Merry Christmas!

Jonas' Infant Dedication

Jonas' infant dedication was last Sunday. He wore the traditional Ethiopian outfit we bought for him and he was so cute in it! I thought it was going to be big on him, but the pants were a little snug on our little chub. Ray was able to do the dedication, and it was so surreal for me. Here was the baby that we hoped for, prayed for, and longed for... Here was the child that God had in mind when he answered our prayers for a baby NOW with, "No, not now. Trust me and wait." Oh, he knew what he was doing for sure. So dedicating him to the Lord was a chance for us to acknowledge that God has entrusted him to us and to offer him back to the Lord. I pray that we will be examples of Christ's amazing love in his life and that we will rely on God's guidance as we raise him and teach him.

swimming

Burger King

Jonas had his first outing to Burger King today. No fast-food for him, but he had fun with the crown. Or maybe we're the ones who had fun with the crown. :)

Birth Parents

A friend of ours, Meg Brask, is using our adoption story as the subject for her film class projects. She came and filmed us before we went to Ethiopia, having us share about the adoption process and our thoughts and feelings leading up to our trip.

She came back this week on Wednesday to do another piece now that we're home with Jonas. I'm really thankful she chose us as her subject matter because it's a great way to chronicle our journey.  We saw the first piece, and she did a great job.  I can't wait to see the finished product of this next one!

Something Lisa said during the filming on Wednesday really struck me.  She said that she wished she could tell Jonas' birth mother what a special son she had given birth to.  It struck me because early in our adoption journey, I thought that I didn't want to meet the birth parents and didn't want them involved in my child's life.  I guess it was because I was afraid that their existence and involvement somehow threatened the legitimacy of me being Jonas' daddy and him being my son.

We don't know anything about his birth parents.  We just know that, as it is in most developing countries, although birth parents love their children very, very much, things like illness, disease, poverty, war and genocide force them to make a very difficult and self-sacrificing decision: give up the child I love so that he or she might have life.

In Jonas' case, either his mother was dying and left him to be found so that he would be cared for or she had already died and a relative, friend or neighbor left him where he would be found and cared for.  If she was dying and had to make that choice, well, I can't imagine the courage, strength and selflessness it took for her to do that.  I remember thinking the same thing when I was in Jamaica on a mission trip after just finishing my undergraduate work.  A three-year-old little girl had become my buddy, and because of the poverty they faced, her mother offered to let me take her little girl home with me so that she could have a better life in the US.

The depth of love like that amazes me, and it gives me a glimpse of what the love of Jesus must be like.  Think about all he gave up, all he became, all he took on, all he experienced, all he suffered so that we could be forgiven, cleansed, set free and restored to right relationship with our Heavenly Father.  "Amazing love, how can it be that you, my God, would die for me?"

So early in our adoption journey, I thought that the existence and/or involvement of birth parents somehow threatened the legitimacy of me being Jonas' daddy and him being my son. But knowing him and having him know us, I see things a little bit differently now.  He is such an amazing gift, such a special boy, such a great joy that I wish his birth parents could see that.  I wish they could see how cute he is, how chubby he is, and hear his laugh.  I wish they could see how observant he is, how demonstrative he is, and how big his personality is.  But most of all, I wish they could see how their hopes and dreams for him - to be loved, to be cared for, to be healthy, to learn and to have the chance to grow up into the man God has made him to be - will be realized.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that Lisa and I are these great people that are rescuing Jonas and giving him a chance. I'm just saying that putting myself in the context of his birth parents, I know that I would wonder what was going to happen to him when I was gone.  Would he be cared for, sheltered, protected, encouraged, taught, unfolded, tickled, hugged, kissed, cherished, i.e., would he be loved like I loved him? If I were in their place, I would be wondering these things, and I would be comforted to know he was loved like I loved him.

All of this makes me realize what a great privilege it is to raise Jonas and be his daddy.  His care, well-being and development have been entrusted to me.  It's a great responsibility and a precious gift.  And I love it! :D

Pictures!

Steelers Fans

Thanksgiving outfit (Thankful for Mommy and Daddy). This picture was taken after Thanksgiving because I completely neglected to take any pictures on Thanksgiving Day!

One Month

Today is the one month anniversary of meeting Jonas.  I can't believe it's been a month already, but at the same time, it seems like we've been a family forever.  A month ago today we were completely in love with a little boy that we didn't know at all.  There were times that first week that I felt like an imposter mommy because I didn't know his likes or dislikes, his routines, or what he wanted when he cried.  Now I know him.  I know when he's tired, when he's hungry, and when he's bored.  I know what makes him laugh, his favorite toys, the faces he makes, the way he likes to fall asleep, and the sounds he likes to imitate.  I know I'm his mommy.  A month ago today two strangers walked into Jonas' life and changed his whole world.  I'm sure there were times that first week that Jonas wondered who we were and if he could trust us.  Now he knows us.  He knows the games we play with him, the way we change him and feed him, and the ways we comfort him when he's upset.  He prefers us over anyone else.  He knows that we're his mommy and daddy.  

I mentioned in an earlier post that we found out something about his Ethiopian name, Ekra.  A few Ethiopians that we talked to on the way home from Ethiopia said that Ekra is an unusual name.  They said it sounded Arabic or Muslim to them, not Ethiopian.  I was puzzled at that because he was named by the Christian orphanage where he was first placed.  I figured there must be some story behind it that I would never know.  We mentioned that to my father-in-law, who decided to do some research on the name.  He said that Ekra is either Hebrew or from the Hebrew and it's found in Psalm 27:7.  

Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.  Psalm 27:7

"When I call" is Ekra.  It gives me goosebumps to think that I called out to God for a child, and he mercifully answered me with a son named "when I call".  We've found two Hebrew meanings for the name Jonas.  One is Gift From God, and the other is He Accomplishes.  So, Jonas Ekra is either "Gift from God when I call" or "He accomplishes when I call".  Either way it's a reminder of God's great love and faithfulness, and his amazing plan in joining us together as a family.

Life at Home

Bath time

Eating

In my favorite outfit.  It has the continent of Africa and says Treasu(red)

A rare occurrence.  (just kidding... sort of)

Tummy Time

Playing

Life has Changed!

We've been home almost 2 weeks now, and we're all getting settled into the routines of our new life.  Jonas is doing so well.  I'm amazed at how quickly he's adapted to all the recent changes in his life.  His whole world was shaken around and turned upside down, and you would never know it.  He is such a happy baby.  

His attachment to us continues to grow stronger.  He loves people, and usually puts on quite a show for any audience he has. :) But sometimes he doesn't like to be held by other people for very long. During the first week at home he had quite a few sleepless nights where he would wake up every hour or two.  It often seemed worse after we were around other people for an extended time.  We put a nightlight in his room, switched him to a gentle formula, and started giving him a little cereal before bed.  All of those things have seemed to help, but I think the biggest help is that he is beginning to feel more and more secure.  He's trusting us more and realizing that we're not going anywhere.  Ray and I have both been off work on family leave, and it's been really good for us as a family.

Other than the obvious, I thought I'd share some of the changes we've noticed since we've been home.

Changes for Jonas:

-He used to help hold his bottle, but he doesn't do that anymore.  Why hold your bottle when you have your very own 2 people to do it for you?

-When we got him he was eating mostly formula and had just started eating some "porridge".  Now he eats 3 meals a day plus formula.  So far we've introduced rice cereal, baby oatmeal, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and avocado.  They've all been big hits, and so far no allergies.  He loves to eat!  

-We introduced a sippy cup with water during meal time.  Mostly, he likes to bang it on his tray, but he's starting to lift it up to drink from it.  If we put formula in it he makes us hold it though!  Funny kid.

-He's started to bear some weight on his legs when we hold him up.  He didn't do that at all a couple of weeks ago.

-He's tolerating "tummy time" for longer periods of time now.

-We can coax him to roll from his tummy to his back by arching a toy over his head.

-He can sit for longer periods of time without support.

-He lets us put him down and entertains himself for longer.  While we had him in Ethiopia and our first week home, this was a big no.  I think it was all about developing that trust with us. 

Changes for Mommy and Daddy:

-Waking up at 8am is like what sleeping in until 10am used to be.  

-We find ourselves referring to each other as mommy and daddy when we talk.  "Daddy, will you get another bottle ready?", etc.  I know, we're cheesy. 

-Sometimes we go to bed at 8:30 or 9pm.

-My definition of a clean house has changed dramatically.

-Our laundry has increased dramatically.

-All our outings are carefully planned around nap times and meal times.  It takes a lot longer to get out of the house than it used to!

-We have a new dictator in the house, named Jonas.  He's such a cute dictator!

That's all for now.  We found out something really cool about his Ethiopian name.  I'll write about that later.  I'll also post some pictures of life at home at some point.

Happy Boy!

These pictures are from the day we visited Kids Care Orphanage.

Pictures of "Gotcha Day"

I've finally gotten around to getting some pictures posted.  Sorry it's taken me so long!  These are all pictures of the day we met Jonas.

We made it home!

Hi, everyone. So our flight went really well, and Jonas did very, very well. We had asked for seats near the bulkhead where they can attach a bassinet, but they were all taken. So we were going to be in the middle row of three seats. But as we were getting on the plane, a flight attendant saw us with Jonas and asked us how many seats we had. We said, "Two," and she told us to hang on a minute. She asked two, elderly white women on the left row of two seats by the bulkhead if they would switch with us, and they wouldn't. But when she asked an American college student and an Ethiopian women on the other side, they were more than willing. So we were able to get two seats by ourselves with the bulkhead so that a bassinet could be attached - and it was soooo great to have it. I can't imagine making the trip without it. I thanked those that moved like five or six times for moving.

We landed about 30 minutes late in DC, and even though we got through customs, immigration and the bag recheck relatively quickly, we missed our connecting flight to Newark. However, they were able to get us on a flight to Newark that left about an hour and 15 minutes later and we were still able to catch our original connecting flight from Newark to Rochester. Of course, that flight ended up getting delayed about an hour. This is Newark Liberty airport after all! Lisa has flown through that airport 4 times since May, and each time her flight was delayed.

Then upon arriving in Rochester we realized that our baggage didn't make it. We didn't get it until Sunday evening around 5:30 or so. But we made it safely and were glad to be back in Rochester! Thank you for all your prayers!!

Here's a pic I took on my phone as we left the airport in Rochester. We're not sure yet what he thinks of the cold weather here, but he def didn't like wearing this hat!

We don't have internet at home, and we forgot to bring our camera with us to Lisa's parents' house. So we don't have any of the pix from our trip. But we will upload some soon - the next time we're near a wi-fi connection. In the meantime, here is a pic Lisa took on my phone this afternoon.

