Quick Holiday Note

We hope everyone has had a very blessed Christmas. We've been spending lots of time with family and friends. We'll get some pictures posted when things begin to settle.

Our house has had quite a few showings now. Thank you for all the prayers in helping us get through the selling of our home and beginning our transistion.

NO!

...This is a word we hear quite frequently in our house right now. Before we heard "uh-uh" quite frequently, but in the last few days, Josiah has REALLY gotten the hang of using the toddler NO! Thankfully, he is one of the most polite toddlers I've heard using it. He doesn't yell it. And I can usually get him to say No Thank-you. :-)

(BTW, another showing today. We went househunting, too...FUN!)

Two more showings!!!!

Tonight we had another two showings! On a Wednesday evening??? We'll take what we can get!

The first visit, our Realtor emailed yesterday to see if she could bring someone over at 4pm today. That gave us time after Elizabeth's school part to get the house a little more cleaned up....it's always nice to have advanced warning.

We went out to dinner early since our eating schedule was messed up. Our Realtor called and said the client liked the house (he was mostly interested in it structurally). He is planning to bring his wife by to see it! We'll take that as a good sign!

We drove around the neighborhood for the kids to see the Christmas lights. We arrived home and saw a figure in the window. Hmmm... Apparently someone called five minutes after our Realtor left, but of course I left my phone home. They liked the home as well, especially the realtor. And it was very fortunate that we did take the little extra time to drive around.

The best news of all was that we got the new carpet in yesterday. The installers did a pretty good job. Just nicked our freshly painted walls a little bit. The color also works well with our paint. It just goes to show, God's timing always works out.

So when you ask God for something to happen quickly....

...make sure your seatbelts are fastened!!!

We are trying to prepare ourselves to wait for our house to sell due to market conditions. There have even been some changes allowing David to transition to working in the new office possibly several days a week instead of full time right away. So we're feeling comfortable with some wait time.

But we've been praying for our house to sell quickly.

Thursday, David put the house on a list at work. That evening already someone called our Realtor. She was shocked! Our house finally was put online Friday night. Pictures are not even online yet, and a Realtor called Saturday at noon to do a showing an hour later. We panicked! Our bathrooms were not clean and the closets are still stuffed. Then today, we received a call from a neighbor wanting to come see our house. So, we've not had offers yet, but we're amazed at having so much interest in such a short time in this market. Thank You, GOD!!!

We're strapped in now and ready to soar!!!

Three Months

Josiah has been home three months today!!! It wasn't much of a celebration day for him, as David and I have been painting and trying to get the house ready. He and Elizabeth did get to play at the McD's playplace. Josiah climbed all the way up to the top by himself for the first time! My boy's getting so big!

I have to share this Elizabeth story from bedtime: She has quite an interest in China lately. She pretends she is speaking in Chinese and has told me several times she wishes she was from China. Tonight she started listing places she knows, then asked me if there is a country called India. I told her there is, and told her Ms. Reba and Mr. Soni are from India. We started talking about people we know at church who are from different countries. She was pretty excited! Then she said, "But no one is from where I'm from." Not understanding, I said, "Maryland?" "No, Mommy. Your belly!" I had to agree. No one else came from my belly ;-)

Hope you have a great night! Off to bed so we can paint and clean some more tomorrow.

Just some pics

Can't think of much to say, so here are some pics :-)

The kids had a lot of fun playing with Grandpa Smith...and his glasses. Grandpa was a "bear"!

We bought season tickets for Maryland Women's Basketball! Daddy and Elizabeth have made it to three games so far (one they did as special daddy/daughter date!), and Mommy and Josiah have joined them for two games. The kids both seem to enjoy it.

Really, he does like it! :-)

Now off to cleaning and drinking my Gatorade :-p

If you've been wondering...

Dun dun da dah....Yes! Our big prayer request has been about moving! Some of you are super sleuths and guessed it right away! Kind of a big build up for not that exciting news, but it is pretty exciting for us. What!?! You have more questions? I'll try to answer a few.


Yes, we will still be close enough to visit friends! We'll be in the same state, just 85 or so miles away.


No, David is not changing companies. He'll be working at another office within the same company. We're not sure of his exact start date yet. That's something he's working out with his current and future office. Probably around the beginning of the New Year.

