The Call

Four years ago this fall we started this blog as we set out on a journey of faith to adopt a child from Ethiopia.  Since then, many changes have taken place in the Ethiopian adoption process. Estimated wait times turned from months to years to be matched with a child.  There were several times that we thought Ethiopia was going to close international adoptions altogether...thankfully that did not happen!  All the waiting is finally worth it...

On August 26 we received "the call" that we had been waiting and waiting for.  We were matched with a sweet baby boy from Ethiopia!   A month later these words seem so surreal to type.  Honestly, even after waiting for so long, we were surprised to receive the call.  Earlier this year, Bethany Christian Services stopped updating wait times since they could not accurately give estimates to waiting families. So, we knew we were getting close to the top of the list, but really thought we had more time to wait ahead of us.

Receiving the call that we were matched with a child went nothing like we thought it would:)  Actually, our adoption coordinator called both of our cell phones and neither one of us answered!  Ha! Miles turned my phone to vibrate earlier in the day without me realizing it and Scott was in a meeting when she called just after 2 p.m.  About an hour later I noticed I had a missed call and voicemail from a number I did not recognize.  I listened to a message that was from Bethany Global asking us to call back because they had some "great news" to share with us!  Scott actually listened to the same message on his phone at the same time I did.  We called Bethany back together to confirm the great news! Scott rushed home from work so we could open the email message together with pictures and information about our baby boy. (Sorry, these are the only details we can give about him online until he is legally ours. We are more than happy to share a bit more information and pictures in person).

We are required to take two different trips to Ethiopia to complete the adoption.  Bethany estimates that we will travel for the first time in 3 to 6 months for our court trip.  We would hopefully go back 4-6 weeks later to bring him home.  Both trips will be about a week long.

We are incredibly thankful for this answer to prayer!  Our journey to add children to our family has not been easy, but we have been truly blessed by God's redeeming love!  Please join us in praying to bring this little guy home!

Go Blue

Last weekend we packed up the mini and headed to Ann Arbor to watch a U of M basketball game.  We took Miles along and he did great!  He was so interested in looking around and checking everything out.

Scott & Miles court side before we headed up to our seats (3rd row from the top:)

Our little Michigan fan!

The arena had a stripe-out (everyone got either maize or blue shirts and glow wands).  Michigan beat Penn State!  Go Blue!

On another note- Miles 9 months stats-- 24 pounds 9 oz. (97%) and 30.5 inches long (99%)!  Eeeks!!  He is such a big boy!!

9 months

I realize it has been quite a while since we last updated this blog!! A few people asked if we quit blogging:)  No- life just got a bit crazy for a bit and then I just did not know how to catch up...so here is a quick update from the last 3 months.

We sold our house in October!  We stayed living there until the buyers sold their current home!

On November 20 we legally and officially welcomed Miles Matthew into our family.  We had a court hearing that our family was able to attend.  It was such a great and joyous day for our family!  He is such a blessing and it was good to finally be able to give him our last name and have the adoption finalized!

We moved out of our house and into my parents basement on December 14.  Our plan is to stay living with them until our new house is done.  

We celebrated the birth of Jesus and Miles first Christmas!

Our new house is finally started on December 26!

Happy New Year with family friends!

And February 4 brings Miles to 9 months!  I know everyone says it goes fast...but seriously...what happened to our little baby? He has been incredibly healthy so far, loves to babble, gives wet kisses, still loves to snuggle and is quickly becoming a little man!  I thought he was a little behind in the mobility department...until last week.  In the last week he has learned to crawl, pull him self up and is walking along things!  Wow!  Life is a little different now!

Halloween 2012

Our little guy spent his first Halloween as a little monkey!  

Check out his pouty face in this pic:)

On another note- our house is sold and we closed on it this week!  We are renting back from the new owners until they sell their house- so no moving...yet!  Our new house should be getting started in the next few weeks!

Catching Up...again

It seems another month has gone by with no blog updates- so time to play catch up...again!  So, here are few things we have been up to in the last month...

The weekend after Labor Day we went on our first family camping trip to Ludington State Park.  We had a great time- just the three of us.  We hiked, biked, walked the beach and just spent time together.  My parents let us use their pop-up camper- unfortunately we will not be buying one of our own any time soon as Scott had no love for the take-down process:)

Miles started and stopped eating rice cereal- he did great eating it, but he stopped sleeping well.  Of course, it was a no-brainer to stop giving it to him so we could all get some sleep.  We are taking a break from the cereal for now.  Hopefully we will try again soon. He looks like such a big boy in his high chair!

It is not Fall without a visit to Crane's to pick apples and eat donuts!  Unfortunately the apples were pretty scarce this year...but we had a great time with the Sayers!

Last weekend we headed downtown GR with Katie, Andrew and Peyton for Artprize!  It was crazy busy since the exhibit "Lights in the Night" was taking place that evening.  We did not see as much as we wanted to since it was so busy...but we did see the winner- Elephants- which was impressive!  

"Lights in the Night" was awesome...we are so glad we went that evening despite the crowds.

Last week Miles turned 5 months old!  On the day he turned 5 months I found his first little tooth starting to poke through!  Stop growing up so fast little man!

On another note- just to keep everyone updated- our Ethiopia adoption wait time was extended...again. We are now being told the total wait time to get a referral is 25-29 months.  We are 15 months into the wait.  Hoping and praying this is the last increase in wait time...

4 months!

Miles turned 4 months old earlier this week!  Today we took him to his 4 month doctor's appointment.  We knew he was growing fast-our little guy is now a BIG guy.  He weighed in at 17.25 pounds and was 26 1/2 inches long- both 90th percentile!  He is happy & healthy and that is all that matters to us:)

He is loving his fingers and toes right now!

These little eyes follow us everywhere!

Baptism

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of baptizing Miles at our church!  It was such an awesome evening of celebrating Miles' life and our commitments to him.  Our church holds a separate service for child baptisms/dedications, so Miles and eight other children were baptized or dedicated that evening!  

Several of our family and friends were able to join us that night.  We shared food and laughs before the baptism service and Miles just took it all in...he was seriously perfect all night!  Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all came to celebrate our little guy- we are so blessed to have all of these people supporting our little family!

Our church asked us to write a letter to Miles for him to be able to read when he gets older- a letter that explains our commitments made to him that night to raise him in a Christ-centered home.  We were able to share our letter to Miles with our friends and family during the service.  It was a special moment to share this letter with the people who were praying, praying, praying for Miles even before he joined our family.