Growing

I just found this photo on my camera. This was from the day we spent with Zac at the orphanage, two months ago. I can't believe how teeny tiny skinny he looked back then!! I barely recognized him! Zac might have been at a nice orphanage (clean, structured, friendly), but this is why these babies need to be in loving homes. He continues to grow like crazy. He gained three pounds in just a couple of weeks when he first came home. I'd be curious to see what he weighs now. I love to see how life changes for  these babies that God places in families!

Gotcha Day

Where our baby is!

Trying to figure out which baby is ours.

First Glance at Zac. But they didn't tell us which one was Zac. "Guess which one is your baby," said the social worker.

I held myself together pretty well. Looking back, it felt like a dream. Did this really happen?

Holding him for the first time.

We presented him with his very own blankie and fuzzy puppy.

Nick then proceeded to hand him his pj's from the diaper bag.

We took him outside to have a bit of one-on-one time away from the other toddlers.

He rocked while clutching his new puppy.

And then he fell asleep. While rocking. It was hilarious.

So I picked him up and held him while he slept.

His sleeping gave us time to investigate his hands and toes, just like a new baby. Everyone was in awe.

I just couldn't stop laughing about the fact he fell asleep. My friend said he was at peace :)

We passed him to Rachel. He kept sleeping.

We passed him to Emma. He kept sleeping.

Finally he woke up and we played together.

Sweet Daddy.

The Powers 7!

(I snagged a quick picture of his crib. Our pictures are hanging above it.)

He wore his "little brother" shirt. It was Nick's shirt when he was little. Love it.

Kiddos being very patient while Mommy feeds her baby.

Feeding him at lunchtime.

I held him during his naptime. Took me an hour of rocking and holding him, but he cried whenever I laid him in the crib, and I just couldn't do that. 

More playing after naptime.

At 5pm we fed Zac his dinner, then he joined the other dozen toddlers for potty time. When I put him on his chair, he cried and scooted towards me. So of course I picked him up. Then I bathed him and we dressed him in his pj's. And we left him with his little fuzzy blanket and puppy.

Day #2: Medicals. We picked him up and drove him to our embassy doctor for the second opinion. He was wide-eyed the entire time, watching everything out the window.

Sabrina was very excited about sitting next to her brother as we drove to the doctor.

When we returned him back to the orphanage, surprisingly, they told us we could take him home! We were expecting to come back Saturday morning and get him. Guess not! 

Last photo of the staff and friends in his "class".

All right we are home, let's eat!!  First Cheerios. First time in my new high chair at my new house.

  

Dinner!! More eating! He was not a fan of the carrots I steamed, but loved the potatoes and rice.

Bath time. Bath toys! He loves water. He splashes and laughs. PLUS the orphanage puts him to sleep at 6pm every night, but we partied until at least 8pm!! And that's the end of our Gotcha Day!

Picture on New Life Website

I saw this picture on New Life's facebook page. I think my son is the one being held by the lady on the right, the little guy in the red striped shirt. But he looks too tiny to be 17 months old! I guess we will find out soon enough!!

No News (obviously)

I called the orphanage yesterday (October 17) to ask what size diaper Zac is wearing, what he eats, and whether he takes a bottle or sippie cup so I can go ahead and purchase those things since obviously he will be coming home in a couple of days! The adoption coordinator at the orphanage said, "A couple of days?! I don't even have an application for you."  (whatever that is!) Apparently she has never heard of me before. She has nothing. I was under the impression the orphanage has had our case file for a long time now, that all she was waiting for was our photo album that was supposed to have already been sent to them by LAN. Nope. She assured me she would call me immediately when they received our application (there's that word again!) from LAN, but as of now they have zero information about our family or who Zac is matched with.  I have to say I am shocked and mortified about that. Trying to stay peaceful, trying to stay calm, trying not to think about it 24/7.

Ughghghg I hear the enemy whispering in my ear again, "This will never happen. This is not going to happen." Get thee behind me Satan in the name of Jesus. I am trying to stay positive...

There's a whole lot more I want to say about this. A lot. But I don't want to write too much on this public blog. So I am going to do some homeschool/teacher paperwork so I don't have to think about it anymore. What else is there to do but completely forget about the fact that we could have a baby tomorrow, or three weeks from now, or NEVER?!

The Nest Orphanage

So we have been volunteering at the local orphanage lately.
It is so good for my kids.  They love holding the babies and playing with them.
Their staff is pretty low on the weekends and they need families to foster babies on the weekends.
So we are praying about whether we should do this.  My kids are very excited about it!

Here are a few pictures from our last 2 visits. (Okay bear with me, I can't seem to rotate them...)

We bought them 75 new bibs.  The kids were so excited to take the new bibs to the staff.