4 is more than 3

We talked about keeping things quiet after we got home but that is easier said than done I think. Kev's birthday was Thursday! Happy Birthday! We squeezed in cake after a long dance practice and a school program (we left early b/c Taye was so loud -- and we had cake at home :) ) Kevin said that for the first time ever he felt old-- is it 33, jet lag, or 4 kids?

A fun visit from Aunt Marissa and Grandma and Grandpa on Friday! Thanks guys!-- his first picnic

Taye loves the trampoline and Aunt Em!

Meeting cousins at the park! 3 adorable 2 year olds!

Flying Brecken's new kite-- from one of the coolest aunt and uncles ever-- Thanks Ryan and Betsy!

As long as we aren't trying to get him to eat or telling him no -- things are going great! :)

laura

The Scoop on the Appointments

Taye's first sign that I recognize is wash and he loves to wash his hands! Too funny! Brecken is helping him -- oh man- while I was taking the picture he rubbed the soapy hands all over his face including his eyes-- no tears though and he was ready to wash again as soon as I would help him.

So we hit Riley this afternoon for 5 hours and saw 6 different services all in one visit-- they are awesome!!!! Luckily Kevin could go with me and some great girls were willing to babysit at the last minute! We tried to make it really fun for Taye since he could be visiting more Drs offices-- as you can see he loved it once he warmed up.

Audiology was unable to get a good hearing test done b/c he freaked out in this little room and Kev said they had some scary looking animal things popping up. We are going to do another round of antibiotics and then we go back in a month for ENT/ Audiology. In the meantime we will be praying that God will work and heal his ears! Thanks so much for all the encouragement! Never having had a child with medical conditions this feels scary at times! As a mom you want your kids life to be so smooth and the long term of some of these problems looks kind of overwhelming-- okay so that doesn't sound very trusting-- actually my prayer since we got home is-- Lord I believe, help my unbelief!

Taye had everyone laughing and tried to take control of every situation (hmmm.. already taking after one of his parents :) )-- here he was supposed to get blood drawn. As the phlebotomist got out the tourniquet and her gloves -- he grabbed them, threw the tourniquet around his neck- like the Dr had done with her stethoscope, put on the gloves and started to help himself to a vial-- we were cracking up. You notice he is on Kevin's lap-- I figured that by the 4th kid he should get some experience with the not so fun part of parenting -- like holding your kids while they poke needles into them-- I hate that!

Overall the appts went well-- they had some GREAT advice for some of the things we are working through and were really positive about how curious, strong willed, and fun loving he is! I was praying that we would come out with mixed results on the hearing problems to allow time for us to pray about this and for God to show us his plan before we feel pressured to make any permanent decisions about medical treatments-- that prayer was answered.

Thank you for praying-- God has already answered so many prayers and shown himself faithful!

laura

We're Home

In our room at House of Hope


After a great, intense week in Ethiopia, we are home -- familiar, comfortable, and surrounded by our kids! Thank you so much for all the prayers while we were gone! We feel so blessed and humbled to have so many awesome people in our lives! Taye is doing really well all things considered. He went to bed last night at 8 (he likes to be rocked to sleep which I love!) and was up at 5:30. I can totally live with that! I actually like him waking up early b/c then I get some alone time with him. He loves the kids, I mean LOVES them. He will go to Kaitlin instead of me any day so we are trying to be really careful to help him bond with us as his parents.

This afternoon we are taking him to and international adoption specialist to have him evaluated and also to an ENT doctor. We were told that he is deaf in February (finding that out is a journey I want to do a post about sometime). He verbalizes a lot-- way more than I would expect a totally deaf child to do. Actually - he is really LOUD, most of the time!:) We are anxious to have him evaluated in the U.S. to find out where they say that he is. We were encouraged by strong Christians while in Ethiopia to pray for and believe that God will heal him. Honestly, we have prayed that he would be able to hear through medical intervention but not asked that God would totally heal him. Please pray for wisdom for us!
okay-- I need to help a frustrated 2 y/o with his toy :)
laura

Almost home!

Kevin, Laura, and Taye are scheduled to arrive in Indy late tomorrow afternoon! Please pray for safe flights home as well as everyone's transition into a new life...

Details, pictures, & videos to come!

Addis Update 3

Kevin called this morning around 9. He planned to call earlier to catch the kids before school, but court took longer than expected. Everything went through and Taye has his Visa!! They are waiting for the passport and some other papers that were expected to take a couple hours.

Mom said she could hear Taye in the background- he is loud and talking (jabbering) a lot. Kevin said, "say Mama" and he did!!?? The helpers at the orphanage said he is more vocal since they have been there.

He is still loving the attention and spent some of the night in their bed after waking up crying. He was soon comforted by his mama!

There are 5 other couples that they are with who are getting their children as well. They have drivers that take the couples wherever they need to go. They all plan to eat together tonight at an Italian restaurant and go to sunrise services Sunday morning with one of the drivers who is protestant.

The home has some planned sight seeing activities for them as well as time on their own. He said they are busy enough. They get a lot of stares from the local people...as they travel as a group of white people carrying around Ethiopian children.

Unfortunately, due to poor internet access, there won't be pictures until after they return...but even without pictures, it is SO amazing just to imagine Kevin and Laura bonding with their sweet son! God really does bless those who persevere through trial!