Well, we've got to make a trip to Wal-Mart. So that's all for now.

Update from Ethiopia

Sorry we haven't blogged in a couple of days!  We got to bring Jonas back to the hotel with us on Tuesday and things have been a bit hectic, but good.  I'll try to sum up what we've been up to.  Tuesday afternoon we spent another couple of hours at the Transition Home.  It was much harder for me to leave the Transition Home than I expected it to be.  I didn't realize that Jonas had a special nanny, but he did, and she was there on Tuesday.  I could tell that she was happy for Jonas that he was being adopted, but very sad that he would be leaving.  I tried to let her have time with him, but she was also trying to let me have time with him.  I caught her watching him a few times when he was with me.  She was keeping tabs on him and making sure that he was OK.  When it was time to go I took him back to his crib to change him into the clothes we'd be taking him home in and she came and stood in the room with us.  We thanked her and hugged and she started to cry and walked away as quickly as she could.  I, of course, started to cry too.  I was touched by how much she loved Jonas when we couldn't be there with him, and sad for her that she wouldn't be seeing him again.  I know that Jonas was very bonded to her too, and it made me sad for him also.    Our first night with Jonas went pretty well.  It took him awhile to settle down to sleep, but he slept from 10pm to 4:30am, took a bottle, and slept again until 7:30am.  Yesterday was our embassy appointment to get Jonas' VISA.  It went well, and we got all the official court paperwork declaring us his parents, and his Ethiopian birth certificate with us listed as his parents.  He's totally and completely our son.  It was a great feeling.  The day was a little rough for Jonas though.  We had to wake him up from his morning nap to make it to the appointment, and then they took us shopping afterwards.  He slept a couple of times in the van, but kept getting woken up by different things.  By the time we got back to the hotel he was overstimulated and so tired that he wouldn't take his bottle, which made him hungry, which made him mad, etc.  He also wasn't feeling very well.  When we left the Transition Home on Tuesday the head nurse let us know that he started having diarrhea last week and she gave us an antibiotic and some electrolyte solution to give him.  He had a few completely liquid blow-out diapers while we were out and about (sorry if that's TMI!).  So anyway, it took us an hour or so to get him settled down enough to eat and fall asleep.  He fell asleep at 6:30pm, woke twice during the night to eat, and slept until 8am this morning.  He was a tired little boy!    Today has been much better.  He's getting better from the diarrhea, and we're learning to understand his cues to better meet his needs.  We went to Kids Care Orphanage today, where the police brought Jonas after he was found.  He spent about a month there before he was moved to the Transition Home.  I was surprised and pleased that all the nannies there remembered Ekra (Jonas).  They were thrilled to see him and took him out of my arms to hug and kiss him.  He started to cry and reached for me after they took him.  That thrilled me. J  He really seems to be bonding to us, and he is such a sweet little boy.  When he's mad, he definitely lets us know.  J  But he also loves to smile and babble.  He's enthralled with his hands, which we actually suspected from some of the pictures we had of him.  He's always looking at his hands, clapping them, and waving them.  He waves them like an adult would wave hello, and he also waves them like a baby waves bye-bye.     I'm giving up on posting pictures until we get home..  I'm trying to attach some right now, but it's been working on it for almost an hour.  A couple of people from our travel group were able to get pictures sent, but one of them came down to the lobby at 3am to get a good internet connection.  Usually once we get Jonas to sleep after a bottle we crash in bed too.  So I doubt we'll be coming down here at that hour!     Tomorrow is a free day, and then we leave for the airport to come home at 6pm.  We've enjoyed our time in this country.  Ethiopians are so hospitable and kind.  But we're definitely ready to come home.  I might post again tomorrow, but if not, look for our pictures a few days after we get home.  Pray for our trip!  I'm not looking forward to the plane ride.  I really hope Jonas is feeling a lot better by then, or it might be a rough trip for him (and us)!

Today we met Jonas!

Ray and I woke up bright and early this morning from a mix of jet lag and adrenaline.  We ate breakfast with some of the families in our travel group, and we're really enjoying everyone's company.  After breakfast we put our gifts for the nannies together in packages with the other families.  We were trying to kill time. J  At 10am we left the hotel to meet Rachel for a family meeting at Kaldis.  It's the Ethiopian version of Starbucks.  Much cheaper though (and better coffee!).  After the meeting we ate lunch together.  Rachel told us that the Transition Home was 5 minutes away from where we were eating, and I was so full of excitement and nerves that I had to choke my food down.  Finally, we got in the vans and made our way to the Transition Home.  Ray and I took a picture outside the famous green gate and then made our way inside the courtyard to get ready to meet Jonas.    Rachel brought him out to us and as soon as I saw him I was overcome with emotion.  He is so CUTE!  Even cuter in real life than in his pictures.  He came to us without protest, but he looked like he was trying to figure out what all the fuss was about.  Shortly after I got him in my arms he reached out and grabbed my face.  Then he leaned his head in and touched it to mine.  It was like he somehow knew that we were his parents.  I like to think that anyway. J    He's such a calm and content baby.  He smiles a lot too!  We never would have guessed that based on the pictures we had of him.  One of the nannies actually had him giggling at one point and I had to choke back happy tears.  The only time Jonas fussed was when he got sleepy but was trying to fight it.  He let me know then that he did not want to be sitting!  He finally gave in to sleep and slept on my shoulder for about an hour.  My arms were killing me (the little guy is SOLID) and I loved it!   Tomorrow we're bringing our nanny gifts, donations, and care packages.  We'll also get a chance to ask the head nanny questions about his eating and sleeping habits. We'll be sure to get lots of pictures of the other babies tomorrow!   We're having a ton of trouble getting the pictures on the blog.  I figured out how to get them off the camera, but the internet connection is so slow I can't get them to attach.  I waited for a half and hour before dinner and had to stop it so we could leave.  The rumor is that the Transition Home has high speed wireless, so we might be able to post them from Ray's I-Pod tomorrow.  I'll try again tonight though!

