Update on our babies

We received another update yesterday and I just wish I could post the pictures. They are adorable! Malachi's hair is growing and he is just too cute for words. Ava is sleeping in her picture, but just as precious as always. Here is the update :

“M. is a sweet little guy. He loves his roommates and room. He has the most rowdy room we have! He doesn’t really add to the rowdiness, but he does seem to enjoy it. He is a big teddy bear. He likes to sit in my lap or be close to the caregivers. He is doing great. A. is doing wonderfully. Today, when I stopped by she was sleeping, but yesterday I saw her outside with her roommates. The caregivers tell me she is eating and sleeping very well. They also said she is “very vocal”, which I think translates to “she cries if we don’t hold her."

I cannot wait to get my arms around these two. It is hard to explain what it feels like to be so far away from someone you love, but have never met. My love grows for them every day. I find myself talking to their pictures in that wierd baby voice we all get while snuggling little ones. They have become part of our daily conversation, and a part of every prayer. I've pulled out clothes for little man and I stare at the shoes wondering what his chubby little feet will be like. I love hearing that he is a big teddy bear. That just melts my heart. If Ava likes to be held, she'll be in good hands around here. When my friend Becky was here, Grace and Thatcher held Jack all the time. Matter of fact, Thatcher hauled a little rocking chair downstairs and brought his blankie for Jack one evening just before bed. Here's the picture.

In the meantime, we are staying busy. Grace is so creative and is always building something with her brother or for her brother. I can't keep up with all of the creations.
Grace will be testing soon for the IOWA here in VA. This keeps us home-schoolers on our toes, which is always a good thing. I'm a little nervous, but we've worked hard this year and she has "soaked" up so much information. She is thrilled about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln right now. It comes alive to her when we read the stories. I love homeschooling because it leaves plenty of time for all of her creative moments, and she and Thatcher are really becoming good friends. It's such an answer to prayer!

River Dance

A friend of mine was recently in town (love you Becky) and saw Thatcher do his River Dance. She suggested I post a little video of him doing it for all of you. It really is so funny! Every time we turn on music, he does his River Dance and then he and Grace waltz around the room together. We found an African Playground cd which is the background music for his little show. I can't believe this is his last month as a 4 year old. My little buddy is growing up way too fast! I went in to his room the other day and he was hammering a picture of our little man Malachi to the wall with a thumb tack just above his bed. When I chastised him for hammering without my permission, he looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "I just want to be able to see him Mom." How can you argue with that? So now it's hanging above his bed, not framed, not centered, not planned - but precious, and it is Thatcher's little reminder every night before bed that he has a brother coming.

Update

Last week we received an update on our little ones. We have decided to name them Malachi and Ava (while keeping their African names as middle names). I will refer to them by their new names, for security purposes.

“Malachi is doing well. He was a little shy around me. He stood very still and serious when I took his picture. I got out a pen and paper to try to get him to smile. I drew some and then gave him the pen. He looked at it as if he didn't know what to do with it. Then he started drawing. He smiled a couple times but never near the camera. Ava is very strong. She has quite a grip and can take all of her weight on her legs. She can stand with some help for balance. She rocks on her hands and legs, looking almost ready to crawl. The caretakers can get her to smile and laugh but she was very serious with me. She did not seem at ease when I held her although she did not cry or seem scared either. She is very alert and watches everything.”

Weight: Malachi (2 1/2) 34.6 lbs
Ava (almost 7 months) 15.8 lbs

We are thrilled with the updates. The pictures attached showed Malachi with some hair growing in. Such a cutie. And they are both as chunky as ever! We also heard back from a family that took over a care package for us. They will be sending us a disc of pictures soon. We can't wait!!! We just want to get our hands on those babies and love on them. We're so thankful that the travelling families have been doing this for us. There are several families with court-dates tomorrow and we'll all be praying!

Piper on Adoption

A friend of mine posted this link on her blog and it was such a great video clip by John Piper regarding adoption. I just had to share it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgNXQ2CazUg

COURT DATE!!

We have a court date! It is Monday, April 27th. It is more than 2 months out, but we trust God's timing. As my mom said, it's one more phase of our LONG labor. We started this journey approximately a year ago. It's hard to believe that much time has gone by. And I must say, the Lord has been faithful every step of the way. We are so excited that God is adding to our family, and we know it will be worth the wait. I was praying early this morning specifically for Malachi, and at the end of my prayer, cried out to the Lord regarding our court date. He drew my attention to I Sam. 15:22- "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice". At times, it feels like I'm sacrificing quite a bit. All the time worrying, all the time planning, praying, questioning, yearning, WAITING. But I found hope in this verse. My obedience to the Lord is better than sacrifice. I may be giving up some things, but it doesn't compare to my obedience. The Lord wants me to walk in faith, and trust Him regarding these little ones. He wants us to move forward on this journey, even though we don't know what the next step holds. We must obey. That is what He cares most about. And so, we continue to wait and trust Him.