Yes, we know this may not be the best time for a move. Our biggest concern and prayer request, is bringing Josiah through such a change again already!

Yes, we know the market is not kind right now. Our other big concern is preparing and selling our house. (Who knew five years could be so tough on a house?) Thankfully, we don't have to be in a rush to sell the house. Though a two hour drive each way is not ideal, David can do that until our house is sold.



We are asking God to fully lead this process! We've been desiring to move for a while, and we absolutely believe that in God's design, everything can work out incredibly. We are asking God to prepare Elizabeth and Josiah's hearts. David and myself, too! Even if it's what we want, it's not easy to leave what is comfortable.

It started out as a great day

I know it's been a while since we've posted...and look now, two in one day! We've been a little busy--trying to get the house ready, talking to Realtors, Josiah meeting Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Aunt Demarie for the first time, Mommy and Daddy being sick, Thanksgiving, cousin AJ spending the night...and so on!

Today we had a fun day! We woke up and drove to a gorgeous house to have breakfast with three BCS families adopting from Ethiopia! The kids had fun playing, and we bored people with our trip photos for the first time (amazing that it's just now happening!). It's exciting to meet the future families of precious children, and we're glad to be able to follow along their journeys!

On the way home we stopped at Chick-fil-A because it's been just ages (maybe a month??) since we've been to one. Can it be true??? Elizabeth was such a great big sister helping Josiah climb up the playplace! He is really starting to love slides!

We came home to find our Netflix movies in the mailbox. YAY! We settled in to relax and watch Kit Kittridge...Elizabeth loved it!

Unfortunately, our great family day hasn't ended on such a positive note. In the middle of the movie, Mya started the most heart-wrenching crying. Thankfully she was in the back of the house, away from the kids. Based on the situation, David took her to the emergency vet. Elizabeth was a upset at first but has been okay. We'll see how she does at bedtime. Josiah did ask where Mya was a little bit after David left. Mya joined our family the day after Thanksgiving last year, and left our family two days after Thanksgiving this year. We're sad to have lost such a fun sweet kitty.

Thank You!

Thank you all for your Birthday wishes! It was a good day, and Josiah did great staying with friends! (Thanks again Jenkins!)

Also, not meaning to keep you guys waiting...we do have news about our prayer request to share! But I've been asked to wait a bit. I even have a post pre-written. So, I'll share with you as soon as I'm allowed!

Happy Birthday Demarie

Demarie's birthday is today. She's catching back up to me. Now if I could just stop time so she can pass me =)

We've got a normal Friday going on with David working and everyone else going to MOPS. Friends have graciously offered to keep the kids for a little bit while Demarie and David go get a bite to eat and celebrate her birthday.

Please feel free to leave a comment, send an email, or give Demarie a call and give her some Happy Birthday love and a prayer of praise that God has given her another year with us.

Information Gathering Week

This is a week of gathering information about possible changes in our lives.

Today, David is talking to a counselor at a college to determine if he should again change schools. He has been dilligently working toward his degree, but has recently hit some snags with administration. There has been a serious lack of communication on their part, causing a stand-still. Please pray that David would make a wise, informed decision rather than one based only on emotion.

If you have been praying for our "BIG" decision, Wednesday is the day we will hopefully have the information we need to evaluate the options. As with any change, our greatest concern is for Josiah and Elizabeth's adjustment. I believe they would do well. But any change involves some loss, and Josiah has already had so much loss in his life. We have a few other concerns, but we absolutely believe that if this is God's direction, He can make everything work our just as it should!

Trip Beginning

I can't think of anything spectacular to post today...because, of course, all my other posts are so spectacular. ;-) And I'm remembering that we never really shared details of our time in Ethiopia, so I'm going to try to add a few snippets along the way here.

One nice thing about our flight into Ethiopia (besides no layovers!) was the timing. Just as we crossed into Africa, the sun began to rise. "Beautiful" doesn't even begin to describe it! It was breathtaking! It was a masterpiece that could have only been painted by the One True Master!

The pictures don't do it any justice, but the beginning of the sunrise looked like a perfect rainbow spread across the horizon. Here are a few pictures to document our first views of Africa!

