Introducing....

 

BEFEKADUGETA ("KAD") MICHAEL WILLIAMS

 

 

We're so happy to announce that we completed our embassy interview this morning and finally heard the words we've been so longing to hear..."You're adoption is now complete and final!"

 

Not only does this mean that Kad is officially ours in the eyes of Ethiopia and the United States, but it also means that:

 

WE'RE COMING HOME!!!!   

 

Our flight will leave Ethiopia on Friday night and we'll arrive in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. EST.    Its so hard to believe that our adoption is final and our stay in Ethiopia is coming to a close.  These seven weeks in Kad's birth country have been a life-changing experience that we will always treasure, but we are so excited to come home WITH OUR SON!

 

Anyone who is willing to make the drive to Indy is more than welcome to come to the airport, but we also understand that its a long drive for a very short visit and we completely understand if you would rather wait and meet Kad after we settle in at home.  We'll be keeping close to our house for a while when we get back just to let Kad get used to his new environment (trust me...the sights and smells of Ethiopia are MUCH different than Haubstadt!), but we'll be sure to let you all know when he's ready to have visitors. 

 

Thank you all so much for praying us through this process.  Kad is truly a miracle and we are so blessed to officially be his parents! 

Sorry to keep you all waiting....

I know its been a LONG time since I've posted, and SO much has happened!  We were advised not to post he details at the time, but I can now tell you that we have had custody of Kad for nearly one month now, and on June 14th he officially became a Williams!   We have passed court and our case has now been submitted to the US Embassy for review.

 

This last month has been wonderful, frustrating, difficult and emotional.  On June 7th, I was handed a tiny, weak little boy who had no idea how to respond to a mother's love.  Now, four weeks later, this same child is smiling, crawling and reaching for his mama.  He has gained nearly five pounds in the last month and, once again, has those chubby little cheeks that we saw at referral time.  He is truly a miracle! 

 

I had every intention of posting about each day that I've had with him here in Ethiopia, but looking back, these days have been so precious and personal and I think they're better left unpublished.  I would, however, love to share with you some of the things that I've learned and loved about my son:

 

1.)  He has the cutest little dimple under his right eye when he smiles

2.)  He holds my index finger when he eats his bottle

3.)  He laughs the hardest when his daddy kisses his belly

4.)  He loves to have his socks off so he can play with his toes

5.)  He knows and responds to his name (his Ethiopian name)

6.)  He has a soft mess of black curls on the top of his head, but the sides are straight

7.)  He already has a blankie that he loves and he refuses to sleep without it

8.)  He loves for his mom to rock him to sleep

9.)  He barely fits into his 9-month clothes anymore....his getting too chubby!

10.)  He already has his bottom two front teeth and he loves to show them off

 

Thank you again for all of your prayers.  We love our little boy more than words can express and we're so, so excited for you all to meet him.   We are praying for an embassy date soon.  I have enjoyed my time in Ethiopia, but I really can not wait to be home! 

Court

Thank you all for your prayers! We definitely felt them as we went through the court process yesterday.

 

Unfortunately our letter was not written in time for our hearing, so we did not pass.  The number of letters that are being written each day has been drastically reduced, and there is now a back-log in cases.  Our agency is unsure of when they may get to our case, but we know that God's timing is perfect and we'll just wait as long as it takes to bring our little boy home.

 

We had to move guesthouses yesterday, so we are now much closer to Kad's orphanage.  Its a bit more difficult to get Internet access here, so it may be a few days before I can post again. Just know that we are SO appreciative of all of your love, prayers & support.  We're very much at peace with the way things are, even though there have been some setbacks.  We hope to have lots of good news to share with you all soon!!

 

For those of you that are waiting for pictures of your kiddos from me -- They are letting me get them this afternoon or tomorrow morning!!  Trust me, there have been attempts made, but things seen to operate a little differently around (smiles). 

 

Just to leave things on a positive note -- We got to give Kad a bath yesterday and he LOVED it!  I thought he would scream like crazy, but he liked to splash around in the water.  He's so funny!  And, for all of you who were anxiously awaiting our first diaper change -- it happened!  We had an all-out diaper blow-out yesterday afternoon that Mike and I had to tag team.  I think we handled it pretty well for rookies.  