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12

Update from Addis

Kevin called my mom yesterday afternoon. He sounded very upbeat. He said things are going better than expected and that Taye is more than he could ask for! He was sleeping when they arrived, so they were able to observe some other couples meeting their children.

A nanny brought him out and he went to them immediately (they said he goes to anyone). He has been with them throughout the day and in their room at night. He goes everywhere with them. Kevin started to walk away today and he took off after him. Taye copies what they do and Kevin said he can see why it was hard to detect the hearing impairment. Kevin sat on the floor to roll a ball to Taye and he sat down and did the same thing.

Apparently he is very smart and even cuter in real life! :)

Kevin said they have already seen more than they could imagine in the short time they've been in Addis. The court date is tomorrow, Laura's birthday. They hope to travel to the orphanage that Taye was first taken to and also to the one that Loving Shepherd is working with.

Easter is celebrated this weekend in Ethiopia, so they hope to go to an Ethiopian church.

Taye eats rice cereal with carrots mashed in it and pushed away some cucumber and hamburger that Kevin tried to feed him. He lets them know what he doesn't want to eat!

Thanks for your continued prayers for Kevin, Laura, and their children through this journey!

Praise God!

I haven't heard from Laura directly yet, but they called their kids early this morning to talk before school and here's what was relayed through Laura's mom who is staying with them right now.



They made it! They said they could definitely feel the prayers as they traveled and everything just went really smoothly.



They are at the orphanage with Taye! He stayed in their room last night and slept well. They said Taye is so happy! Laura holds him and he drinks milk from a sippy cup. They had brought a Little Tikes car and Taye was holding a screwdriver "helping" Kevin put it together. He is such a fun-loving child!



Mary said Kevin and Laura both sounded so happy!



I know Kevin and Laura would want to thank everyone for praying. God is so good!

We're Off

Well, the day is finally here! We leave this afternoon to fly out of Indy airport. We are staying on Dubai on Sunday night. I'm excited to see a little of the city and hopefully grab dinner! We will fly to Addis Ababa on Monday morning and should meet our little guy on Monday afternoon!

We will try to send updates back and Emily is going to update our blog for us!

Happy Easter!
laura

Take Two

We found out today that our Visa Interview should be good to go for April 16th!!!! Yeah! We are leaving on Saturday 4/11 and returning home on Monday 4/20! We will get to ET on Monday 4/13 so that means only 6 more days till we see our little boy! Thanks so much for all the encouragement!!!!
Fun fact- my birthday is April 16th-- what an awesome birthday present!

updates and laughs

Praise- Our approval is definitely at the US Embassy in ET.

Prayer-- they (people at our agency in St Louis)don't know the status of the other paperwork that needs to be completed in ET and Taye may need to have some additional testing d/t new regulations.

I have seen this on some other people's blogs. So fun to do-- Brecken and Bella loved it! I highly recommend it for laughs -- even if you don't post it!

1. What is something mommy always says to you? you little love bug

2. What makes mommy happy? when we do what is right

3. What makes mommy sad? when we are bad

4. How does your mommy make you laugh? She tickles us ( and milk comes out our nose)-- I do not remember doing that

5. What was your mommy like as a child? Brecken -bad /Bella -- no good

6. How old is your mommy? 30 (correct)

7. How tall is your mommy? 32 in

8. What is her favorite thing to do? cook

9. What does mommy do when you're not around? Steal Cookies--- (hilarious-- I just did that)

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? doing the greatest science experiment (what???!!!)

11. What is your mommy really good at? being nice to your kids (awww)

12. What is your mommy not very good at? being mean (I say -- really? Breck says yeah!)

13. What does your mommy do for her job? Breck-hmmmm, I don't know if you have a job, no I don't think you do

14. What is your mommy's favorite food? Ethiopian food

15. What makes you proud of your mommy? when you love us so much

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? David ( like David and Goliath-- umm they don't watch a lot of cartoons)

17. What do you and your mommy do together? -- Breck-- nothing, Bella -go to stores and hang out

18. How are you and your mommy the same? Our eyes are blue

19. How are you and your mommy different? Breck - your skin and hair are different colors than mine/ Bella - we don't do the same things

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? Breck-it's easy- you kiss us and hug us, and you stay by our side... well once you had trouble staying by my side and then you lost me--( yikes that actually happened to me for the first time yesterday-- bad feeling-- glad we can laugh about it now!)

21. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go? - the grocery store, well we don't really know where your favorite place is-- maybe Bible study or a party

What ever is good...

I was thinking today about things that inspire me and went back and looked at some cool websites

I don't know if you have seen this organization before but it is so cool. Kev and I are hoping to visit this Home while we are in Addis Ababa (I got one soccer ball to take to the boys but Kevin is scheming to see how many he can fit into a suitcase along with a pump so they will have extras-- he can't wait to play). You have to see this you tube clip!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbhzPIjHKRw

Loving Shepherd also has a blog that gives some great updates and has links to some of their other websites.
http://www.loving-shepherd.com/blog/

There are lots of ways that you can help... if you drink coffee here is a link of a very easy and yummy way to help (also inspiring)
http://solidrck.blogspot.com/

whatever is true, honest, just, pure , lovely,of good report:if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things! Philippians 4:8