Once the sun was risen, it was amazing to see the huge sand dunes beneath us! I tried to take pictures, but between the dirty airplane windows and the bright sun, they didn't work. (This was one of the many times I wish I had an amazing camera and knew how to use it well. Some day it will be in the budget. :-))

Half Birthday!

Today, is Josiah's Half Birthday! He is 2 1/2 years old, and growing so much!

Today also marks two months home...CRAZY!

More Peas Please

I felt like I was in an alternate universe this evening during dinner. Elizabeth cheered that we were having peas. Seriously, whose kids do that? The amazing thing is, this is not uncommon for her. She loves peas! What totally surprised me was that once I gave Josiah a bite of peas, he gobbled them down AND asked for more! I don't think he has willingly eaten anything green (or any vegetable, other than corn, for that matter) since we stepped off the plane! Maybe it was the tomato sauce...I'll have to remember that for the next time.

On top of that, they excitedly ran to the tub for a bath. They played VERY well together in the tub, even helping each other get their hair wet for shampooing. Now they are are kissing and hug-tackling each other. Elizabeth didn't even get that upset with Josiah accidentally knocked over her Lego creation! This is an extremely welcome change--it seems like arguing and screeching is all I've heard from them the past three days. Thank you, God, for an evening of fun and family enjoyment! This mommy definitely needed it!

It's worse than we thought.

Poor Mya just had blood drawn for the third time this week. And we still don't know what is wrong. We know she is anemic (very very rare for a cat!) However, we have no idea what is causing the anemia. She tested negative for feline leukemia. Our vet is a at a loss, and has been searching for possibilities, even contacting specialists. They say it could be in one of three directions, any of which would be very expensive to travel down. And, while I HATE to have money be an issue in taking care of her, it is! (I'm so glad the Vet is very understanding of this!) We're waiting for test results to come back tomorrow or Monday. Then we'll make the next nearly blind decision about what to do.

So, we have a poor little kitty who has been mad at the vet. She even nipped today when David went to put her in the crate. I don't blame her at all! If people kept putting me in a box to take me to have someone stick me with a needle, I'd be pretty mad, too!

Problem Child Scratches...err Strikes Again!

So, our sweet free little kitty has had more trips to the vet since we got her--just under a year, than any kitty should. She is overdue for immunizations. What can I say, we've been a bit busy. But lately she's also been scratching her face mercilessly! We though she had some kind of rash in her ears and on her face, but it's bruises and scratches!!! This prompted a quick visit!

Turns out, she had swollen lymph nodes and pale gums. The Vet gave her an antibiotic and wanted to see her after the weekend. Well, today her lymph nodes were less swollen, but her gums are totally white. And her temp is slightly elevated. Also, she scratched even more. So, she received a steroid shot and had blood drawn for tests. Almost $300 so far, don't know what's wrong yet, and still haven't had overdue vaccinations. (They're not a good idea with a probably compromised immune system!) At least she was given a free pedicure out of the deal!

We are thankful to have a Vet who cares so much for the animals, but is also very up front about the affects (cost!) to us. Any probable treatments are going to be rather costly. We're not sure what we're going to do yet. We should hear back about her bloodwork tomorrow.

Elizabeth: Why did you rearrange your room? So you could fit the crib?
Mommy: Yes. But Josiah isn't using it anymore, is he?
Elizabeth: Well, then you can take it down. Or leave it up in case God tells us we can adopt another little brother or sister!

Halloween and more

Yesterday, we decided to take the kids to "Trunk or Treat" at a the church where Elizabeth goes to pre-school. It was small, but cute. They decorated the cars in order of the creation story. Some people went all out! Elizabeth decided before we went that she would rather change costumes, so she dressed as Snow White. (We didn't see any others last night, but on other blogs, I see that Snow White was a popular costume this year!) She kept asking, "Don't I look beautiful in my costume?" Of course she did! We did our best to convince her that she looks beautiful all the time...whether she is in a costume or not!

