We are HOME!! Praise the LORD!

We are home safely and LOVING our family of 8!!

Everyone is doing great...more soon i promise!! But for now...Praising the Lord for answering our prayers: OUR SON IS HOME!!! Happy Thursday to you all, kj

Almost home!!!

(this is a guest post from Karen, filling in for KJ, who's having technical difficulties!)

Want to meet this adorable face in a mere 48 hours?


It is possible...Kristi, Helen and Wes are on their way home!!! They plan to arrive in Nashville at 1:02pm this Wednesday, May 11. They are connecting in Detroit (on Delta) and must pass through customs quickly. Kristi says the connection is TIGHT...so pray for a smooth connection and timely travel!!! They are so ready to introduce Wes to the 4 kids at home and reunite Will with his newest little buddy! It is sure to be a beautiful reunion!

Come join us as we welcome this baby boy to his new home with his forever family!!





Little Wes, we cannot wait to meet you and love you!! You have no idea what's in store for you. It is going to be nothing short of amazing.

You Know You ARE In Africa When.....

You know you are in Africa when you wake in the morning and FIND this guy sitting on your couch in the guest home!! I walked down with Wes on my hip..rounded the corner and this monkey guy was sitting on the couch in our guest home. Yes, i screamed...he jumped onto the kitchen table...sat on the morning dishes...flipped over every coffee cup looking inside each one...I ran out the front door attempting to find the staff to help get him OUT...They got him out...but WHAT a way to GET your adrenaline going in the morning...LOL... We've also spotted him in the garbage out back...helen wanted her pic taken with him....

But...more importantly...let me show yall some cuteness....Oh, how we love this little guy:

People...he's just so sweet and wonderful!! He could barely pull up the first night i had him...just hardly enough strength to do it...and today he can pull up like a champ...crews up and down everything..and he's even letting go and standing...AND..helen got him to take some steps towards me today....He'll be walking in no time...Especially once we get his Rickets from his malnutrition healed..he'll be on his way!! Praise God!! He's just loving being mobile!!



I've also enjoyed my friend Jaime and Murray being with us...they are headed home right now with their Dinks in arm...They live right down the road from us...so much fun:

A shout out to the Chapman family that hung with us this week...They brought their 9 year old daughter too..Helen had so much fun with her...They adopted a toddler from Wes's orphanage...The girls had fun carrying around their babies together....

A little family pic....Wish the rest of my fam was in the pic:

We enjoyed taking Wes to some authentic Ethiopian dancing....Helen LOVED watching it all...She wants to go back before we leave town: My little man in his cute clothes....He's still in 3-6 month clothes...and I had to roll down these pants....crazy how small he is...My fingers overlap on the fattest part of his arm....

Bonding...Wow..it has gone great. I will have to say....WE LOVE EACH OTHER!! Yes, he already prefers me to ANYONE!! The nannies in the guest home love to pick him up...he now cries and reaches for me...He won't even let helen carry him with out fussing now...He gives me the best squeezes and just pats my back. He's just precious...HE truly never cries unless i take something away from him (like a knive at the kitchen table) or when he's mad that i'm changing his diaper again.... One tip for those adopting children that have been malnourished: keep a constant flow of food going....I read about this and how it brings them comfort..So..our guy is NEVER with out bottle or food in hand...It's kept him so calm and he quickly realized that he'd never have to go hungry with momma....Food was constantly there!! He seriously loves his bottle!!

He also got his first bath and loved it....he was so cute splashing in the water!

Things really couldn't be going better!! He's jus wonderful and I can't wait to get him home to our other 4 littles...they are just going to die over him!! He smiles all the time and laughs at everything...He is so easily tickled and he's into grabbing everything...very inquisitive little boy!!

**So, i've had lots of issues with internet...Happy Mother's Day to you all if I dont' get back on tomorrow...but i'll try!! What a wonderful mother's day gift to have my new babe in my arms...but i'll be missing having all 8 of us together...but we can celebrate when i get home..just a couple of days late!! :) Happy Saturday to you all, kj

WE ARE COMING HOME!!!

Praise the LORD!! We were cleared by the U.S. Embassy TODAY..We have our Embassy appt. early Monday morning....then we'll fly out of Ethiopia on Tuesday night!! We are so excited..Our airport homecoming will be on Wednesday early afternoon..... We are having a wonderful time of bonding!! It is VERY easy to love this sweet boy...He is calm, gentle and loving all the time. He is growing stronger each and every day he is in my arms. He is so smart...you can tell he is much older by all that he can do!! His size is very deceiving! He can clap, play peek a boo, he can "sign" that he is hungry and thirsty!! (i have no idea where he learned that) and he speaks many amaric words...It is so neat to hear and recognize that he knows his language...he babbles and talks all the time. He sleeps through the night and wakes up smiling...simply dreamy! He naps well every day and that allows helen and i to do school work. Helen and i walk to coffee each day and are having so much fun.

