So many of you have asked how our little guy is doing since his diagnosis. Thank you for your love and prayers! We are happy to report that he is doing much, much better. He has finished his IV malaria treatment and is now taking oral malaria medication. He is also off all of the IV antibiotics, so no more needles for our little boy! In his last update, the doctor said that Baby "B" was happy and smiling....I would be smiling too if I had multiple IVs removed after a week!
It still just infuriates me to think that for $6, Baby "B" could have had a bed net that would have prevented him from ever getting infected and suffering for the past month, but we are so blessed that he was able to get the treatment he needed before his malaria progressed to what the doctor referred to as "the point of no return". He has now been fever-free for 48 hours and is well on his way to recovery.
As if this wasn't exciting enough, we received more wonderful news today. All of "B"s documents have been gathered, and our file was formally submitted to the Ethiopian courts today!! On Friday, we were told that this may not happen until July, so this was VERY unexpected and the first time ANYTHING in this process has happened "ahead of schedule" for us! It was so good to hear this news after such an emotionally difficult week.
So, what's next? Well....in two to four weeks we will find out our actual court date which they are estimating to be in late June or early July. That means that in about twelve weeks we will be in Ethiopia with sweet Baby "B" in our arms!!
PRAISING, PRAISING, PRAISING GOD!
4/1/11
Making it Personal
Every 45 seconds a child in Africa dies of Malaria
Children under 5 account for 85% of malaria deaths
91% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa
Malaria was eradicated in the US in 1951
Malaria is PREVENTABLE
These statistics became very personal this week. Sweet Baby "B" was hospitalized on Sunday and we got the official diagnosis...malaria. All of a sudden malaria wasn't a sad statistic or a cause to donate to....this is OUR SON. Now its personal and I'm mad. I'm mad for all of the mothers in Africa who watch their children become infected with an illness that they can't get treatment for. I'm mad for all of the doctors at clinics who watch patients walk through the door looking for medicine that can't be found. I'm mad for all of the children who go to sleep at night wondering if that is the night they'll get the mosquito bite that seals their fate. I'm mad -- and I want to make you mad too!
Baby "B" was blessed to be at an orphanage who has nannies who are educated and experienced. They recognized his need for care and took him immediately. Because he is in the process of being adopted, he was admitted to a private hospital with a great doctor who had the resources and medication to diagnose and begin treatment. Not only that, but as he's being treated he has an army of people on both sides of the world PRAYING that his little body is able to fight!
We praise God that "B" had all of these factors in his favor, but that's simply not the case for one child...someone else's Baby "B"...every 45 seconds. We truly believe that God has made this personal to make us mad and to make us ACT.
As Baby "B" fights Malaria, we're going to fight to! April 25th is World Malaria Day, so mark your calendars and check back for details.
3/28/11
A Room for Baby "B"
Oh how I have looked forward to having some "baby-ness" around our house! The time has FINALLY come to start transforming our guest room into Baby "B"s nursery! I don't know that there have been two parents more excited to paint, assemble furniture & decorate!
I promise to post a picture of the finished product as soon as its complete, but here are a few pics of the progress so far:
Mike assembling the crib (a gift to Baby "B" from my parents):
...and assembling the dresser (a gift to Baby "B" from Mike's parents)
Here's a picture of me painting -- yes, we went with Baby Boy BLUE! (oh, and L.M. stands for Little Man)
"B"s nursery is already my favorite room in the house. I just can't wait to see our Little Guy curled up in his crib fast asleep...or sitting in his crib wide awake at 2 AM... I just want him home!!
I promise to post a picture of the finished product as soon as its complete, but here are a few pics of the progress so far:
Mike assembling the crib (a gift to Baby "B" from my parents):
...and assembling the dresser (a gift to Baby "B" from Mike's parents)
Here's a picture of me painting -- yes, we went with Baby Boy BLUE! (oh, and L.M. stands for Little Man)
"B"s nursery is already my favorite room in the house. I just can't wait to see our Little Guy curled up in his crib fast asleep...or sitting in his crib wide awake at 2 AM... I just want him home!!
3/17/11
Mourning to Dancing
I've realized the past few days that I've been mourning....not the loss of a person, but the loss of time. Time with my son. Time that I will never get back.
Its interesting that God put this verse on my heart yesterday:
"You have turned my mourning into dancing" Psalms 30:11
When I read that, I kept thinking about how tired I am of mourning and how much I would love to dance! (I tell Mike all the time that I was born to dance...right before I bust a move in the middle of the kitchen that looks more like a seizure)
Well -- I'm happy to report that today I'm DANCING!!