Today, somehow the temperature was up in the 70s! So we decided it was a good day for some haircuts outside. Josiah wasn't so sure at first (neither was Mommy!) But once we started Daddy's hair, he was excited to have his done. He kept wanting me to do more and more! It's not the best job, but it works. I didn't really want to do it. I love his curls! However, he's had some scalp issues that we figured would best be healed if we cut his hair short. I think it makes him look a lot more grown up :-( What do you think?

After haircuts, we put up the bouncy house for the kids. We figured Josiah would LOVE it since he was jumping on the couch this morning! He wasn't so sure at first and wanted to get out.

With a little bit of help, he had some fun :-) Elizabeth had a so much fun her hair was even jumping! ;-) Okay, maybe it's just static.

Tonight we had a pizza and game night. Elizabeth loves games,and Josiah is learning to take turns.

Happy Day

Elizabeth dressed up for school this morning. We decided not to go out and buy something, but to use a costume she already had. She chose to be a "hula girl".

I decided to go ahead and put Josiah in a costume this morning, too, since Elizabeth was in one. You don't get too many hand-me-downs that work from sister to brother, but I'm so glad this one did! Seriously, he is just really cute! ;-)

Did you catch the tail? Love it!

Two Months...

...ago today, we met our son! It was not a long meeting, and though we already loved him, we did not all warm up to each other right away. But it was the start of him opening his little heart to us.

This is his ultimate pouting pose. I am so glad we see less and less of this all the time!

Today...

was a better day! Tonight was better, too. I made a determined effort to be more patient with him as he fell asleep. And it doesn't hurt that we were shopping and got home later than normal, so bedtime was later. He didn't have as much energy to fight to stay awake. :-)

P.S. Will you please pray for us as we are considering a possibly pretty big change for our family? Right now it seems right, but we want to be following God's plan and not our own. I promise I'll share more later.

What did I do?

So, I'm not sure if I messed up or what.

I wrote about going to Delaware last week with Elizabeth and Josiah while David stayed home. Josiah has adjusted so well in most areas, and since we were going with my parents who we had seen the past few days, I thought it'd be no problem. He did so well in the car, and even sleeping in the hotel with Elizabeth and myself. The trip was great!

It's been since we returned home that he's been different. Both of my kids are more of "mama's babies", but he's been even more so since we've been back. He's not been running to kiss and play with David like he was. Bedtime is the one are we kind of struggled with before, but it seems a lot more of a struggle these past few days. Last night he was up past 11pm with me, and just didn't rest as easily when he did fall asleep. Before, when David put him to sleep, he would fuss, but fall asleep pretty quickly. Since we've been back, he's been full out screaming and fighting sleep as long as possible. (He does not have these responses when lying down for naps.)

I'm not sure if the trip just kind of threw him for a few days, or if this is related to attachment--brought on by our night away or just because he is at that stage now. I'm wondering even more than I was before if something happened during bedtime in Ethiopia.

The kids and I were going to spend some time with my mom after her surgery in a few weeks, but I'm really not sure that's a good idea now, especially since David won't be there for the entire time. I'm just not sure what to do. Anyone have advice about bedtime or the trip?

It's Finally Fall!

It's finally starting to feel like fall around here! I love the cooler temperatures and the leaves changing. We've had a busy week!

Early Sunday morning, my parents came flew into the area and met our family at church. We came home and had lasagna for lunch. Dad and David worked on fixing the Saturn (we're returning it to them after a few years of use). The rest of us baked EASY yummy pumpkin cake--seriously just a can of pumpkin, cake mix, and one egg-- and watched Nancy Drew. Then Mom and Dad headed over to Dover, DE as Dad was on a business trip there.

Monday, Elizabeth had school. We decided to go check out the new coffee shop for hot chocolate and chai latte.

Tuesday, Mom and Dad came back after work. We had dinner, and Dad did some more work on the car. Dad headed back to Dover again, but Mom stayed to hang out with us for a few days.

Wednesday was Elizabeth's field trip to the pumpkin patch! The kids learned about how pumpkins grow and how bees make honey. They also visited a petting farm, picked pumpkins, went on a hay ride, and had fun on rope swings in the barn. We spent the rest of the day shopping and then meeting up with one of Mom's friends.

