Halloween

Happy Halloween!

The boys (Davis Frog and Hendrick Dinosaur) had so much fun carving the pumpkin, dressing up in their costumes and visiting our neighbors.

Trick-or-Treat!

Court - Please Pray!

Our adoption case goes to court in Ethiopia in three days...November 1st. We pray we make it though successfully - if we do, the adoption of our son will be official in Ethiopia and we will be able to bring him home in 3-5 weeks.

There have been a few changes made to the court hearing requirements recently, (regarding who needs to be present for the trial) causing delays. It is not uncommon for famlies to have multiple court hearings before successfully making it through court - a lot of things (paperwork, people...) need to line up perfectly in order to pass.

All we can do is pray. PLEASE PRAY WITH US!

We lift this up to God and trust in His perfect timing.

Got Milk?

Amy was pleased to be able to participate in this shipment of 50,000 ounces of breast milk to a South African orphanage - donating 375 ounces of milk back in May/June/July 2007.

From ABC World News with Charles Gibson
By KATE SNOW
Oct. 19, 2007

Breast Milk Shipped to Africa to Help Feed Orphan Children
Nine Thousand Bottles of 'Liquid Gold' Is Enough to Feed Six Infants for Up to a Year

On a loading dock outside a nondescript warehouse in the sleepy Los Angeles suburb of Monrovia, men and women in suits join mothers with babies strapped in slings and strollers as toddlers race around their knees. As the last pallet of boxes emerges from the warehouse, they break into a spontaneous round of applause.
Inside those boxes is what they affectionately call "liquid gold" — human breast milk donated by mothers across the United States.
This latest shipment is the largest yet for the International Breast Milk Project group. Nine thousand bottles of frozen breast milk have been carefully packed in dry ice. That's 440 gallons of breast milk, or 50,000 ounces. It's enough to feed six infants for up to one year.
Any way you look at it — it's a lot of milk.
It is bound for a home for orphaned children in Durban, South Africa. Three infants will be able to use the milk right away. The rest will be stored or shared with other facilities that help orphaned children and infants who are HIV positive.
For these children, doctors say, healthy human breast milk can have lifesaving properties.
"Breast milk satisfies more than just nutrition because it has a lot of immune properties in it," said Dr. Anna Coutsoudis, a professor of pediatrics and founder of the iThemba Lethu home for orphans. "It helps to keep the children healthy, prevents them from getting things like diarrhea and pneumonia. And most importantly for us, is the HIV-infected children. They, particularly because of their depressed immunity, really do well on breast milk. I mean, it is phenomenal the difference."

For more information about the International Breast Milk Project or to apply to be a donor, go to: www.breastmilkproject.org.

24 weeks

Baby #4 is doing very well and is very active! In this shot, you can see the baby folded in half (head lower left, legs extended across the top) - in the process of kicking.
Amy and baby have been closely monitored this pregnancy as this is considered high-risk (Davis arrived at 31-weeks gestation). So far everything is measuring perfectly and there are no signs that this baby will come early - a blessing. We are hoping and praying this baby will stay put for at least another 11 weeks.

Rainy Day Play

Indoor forts can be absolutely magical on rainy days.

Mousetail Landing

We couldn't stay inside on such a beautiful day - so we ventured out to Mousetail Landing State Park on the Tennessee River for a morning of hiking. In case you are curious...the park received its name from one of the tanneries in the area:

The first tannery was started in the 1800's. When one of its storage buildings caught fire the exodus of rats was so great it got its name Rattail Landing. Shortly after this a second tannery was established in the area. Being smaller than Rattail Landing they called it Mousetail Landing.

Pumpkins

It's that time of year...PUMPKINS! The boys had so much fun at the pumpkin patch.

We have a Court Date!

We just received word from our Ethiopia adoption case manager:

You have a courtdate on November 1, 2007. This is the actual date to approve the adoption.

We need your prayers!

Please pray with us for a successful court date. Pray that all the necessary documents are in order! If this court hearing is a success, our precious 8-10 month-old boy will legally be our son and we will be able to bring him home late November/early December.

CMOM

We love that Memphis is just a short (hour drive) down the road...we are so fortunate to have so many wonderful places of which to take advantage.

Our family went with good friends to the Children's Museum of Memphis - our two boys, and their twin boys had a blast! Hendrick was all over the place and loved every moment, and it was so much fun seeing Davis get into the exhibits (literally - the water from the "Mississippi" ended up all over him!).

*We now have a family membership to the Children's Museum - so I'm sure we will be back plenty this coming year.

18 Months

Our Davis is now 18 months old - he is doing wonderfully well. We are amazed. Davis can now communicate using baby signs (he knows at least 10), experiment with vocal sounds, pull up to standing, stand unassisted, cruise (walk while holding on), climb up the staircase, go up the ladder and down the slide (by himself), and has 13 teeth!

Davis is a delightful boy - he has a fun-loving personality and a ready smile that can light up a room. And...he is finally on the growth charts! (he is just under the 3rd percentile for height and weight). We are so proud of our little big boy!

Courts are Open

We have heard the Ethiopian Adoption Courts are open! We do not have an assigned court date - we hope to hear soon! Please pray with us for a quick and successful court date. We trust this will happen in God's perfect timing.

One Step Closer

We just received an email update from our Ethiopia adoption case manager:

Your case was submitted to the court and we are waiting to get an appointment date for the hearing. As soon as we get the date I will let you know.

Praise!

Smoky, October 4-6

We just returned from an amazing retreat in the Great Smoky Mountains. We spent 3 days camping at Cosby in the gorgeous Smoky Mountain National Park. The boys LOVE sleeping in a tent! Hendrick amazed us by completing two 2-mile hikes in two days. And no, we didn't see any bears (but Hendrick was prepared to chase them all away). We did see "smoke" - we drove up to the highest point in Tennessee - Clingmans Dome - all we could see were white clouds! This was a fantastic trip.

RED

We made our first purchase for our baby boy! We bought an incredibly cute Gap outfit - Gap (PRODUCT) Red - "helping you make a difference in Africa." Gap contributes half of the profits from these Gap (PRODUCT) Red products to the Global Fund, to help women and children affected by AIDS in Africa. Our son is truly treasured, so this is the perfect outfit!

The Big Cut

We made the cut...the curls are gone! Davis is almost 18 months old...it was time for us to let go of his baby curls. He looks so handsome with his new haircut!