There are "unofficial" reports from Ethiopia indicating that discussions are moving in a positive direction. It sounds like they are seriously considering increasing the number of cases that they're processing and that they are committed to clearing a portion of the backlog of cases that have been accumulating over the past two weeks. We won't know anything official for a little while longer, but we're hoping that these reports are true!
If you thought that was great news, keep on reading because it just gets better....
I got a phone call this morning from another adoptive mom who happens to be in Ethiopia right now picking up her daughter. Her sweet little girl is at the same orphanage as "B", and she got to love on him for us today! Not only that, but she called me all the way from Ethiopia to tell me a little more about our little man. THANK YOU, SARAH!
She said that he is a very happy, healthy, little guy! There are three other babies in his room with one nanny who cares for the four of them. She said that they were playing Ethiopian music in his room and sweet little "B" was smiling and giggling and kicking his feet to the music.
So.... not only am I dancing today, but my adorable little boy is half way around the world dancing too! (I guess he was born to dance, just like his mama -- sorry, Mike)
It was SO good to hear that he's doing well! I'm so, so appreciative to have heard this news first hand from Sarah, and I can never thank her enough for checking-in on him for us and then taking the time to call us right away. She even said that she got a few pictures for us and she'll try to send them soon. God is so good! He definitely turned my mourning into dancing today....and dancing has never felt so good!
Its interesting that God put this verse on my heart yesterday:
"You have turned my mourning into dancing" Psalms 30:11
When I read that, I kept thinking about how tired I am of mourning and how much I would love to dance! (I tell Mike all the time that I was born to dance...right before I bust a move in the middle of the kitchen that looks more like a seizure)
Well -- I'm happy to report that today I'm DANCING!!
There are "unofficial" reports from Ethiopia indicating that discussions are moving in a positive direction. It sounds like they are seriously considering increasing the number of cases that they're processing and that they are committed to clearing a portion of the backlog of cases that have been accumulating over the past two weeks. We won't know anything official for a little while longer, but we're hoping that these reports are true!
If you thought that was great news, keep on reading because it just gets better....
I got a phone call this morning from another adoptive mom who happens to be in Ethiopia right now picking up her daughter. Her sweet little girl is at the same orphanage as "B", and she got to love on him for us today! Not only that, but she called me all the way from Ethiopia to tell me a little more about our little man. THANK YOU, SARAH!
She said that he is a very happy, healthy, little guy! There are three other babies in his room with one nanny who cares for the four of them. She said that they were playing Ethiopian music in his room and sweet little "B" was smiling and giggling and kicking his feet to the music.
So.... not only am I dancing today, but my adorable little boy is half way around the world dancing too! (I guess he was born to dance, just like his mama -- sorry, Mike)
It was SO good to hear that he's doing well! I'm so, so appreciative to have heard this news first hand from Sarah, and I can never thank her enough for checking-in on him for us and then taking the time to call us right away. She even said that she got a few pictures for us and she'll try to send them soon. God is so good! He definitely turned my mourning into dancing today....and dancing has never felt so good!
3/12/11
This week's events
On Thursday March 3rd, the day after we received our referral, we did this...
...we completed all of our paperwork to formally accept "B" as our son!! By Friday afternoon, March 4th, our agency had already sent our paperwork off to Ethiopia so the team there can begin gathering all of "B's" documents for court. We didn't expect to hear anything back for about a month on the status of our court date, but expected to travel for court mid-July and hoped to be home with "B" by the end of August.
Then, on Saturday (3/5), everything changed. The Ministry in Ethiopia who oversees adoptions made an announcement that they planned to drastically reduce the number of adoption cases they process each day. The initial reports were that they currently process fifty cases per day and the new proposal was to process only five beginning March 10th. A reduction of 90% -- WOW!
You can imagine the concern this sent through the Ethiopian adoption community. There have been petitions, phone conferences, letters written to embassies, campaigns on every social media network that exists. We have all waited on pins and needles for March 10th to see if they would actually implement this new process.
On March 10th, we got a call from our coordinator that confirmed the news we hoped wouldn't come. The Ministry in Ethiopia only processed five cases. Yesterday, March 11th, we got the same news...only five cases again.
What does this mean for us? Well...the more important question is..What does this mean for the millions of orphaned children in Ethiopia? The U.S. Department of State held a conference call for prospective Ethiopian adoptive parents yesterday and reassured us that they are committed to keeping the Ethiopian Adoption program open. They are doing everything they can to understand the Ministry's concerns and to support them to continue to process cases in the best interest of the children in Ethiopia. Its simply not in the best interest of the children for them to remain in orphanages for years longer than they would otherwise.
For us, it means that we might be watching our little boy grow up through pictures and orphanage updates for the next year or more. We are still praying that this decision is overturned QUICKLY. Every two-days that the Ministry processes only five cases will extend our wait time by one month. It will break our heart to love our son from a distance for that long, but we have peace in knowing that ultimately God is in control and His plans are always perfect.
There will be meetings between the US Embassy and the Ethiopian Government on Monday. Please join us in praying for a resolution that best serves the children in Ethiopia who desperately wait for their families.
...we completed all of our paperwork to formally accept "B" as our son!! By Friday afternoon, March 4th, our agency had already sent our paperwork off to Ethiopia so the team there can begin gathering all of "B's" documents for court. We didn't expect to hear anything back for about a month on the status of our court date, but expected to travel for court mid-July and hoped to be home with "B" by the end of August.
Then, on Saturday (3/5), everything changed. The Ministry in Ethiopia who oversees adoptions made an announcement that they planned to drastically reduce the number of adoption cases they process each day. The initial reports were that they currently process fifty cases per day and the new proposal was to process only five beginning March 10th. A reduction of 90% -- WOW!
You can imagine the concern this sent through the Ethiopian adoption community. There have been petitions, phone conferences, letters written to embassies, campaigns on every social media network that exists. We have all waited on pins and needles for March 10th to see if they would actually implement this new process.
On March 10th, we got a call from our coordinator that confirmed the news we hoped wouldn't come. The Ministry in Ethiopia only processed five cases. Yesterday, March 11th, we got the same news...only five cases again.
What does this mean for us? Well...the more important question is..What does this mean for the millions of orphaned children in Ethiopia? The U.S. Department of State held a conference call for prospective Ethiopian adoptive parents yesterday and reassured us that they are committed to keeping the Ethiopian Adoption program open. They are doing everything they can to understand the Ministry's concerns and to support them to continue to process cases in the best interest of the children in Ethiopia. Its simply not in the best interest of the children for them to remain in orphanages for years longer than they would otherwise.
For us, it means that we might be watching our little boy grow up through pictures and orphanage updates for the next year or more. We are still praying that this decision is overturned QUICKLY. Every two-days that the Ministry processes only five cases will extend our wait time by one month. It will break our heart to love our son from a distance for that long, but we have peace in knowing that ultimately God is in control and His plans are always perfect.
There will be meetings between the US Embassy and the Ethiopian Government on Monday. Please join us in praying for a resolution that best serves the children in Ethiopia who desperately wait for their families.
3/2/11
REFERRAL!!
We absolutely fell in love today....
At 11:31 a.m. our lives changed forever and our hearts are overflowing.
These are the details:
I had decided to take the afternoon off work and I was on my way home when my phone rang. The number came up "Unknown" on my cell phone, so I had no idea that this was going to be THE CALL. When I answered, I heard the sweet voice of our coordinator saying, "Krista -- this is Kim from Bethany and I have a little boy I want to talk to you about."
That's right -- WE HAVE A LITTLE BOY!!
I instantly just melted. I had tears running down my face, so I pulled over as Kim proceeded to tell me details about our son. I did my best to take it all in, but I honestly just got his age, weight, length, and what orphanage he's in...and that's all I could handle. I think Kim knew I wasn't getting most of what she was saying because she said, "Why don't I just email this all to you, and you can call me when you're ready to discuss it." Great Idea!
So, as I sat on the side of the road praising God for this remarkable gift, barely able to see through my tears, all I wanted to do was tell Mike. This was not "over-the-phone" information, so I decided to drive back to work and get to his desk to tell him in person. He obviously knew I was emotional as soon as he saw me, and all I could get out of my mouth was "Ki..Ki...Ki...Kim called". We went into a conference room, and I just lost it. We both did -- it was amazing. We prayed for our son and thanked God for blessing us with this news at such an unexpected time.
We immediately left work and drove home to review his information. I can't even explain how it felt to see his picture for the first time. He's beautiful. Absolutely perfect. We love him more than words and we can't wait to bring him home!
