Friday, July 31, 2009

July Update Photos







Are they beautiful or what?

Min has an awesome mohawk in these photos because the nurse had to shave her head for her IV meds when she had pneumonia. She has since had her entire head shaved for her passport photos, so we will be bringing home a sweet little baldy. We also heard she weighed mere 10 pounds at 4 months and she eats four ounces 7 times a day. The update also said that she is doing well and is not experiencing any sickness at this time. Lets hope she's gaining some weight now that she's feeling better. They also said that she likes to be held and doesn't cry much, but when she does cry...it's urgent! Like... feed me now! I can relate to that:)

Haile is doing well and learning some English at the Transition Home School. He knows his ABC's and numbers and some phrases like, "What is your name?" He likes to eat bread, pasta, meat, injera, and especially egg. It sounds like we will have to work him into fruits and vegetables. :) He enjoys sports like running, and soccer and also playing with toy cars. They also said he is very smiley and funny!

It seems surreal that new week I will get to know my beautiful children and experience them first hand. I seriously can't wait.

The Real Deal

This is the REAL DEAL!!! Our tentative travel dates are now concrete!!!!!!!!!!!!We are going to Africa to meet our kiddos (and to bring them home!) one week from today! I've been holding my breath for two weeks and now I can let loose and celebrate (and pack and finish overhauling my house)!

Plus we have new pictures and updates on Haile and Min. Plus we have like 10 cases of children's medicine that was donated by Perrigo to take over to the orphanage where our kiddos were first brought in Addis. And my favorite sister-in-law (this is an inside joke) loaned me all kinds of baby stuff! ALL this happened today!!!!!

This is what I would call REAL GOOD DAY (in case you couldn't already grasp that from all the exclamation points in the two previous paragraphs.) Look our Africa here we come! WHAAAAAAAAWHOOOOOOO!

Monday, July 27, 2009

The Name Game

Hailemicael and Minalush... how would YOU pronounce these names?

We have been working on pronunciations for the last two months and finally think we've got it. A friend of a friend who has lived in Addis for several years emailed me with her take on the pronunciations. She seemed pretty confident about it too. So these are the names of our kiddos...

Minalush... say min-ah-loosh

Hailemicael... say highly-mick-eye-el but he is probably just called Highly (like the Ethiopian Olympic Gold Metal Distance Runner Haile Gebrselassie or like the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, Haile Selassie.)

So practice up because you might me meeting them in 3 weeks!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Baby Min is healthy and strong!

After an agonizing weekend we received word from Minalush's physician that her lungs are clear and she is doing well now. Phew, I can breathe again. God is good!

I often wonder what would have happened to our beautiful girl if she had not been at our agency's transition home during this sickness. She may not have had any access to medical care or the necessary medications. I recently read that there are 3 physicians per 100,000 people in Ethiopia. I also read that the top causes of early childhood deaths in Ethiopia are pneumonia and diarrhea.

I feel so blessed that our children are cared for so well by our agency staff. I recently heard that many of the nannies stay well past the time they are paid to be there because they love the children so much.

Does a mama's heart good!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Introducing...

It's my great honor to introduce the rest of our family...


Our son Hailemicael Andrews


Hailemicael with a fellow adoptive parent looking at our photos for the first time. I wonder what he thinks about us??


Hailemicael showing his WMU spirit!


Our daughter Minalush Andrews at 4 months old (this beautiful photo was just taken a few days ago)


Minalush's referral photo taken at around 3 months


So sleepy!


So surprised! Who keep flashing that light in my face anyways?


Minalush this week with her IV for pneumonia meds. Poor baby. Keep praying for her little body to be strong!

Thanks for sharing in our little slice of happiness. We are thanking God tonight for all he has done for us and for our children. Thank you everyone who has been praying and giving to get us to this point in this wonderful, wild journey. I'll keep you posted on any news we get about when we get to travel and realize the two long awaited hugs that we've been dreaming of.

We are Family!

We got a call from our agency that we passed court today. The judge looked over the papers and ruled that they are our children...officially! I will post pics and more info soon. Whooohooo! God is Good.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sad News and Joy

Well my fellow blogstalkers... we got some sad news yesterday. I couldn't really bring myself to post about it until now. We did not pass court, but we did not fail either. The judge wants to take a closer look at the paperwork before she makes a decision. She is not requesting further documentation or testimony, just more time to go over the paperwork. So, in theory we do not as of yet need another court date. There is a possibility that she may even decide tonight while we are sleeping. Please pray for this judge and her decision about our children's case.

During the same phone conversation we were also told that our baby girl was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday. She had meds over the weekend and appears to be improving. I was grieved by this news and wanted to hop on a plane and go take care of her that very moment. Yes, I am turning into a flipped out protective mother of children I have never met. Go figure.

Today I hoped for a call and I checked my email every few seconds, ok... maybe minutes. I did get a call from an adoption grant organization who had accepted our pre-application and were sending us an application. Exciting news, but still not enough for a sad mama like myself. But then it happened. Sadness turned to joy. I opened an email from my new friend Sara who brought our care packages to our kiddos yesterday. She sent 3 pictures and a beautiful description of her time with them. Joy. Peace. Thankfulness. It feels so good to know that someone put their hands on my kiddos and saw them in the flesh and they are OK. This act of kindness on Sara's behalf has overwhelmed me.

The kids are beautiful. Our big boy was shy at first but liked the photo album we sent. He knows some English including the word "dog" (we sent him a picture of the Abbey-dog). He's wearing his new WMU ball cap in the photo. He is precious. He has kind of a goofy smile and reminds me of my Noah. Sara says she has more photos she will send when she gets home next week. I can't wait.

Babygirl has the most beautiful eyes and the longest eyelashes ever. Poor baby has an IV right in the middle of her forehead, but honestly it makes me feel good to know she's getting the medicine. These pictures have made my week. I am so thankful and feel I can breathe a bit more freely.

About an hour later we received an email from our agency stating MOWA (the agency in ET who does pre- and post- court papers is closed for training effective immediately until July 24th. This means we will not be traveling before August 8th at the earliest. Although this bums me out... I really feel OK with this now that I have an update and pictures of the kids!

Seriously, adoption brings out a whole array of emotions that I never knew I existed. I think I deserve a nap after the last 2 days!

Please pray for the judge tonight. I trust God's timing is perfect, but I also know that God hears us when we pray! Also please pray for babygirl's little body to be strong. Thank you for your support and prayers. I will now take my joyful, thankful, peaceful self upstairs to take a nap.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

It's Our Day!

It's currently 2AM in Addis and while I'm pretty sure they aren't hearing our case quite yet, they will hear it today! Please pray for our kiddos and all that "paperwork". We are trusting God tonight so PLEASE go to Him on our behalf and ask Him to bring our kiddos home.

Today is also the day they will receive our packages and see our faces for the first time in the photo books we sent them. I can't wait to hear how it went. I hope we aren't too scary looking! Plus there's a possibility for pictues/ video/ spy info (like shoes size etc.) from out package delivering friends!

Can't wait to post good news tomorrow! Thank you for your prayers!