We made it here!

We've arrived in Ethiopia!  One of our flights was delayed and we checked in with Ethiopian Air with a half an hour to spare!  The flight from DC to Rome to Ethiopia was very long and cramped.  Ray slept probably about 5 or 6 hours, but I only managed to get about 2 hours of sleep.  Hopefully that will mean I'll sleep well tonight and get right on track with the time change.  We got in to Ethiopia around 8pm here, but didn't leave the airport until around 10pm by the time we got our luggage and everything.  The drive to the hotel was dark and rainy, but I love this city already.  It reminds me in some ways of Costa Rica.  I can't wait to see it in the daylight.  We just got checked in to our hotel and unpacked a little.  Our room at the Addis View Hotel is amazing.  I thought we were going to be roughing it a bit, but we have a little livingroom, kitchenette, and a bedroom with a king sized bed.  We also have a little bassinet in our bedroom.     Tomorrow afternoon we meet Jonas!!!!!!  I can't wait.  It is finally becoming real.  I'm running out of steam now, so I'm going to try to get some zzzzz's.    We didn't bring our laptop because we heard we'd be able to upload some photos to the hotel's computer to share on our blog.  Unfortunately, it didn't read my camera.  I'll try again tomorrow.

6 days until we leave!

I can hardly believe we'll be leaving for Ethiopia in just 6 short days! Yesterday we packed 2 big bags full of donations and 1 bag for Jonas. We also got a start on packing our bag and carry-on. We've been shopping several times, and I think we're pretty close to having everything we need. I'm not sure if Jonas is going to be wearing 6-9 month clothes or 12 months clothes, so we're bringing both. We also have close to a pharmacy supply of medicines for him and for us! Seriously.

Today I cleared the pictures off our camera's memory card and remembered that I never shared pictures of Jonas' room and our baby shower.

So here's the baby's room:






And here's a couple pictures from the baby shower:





This might be our last post before we leave for Ethiopia! If you think of it, pray for us while we're gone. We have a few specific prayer requests. Here they are:

1) Pray for no flight delays! We have some pretty tight layovers and even a short delay could cause us to miss our flight to Ethiopia.

2) Pray that Jonas will bond with us quickly and that we will have the wisdom to know how to help him to do that.

3) Pray that Ray and I stay healthy. No Montezuma's Revenge, but more importantly, no typhoid, malaria, or yellow fever. :)

4)Pray that we'll be able to sleep and get used to the new time zone quickly.

5) Pray that Jonas will be comfortable and be able to sleep on the long plane ride home.

Thanks, and be sure to check back next week for updates from Ethiopia!!!!!

This is a test...

We won't be able to access our blog in Ethiopia, but we should be able to e-mail blogger.  So, I'm doing a test e-mail with a picture to see if it comes through to the blog.  If it works we'll be able to keep you up to date while we're in Ethiopia (as long as we have internet access!).  So here goes....

We passed court! Jonas is officially our son!!!

Enjoy the pictures!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Still Waiting for News....

Knowing that our court appointment in sometime this week (but not knowing the day) has been close to torturous. OK, not that bad. But it has been hard. Today is Thursday. I guess the news will come today or tomorrow. We know that if we don't pass through this time around (it's not uncommon), we'll have to wait another month for a new court date and our new tentative travel dates would probably be in December. If we don't pass it will be so hard to know that Jonas will spend another month in the transition home, not even knowing that he has a mom and dad who think about him constantly. But, God has been reminding me again and again this week that He is good. His goodness doesn't depend on my circumstances. No, he is simply good. I can trust him, even if Ray and I are not on a plane to Ethiopia on November 1st. I've been meditating on a couple of verses I read on Tuesday.

But Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in Him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out it's roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
it's leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Oh Lord, the king rejoices in your strength.
How great is his joy in the victories you give!
You have granted him the desire of his heart
and have not withheld the request of his lips....

For the king trusts in the Lord;
through the unfailing love of the Most High
he will not be shaken.

Psalm 21:1-2 & 7

Admittedly, when I first read these verses my first thoughts were not so noble. I didn't want to have to experience any more heat, or times of drought, or have circumstances threaten to leave me shaken. But the more I thought about them, the more peace I sensed from God. He has already done SO MUCH to unite us with Jonas. The journey started years ago and has not been an easy one, but I would do it all over again. I cherish all of the ups and downs that have led us to be Jonas' parents. God surely granted me the desire of my heart, and did not withhold the request of my lips. I do not know what will happen in the courts this week, but God does. So, I will trust. I want to be like the tree whose leaves are always green and who never fails to bear fruit. Who knows, maybe very soon I'll be posting Jonas' pictures with the news that we've passed through court!

