Yiah and the Great Sippy Cup Adventure

So, we gave Yedidiya his first sippy cup with lunch yesterday filled with diluted apple juice. While it took a while to make him realize he had to suck like his bottle, once he did his food didn't exist anymore. We had to make the sippy cup disappear to even get him to think about eating.

Yes, that is a WISCONSIN sippy cup! (Go Badgers!) It came after the camo Cabela's sippy cup didn't work out so hot as a first time sippy.

You may have noticed the change of clothes... Let's just say on our first attempts more juice went onto the bib and clothes than stayed in the mouth!

The Man in the Waiting Room

I heard something yesterday . It really caught me off guard at the time, but I want to respond to it for all of you.

While sitting in the waiting room with Yedidiya waiting for his chest x-ray, there was another man waiting with us. After about 10 minutes he came over and asked if he could see my son. I replied that would be no problem at all and after about 5 minutes of talking to Yiah and making small talk with me, the gentleman returned to his seat. I didn't see this as anything out of the ordinary or bothersome until that gentleman got called back for his appointment.
As he met the nurse who had called him, he stated "have you seen this little guy over here yet?" and pointed at Yedidiya. I, of course, smiled like the proud dad I am and the nurse came over and looked commenting on how adorable he was. As she returned to the gentleman and led him out of the waiting room, the man said to her, "that kid doesn't know how lucky he has it." It took me a moment to figure out what he meant by that, and it didn't really sink in until I heard the nurse's response. As the door closed behind them I heard her reply. "If there was only some way to make them understand." My jaw dropped, and my opportunity vanished.

What bothers me about this is that I wish I could find a way to make the two of them understand. And everyone else who has never been a part of adoption. HE HAS BLESSED US. The only two here who are "lucky" are Laura and I, and we are the only two we have ever considered lucky. Yedidiya has given us so much, added so much to our lives, and, for that, I am eternally grateful to him, our son. He has truly blessed us.

Update?!?!

All right, I know... we have neglected the blog for the last couple of weeks. But what can I say, we have been a little distracted. We do apologize.



Things here have been wonderful. We often wonder how it is that we could go all the way to Ethiopia and come home with the cutest kid in the world. Even when he is being a little stinker, his laugh will fix anything. We have absolutely fallen even more head-over-heels in love with this little guy than we ever could have imagined.
Like I said, things are going great. His eating and sleeping habits are now (fingers crossed) under control. He has all ready started 3rd foods and at the doctor today weighed in at 21 pounds 1 ounce! Sleeping has been good too. For the most part he will put himself to sleep and has been sleeping 11 1/2 hours at night plus 2 naps during the day!!!! YAY!


He has also bonded really well to mom and dad. We have had him at church and even one afternoon with a "babysitter", and he does wonderfully with other people. But what is awesome is he always wants to come back to mom and dad. Now that I am home with him, I will say the word ma-ma and his little face will just light up with the brightest smile! It is just awesome being a parent.


Our only difficulty has been with his continued congestion. Yes, the one we brought him home with. That was the reason for our trip to the doctor today, as it has been starting to affect his eating. It either prevents him from being able to take his bottle or causes him to throw it up after he finishes. Your continued prayers on that are much appreciated. He has a chest x-ray tomorrow to see if they can see anything there otherwise they will put him on a steroid to try to clear it up. I just want my poor little guy to be able to breath right.

Even with all that, he is a very happy, healthy baby. We both feel so blessed and can't believe that he is ours. What a joy! Hopefully you all have met him, and if not that you will get to soon. Just let us know! And I will try to better on the blogging (sorry Jill!).

Love ya all!!

Little Man on the Move

Home for the Holidays?!?

Boy, I certainly hope Yedidiya doesn't expect every Valentine's Day to be like this! We were able to travel back to Wisconsin this weekend and see ALL of our families on both sides! It was wonderful. That means that Yiah has now met all of his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins! It also meant that he got to celebrate Christmas with some presents that Grandpa and Grandma kept back for him, plus some valentines gifts across the board on top of that! (I think he might be a little spoiled.)

Bath Time!

I think its safe to say that he LOVES bath time! We had him in there for half an hour tonight and he loved every second of it! He especially likes having water dumped over his head and face.

(Yes. I AM wearing a bathing suit!)

Future Badger Fan

With the NFL season now officially over, little Yiah is all ready for next years college season. What can I say? It looks like he is going to be a Wisconsin fan!!! Fourth quarter here we come! GO BUCKY!!!

Hat Day

What happens when you get two sisters with their babies, a grandma to help out, and a day of shopping together? Give up?

The Other Side of the Valley

I heard a song yesterday, a song that meant a lot to me throughout our adoption. It is so easy now that Yedidiya is in our arms, to say God is faithful and has everything under control. But hearing this song reminded me of the difficult times, the angry times, the downright devastatiting times we went through. The court failures, the paperwork delays, his illness. And I remember thinking at those times, "Why?".
Everyone has those times in life, and I know that it is impossible to see the end goal during those times. So standing on the other side, I felt called to offer encouragement to those of you going through a time like that in your life. This song got me through a lot and means a lot to me. It was hard to listen to at the time, but the truth it holds is what carried me through.
I hope you can find some comfort in it as well.

Blessed

We have been so blessed by friends and family stopping by with meals and to share their love with us and Yiah, and by cards and thoughtful gifts, as well as kind words and prayers, that I just wanted to make sure to say thank you and let you know how much we truly appreciate it. At a time when we feel so blessed with our new son, we are also reminded just how blessed we are to have such wonderful, caring, and loving friends. So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. (And the food has been AWESOME!!!)

Daddy home from work

BEST GREETING EVER!!!! The dog ran out to my car and jumped in, then I walked inside to the two most beautiful smiling faces. Priceless.

Daddy back to work

This is hard. The two weeks we had together as a family went so fast. But here I am, back at work only wishing and thinking about getting home to my precious son and beautiful wife.

Progress today

Well, we made a little progress today... in two areas. First, in his sleeping for the first time he would go back to sleep without being comforted. We would simply lay him back down and he would go back to sleep!!! (You don't understand how exciting that is!) And second, he was able to entertain himself and remain calm even when neither one of us was in the room today! On two separate occasions we were able to put him in his bouncer and in his exersaucer with some toys and leave the room to get some things done. It was wonderful!! Please pray this continues!! Also, Aaron goes back to work tomorrow and is not looking foward to being apart from his new family. Please pray for comfort for him and energy and patience for Laura.