Happy 1st Birthday Micah!

Micah is 1 year old today! We are so thankful to have him home. It is hard to believe that we have been home almost 6 weeks! He is doing great and is adjusting so well. We are praising Jesus for the gift of adoption.

A Week of New Beginnings

Well we have been home with Micah for 9 days! I have to admit the first week was a bit challenging. Between the jet lag, three sick kids and just trying to find a routine again I was feeling a bit exhausted. Thankfully Caleb is back in school after having to miss 4 days, after 6 days Mya is no longer running a fever and Micah is on antibiotics for his ear infection. So this Monday morning I am feeling a lot more rested and ready for a new week!

Micah has been doing amazingly well, we have just been trying to figure out what schedule works best for everyone. :) The one area that he has mastered is sleeping! He has been a little trooper and hasn't even minded moving into his crib in the nursery. The first week home we were having to do an early morning feeding but the past few nights he has slept right thru. I was ecstatic this morning when he slept straight through till 8 a.m. We are still dealing with frequent, explosive bowel movements and are waiting to hear back from the doctor to see if we are dealing with ghardia.

Even with all the adjustments and exhaustion the past week, having Micah home has been a gift. He is such a special little boy and we are all deeply in love with him. We feel so blessed to be his parents!

We're Home!

Well after the longest day ever we finally made it home! It felt so good to walk in the door and see the children again! We've been dealing with some major jet lag but overall everything has been going really good. Micah has been adjusting well to all the changes. Last night he even slept in the nursery in his crib instead of in our room in the port-a-crib. The kids love having him here and all want to play with him. It blesses my heart to see them come in the door from school everyday asking to hold Micah. :) We have a doctor appointment tomorrow morning with a doctor that specializes in internationally adopted children. Micah did NOT like the car seat on the way home from the airport so it will be interesting to see how he does on the drive to the clinic.

Jimma Trip

Well after 6 hours of dodging cows, goats, dogs, donkeys, carts and people we made it to Jimma yesterday afternoon. It was an amazing trip that Doran and I are so thankful we were able to take. We were able to meet the police officer, social worker and doctor that were involved when Micah was abandoned. We were even able to meet the nanny who took care of Micah for a month after he was released from the hospital and before he went to Layla house. We were able to take lots of pictures that we are sure will be a treasure to Micah when he grows up.

It was an emotional trip and it is hard to imagine what desperation would cause a mother to abandon her baby, but in Ethiopia it is a reality that many, many families face. When they took us into the room at the hospital where Micah was cared for there were three precious, TINY babies laying there that had been abandoned. It nearly broke my heart, I walked by each of their beds and just had to cry as I said a prayer over each one. I praise God for the gift he gave us when he allowed us to parent Micah Dawit Wengerd!
We did find out one new bit of information at Embassy on Tuesday that I forgot to post last time. We have a NEW birthdate for Micah. It is now the third one but it will be the final one since it is on his birth certificate. :) So his official birthdate is March 16, 2010 which makes him 10 1/2 months old.

Micah's cold hasn't gotten any better, in fact is seems to have just made him miserable. Last night in Jimma was a challenge since he cried alot during the night and had a hard time settling down. I think he has just had so many changes over the 5 days and his schedule is so out of whack from what he is used to. I am a little concerned about the LONG flight home tomorrow night so please pray that he feels better and is able to sleep on the airplane.

Tomorrow is our last day here in Addis. We are planning on gong to get some more coffee to bring home then be back at Layla house for a farewell party in the afternoon. Then we want to head back to the guest house, get cleaned up, eat dinner and head to the airport! We are so excited to bring Micah home so that he can meet his brothers and sisters. We miss them so much and can't wait till all of our children are in the same country. :)

Tuesday

The best words we could ever hear were said today, "Your adoption is now final!" PTL We had our embassy appointment and everything went great. Now the embassy will issue Micha's visa and then we can fly home on Friday.

The internest has been off and on the past few days because of the African Union which was taking place here in Addis. It ended yesterday so hopefully we will have better success sending emails.

We are leaving this morning for Jimma, Micah's hometown, which is a 6 hour drive from here. We will be spending the night there and then heading back to Addis tomorrow. Micah is getting more and more vocal. :) He loves to hear himself talk, he is such a cutie. He started with a cold this morning but we are praying it clears up before we fly home.

Well I gotta run the driver and social worker are here to take us to Jimma. Hopefully we can post more and send some pictures when we get back.

Sunday & Monday

The weather here in Addis has been great! We have had blue skies and sunshine since we got here. The temperatures get into the low to mid 70's during the day and into the 50's at night. Sunday morning I got up ate breakfast and then started feeling very sick on my stomach. I ended up sick in bed all day and all night, I am not sure what was wrong but I felt really nauseous and achy. Thankfully we didn't have much planned since it was Sunday so Doran and Micah just hung out together while I was sick.

I felt a little better this morning and was able to get up and get ready for our meeting with Gail at Layla house. We had great news when we got there! The embassy emailed Gail and confirmed that everthing looks good with our case. :) We were so excited to hear that we are one step closer to bringing our son home. Now we are just waiting to hear if our interview will be tomorrow or Wednesday.

As of now our plans are to travel to Jimma, Micah's hometown, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Micah is awesome. He is doing great sleeping and eating for us. He is a joy and we can't wait to bring him home to meet everyone!

GOTCHA DAY!!!!

We made it to Ethiopia!!! After a long 12 hr.45min flight we got in to Addis Ababa this morning at 7:45. It took a bit of time to get thru customs, get our luggage and find our driver. We got to Ethiopia Guest Home around 9:30, put our luggage in our room, changed clothes and ate a quick breakfast. We were both very excited to get to Layla house to pick up Micah.

Walking into Micah's room was amazing!!! He was standing in the crib waiting as if he knew we were coming. :) He immediately started smiling at us and got all excited when we picked him up. We can't believe how much he has grown! Last time we were here he couldn't stand or even sit by himself. Now he is standing up in his crib and and crawling all over the place. He also has six teeth now and two more that are almost through.

It was wonderful being able to pick up our son and know that he was leaving with us this time. No more good-byes!!! He couldn't stop looking out the window on the van trip back to our guest home. We could tell he was trying to take in all the sights at once.

We ate lunch once we got back then headed up to our room. By this point I felt like I couldn't even think straight, I was SO tired. Thank goodness Micah was also ready for a nap! I was able to sleep at least 3 hrs. and felt so much better when I woke up.

Micah loves to hear himself talk! He is so cuddly and loves to be played with. Nothing blesses my heart more than hearing him giggle as his daddy plays with him.

We still haven't gotten confirmation from the embassy, so please keep praying that everything works out!