Court Update

I just heard from another family in our travel group that our agency confirmed that our court date is sometime THIS WEEK!!!! Please be praying. We'll find out soon if we get to travel on 11/1 or not! I also just found out that there is a formula shortage in Ethiopia. There isn't enough in the stores to buy! One of the orphanages our agency partners with (the one Jonas came from!) is expecting to run out of formula this week. The transition home is going to send some over to them, but they need families to bring formula to help out. It sounds like we'll be going shopping soon to buy some extra formula. If you'd like to send a can or two with us, let me know!

Surgery went well!

Thank you to all of you who were praying for my surgery! Things went REALLY well. They were able to do the least invasive surgery. Praise God! The mass was a big cyst, and it didn't show any signs of cancer. I'm still pretty swollen, bruised, and sore, but I feel more human today! :) I'm so thankful we were able to have the surgery done now. It would have been hard to have an active, chubby little guy at home and not really be able to pick him up and take care of him. I believe God worked it all out so that I can be ready to travel as soon as we get the word! That could potentially be in 20 days!!!!!!!!!

Updates

I have surgery scheduled for tomorrow!  I would have preferred to wait until after we get Jonas home, but the doctor convinced me otherwise.  I'm really relieved that the surgery was moved up from the 10/21 date, because it should give me enough time to recover by November 1st! Thanks for your prayers!

Some AWAA families had court today.  They were tentatively scheduled to travel on 10/23.  I don't know the outcome for all the families, but so far I know that 2 families passed through court, and sadly, 2 families did not pass through.  There is a new rule for paperwork requirements for the adoption of sibling groups that apparently our agency was not aware of.   Their new court date is scheduled for November 8th.  Keep these families in your prayers!

We don't know when our court date will be.  The group of families with their date today was the last group that will know their court date.  We assume that our court date is sometime in the next week or two.  Please pray for all the paperwork and everything needed to be ready so that we can pass through court the first time!  

Tentative Travel (yay!) and surgery (YUCK!)

We've had a very eventful few weeks! Sunday afternoon some women from our church threw us a baby shower. There were about 70 women there and we got so many great gifts! We're pretty much ready for him. We just need to buy some diapers, formula, socks, and a few more outfits. We got 2 car seats, the high chair, a stroller, the complete bedding set and valances for the nursery, diaper bag, clothes, bath toys, sippy cups and bottles, an activity center, and so much more. We were also given many donations to bring to the transition home and orphanage. We have several pairs of Croc sandals, clothes for kids and babies, bibs, bottles, soaps and lotions, socks and underware, books, etc. When I get a chance I'll post some pictures from the shower and pictures of the nursery.

We got an updated picture of him yesterday and he looks happy and healthy. It looks like he might be growing into those chubby cheeks of his! We also got an updated weight, which will help us to know better what size clothes he'll be wearing. A couple of days ago we also got some video of him! It was from a couple weeks before we got his referral, so he's much younger in the video than he is now. His cheeks were HUGE! So cute. We got to see his smile for the first time! In the video he coughs a few times and then smiles. He looks adorable when he coughs and his smile is so sweet!

We got tentative travel dates today! If all goes well in court (probably sometime in the next couple of weeks) we're scheduled to travel on November 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, I also got some bad news today. I went to the doctors a couple of weeks ago for some pain I was having off and on. She sent me for an ultrasound and then a CT scan a week later. I had an appointment with her on Tuesday and she said that I need to have surgery to remove a 5 inch by 5 inch abdominal mass (most likely a cyst related to endometriosis). She won't know until they open me up whether they can do a laparoscopy (recovery in 1-2 weeks) or a laparotomy (recovery in 3-6 weeks or more). She told me Tuesday that they would try to schedule the surgery for as soon as possible. The office called me today to say that the surgery was scheduled for 10/22. The nurse said I would be fine to travel on 11/1 if they do a laparoscopy, and that I could "possibly" travel that soon after a laparotomy. I don't like "possibly". I left a message for the doctor to see if we could put the surgery off until after we travel. The doctor called me back the one time today that I walked away from my cell phone. She left me a message that they're going to try to reschedule the surgery for SOONER, but it will all depend on the OR schedule. The nurse is going to call me tomorrow to let me know if they were able to reschedule the surgery. If they are not able to, I'm going to ask to have the doctor call me again so I can find out if we can push the surgery back. So, I guess I'll know more tomorrow. Please pray! I know that God has been in control of this entire process from the beginning and Jonas is our little boy. We want to be united with him as soon as possible, but I'll trust my loving Father.

September Update

We got our monthly update from AWAA on Jonas today.  Here is some of what they said:

Jonas is generally very content…and happy!  He loves to laugh and smile, and does it often!  His personality is coming out more and more.  He loves interacting with people and is very responsive to attention.  He loves sitting in his Bumbo seat….he sits there and smiles, or he gets so comfortable that he falls asleep! 

I can't wait to see that smile!  

Life While We Wait

We got new pictures of Jonas on Saturday from an AWAA family who recently traveled to Ethiopia! Before they left, we sent them a care package to bring to him. Since we can't show you the pictures of Jonas, I'll show you what we sent him.

