweet moment as we hold them and tell them we love them. I also doubt we will spend much time sitting in one place, with 3 kids, I'm pretty sure we will be running in all directions this time at the TH!
I'm nervous for Jacob. I'm not sure how he will react to being back in Ethiopia and visiting his old orphanages. I have no idea how this might, or might not, affect him. He also is going to have a HARD time sharing mom. He likes to be held and cuddle often, and he gets a little jealous when he sees me holding someone else. I know this is a normal adjustment that kids go through when families grow, and we will all be better for it later on.
Thank you for all the prayers and enouragement along this journey!

Negative letter

We found out today that MOWCYA wrote a negative letter since our I-171h wasn't in our file soon enough. They do have it, they just haven't processed it yet. Our agency is working with them to get another letter written hopefully by our Dec 21st court date. Many families haven't had their MOWCYA letters on time but have passed court about 2 weeks after their first court date. My mom is coming with us for the first 3 1/2 weeks. We are really hoping we have passed court before she leaves so she can help with Jacob, so we can have 3 adults loving on 3 kids for at least a few days, ha! We know that adoption is His plan, in His time!

The last paper came!!!

After lots of waiting we received our I-171h this morning!!!!!!!! We need this piece of paper to be able to pass court. We aren't sure if it will make it to ET and be translated, etc. in time for our court date, but at least we have it and it shouldn't delay things too long. This is the last paper we need (from our end) for this process. Now we wait to see if the ET courts request more or not. We are so ready to get to the boys and for them to be legally ours!

On a different note, the boys birth dad had to appear in court today to give his consent. Unfortunately there are so many emotions behind every step of this process. I can't even begin to imagine how he must feel about today, and honestly probably everyday of the rest of his life. We are so excited to have the boys join our family, but we know that it wasn't an easy or painless choice for their birth dad. We will be forever grateful to him for making the tough choice of placing the boys up for adoption. We can't wait to hug him ourselves and tell him how much we love the boys and will always love and take care of them.