More soon...my boy is on the move so not much time to post....but i hope to post more pics soon..but that's our great news for the day!! Praising God for our beautiful boy...and missing my 4 babies back home!! Happy Friday to you all, kj

I'm Here!!!

Wow...folks you guessed it!! I'm in Ethiopia holding my son as we type...Oh, my heart is so full right now...He is just precious and wonderful and I'M SO GRATEFUL to be able to come a couple of days early to START fattening him up and to start BONDING!! :) I pray to return this weekend or early next week...I'll keep yall posted..I have lots of pics already too...I'll be posting those as soon as i can. I'm borrowing a computer for the moment to let yall know WHERE I am...and we'd so appreciate the prayers for a FAST return home. I have my oldest daughter (age 9) with me too..She's lovin Africa and has done nothing but smother Wes in kisses....

So, i was told when i arrived at the guest home tonight that I wouldnt be able to go get Wes for maybe another day....I was already figuring out in my head HOW I could get a cab and just go pick him up myself...WHEN...our director surprised me ...and with our travel group all sitting and smiling (i never caught on) OUT walked my friend Jaime with my son in her arms!! I had only been in the guest home about 5 minutes tops WHEN they surprised me with my sweet boy ALREADY there!! Oh, the tears...I was shocked to see him being brought out...Oh, what a moment I'll never forget...I'm just so grateful and humbled by this amazing trip already....and I've only been here now a few hours...

Wes is perfect....He's SO tiny....but just perfect to me!! I cant' wait to share some pics soon...stay tuned...and thank you for your prayers....My daughter and I are just on cloud 9 right now playing with our new son and little brother!! God is indeed GOOD!! Happy Wednesday to you all (its officially wednesday here ) kj

Wow..There's Some Craziness Going On Around Here...

Well...I've been missing in BLOG LAND for the last couple of days...It WASN'T cause I was busy getting my nails done or anything like that.....I was BUSY doing this:Some pure craziness has happened in the last couple of days...Too crazy to even go into details (yet :) STAY TUNED...I'll be sure to reveal WHERE I'M headed in the next couple of days...OMG....CRAZY GOOD STUFF GOING ON.....The butterflies are in FULL EFFECT!!! I'll be back soon!! :)

Happy Monday morning to ya...Or Sunday night...how ever you'd like to view it....kj

The Good News...And the BAD News!!

Well...Which one do you want first?? The Good or the BAD?? Well...I'll start with the good....How about that?

THE GOOD:

* 3 weeks ago this past Monday....I became the OFFICIAL Momma to this precious boy waiting on us in Ethiopia:

* 2 weeks ago TODAY...his birth certificate arrived and OH!! WHAT A SWEET CELEBRATION that was to see HIM with the same LAST NAME as ours!!! LOVED IT!!

* 1 week ago TODAY...we were submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia for CLEARANCE to leave and pick up our precious son...HAPPY HAPPY DAY!

*Our agency is GREAT with communication and got back with us TODAY as soon as they heard word from the embassy....

THE BAD NEWS:

*It's a NO GO!!! :( OUR U.S. Embassy has requested some extra "stuff" before they'll ALLOW our guy into the good old U.S.A!! :(

* Yes, I'm bummed...cause I have NO IDEA how long it will take to GET WHAT THEY WANT!!

*This is VERY routine these days.... Every few cases they CALL an investigation on...We're NOT completely under investigation...just requiring a few extra steps to MAKE THEM HAPPY!!

*So, we WAIT SOME MORE!!! I completely trust and love our agency...they will give them what ever it is they want AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!! Unfortunately the U.S. requires this sort of thing from ALL agencies ALL the time...so they are very use to this type of NO GO!!

*So....Please join us in PRAYING that this doesn't delay us THAT LONG!! This Momma's heart REALLY thought I was leaving this weekend...And, I would have been IF this hadn't come up...Several friends of mine got clearance..so they WILL be leaving this weekend...and MORE GOOD NEWS: They'll be able to love on our boy for us!!

**I refuse to "cry in my cheerios" (yet :)...Our adoption of sweet Wes has gone so smoothly and so quickly and easily so far...that I KNOW I'M BLESSED!! He's WORTH every road block...this just happens to be the FIRST one we've come across....So, as badly as I want him HOME...I'm trusting that God has a bigger plan here!! :) We are very blessed...We are very blessed...

**I'll keep yall updated as things progress...WE SO APPRECIATE YOUR PRAYERS FOR THIS TO BE RESOLVED QUICKLY!! :) Happy Thursday to you all, kj