Thursday, we spent the morning around the house. Then my mom stayed with Elizabeth as David and I took Josiah to his Dr.'s appointment. He did better during the examination part. He whimpered a bit, but no crying. However, this was the appointment where we had to do bloodwork. Thankfully, we could have the blood drawn in the office instead of needing to go to a lab. Unfortunately, the nurse had trouble finding good veins. Our poor little man ended up having to tapped twice in the hand (and the still didn't get ALL they needed), his toe pricked, a flu shot. He screamed like never before, and looked completely insulted each time they finished. He has not discovered the "magic" of band-aids yet, so he wanted them off as soon as they were put on. I can't wait until we start immunizations! (Rolling eyes)

~~After all this, the kids, Mom, and I packed up and drove over to Dover to meet Dad. Our trip took about two hours longer than it should have...apparently the Saturn isn't totally fixed. We arrived in time to get ready for bed.

Friday, we spent driving around Delaware. My family used to live there when I was in elementary school. We took Elizabeth to see our old house, school, and church. We met Dad for lunch, and then headed down to the beach. It was only about 55 degrees. Elizabeth was so excited on the way down, but when we arrived, she was not so into it. We only ended up staying about twenty minutes. But we walked in the sand, found some rocks, saw horseshoe crabs, and took some pictures. I got Elizabeth to touch the water...it was SOOO cold! The kids and I headed home. The kids slept most of the way! Mom and Dad headed up to Pennsylvania to see Grandma and Grandpa Smith.

Today, we're all taking a sick day...we've been feeling kind of icky all week. Hopefully just colds. David took some medicine and is asleep. Elizabeth is watching t.v. Josiah is playing but a bit cranky. Hopefully a day of rest will be just what we need.

Please Pray!

Now is probably not the best time to write this, but please bear with me, as my emotions are just all over the place. But, I am asking you dear friends and family to pray with us!

Just as we were coming home from Ethiopia, several families with our agency received referrals for precious little boys. They were more than overjoyed! They prepared to bring new members of their family home. Unfortunately these babies have been very ill, and have been in and out of the hospital.

Around two weeks ago, one of these angels went to be with his Heavenly Father. That was heart breaking for the family, as well as our adoption community. Praise God, the family trusts God with their decisions, and they have received a referral for another son. It is a joyous and painful time for them.

Now we have learned that two boys were again in the hospital, and that another sweet baby went to his Eternal Home.

Please pray for these families who have lost their sons. Even without meeting them and holding them, the boys are their sons in their hearts! Both families also have young children at home. Pray that God would comfort them and hold them as they grieve. Pray that they would know God's will and follow it.

Please also pray for the boys still in the hospital and the transition home. Pray for their healing and strength. Pray for the families waiting for them. This is so very scary...especially being on the other side of the world!

Pray for the caretakers and staff who are there with the children. They do have such hearts for these precious little ones!

Bedtime Prayer

Last night Elizabeth said this prayer:

Dear God,
If you choose, give us a brother or sister
'Cause there are so many kids
But not too many!
Amen

I asked her to expand on this (some snippets from our conversation):

M: What do you mean not too many?
E: Well, not too many kids because we don't have enough room.
M: How many is too many?
E: (Thinking for a minute) Well, there are three beds in Josiah's room, so three boys including Josiah. And I have three pillows, two girls can sleep on my bed and one can pull out the mattress under my bed. So Six! Three boys and Three girls!
M: How are they all going to join our family?...Through adoption or being born into our family?
E: You can have more babies?
M: You were born from my body. Mommies can have more than one baby.
E: Okay, so some born in our family, and we'll adopt some.
M: Would it be okay if some are older?
E: Like 7, 8, or 10? Can a 10 year old stay in my room?
M: Where will they be adopted from?
E: Wherever God chooses.

Got Milk?

We were told in Ethiopia that Josiah drank milk, but we have not ever been able to get him to like it. We have tried warm milk, chocolate, and such. He hasn't really wanted any of it. We figured he'll get his dairy through yogurt and such.

Then the other day, he wanted David's cup--which had milk. He started drinking it, and then wanted even more! So since then, he has been drinking plain white milk each day. Maybe he just had to lose some of the memory of the taste of milk he was used to??

Child conversations

Today we went to a 3rd Birthday party for a friend. Happy Birthday, Alex!!! It was Josiah's first b-day party invitation. I was looking forward to seeing him try the cake, but he never did. And it was YUMMY cake, too! Oh well...more for Mommy!

