Better Late than Never...........

I can't believe that it has almost been 2 months since I updated our blog. I am finding that since returning from Ethiopia, I have had a difficult time putting my thoughts into words that everyone can read. I have never been a writer so it is amazing that our journey was documented like it was.

So, I am sure that the question you all have is how is Noah doing. He is amazing, beautiful, a joy, and a delight. I really do not believe there are enough adjectives to describe him. All that to say that some days have been difficult but the good days far outweigh the bad. This past week we were in Chicago to meet up with some moms and friends of his from the IAN care center. We had a blast except for a trip to the local ER. As I watched all of the children, I was once again undone by how perfect Noah fits into our family. It also was cool to see how the other kids fit so well into their families. It reminded me that God is in the business of placing the lonely in families!!

We have been home four months and the changes in Noah are amazing. We have not had the huge growth changes that others have had. Since our referral in December, he has grown 7 inches and gained 8 pounds. He is in the 90th percentile for height and weight. We have had two appointments with the IA doctor. We do believe that he is about six months older than his paper birth date. We have decided to keep his birthdate the same because it will only help him in the long run to be older in school rather than younger. Plus it means that I get to keep him with me for two years:) He is doing great with his English. He is now speaking in three and four word sentences. His attachment is coming along great. We are still pretty limiting in what we do with him and I don't regret it for a minute. Our family and friends have been very helpful and understanding. Last night before bed Doug sat down on the floor. Noah got up from where he was sitting and moved so that he could sit next to his Ababa. This totally melted my heart. It has been fun to see Faith and Noah begin interacting as siblings. Faith is a great big sister but does get annoyed by her little brother at times. I remember being so excited the first time the argued.

One highlight from the past month is that we readopted Noah. We had the pleasure of sharing our journey with an amazing judge. After the hearing, we had to wait to get some paperwork from the clerk. She told us that she had never seen the judge so moved. She said that our boy stole a piece of the judge's heart. This was great to hear and we once again are humbled by how just taking the steps of obedience has brought God glory.

Here are a few pictures of what has been happening the past two months:

My Montage 6/10/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Noah's new favorite song:)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Montage 6/16/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

A New Video of Noah enjoying a grape.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dates that Only God Could Orchestrate

At the end of November last year, my son proposed to his childhood sweetheart. They set a date of June the 4th. At that time I spoke with my coordinator about time lines concerning the acceptance of a referral. She told us about a little boy that needed a family. He was older than what we expected. After counting out date possiblilities, we realized that it would be better to accept a referral sooner rather than later. You can read more here Here is a look at how the dates of the past year have played out.

August 20, 2009- We sign on with IAN as our agency
August 20, 2009- Noah arrives at Sele Enat(the orphanage our agency works with)
December 4, 2009- We were given info about Noah
December 9, 2009-We accepted Noah's referral
April 4, 2010- We met Noah for the first time
April 9, 2010- We arrived in the US with our son
June 4, 2010- Seth and Mallory were wed
June 9, 2010- We arrived back home after a wedding in Florida

As I look over all of this, I am amazed at God's kindness to me in particular. God knows that I can get very overwhelmed in details. He has continually reminded me through this adoption that He knows my frame. I am so grateful for how He carried our family through these past 6 months. Our boy has been home for two months now and none of us can remember life before him. He is such a joy! So here are some pictures of the wedding and Noah enjoying Florida!!

Unexpected Gifts Along the Journey

Back in August when we began this journey to bring our boy home, I had no idea how many good gifts God had in store for us. The first one being our amazing son. Not only is he the cutest boy from Ethiopia, he also has the sweetest little spirit! I can not wait to see how God uses him. The second biggest blessing would be all of the girlfriends I have gained through this. Our agency has a Yahoo group where you can gain support, information and encouragement. It really is hard to understand all of the emotions, pain and joy that you experience as an adoptive parent unless you have walked this road. These women got it!! This group actually became my church for a season. They let me scream, cry, laugh, swear, and rejoice:) The closer we got to bringing Noah home, the more concerned I got that these friendships would end. I am so grateful that that is not the case.

One of my closest friends actually lives about 40 miles away. She read my blog back in October and contacted me. We were so excited to realize that we were so close. We talked about the days that would come when our boys would be able to play together. She had her referral at this time but we did not. When we finally received our referral, I began to dream about our boys playing together. Well that dream became a reality last night!! Here are some of the pictures of our evening together and even a video of our dance party:)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Girlfriends, I want to thank each one of you for your friendship. Thank you for every time you listened to me cry, whine, scream, laugh, and cheer. I couldn't have walked this road without you! Dardi, thanks for opening your home to us! I can't wait for the next visit!!

11 more days....

Eleven more days until these two are wed! Their relationship started off as a friendship between families. We knew that there was more to the story when Seth started to brush his teeth and shower more often, especially before Mallory would come over.

I remember seeing this picture from the CD-7 Christmas banquet and thinking there is definitely something more going on here.

Then they began to "study" together:)

I knew my boy was smitten and so were we!

Finally after 4 years of being together, Seth proposed and now in 11 days we will get to witness these two declare their love to one another before family, friends and our Lord! We rejoice with them and are so excited for them as they enter into this new season!!

They are gone:((

Let me preface this with my mother did not do this. Today I took Noah to get his curls trimmed. My mom is crazy busy with babysitting for my sister and then leaving for Seth's wedding so I went to a shop down the street to get his curls trimmed. Trimmed!! Did I say trimmed?? Yes!! Well unfortunately a trim is not what happened:( His beautiful curls are gone! I am so sad and cried the entire way home. Here is the before and after picture: