The Application is in the Mail!

Our journey has officially began! We mailed our application into A Love Beyond Borders Adoption Agency yesterday. Please pray for us as we begin this exciting new adventure.

Aidan's Adoption Video

This is Aidan's adoption video. It covers our journey to bring him home and the first year of his life with us. Hope you enjoy. It's hard to believe that we're coming up on the 2 year anniversary of our homecoming. My little boy is growing up so fast. :):(

 

Why Congo?

During the early stages of Aidan's adoption, I posted about the harsh conditions throughout Ethiopia and the reasons why we felt lead to adopt from there. I feel as though I need to do the same with the Democratic Republic of Congo- more for myself, as some days I get so discouraged thinking about the money aspect of this adoption and worrying about how we will possibly raise the funds, that I forget why God has placed it on our hearts to go there in the first place.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the poorest African nation.  From what I have seen and read about the DRC, you can compare it somewhat to Ethiopia  in terms of poverty and disease.  However, then add a civil war that has lasted on and off again since the 1990s and that is responsible for more than 5 million deaths- the vast majority from disease and starvation.  Even though a peace treaty was signed in 2003, bitter conflict has continued to rage in eastern DRC between the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Congolese government troops.  While I won't go into a history lesson here, one of the main causes of this war is, ironically, because DRC is a very mineral and diamond rich country with nearly 1 billion dollars in gold exportation alone every year.  That money does nothing, however, for the Congolese people as rebel troops continue to exploit the DRC and its citizens for its natural resources.  What have the outcomes of the conflict been?  As I mentioned before, more than 5 million deaths, an estimated 2-3 million rapes committed against women and children, and boys as young as 5 or 6-years-old forced to become soldiers- for some their initiation is killing their own family members or watching as their family is murdered in front of them.  Imagine that for a moment.  Because of the continued conflict, nearly 2.5 million Congolese are homeless and an additional 500,000 have become refugees in neighboring countries.  And one of the most heartbreaking outcomes is that the DRC is now home to over 5 million orphans (the entire population of Scotland).  In fact, the autracities in the DRC are so great that numerous humanitarian groups have listed it as the worst place to live if you're a woman or a child.

• More than half of Congolese people live below the extreme poverty level (living on less than $1 a day), with the vast majority of those living in rural areas.
• The infant mortality rate is nearly 1 in 10
• 1 in every 5 children die before the age of 5
• 15% of children under the age of 18 are orphans
• 700,000 of these children have been orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic
• Many children in the DRC who are orphaned by AIDS face further problems as they are often accused of witchcraft or sorcery in a nation where superstitions are often seen as reality.  In fact, nearly all of the children accused of witchcraft are either orphans, disabled or albinos.  The vast majority of these are boys (75%).

I'm reminded of the movie Blood Diamond.  There's a scene where Danny (Leo DiCaprio) is talking to Maddy (Jennifer Connelly) about the autracities occuring in Africa, namely Sierra Leone.  He remarks that "God left this place (Africa) a long time ago."  I remember that statement so clearly because it really struck me. 

Of course, we know that's not true.  God is everywhere.  God can be seen in the hands of the humanitarian workers that work diligently to bring aid to war-torn villages.  God is in the heart of people like Haregewoin Teferra who fought for the lives of orphans living on the streets in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  God is in the feet of men like Muis Mumbara, once abandoned himself, who- refusing to give up on children accused of witchcraft- walk for miles every day along the streets of Kinshasa, DRC, caring for these homeless and cast out youth.  And God is in the face of a child, who the world calls "unwanted", but whom God will never abandon, when he finally finds his "forever family".

 

Wordless Wednesday

Two posts in two days- WOW!

You might have noticed that I've updated my blog- and honestly, if you're still checking in from time to time, you are a more patient person than I am.  I wanted to include a picture of my cute little man.  He's getting so big.  I look at pictures from when we first brought him home and I'm filled with both pride that he's such an amazing child and continues to marvel his father and me and sadness, because he's getting so big.  I just want to stop him now, but then I'm also more than curious to see what type of man he will be and all the plans that God has instore for him. 

I also changed the title and background.  I was going to keep the same title as before, but "hope" to me means a deep desire- a longing.  Faith is the trust that God will answer the hope that lies within us.  I still don't know if Kapend is meant to be our son, yet I know that if God wants him to be a part of our family, He will provide the means to make that happen.  That's faith.  And boy, do we need a great deal of it with this adoption, because unlike Aidan's adoption, we're starting from scratch.  We have no savings set aside for this adoption, but I look at that sweet, sad face and I know in the deepest part of my heart that he's ours.  God has called us to be his family.  So, here we go, hold our breath and take a HUGE LEAP OF FAITH!

 

Exciting News

Well, so much for my great plans of keeping up with my blog.  Aidan will be three in July and I think I've updated this blog twice since he's been home.  I will tell you all about Aidan in my next post as I can spend long hours talking about my sweet baby boy, who's *sniffle* not really a baby anymore.  However, this post I want to devote to some exciting news...

We're adopting our second child!

Now, before I put the cart before the horse, let me clarify.  We're hoping to adopt our second child.  His name is Kapend and he's waiting for us in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  We have a long ways to go before we have the money to proceed with this adoption, which is where you can come in.  If you click on the link to the left, you'll go to our donation page to raise funds for Kapend's adoption.  You can read our story and make a contribution to our fund.  Please consider giving.  Without your help, we can't bring Kapend home and this little boy desperately needs to be part of a loving family.  Whether you can give $5 or $100, your gift will be greatly appreciated and go a long way to putting a smile on this sad, little face.  Thank you and God bless.

Kapend, age 2

Long time, no write...

I'm embarrassed that I haven't updated my blog in over 8 months. I'm reminded of that old Doug Stone song, Too Busy Being In Love.

"I could have written a play so sweet and so funny
Given old Mr. Shakespeare a run for his money

Written the words to the prettiest tune

That would never leave a dry eye in the room

My only excuse for not doing enough

I was too busy being in love

Yes, I was too busy being in love."

I'm completely in love with this little boy of ours! My days are filled with Aidan, Aidan, and more Aidan.

Let me try to update you a bit on the miracle that is our son:

-Aidan is 19 months! I know, I can't believe it myself. The time is just flying by.

-He took his first steps on September 2nd. From there it took him about a month and a half to fully walk and not rely on crawling any longer.

-He loves to show his running moves now and makes Liam and I laugh hysterically by getting his arm-action going. Liam is convinced that a gold medal is in his future. :)

-He has more teeth than I can count. I could try, but he won't let me. He has all 8 up front (top and bottom), his four molars in back and is getting his "canine" teeth now. Poor guy slobbers all of the time. I change his shirt, only to have it drenched within an hour.

-He loves to dance and has serious moves. LOL. He gets his whole body into it. It's the funniest thing I've seen. His favorite dance music is anything with a beat, but he especially loves the Irish songs that his daddy sings to him. I sing a quick version of "You are my Sunshine" which also starts his foot tapping. In the morning, we turn on a c.d (usually The Corrs) before I have to go to work and he puts on a mini-show for us.

-Speaking of work, I started back in August. It was REALLY hard, but I'm lucky that Liam can stay home 3 days a week (he does have one class this semester on Wednesday afternoon), so Aidan is with him most of the week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he goes to the sitter. I couldn't ask for a better person to watch my child. He loves Miss Hope! On Wednesdays, he goes to my sister's house for a couple of hours until I get off work. It's about the best set-up, aside from me being a stay-at-home mommy.

-He has just learned to slide down the big slides at the park all by himself. Liam and I have been taking him to the mall playground for the past several months, and I was so proud of him the day (about a month ago) when he learned to sit down and put his feet out in front of him so that he could slide down the little, bitty slide. We must have clapped for five minutes straight. Well, after he mastered that, he was onto the next challenge. He saw an older boy slide down on his belly, and so Aidan had to give it a whirl, as well. From there, he wanted to slide down the bigger slides at the park. Liam takes him often on the days that he has him and then we go a lot over the weekends too. This past weekend, I climbed to the top of the equipment and sat down and then went to put A in my lap. Liam said, "He can do it by himself now." So, I watched as my 19-month-old son's little body whirled around the big slide all the way to the bottom and into the waiting arms of his daddy. He was laughing hysterically the whole time. I don't think I took a breath until he was safely at the bottom.

-He loves to eat! His favorites are grapes, cheese, applesauce, bananas, manderin oranges, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, pizza, crackers, and cookies (of any type).

-He weighs about 30 pounds

-He climbs on everything and loves anything with stairs. Seriously, he could entertain himself for hours with some stairs.