While some of the kids were playing, I overhead this conversation:

Elizabeth: Does anyone want to meet my brother? (She said this every time he came back.)
Girl: [Sounding a bit surprised] That's your brother?
E: Yep
Girl: Why is he brown?
E: [With just enough sass] 'Cause that's the way God made him!

That's My Girl! I had tears in my eyes--both from laughing and from being a proud Mommy :-)

More Pics

Just adding some more pictures from the photo session, cause they make me smile :-D Josiah has that monkey somewhere in just about every picture with him...too funny!

Bedtime

Josiah's been doing so well in most things, but has a hard time settling down to go to sleep. David or I have been lying down, alternating nights, with him until he falls asleep. Often it's an hour or more until he is out. He also gets very upset if he even thinks we are leaving. A couple of times I have had to step out for a couple minutes...I talk with him and explain that mommy has to leave, but I will be back. He nods as though he understands, but after a minute, he starts crying and screaming.

However, last night, we had a REALLY good night! I stayed with him, but had to leave for a few minutes. I explained again, he nodded, and I stepped out. He was quiet the whole time, and even still cheerful when I returned! AND he was asleep within 20 minutes! Hopefully, this is progress that will continue!

Picture Day!

Today was a bit crazy. We had quite a bit of yelling and pushing this morning... And then I thought it would be great to cut Josiah's nap short to go get pictures taken. We did get a few good shots. We also had a visit from the little green eyed monster... FUN FUN!

He's so cute!

Awww...

ACHHHHHH!

So over this...

Home One Month!

WOW!!! Today marks one month since Josiah has been home in the U.S. It has been so amazing to see the changes in our little man already!

He does much less pouting, and gives so many more smiles.

He comes up to us for random kisses and hugs.

He repeats many words after us and has amazing me with his understanding already.

Three of his four eye teeth have surfaced, and the last is just about there.

The only way I could get a picture of his teeth was to tickle him! :-)

The are some of his favorites so far...

Food: chicken nuggets, turkey lunch meat, french fries, pasta with tomato sauce, yogurt, bagels with cream cheese. No ice cream yet, but Daddy's working on that.


Toys: Monkey (the one he threw away from him in Ethiopia), Dora music player, shake n' go car, play kitchen dishes and food, learning puppy, Mommy's phone and camera



Activities: "talking" on the phone, dancing, going for car rides, teasing the cat

Sweet Siblings...

This is how I found the kids this morning...

Josiah had a rough time falling asleep last nights, and Elizabeth was of course awake, too. She wanted to sleep on the trundle. One of the times Josiah got upset, he crawled down to the trundle next to her. She crawled up to his bed so he would follow her back up, and then would stay in his bed like Mommy had told him.

Elizabeth logic

Elizabeth: When we move, can we move on the other side of the bridge?
Mommy: Why do you want to move on the other side of the bridge?
Elizabeth: I've never lived on the other side of the bridge.
Daddy: Mommy and Daddy lived across the bridge before.
Elizabeth: But I've never lived on the other side of the bridge with you. And Josiah's never lived on the other side of the bridge.
Mommy: Honey, Josiah lived on the other side of the world!
Elizabeth: But he's never lived on the other side of the bridge!

True enough!

(No, we are not planning on moving...it was just part of a conversation we were having.)

Big Boy and Big Sister

Josiah has decided that he is now sleeping in his big boy bed. Tuesday, I put him down for a nap in his bed because David was sick and sleeping in our room. (Josiah has a tendancy to be VERY noisy for about five minutes, and then he's out.) I stayed with him until he fell asleep...with no noise, and then went to get him as soon as he woke up. Wednesday, I decided we'd try again. He didn't fall asleep quite as quickly, and Elizabeth was not happy about being left out. So we pulled out his trundle, and Elizabeth stayed in with us. Well, that night he started screaming as soon as we went toward my bedroom, but was fine with lying down in his room. Elizabeth again did not want to be left out, so she came in and wanted to be a helper. She said she wanted to sleep on the trundle and make sure he didn't fall out of his bed, and would be there for when he woke up. It was great!...other than Elizabeth deciding it was her job to wake him up. :-p Last night, he wouldn't even consider going into our room. He and daddy curled up in Josiah's bed, and he was out! It's nice to have our room back, but kind of sad not to see his face waking up right next to me in the morning.