It's a soft security blanket (that we slept with for a couple of nights), a teething photo album with close-up pictures of us, and a card that we used to record our voices saying hello to him. I was so excited to buy those things for him, but the day I sent them off in the mail was so hard. In a strange way I felt a connection to him sleeping with the blanket and preparing the photo book. I wanted him to have those things, but I felt helpless in that all I could do for him was send him a care package. I cried over the package and prayed with all my heart that in someway he would be able to sense his parents' love through the softness of a blanket. Now that he has those things with him in Ethiopia, it gives me comfort to think about him sleeping with the blanket, hearing our voices come out of the card when the nannies open it, and chewing on our faces in the photo album. :)

Jonas is 5 months old now and he's getting so big! I know we're biased, but to us he is the most precious little boy we've ever laid eyes on. We fall more and more in love with him every day. It's hard not to have him here with us, but we're keeping busy getting ready for him. On Saturday we went to Babies-R-Us and registered for baby items. It took us about an hour to get through the first section of the store! Do you know how many different kinds of bottles there are?! And do we really need a bottle warmer? We decided no. And which is more important in a diaper bag, form or function? We went with function. Anyway, that's why it took us so long. I had fun though. I'm not sure how much fun Ray had, but he got a kick out of all the people who looked me up and down and tried to figure out why we were registering. :)

On Saturday we also finally cleared the last of the office things out of the room that will now be Jonas'. We also finally picked the paint color for the room. It's good we waited because we've changed our mind about the theme of the room. Originally we were going with a Winnie the Pooh theme, but we saw a bedding set at Babies-R-Us that we really like. It's kind of an African Safari theme with a lion, an elephant, a giraffe, and monkeys. The colors are rich browns and greens (two of my favorite colors). Ray noticed it first and said it looked like something for African royalty. I was sold!

Next on the list is actually painting the room, setting up his furniture, and gathering donations for the Transition Home and the Orphanage. We'd like to bring donations of diapers, formula, and clothes and toys for older kids. If you have any gently used toys or clothes you'd like to donate, please let us know!

We've been waiting for 5 weeks since our referral. If all goes well we'll have our court date sometime in October and travel sometime in November. Please keep praying with us that we'll not have any court delays!!

Thankful

"...give thanks in all circumstances..." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18a.

Many times when I hear people quote or reference this verse, they talk about how it is important to give thanks when things are difficult.  That they would emphasize giving thanks in hardships and difficulties makes sense since it is rather atypical for us to be thankful when life is tough and frustrating.

But I think we need to emphasize just as much the importance of giving thanks in the good times.  It is so easy to experience the blessings of God and not turn back to praise and thank him.  It's like we might wonder where God is in the difficult times, but we almost take him and his provision for granted in the good times.

So all of that to say, Lisa and I want to make sure that we make our thanks known for how good God is.  He has reminded us of this over and over and over again as we have traveled this adoption road.  It doesn't seem so long ago that we were wondering...wondering if our agency would accept us; wondering if we would get through the paperwork; wondering whether we would have a boy or a girl; wondering what our child would like; wondering when we would get to meet him or her and bring our baby  home.  And as most of these wonderings have changed from unknown to known, we can't help but thank and praise our God for his presence with us and provision for us.

We especially want to praise him for his provision.  As we have shared previously, God has moved on people's hearts to help us with the financial portion of this journey.  Twice, people have given us $1,000 - and it just happened again this past Wednesday.  Some very dear friends of ours who have been so supportive of us and journeyed right along with us gave us a card with a $1,000 check in it.  When we thanked them, we were told that their gift was a God-thing. They had wanted to help us financially, made that commitment and then waited on God to make it happen.  I am moved by their faith, and thankful for allowing God to use them as a God-thing in our lives, too.

There is another person who has been supporting us as well.  We don't know who it is.  All we know is that every other month or so we get an envelope with no return address and a Rochester postmark.  Inside the envelope each time is a $20 bill and a piece of baby-gift wrapping paper.

And then there is the former co-worker who sent us $50 in the mail.  The friends who have sent us clothes and other baby items in the mail.  The pre-school teacher at our church who is giving us any of her baby items that we need.  And of course, our family members (both biological and spiritual) who have provided encouragement, prayers, tears, laughter and gifts of money and baby items.

All these people giving and sacrificing because of their love for us and our little son.  It makes tears well up in my eyes.  And it reminds me of the enduring love of Abba, Father that moved him to give his Son in sacrifice for your sins and mine.

Oh, we have much for which to be thankful.  Enough to be thankful in good times; enough to be thankful in the bad; more than enough to be thankful in all circumstances.

OUR REFERRAL DAY!!!

Today we got the call we've been waiting for! I was actually in the middle of doing a home visit with a client when my cell phone rang. I saw it was Ray and, even though I had been telling myself that we wouldn't be getting referral for a few more weeks, my initial thought was, "maybe we got our referral!" So I answered the call and Ray told me that Terra was going to conference call me to give us our referral! I somehow calmly told my client that I needed to go to my car for a minute. By the time I got outside I was crying. Terra called me just as I reached my car, and told us that she had our referral for a 4 month old baby boy. She told us she had a lot of referral pictures for us. She said she'd never seen a referral come with so many pictures! She e-mailed the pictures to us as she was speaking. I obviously couldn't see the pictures because I was sitting in my car, but as she spoke I could hear Ray in the background saying "Aww" "He's so cute!" So, Terra went on to give us background info on our baby, and we got off the phone. I thought about finishing my home visit for a split second and then realized I couldn't wait a minute longer than necessary to see my boy's pictures! Needless to say, I got back to my office as quickly as I could, looked at the pictures, and then left work early. I couldn't focus on work!

Terra told us that they would be trying to schedule a mid-October court date for us. They need to do this before the courts close on August 7th. Otherwise they will have to wait until October to ask for a court date, and it could delay things. Please pray with us that they are able to do this! I've seen my son's pictures, but now I want to hold him, kiss his chubby cheeks, and know his personality.