Ethiopia Day 4

We had another wonderful day today with Kad!  He was in a really good mood, and he seemed to be feeling much better than he was on Friday.  He liked to sit on Mike's lap while I played with his feet,  He would smile and giggle -- so cute!  I got to feed him for the first time today.  He isn't able to eat a lot at one time, but we noticed that he liked to chew on the bottle and rub it against his gums.  We opened his mouth, and we saw that he has two tiny little teeth (the bottom front two)!  He's such a big boy!   After he ate, he got really tired and fell asleep again.  He's such a good baby!!

 

Another highlight today was meeting with Dr. Daniel.  He is the doctor who has been taking such good care of Kad here.  It was actually his day off, but he's leaving the country for a conference and wanted to make sure he met us before he left.  He was unbelievable!  He shared all that Kad has been through and about all of the prayer services that were held for him while he was in the hospital.  It really hit us just how sick he really was.  We told Dr. Daniel that we would tell Kad that he saved him, and Dr. Daniel said, "You tell him that God saved him".  So true!  We were able to get a picture of Dr. Daniel holding Kad that we will always treasure.  He has been such a blessing to our family.

 

Now, we're leaving for court.  The cards are definitely stacked against us, but we know that if its God's will we'll have everything we need to pass,   Please pray!! We found out yesterday that there may be some complications with us taking custody of Kad if we don't pass, so we're having faith that everything will work out just as it needs to.

 

Internet has been very limited the past two days, but I'll post again as soon as I can.  Thank you for your prayers!!

Ethiopia Days 2 & 3

Since we couldn't visit Kad on Saturday, our agency let us do a little site seeing and shopping around Addis.  We were able to visit Entoto Mountain and the first Ethiopian Orthodox Church.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  This church site was on the top of the mountain and was over 700 years old.  The original church was chiseled by hand out of the limestone mountain side.  The king ordered the building of the current church structure nearly 200 years ago. Every wall inside was covered with paintings of various scenes from the Bible.  The guide walked us through and explained the symbolism and significance of every detail.  It was incredible!

 

At the top of the mountain, you could really see just how beautiful the city of Addis truly is.  Of course, all we kept wondering is where Kad's orphanage is amongst all of the tiny little buildings we could see.  We never stop thinking about our little boy!

 

Today (Sunday) we went to the International Evangelical Church.  It was unbelievable!  They have five services every Sunday morning, each one in a different language.  We went to the English service, of course, and there were so many Americans & Europeans there!  Most of them were missionaries who serve here in Ethiopia, but there were also several other adoptive family groups there with their kids.  I think this church is going to be a blessing to me while I'm here without Mike in the coming weeks.  It really felt like you were at church back home! 

 

After church we went out for lunch, where I had pizza..yes, PIZZA!  Loved it!   I can't complain about the food here at all. Our host family makes the BEST meals and you never leave the table hungry.  Even when you tell Birtukan that you can't eat another bite, she scoops more food on your plate and says, "here just a little more".  We love her! 

 

First thing tomorrow morning we get to go back to Kad's orphanage and spend at least FOUR HOURS with him!   We can't wait to see him again!  We also get the blessing of delivering packages to our dear friend's three little ones here in the city.  So excited to meet these precious kids and tell them all about their family who loves them so much!  Its going to be such an amazing day!

In Ethiopia

...and we couldn't be more excited!

 

Internet connection isn't the best, so I'll keep this post brief.  We just wanted to let you all know that we made it safe, all of our bags have arrived, and......

 

WE HAVE HELD OUR LITTLE BOY!!

 

At 4:00 this afternoon we arrived at the orphanage and were able to spend two hours with Kad.  Our first meeting couldn't have been more perfect.  He was smiling, giggling, and he even fell asleep in my arms.  We're so in love!

 

We aren't able to visit the orphanage on weekends, so we had to say goodbye until Monday.  It was so hard leaving him, but it helps to know he will soon be in our arms for good.  

 

Thank you so much for your prayers.  PLEASE keep praying that we pass court on Tuesday so this process can move forward quickly and we can get Kad home.  Our court date is at 9:00 AM Ethiopia-time, so that's 1:00 AM at home. 

Ethiopia Bound

We're all packed and ready to go meet our little boy!! We leave in an hour to start our journey to Ethiopia!

This is what it looks like to pack for a 10-week stay in another country with a baby:



I wish we could call, text, visit, or email ALL of you one last time before we leave, but I'm realizing its just not possible. So...for our sanity, take this post as your official "THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND LOVE!" We will be emailing and blogging while we're in Ethiopia, so check back here for updates.

We're praying to have LOTS of great news to share soon!