Let's see, if all goes well at our court date, we can "hope" to travel in late May. Please continue to pray with us, that our court date will be successful, that the birthmother will show up and relinquish the children, and that we can travel in May.

Here is a verse that my sweet sister shared with me earlier this week:
Isaiah 58:11
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Doesn't that verse bless you? I hope so.

Tears of Joy

This week has been so full of emotion for us. We have been crying tears of joy. We're so happy to meet our little ones, and so sad that they're halfway across the world. We're still waiting to hear back on a court-date and this is keeping us in much prayer.

This process could take AWHILE. So, to fill up some of this waiting time, I've started making quart-sized baggies for children in Ethiopia. I have a "Friend of a friend" that has travelled over 3 times, and I've gleaned lots of info from her. She said to have bags of goodies ready to give out, as well as food and other items. In each quart sized baggie, I'm placing a laminated bible-verse bookmark, jumprope, pencil, small notepad, bouncy ball, little plastic frog, a new beanie baby (that my mom scored at a garage sale of a collector), small candy cane (thanks to the Walmart after Christmas 75% off sale) and lastly I need to add one more food item. I'm not sure if it will be fruit leather, a fruit roll-up, granola bar or crackers. It will depend on the price and feedback I get. My "friend of a friend" said that they handed out granola bars and it was so sad because the children would eat off a couple of bites and then save the rest for their other family members. This causes me to consider a package of crackers, to be more easily shared. So far we have 75 bags, and my goal is to make 100. I ran out of beanie babies, but a few months ago I bought 2 dozen teddy bears at the Dollar Tree for $1 a piece.

Also, we're gathering other items to take along. We're attempting to meet our sponsored child (through Mission of Mercy) and my mom's sponsered child (through Compassion Intl.). We're making a back-pack for of items for them and each of their siblings. These include dresses, flip-flops, notebook, pencils, stickers, chapstick, pajamas, a homemade baby doll (see previous posts), and a few items for their mother- hand lotion, washcloths, and bible. We're still working on this part. I contacted an Ethiopian ministry that's here in the US and they told me it would be very inexpensive to purchase bibles in Amharic and Tingrinya (our children's native language - this would be for their birth mother) over in Addis at the British Bible Society.
Several of you have asked how you can help, or what you can send with us. We are currently collecting items for the younger orphanage and the Kolfe older boys orphanage. We would like to take the following:
Socks for all ages of boys- 4 and up
2-3 soccer balls and pumps
good pencil sharpener (to mount)
Hackey sacks- usually found at party stores
small plastic washable toys for the baby orphanage
baby onesies- newborn thru 12 months

Lastly, we must purchase $200 worth of humanitarian aid for the Gladney care center which will include specific diapers, wipes, formula and diaper ointment. If anyone would like to contribute financially toward this cause, it would be greatly appreciated.

Well, if you've been reading our blog and wondering what our future holds, I want to recommend this blog. http://ourfamilytapestry.blogspot.com/ They have recently posted a slideshow of their trip to ET to pick up a pair of 3 1/2 year olds. They are first cousins and one month apart in age. I must warn you that I cried like a baby when I viewed this slideshow. Please take a few minutes and watch. They give such honor to the Lord, and it is a blessing to watch.

REFERRAL!!!!!

I've been waiting soooo long to say these words: WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!!! We are praising the Lord for two healthy babies~ a 2 1/2 yr old boy and a 5 1/2 month old girl. They are just precious and the more I pour over the pictures, the more I fall in love with them.

I got the call yesterday while in the shower. I didn't realize that I had messages waiting for me until we were in the car heading over to a friend's house. I saw Jessica's # and freaked out. I did a huge u-turn, ran into the house frantically looking for Jessica's # and shaking with excitement. When I reached her, I acted calm but my whole body was shaking. She said, "Kelly, I have some good news for you." I started crying right away. The only sad part is that Sean is out of town and couldn't be with me in person to meet our babies. He was on the phone with us, but couldn't see the pictures until we all hung up. We are just so blessed that many prayers have been answered. They are healthy and I must say- chunky! They've been cared for by their mother and the Gladney team, with only a short stint in an orphanage. Praise the Lord! I'm just so thankful to see a little window into what God has been orchestrating behind the scenes. This is His master plan, and we've finally had a little glimpse of what our future holds.

Thank you for all of your prayers, and please continue to lift up our little ones.