We're praising God for all he has done and will continue to do to unite us with our son, Jonas. The Hebrew meaning of the name Jonas is "Gift from God". We are so thankful for his gift.

Exciting News

I found out yesterday that a family who sent their dossier to Ethiopia when we did received their referral this past week. This is very exciting news for us! We never expected anyone from our dossier group to get a referral so soon. The last estimated wait time was 7-9 months, so we weren't expecting any news until at least late August. This family waited a little less than 6 months! So according to our best guesses, we're either #3-5 in line for an infant girl, or maybe #1 in line for an infant boy!!!!!!!!!!!! It's still hard to figure out exactly what this means. At first I thought it meant we'd definitely be getting the next boy, but I don't think we can be sure yet. For instance, I guess if there are 5 families waiting for girls and 6 baby girls in the orphanage, we might get a girl, because a family in line after us is requesting a boy. But there are families after them requesting girls. So, if there are fewer girls, or more than 1 boy, we'd probably get a boy.... I can drive myself crazy thinking of all the possible scenarios! The exciting thing is that we may get a referral sooner than what we thought. Sometimes referrals come a few times a month, and sometimes only once a month. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm excited to think that it could be any day now that we see a picture of our baby!

Yesterday I got a fun surprise in the mail! When I got home from work there was a big box sitting on my front steps. I just have to say that I always secretly hope to find something fun in my mailbox when I check the mail. I get excited if I have a letter or card mixed in with the bills and junk mail. So, big boxes on my front steps are even that much more exciting! Anyway, the box was from my friend Alicia in Florida. She sent me a BUNCH of baby clothes that her son has grown out of. Considering the fact that up until then we only owned 2 baby outfits, a baby sweater my mom knit, and 2 toddler t-shirts, we just increased Baby Hammond's wardrobe by a lot. He's going to be one cute baby. If he's a she, she's going to own a lot of blue! :)


Alicia also sent some bottles, a pair of booties from South Africa, a stuffed chick that says "Rejoice! This is the day the Lord has made", and a book titled "Adopted and Loved Forever." I made Ray read me the book while I was making dinner. I know. I'm a dork. :)


Alicia and I have been friends for about 28 years. Pretty much since we ourselves were babies (2 year olds). It's fun to get to share having our own kids now, even if we live a few states away. (Thank you Alicia!)

One more thing just for fun- I don't really drink Coke, but since the new series of cans for the Olympics came out, I've wanted to get an Ethiopia Coke can. I was at a party this weekend where they had them, so I snagged one. It says Coca Cola in Amharic. It also says Ethiopia really small. Since it's the series of cans for the Olympics, it says Bejing 2008. So again, I'm a dork, but I'm going to keep the unopened can because it has Amharic, the probable birth year of our baby, and it says Ethiopia.

How things are goin'

People ask us all the time, "How are things going with the adoption?". I love that they ask because I know that they really care how things are going. But sometimes it's tough to give the same answer all the time. "Things are good. We're just waiting." Waiting.... You know, waiting is hard, but it can be good too. Waiting teaches us things. Waiting reminds us that God is in control, and that the outcome is up to Him. I find comfort in the fact that the waiting will be soooo worth it! God is working in ways that we can't see right now to unite us with our baby at just the right time.

Our agency had a conference call a couple of weeks ago, and it came at just the right time for me. I'd been feeling a little discouraged with the process. I read on an AWAA blog that the wait time would be increasing from 5-7 months to 7-9 months for a boy or either gender request. I was discouraged by the added wait time, and a little confused by the fact that now the wait for a boy and the wait for a girl were equal. Though we requested either gender we assumed we'd get a boy because the wait was longer for girls than for boys. So we've been talking mostly about our little boy. We've picked out his name and we use it whenever we talk about him. But with the wait time even-ing out for boys and girls, getting a girl is more of a possibility than it was before. That is fine with us. We requested either gender because we always wanted to be open to whichever gender God wanted to give us. But it was a little disorienting to suddenly feel like we couldn't say "when Jonas comes home...." when we would refer to our baby. We started thinking about girls names again. We're starting to say things like "I can't wait to meet him...... or her." In the midst of the confusion and discouragement I started looking at other agencies that have adoption programs in Ethiopia to compare wait times. I read on one agency's website that their wait time was 3-5 months for either gender. I found a blog of someone adopting from that agency and they had just received their referral after waiting only 3 months and 1 day. I felt like it wasn't fair. So, that brings me to why I felt better after our agency's conference call. Our program director had just returned from spending a month in Ethiopia. One of the things she was doing there was looking for other orphanages to partner with. She shared that child trafficking is starting to be a potential issue in Ethiopia, and she said that she didn't feel comfortable with a lot of the orphanages she visited. If they seemed too eager to "find" babies for us, she didn't enter into an agreement with them. She reminded us that their goal as an agency is to find homes for children that truly need homes, not to be a baby factory. It reassured me that our agency is being thoughtful and cautious about this.

The good news is that AWAA did partner with a new orphanage, called Gelgela Orphanage. We've already had some referrals for familes out of that orphanage this month. I think the total number of referrals from the 3 orphanages this month is 8. That's more than most other months so far! It looks like we might be able to expect a referral around the end of August or September. Our agency has told us that if we receive a referral during the court closures (Aug. 7th-Oct. 7th) we can expect to travel about 12-16 weeks after we get our referral.