-He can say between 40-60 words, but its hard to keep track because he's learning new ones everyday and will repeat whatever we say. Out of those, he uses about 30 on a regular basis. He says, "Mama", "Dada", "Yay-Yay" (Uncle Jason), "NeNe" (Aunt Nichole), "Yake" (Jake), "Lella" (Ella), "Baby" (Ava and every other child around his age or younger), "mil" (milk, along with sign), "ju" (juice), "caker" (cracker), "cooky" (cookie), "baba" (drink), "Nana" (either banana or his Nana- my mom), "Papa" (my dad), "Mamaw" (his "Grandma-Great"), Nay-Nay (Aunt Lindsey), "Lello" (hello and telephone), "Bye" (he's constantly going up to strangers and telling them "hi" and "bye"), "box" (blocks), "puppy", "soo" (shoe), "meh" (mess- he says this each time he finishes a meal and looks at all of the food on the floor), "tee" (teeth for when he wants to brush his teeth), "wok" (walk), "no", "my" (mine), "Mimi" (Mickey Mouse- His Favorite!), "Gooy" (Goofy, a close second), "li" (slide), "dow" (sit down), "luloo" (I love you), "choo-choo" (train), Gigi (Gidget- the name of one of our dogs), "boo" (book), "spoo" (spoon). It's seriously too many to try and name, but he's talking up a storm.

- He knows the names of many animals and some of their sounds. Some of his favorite are cow ("moo"- he knows both the name and sound and will point them out whenever he sees them), horse (the "neigh" sound comes out like someone clearing their throat), puppy, fish (he makes a fish face), gorilla (he pounds his chest and says, "oo-oo-oo", duck ("quack"), he makes the roaring sound for lion, tiger and bear, cat ("kitty"), giraffe ("raf").

-He loves to bring books to Liam and I and ask us to read them. ("boo")

-He loves to explore and gets into everything! We're way past due for child-proofing the house.

-As I mentioned, Mickey Mouse is his favorite. He loves him (and Goofy, Donald Duck, and Minnie Mouse too)! First thing in the morning when he wakes, he always asks for a drink and then "Mimi", which means he wants to watch a Mickey Mouse cartoon. His daddy will usually go find one on YouTube and then they'll watch it together for a few moments. I'm planning on having a Mickey Mouse themed birthday for his 2nd birthday.

- His new funny trick (he loves playing jokes on his mommy and daddy) is when you ask him how old he is, he holds up 5 fingers and says, "five". We taught him about 6 months ago to hold up one finger to this question. Well, one day, I asked him and he held up one hand. I laughed and said, "You're not five, you're one." Since then, he always holds up 5 fingers and laughs hysterically when you correct him. For a variation, sometimes he says "nine." Such a funny boy!

-His receptive language is AMAZING. He understands so much of what we ask him to do. The other day, Liam asked him to go and get his shoes and put them on the couch and he did!

-When he goes to the bathroom now, he'll point to the front of his diaper and make a whiney noise and say "pee-pee" or "my pee-pee". Not sure if this will translate to an early potty-trainer, but here's hoping. I'm planning on starting this over summer break.

-He loves his cousins so much! He idolizes Jake and Jake is so patient with him (unless he starts messing with his football figurines- LOL). He and Ava are so sweet together and hug and kiss on each other. About the only time that the tears start is when their arguing over the other one's sippy cup, but Ella is his favorite (if he really does have a favorite). She's also the one he fights with the most. They definitely have this love-hate thing going on. It will be interesting to see how their relationship will change and grow as they get older.

-He loves giving kisses, though most of the time when we try to give him a kiss, he wipes his face after and says, "Yu" (yuck). A funny thing that his daddy taught him.

-He can't be perfect, though we think he's pretty close, so of course we're dealing with some pretty major defiance at times. If he wants to do something that we've said no to, he'll kind of smile and continue on his way. When we go to pick him up, he often throws himself on the floor and starts to cry. Get ready for this...he's been known to hit us too. :) This all started around 14 months of age. The terrible twos hit us early!

-My favorite time of day is when we snuggle up together at night for bed. I know it's probably not the best way to get him to fall to sleep, but we love to cuddle up and watch t.v (after reading, of course :) ). Aidan drinks his bottle (I know, another thing that we need to make a break from) and we hold hands. Love that little boy of mine!

-I know that there are about a zillion more things that I should add, but I can't remember just now. So, here's what you've all been waiting for...PICTURES!

Aidan and his Papa Des (Liam's dad) when he was here visiting from Ireland over the summer


The thumb is never far from his mouth, though now its only when he's tired or unsure of something or someone new

Aidan and Ava (July 2011)

Taken about two weeks before his birthday

Aidan and his cousins (September 2011)

Gotta love this face!!!!

The kids were dressed as the Wizard of Oz for Halloween. Jake was The Tin Man, Ella went as Dorothy, Aidan as The Cowardly Lion, and Ava as Glinda, The Good Witch.

Aidan and Ava entertaining the family on Thanksgiving Day

Family Picture (December 2011)

Not really a fan of Santa