We Love Him!

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Our first day was amazing. We arrived at the transition house/orphanage and the nannies brought him straight out to us. He didn't cry, he just looked really scared. We hugged and kissed him. He was very sick with a double ear infection and a bad cough. They started him on an antibiotic but he didn't tolerate it (vomiting) so they gave him a shot of roceffin. Poor little buddy was burning up and they didn't give him Tylenol they just kept rubbing his little body with little wet clothes to try to cool him. By the end of our time together he was a little more comfortable with us, he even fell asleep on Scott's chest. He didn't smile at all but we were prepared for that. I think he just needs more love and attention and we can do that!! So precious, we're on our way to back to spend the day with him. Please pray for our time with him and for his body to heal.

We're all Packed!

We're all packed, the kids are at Nanny and Papa's, the house is clean, the mail is stopped and we are leaving in the morning. Our ride arrives at 3:30am to take us to the airport for a 6:00am flight to Dulles in DC. From there we board an Ethiopian Airways jet straight for Addis Ababa. We arrive at 7:45am and we should be meeting S** that morning!! EXCITED!!!!! We will be 8 hours ahead of central standard time. Scott and I are both so thankful, our heart are overflowing! We are so thankful for your prayers for our family.

Isiah 41;10

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

PACKING!

After the kids went to bed last night Scoot and I started packing. We've filled 2 bags with formula and cloth diapers.

This Elecare Formula was lifesaving for our little Scotty during his first couple years of life. It's the most expensive formula you can buy and it's by prescription. At $55.oo per can you can imagine how thankful we were for insurance. We have 30 cans that are now expired but still good for up to 2 years (Thankfully, our little Scotty doesn't need it anymore). We talked to our agency about donating this to the extra sick babies and they were thrilled. There is a doctor on staff that will take care of all the dosing. It makes my heart feel so good to pass this "liquid gold" on to help babies.

About a week ago Scott shared with the youth group at our church about some of the needs in Ethiopia and invited them to join us in helping orphans by either donating formula or money to buy formula. He read part of an email from a family that had recently returned from Ethiopia. I want to share part of it with all of you.

Shalom (an orphanage) is truly in desperate need of our donations, and I am just begging those of you traveling soon to consider giving your donations to them. I think most families give their donations to the two orphanages in Addis (Kids Care and Kingdom Vision) because that is where we all visit, but Shalom receives nothing and the differences between them are startling. The first room we went in had one nanny on the floor with one bowl of food trying to feed six different babies and two babies were lying in their cribs without diapers on, soiled completely through. Many of the babies there were just a few days old and looked completely malnourished and almost lifeless.

Between our family and the Williams family, we donated about 250 pounds of donations today, but much of it was for older children... shoes, clothes, medicine, etc. We learned after arriving there that Shalom only takes children in up to 4 or 5 years old, so what they really need is baby items... diapers, formula, clothing, wipes, etc.

Please consider this!! The Shalom staff is very kind and loving and they are all are doing the best they can there, but the need is so great!

I am so excited for so many of you who are traveling soon for court and embassy and hope you'll consider bringing donations for Shalom!

Blessings!
Laura

This week Scott and I have been blown away by the generosity of families at our church. People have been amazing and the money has been pouring in. Someone stopped by our house at 9:00pm to drop off a check, another stopped me at Awana, still more have shown up to youth group with cans of formula...we are THRILLED to be able to bless so many children that are in need. Our plan is to fill our bags here with the donations we've received and with the rest of the $$ buy formula and other much needed supplies in Ethiopia next week. We are humbled to be a part of this.

So many of you have asked how you can help with our adoption. I wanted to let you know that in the next couple weeks we will have a way that you can donate to help us with the cost of bringing out little boy home!!

We leave in 5 days!!!

Acts 2:44-45

And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

PS- Did any of you see this? Please pray for the Christians in Ethiopia.

Special Visitor

This darling little Ethiopian beauty is Miriam. She's only been home about 2 weeks and she came over, along with her mom for a fun play date. Little Miriam is from the same orphanage as our son. I even have pictures of them together. It was so special to hear reports from Miriam's mom about our little boy. She held him. In less than 2 weeks we will be holding him too!!

A Smile

I can't wait until we pass court and we can show you his beautiful face.

We will be on a plane 3 weeks from today on our way to our baby. So many things are going on in Ethiopia right now regarding the adoption process and I would just continue to ask you to pray.

THIS is a great article.

Philippians 4:7-9

7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Precious Pictures!

It's the picture I've been dreaming of... his little hands holding the toy that Mac picked out for him (from our basement).

Oh... those toes!! I can't wait to kiss them and someday.... crack.

Seriously, have you ever seen such a cute hand in your whole life?! Only 3 week and 3 day and we'll be in Ethiopia holding it!!

So thankful for the nice family that gave us these pictures, we will treasure them forever.

Prayer Request

We received this email from our family coordinator and so I'm passing it along for all of you. Please pray for the entire situation.

Dear Scott & Katie,

We are writing to ask your family to join us in prayer for the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWA) regarding the number of cases they will be able to process each day. They have made statements that they desire to decrease the number of recommendation letters they write each day. We understand that because of these statements, the Court and MOWA are in the process of meeting to discuss and work out any potential changes or new processes regarding adoptions in Ethiopia. We want to blanket these meetings with prayer and ask you to come along side us in this.

We are sorry to be sending information to your family so late in the day but we wanted to communicate this request to you before the weekend. We know rumors and concerns can arise from any information being shared in the adoption community and our desire is to continue to primarily provide you with any confirmed information in a timely manner. Please rest assured we will continue to seek information on what is happening in the adoption process in Ethiopia and will share with you any new confirmed information we receive.

Joining your family in prayer,

Caitlin Edwards Africa Family Coordinator

Shots!!

Today we got our shots for Ethiopia!

Four for Scott and five for me... all worth it!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

News!

This morning I got a message on facebook from the family that took our care package...

Laura Bendinger Herwehe:
"We met your sweet boy yesterday!!! He is oh, so very adorable!! He was very content while Charlie held him and grabbed onto his new toys! We'll try to send pictures soon!!"

This news made my day. Just think, that silly toy that crazy Macker had in his mouth is in the hands our our little boy in Ethiopia. Happiness!!