Here's our big boy on his bed. I also added a couple of shots of his room since I realized I haven't posted those before. (Haven't figured out what's going in the red, yellow, and green frames yet, but we wanted to include Ethiopia colors!)

Also, Josiah has finally started to like the bathtub! He even came running last night when we started running the bath water. He and Elizabeth were having a grand time playing when he kind of tipped over onto his side. I thought he would scream, but he laughed and started lying on his belly like he was swimming! He did this many time during the rest of the bath, and even when getting water in his face, laughed the whole time!!! Who knew he'd turn out to be a water baby?

Figured I can't keep giving bath updates without posting a bath pic. ;-)

Today is a better day

David and I are feeling a lot better today! We're still pretty tired and sore, but definitely feeling better than yesterday. Elizabeth said yesterday that her stomach and head hurt, but she's been eating fine today. So hopefully we are in the clear. (I did keep her home from school today, just in case.) Josiah is his energetic happy self, even while his four eye teeth are about to pop through any second. We missed his physical yesterday, so we'll have to make another appointment.

Another praise--David found out that he received a promotion with his employer! Yeah, David!!! I'm very proud of him! Hopefully, that will help down the road if we decide to make a change. It also means a pay raise...which is always nice. We have to finish paying off this adoption before we can save for the next, right? ;-)

Sickness...

...has hit our house. Fortunately, only two of us are sick so far. Unfortunately, it's David and myself. The kids are probably going to be watching way more t.v. than they should today, but what do you do? Elizabeth has been a very big help so far this morning. She even went down to the basement herself to put the dogs out. Josiah was pretty calm and cuddly this morning, but there's only so long that can last when you're two.

Thankfully, I am feeling a little better in the last hour or so...at least to functioning level. Hopefully, this is a trend that continues and David starts feeling better before long. Praying the kids don't get it cause it's nasty!

A Few Snippits...

Earlier this week:

Josiah kept putting his stuffed monkey in front of the camera when Mommy was trying to take pictures. But Mommy caught two great smiles anyway!

We were wondering if he would like bagels with cream cheese. What do you think?

Saturday:

Go MARYLAND!!!! What a win!

Hanging out on pile of clean clothes. Where else? (This is while Daddy put together Josiah's bed. Daddy did a GREAT job! The bed is just a bit higher than we remembered.)

Sunday:

After church today, friends and family joined us at Mom Baber's house to celebrate Josiah! We were so blessed! It is so amazing to have a community of friends who have and will support us as we build our family. It's also great to have so many BTDT families for advice and reassurance!

Josiah met, and quickly warmed right up to, Great Uncle Bill!

Hey Grandpa! Ms. Reba gave me this great jacket, and I'm ready to go flying with you now!

Today, Elizabeth received a Cabbage Patch Kid from a friend. First of all, we thought it was pretty cool that her baby has the name "Ruby"...the name of a baby we saw in Ethiopia who is now home with her Mommy and Daddy! PRAISE GOD!!! We explained to her about the adoption papers it comes with, and she really lit up! A little while later, she comes walking down the hallway with her baby in a stroller and says, "Mommy, pretend we're coming out of the airport! Mommy, say welcome home!" (Yes, church family, our kids are well-trained in airport homecomings!) She then started going back and forth to bring home new children. Josiah started pushing the stroller back and forth following behind her as she increased her clan.

The week in review

It's been a pretty good week this week. Josiah is being introduced to more rules, and he is starting to learn that he is NOT in charge. He has been fighting sleep more. Staying up to as late as midnight. We are starting to implement a more regular schedule, so he'll head to bed at the times when we have to be up early the next morning.

On Tuesday, we headed up to the airport. We were so happy to celebrate another family's homecoming!!! They just adopted a beautiful 12 year old daughter from China! And watching their story unfold, there can be no question that God is involved with the timing...even of the little things! A few of us were reflecting on how this is the last family in church in the adoption process. But I'm VERY sure that it will not be too long before another family begins.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday David worked full days for the first time since before we left. Mommy stayed home and kept the peace. It helped that Wednesday Elizabeth was at preschool for a few hours.