Here are the stats on Little Boy "B":
Age - 5 months
Weight - 14 lbs
Length - 26"
My favorite comment on his assessment is "He likes to giggle and play with his toes" ....seriously how adorable is that?!?!?
We legally are not able to share his picture until after we pass court, but you can take our word for it that he's absolute perfection with a round little face and big brown eyes. Now, we have lots of paperwork to complete to formally accept his referral and then we wait to be submitted to court. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!! We would appreciate if you will continue to pray with us for our Little Guy's health and for everyone who's taking care of him right now as he gains a little weight. We'll keep everyone updated as we hear more.
God is so good!
At 11:31 a.m. our lives changed forever and our hearts are overflowing.
These are the details:
I had decided to take the afternoon off work and I was on my way home when my phone rang. The number came up "Unknown" on my cell phone, so I had no idea that this was going to be THE CALL. When I answered, I heard the sweet voice of our coordinator saying, "Krista -- this is Kim from Bethany and I have a little boy I want to talk to you about."
That's right -- WE HAVE A LITTLE BOY!!
I instantly just melted. I had tears running down my face, so I pulled over as Kim proceeded to tell me details about our son. I did my best to take it all in, but I honestly just got his age, weight, length, and what orphanage he's in...and that's all I could handle. I think Kim knew I wasn't getting most of what she was saying because she said, "Why don't I just email this all to you, and you can call me when you're ready to discuss it." Great Idea!
So, as I sat on the side of the road praising God for this remarkable gift, barely able to see through my tears, all I wanted to do was tell Mike. This was not "over-the-phone" information, so I decided to drive back to work and get to his desk to tell him in person. He obviously knew I was emotional as soon as he saw me, and all I could get out of my mouth was "Ki..Ki...Ki...Kim called". We went into a conference room, and I just lost it. We both did -- it was amazing. We prayed for our son and thanked God for blessing us with this news at such an unexpected time.
We immediately left work and drove home to review his information. I can't even explain how it felt to see his picture for the first time. He's beautiful. Absolutely perfect. We love him more than words and we can't wait to bring him home!
Here are the stats on Little Boy "B":
Age - 5 months
Weight - 14 lbs
Length - 26"
My favorite comment on his assessment is "He likes to giggle and play with his toes" ....seriously how adorable is that?!?!?
We legally are not able to share his picture until after we pass court, but you can take our word for it that he's absolute perfection with a round little face and big brown eyes. Now, we have lots of paperwork to complete to formally accept his referral and then we wait to be submitted to court. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!! We would appreciate if you will continue to pray with us for our Little Guy's health and for everyone who's taking care of him right now as he gains a little weight. We'll keep everyone updated as we hear more.
God is so good!
3/1/11
Hope
One of my closest friends sent me this quote last week when I was really struggling:
"Hope does not necessarily take the form of excessive confidence; rather, it involves the simple willingness to take the next step." Stanley Hauerwas
Its March 1st today. I turned yet one more page in my calendar and looked ahead in curiosity if this would finally be the month that I can put a big red circle around a date and write in bold letters "REFERRAL". I don't know...but, like the quote reminds me, I'm just going to keep getting up each morning, going through my days in obedience, putting one foot in front of the other in hopes that the phone will ring with our good news.
It also gives me hope that this friend, the one who sent me the quote, is about to celebrate being home for one month with their beautiful (seriously...BEAUTIFUL) daughter from Ethiopia. Their family is a constant reminder that all of the waiting, the disappointment, and the setbacks will ultimately result in slobbery kisses, toothless smiles, and chubby little hands reaching to be picked up.
So we wait, and we hope...one step at a time.
"Hope does not necessarily take the form of excessive confidence; rather, it involves the simple willingness to take the next step." Stanley Hauerwas
Its March 1st today. I turned yet one more page in my calendar and looked ahead in curiosity if this would finally be the month that I can put a big red circle around a date and write in bold letters "REFERRAL". I don't know...but, like the quote reminds me, I'm just going to keep getting up each morning, going through my days in obedience, putting one foot in front of the other in hopes that the phone will ring with our good news.
It also gives me hope that this friend, the one who sent me the quote, is about to celebrate being home for one month with their beautiful (seriously...BEAUTIFUL) daughter from Ethiopia. Their family is a constant reminder that all of the waiting, the disappointment, and the setbacks will ultimately result in slobbery kisses, toothless smiles, and chubby little hands reaching to be picked up.
So we wait, and we hope...one step at a time.
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