Soooooo Big!

Jonas turned 10 months old yesterday. He's getting so big already. Not that he needed to, but he's gained 4 pounds since mid-November! He's completely grown out of his 6-9 month clothes and some of his 12 month clothes are getting a little snug around the middle. He still has plenty of room length-wise though. I have to fold up the arms of most of his shirt sleeves up so they don't cover his hands!

This picture was taken in his bathrobe (that's really too small). I love how it shows off his chubby legs.

We were watching an afternoon Steelers game a few weeks ago. The Steelers scored and Ray threw his hands in the air and yelled "Touchdown!" Jonas looked startled for a minute and then laughed and threw his little hands in the air and yelled something like "Ah dee dah!" We can usually get him to do it again by saying "Touchdown", but one arm raised was the best we could get for a picture. :)

He is such a happy and funny baby. He gives us slobbery kisses all the time. One of his favorite things to do is to kiss Ray's cheek and then reach for me and kiss my cheek. He'll go back and forth giving mommy and daddy kisses for a few minutes. I think he is teething again because he is chewing and biting anything and everything he can get his hands on. So sometimes lately his kisses end with a "love" bite. Ouch. He still loves his hands and is always waving or clapping them. We think he might be a natural drummer. He can entertain himself forever by just tapping his hands on a table or drum. His favorite toys are two toy drums that play music when he hits them. Once the music starts he bops his upper body up and down and dances to the beat.

He's still not sleeping any better. Sometimes when I'm rocking him in the middle of the night I think about the fact that we're his fourth home in his little life. I think about how, out of love and desperate circumstances, he was abandoned by his first family and I wonder how long he laid there alone in the city before he was found. I wonder if he fell asleep in the arms of his birth mother and woke up in the arms of a police officer. I wonder if he can comprehend that we're his forever family, and not just another stop along the way of caregivers in his life. When I think about these things, no matter how tired I am, or how hopeless I feel about his sleep (or whether we'll ever sleep again) I hug him a little bit tighter and hold him a little bit longer. I feel convicted again that no matter how many times he wakes up, we will go to him. We will let him know that we're here for him anytime he needs us. We will draw on God's strength, endure sleepless nights, and marvel in the wonder of the fact that God has given us such a beautiful, silly, demonstrative baby boy as our very own son.

Sleep (or lack thereof)!

We've been having some trouble with Jonas sleeping ever since we got home. It actually got a little worse the longer we were home and the more attached to us he became. He's always needed to be rocked to sleep, which we did happily. When we first came home we knew that he was experiencing a ton of change all at once, and didn't want to throw him off even more by expecting him to fall asleep on his own when he never had before. We were told in the transition home by his nanny that she always waited until he was asleep to put him in his crib. So for us, it was a way to continue to earn his trust and build attachment. The more attached to us he became the more frequently he started waking at night. First about 2 times a night, then more and more until he was sometimes waking every hour or two. When he woke up all he wanted was for us to pick him up and the majority of the time he would fall right back to sleep again. We contemplated co-sleeping, but it didn't seem to work for us, and Jonas didn't seem to like it either. So, night after night we'd take turns going into his room when he cried out, holding him, and putting him back down when he was asleep. It wasn't that bad at first, and we kinda secretly enjoyed that special time when we could comfort him and cuddle him in the middle of the night. After all, we missed out on nurturing him for the first 7 1/2 months of his life. But, recently we've been so TIRED! Ray went back to work the week before Christmas (which was a horrible sleep week. We noticed later that Jonas' 2 top teeth came in that week!). I will be working again part time within the next week or two. So, it seemed like now was the time to start trying to train Jonas to sleep better. We talked to our pediatrician about it and he recommended the Ferber method. Basically, go in after 5 minutes of crying, after 10 minutes, after 15 minutes, etc until the crying stops. In the doctor's office I felt I was completely prepared to do this, but once I got home I lost my nerve. Ray and I talked about it and decided that for now, crying it out is not an option. Jonas has only been with us for 2 months, which is only half the time that he was with his nanny in the transition home. While his attachment to us is strong and secure, we just can't bring ourselves to let him cry it out when we feel that Jonas is crying at night for a little extra love and reassurance. I don't judge anyone that uses the crying method, we're just to weak to do it! So I researched some books on-line, and the day after Christmas I went on a mission to buy the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution". It doesn't promise a quick fix to the sleeping problem, but to slowly and steadily help your train your child to sleep on their own longer and better without being left to cry. It gives a bunch of suggestions, and then you pick what you think will work for your child and make your sleep plan. We haven't implemented all of our plan yet because we were away from home, and then Jonas got sick with a cold. But we have started using some of the ideas and his sleep started to improve pretty quickly. He started waking only twice. Then one night he woke at 1am, but then slept straight through until 6:45am. The next night he woke at 10:30pm and then slept until 5am. It felt amazing to be able to get that many uninterrupted hours of sleep! I have to admit, I was feeling a little proud of myself for doing such a good job getting him to sleep. :) Last night he regressed. I actually felt like he was going to have trouble before I even put him down for the night. I had trouble getting him to eat much that day and he didn't drink much formula either, even though I tried offering it to him more frequently than normal. Then we had to run some errands and were out a little later than we wanted and he got hungry for dinner before we got home. We gave him a late dinner (still trying to be pretty creative to get him to eat a normal amount). By the time we were done with dinner he was tired and we started his bedtime routine, but even that got a little messed up. So I was kinda expecting some more wakings for bottles, etc. He was back to waking every hour pretty much all night long. I felt so defeated! But I had some great discussions today with other adoptive moms on a Yahoo Group about sleep. It seems that sleep is a pretty common problem and it was good to see what others are trying to do. Basically I feel reassured that we're on the right track. I guess sometimes you just take two steps forward and one step back. I've been trying something new to try to help him to learn to fall asleep on his own. Instead of waiting until he's completely asleep to ease him into the crib, I've been waiting until he's completely relaxed and falling asleep, but still awake. Then I put him down. If he cries I pick him up wait until he's relaxes and then put him down again. So far today the most I've had to pick him up is 3 times. Then he usually smiles at me, rolls on his side, and falls asleep. I hope we're making progress. I hope he sleeps tonight. We'd appreciate your prayers as we work through this! In the meantime, I remind myself that someday he WILL sleep through the night. He'll be a teenager all too quickly, and then I'll probably miss those cuddle times in the middle of the night when I could scoop him up and make everything all better. At least, I tell myself I'll miss it. :)

The Snoopy Hat

We had a great New Years and spent it with the Hammond side of the family in PA. While we were there Mom and Dad Hammond gave us a large box filled with some clothes that were Ray's when he was a baby. Today I washed the clothes and we pulled out Ray's old Snoopy hat to see if it would fit Jonas. He looked so cute in it we just had to take some pictures. Here they are:

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!!!!!