Friday, we all headed to MOPS. David was a draftee replacement to assist with M.I.A. volunteers. It just so happened that David was needed in the room where Josiah was, so that helped out alot. Otherwise Josiah would have stayed with Mommy, as we are not quite ready to leave him.

Tomorrow is Maryland football and the delivery of Josiah's new bed. We opted to skip the toddler bed and go straight to a set of bunk beds. We'll be leaving off the top bunk for a while still, though. And on Sunday he'll be subjected to a welcome home shower. Daddy's looking to run somewhere else during that time. (Can you tell Daddy wrote this part? He may try, but he WILL NOT succeed!!!! Mwaahaaahaaa :-))

Josiah's vocabulary continues to expand. He talks constantly, but some of the words we are understanding pretty clearly are dog, cat, car, up, no, all done, uh-oh, uh-uh, uh-huh, and water. Of course he says mommy and daddy. He's also using a few Amharic words with us that we didn't hear before: Nah--come, woosha--dog, demet(sp?)--cat.

Josiah's had several successful events this week. For the first time he successfully wore normal (non-sandal/non-croc) shoes. He also took a bath, fully sitting down and getting hair washed, without fighting (a couple of whimpers, but no hindering actions). He even hungrily downed our attempt at Doro Wat with dried out Injera. Though, he was very frustrated by the breaking injera.

We've been amazed at how "easy" things have been so far. We really haven't seen any behavior that is anything more than what can be expected from a two year old, and we've definitely be watching. We know that it is ONLY by the grace of GOD that the transistion has been going so smoothly. And we fully understand that it may be a while before he really grieves. He has had a lot of loss in a very short amount of time. We also are pretty certain that with the two strong personalities granted our children, there will be a "Clash of the Titans," as David puts it. I'm so glad we have had the chance to bond and grow in love with our son first.

Adoption Clinic

Today we went to the International Adoption Center in Fairfax, Virginia. We got confirmation on some things, like how Josiah compares to the normal American child. He weighed in at just under 20 lbs and is just over 30 inches. Josiah did not like the doctor invading his personal space, and demonstrated how well his lungs worked. There was a period of time where the doctor just observed how he interacted with some toys, the nurse, and Elizabeth. Next we'll go to our pediatrician for blood tests...that'll go over so well. Yeah, not really!

One of the things the center is participating in is a survey on the stress that the parents (NOT JUST MOMS!) have while adjusting to the changes of a new person in the family. It is an anonymous survey, but hopefully it provides new information to parents who are about to go through it. Anyone who has adopted children internationally can take the survey, and info. can be found at http://www.adoptionclinic.org/research_home.htm.

Abbara

I wanted to make a post about our driver during our time in Ethiopia. Abbara was our only driver for all eight days (poor fella). For us, he's a "must have" when it comes to having someone safely transport you around Addis.





Abbara is a Christian. He did not come out directly and say it (I did ask him at a later time), but his actions showed it. He did his best to put others first, and he did it for everyone. He joined us for church, and we witnessed him worshipping from his heart. His van has scriptures written all over it, and the music he carries with him is praise and worship music--both Amharic and English. Although, sometimes he listens to talk radio to keep up with the latest soccer...I mean football...news.

Abbara is currently unmarried, but his future is bright. If you watch him with the children, you can see the compassion he has for them. He enjoyed interacting and playing with both Elizabeth and Josiah.

I do not know his personal opinion on adoption, but we watched as he tried to help with the bonding process. He was willing to allow Josiah come to him, but he tried to encourage Josiah to go to Demarie or I. He said he had worked an an orphanage in the past.

As a driver, even with the busy crazy streets in Addis, he was incredible. We always felt safe in his taxi/van. He was very aware of his own vehicle and the surroundings--other cars, people, animals. He was also very protective of us whenever we were out of his vehicle. He's very quick with a tire change, too! We paid for his services per day, but if he thought we were paying too much, he would return some of the money.

He is a good man, and a good friend. Anyone who meets him, please pass on greetings and hugs from the whole Baber family.