So, that's how things are going with the adoption. Thanks for asking! :)

Mighty to Save

Hello, everyone. It sure feels good to have finished my master's work. I'm looking forward to being able to focus on family and the work God has for me to do at the church.

Many of you in the yahoo group are most likely already aware of this, but Lisa and I wanted to let our family and friends not on the group to know of the drought and famine conditions currently facing Ethiopia. Here are two links to CNN articles about it:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/21/ethiopia.hunger.ap/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/20/ethiopia.children/index.html

As you might imagine, we've been wondering if our baby has been born yet and how much this crisis might be affecting the baby and his or her birth family. This makes the situation very real to us, and we wish we could do something to change it -- not just for our child and his or her birth family but for everyone. Of course, the one thing we can do is pray, and we ask that you would join us in praying for Ethiopia and its people.

The lack of rain during the rainy season has caused a drought that affected this year's crops and is causing the famine. It has also affected hydro-electric power to the point where scheduled black-out times are in effect, and no power causes delays in the adoption process because emailing, faxing, court hearings and other things dependent on electricity cannot take place. So not only our wait but the wait of many other "expecting" families might increase. So we ask that you pray for all of us expecting from Ethiopia as we trust in God's timing.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the song "Mighty to Save" -- probably because we sang it at our annual conference meetings this past week. The chorus has just been playing again and again in my head; it says:

Savior, he can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save; He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of salvation; He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

These words have been such an encouragement to me lately, reminding me that nothing is too big for my God. I mean, the situation in Ethiopia -- he can change it. The prospect of waiting longer for our baby -- he can get us through . Trusting him as I wonder about my future -- he can give me peace. And he can do the same for you. He is mighty to save.

He did it!!

Operation Graduation was a success! After 4 1/2 years of hard work, stress, procrastination, and more hard work, Ray graduated with his Master's of Divinity from Northeastern Seminary last weekend. We're thankful for the education and spiritual mentoring that he received from the Seminary, and that God provided from him to go without taking out any school loans. We're also thankful that he's done!!!! The majority of our marriage has involved having his homework hanging over our heads, so we're looking forward to this new freedom. :)

More of God's Provision!

A few months ago we applied to Shaohannah's Hope for an Adoption Grant. Based on the wait times they gave us I figured we would hear something sometime in late April or early May. So I was starting to hope to see a letter from them every time I checked the mail. Yesterday their letter came. This is what it said:

Dear Ray and Lisa,

On behalf of our co-founders, Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman, and the Shaohannah's Hope team, we rejoice with you in your decision to step out in faith to experience the miracle of adoption. It blesses us that you have chosen to make Shaohannah's Hope a part of your adoption process, and we are pleased to inform you that you have received an adoption assistance grant in the amount of $3000.

YAY!!!!! We're so blessed! The letter went on to talk about how and when the money will be sent to our agency, America World. Shaohannah's Hope ended the letter by saying, "It is our prayer for your family that you and those walking this path with you will see God glorify Himself throughout the adoption process- as he proves Himself to be faithful, provides the finances from various sources, and as He reveals His great love and care for the child that you are adopting." We have definitely seen God glorify himself throughout this process, not just with our finances, but with everything. We're so excited to be building our family this way!

Some of you have asked us where we stand on the money end of things. I've listed all the expenses for the adoption below. We have already paid the Application & Paperchase fees, as well as the Dossier Submission and Waiting fees. I put the expenses we still need to pay in orange font. Remember that in the last couple of months we have received $2000 in gifts toward our adoption, and now the $3000 adoption grant. So that can be deducted from the total I put at the bottom. We've also been trying to save as much money as we can, and we're throwing around the idea of an adoption fundraiser. Anyway, here are the numbers:

APPLICATION & PAPERCHASE

Application Fee $250

1st Installment of Program Fee (w/Pastor's discount) $750

Home Study $1,650

Additional Home Study Documentation Prep. Fee $0
Home Study Visit Travel Fees
(could include mileage, hotel, and food costs) $0
Documents/Background Checks/Passports (estimate) $150
USCIS Fee & Update Fee + Fingerprinting $830

Notarization, Certification & Authentication $400

Courier Service $150

DOSSIER SUBMISSION & WAITING

2nd Installment of Program Fee (w/Pastor's discount) $750

Post-Adoption Report Deposit
(fully refundable if all post-adoption reports are returned) $1,000

Dossier Service & Translation $600

REFERRAL & TRAVEL

International Specialist Consultation $100 - $400

3rd Installment of Program Fee (w/discount) $550

International Program Fee (1 child) •• $3,450

Airfare (2 adults) ••• $2,400 - $4,000

Airfare (1 child) ••• $250 - $1,000

Visas (2 adults) $40

Visa/Embassy Fee (1 child) $400

In-Country Travel Package (2 adults) •••• $2,800 - $3,200

POST-ADOPTION

Post-Adoption Visits (Already pre-paid) $1050
Post-Adoption Visit Travel Fees $0
Re-Adoption (In NYS) $300 - $1,000
Other Costs
(include doctor visit and related co-pays, social security card, passport cost, postage, long distance phone calls) $100 - $1,000

Total expenses already paid: $7580

Total expenses yet to be paid: $10,390- $15,040

In some ways I guess it seems like we still owe a lot, but I have full confidence that we'll come up with the money we need. Our God is an Awesome God!