He places the lonely in families...

We are home. ALL of us. And I am adjusting to being the mother of four kiddos, ages 5 and under. And I couldn't feel more blessed. It's funny, because in the past several weeks we have heard multiple times, "Oh, she's such a lucky little girl." Really? Because WE feel like the lucky ones. God took a precious little girl, from half a world away and not made of any of our DNA, and placed her perfectly into our family. She's quirky. She's independent. She's strong-willed. And she's OURS. WE get the privilege of raising this little girl. WE get to see her big toothy smile each morning. WE get to cuddle her during her two-year-old girl tantrums. WE get to be her moral compass. WE get to teach her about the love of her Heavenly Father.

No folks...she's not the lucky one. We most CERTAINLY got the better end of this deal!

Slight delay

The Humphrey's flight from Houston left just a few minutes late, and they will now be arriving in Nashville between 5:30-5:35.

Sarah

Welcome Home Party!

Amanda just called from the plane in Houston. They are leaving on time, so the welcome home party will be at 5:30 as planned just outside security! The Nashville airport website actually says they will be a few minutes early (landing at 5:12), and as of now, they will be coming into the A concourse. See you soon!

Sarah

Fun Day!

Here is the most recent update from Amanda. They leave Ethiopia tomorrow!!!!

Sarah


We've had a fun day today! Macy has REALLY come out of her shell. Tonight she has been talking a lot, and she'll say: Mommy, Daddy, Aidan, Hannah, Hootie, Nana (all from pictures in her book), ball and shoes. She'll also say "I luv youuuuuuuuu", which is so stinkin' cute in her little accent. She's coming up to us and kissing us for no reason at all. We are amazed at how much we can already love this little girl. She's understanding a lot of what we tell her, and we have picked up a lot of her language. But she'll just sing and talk up a storm and we have no clue at all what it is most the time. Right now she's standing at the wall pouting about who knows what. She's a total diva - it totally cracks us up.

Jason and I started packing as soon as we woke up this morning. Granted, we had like 36 hrs before heading to the airport. But we are soooo anxious to get on that plane, we were very happy to start putting stuff in suitcases! I am praying Macy does well on the plane. She's really well-behaved, so I think we might be okay. She loves to eat, so I am packing plenty of snacks. And she goes to sleep when I tell her to (in bed, in the van, laying on me in the carrier), so I am hoping she sleeps just fine. We will see!

We passed Embassy!

I've copied Amanda's e-mail update below. Praise God!


Sarah

Our embassy appointment today went great. Except for when Macy threw a fit because I fussed at her for throwing Jason's wedding ring across the room. And Lordy....she's loud when she cries. But other than that - wonderful! We are still due to leave Thursday evening. We should have her visa that afternoon.
I am sitting here waiting for more Italian take-out. We are over the Ethiopian food. Except Macy, of course. She's in there eating her traditional food. Hope she can adjust to chicken tenders and casseroles once we get home. (She does eat pizza though...we've already discovered that!)
Things are still going great except we are VERRRRRRRRY ready to come home.

Quirky girl!

Amanda's e-mail update from this morning is below. Their embassy appointment is tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1 PM (5 AM CST)!!!!!

Sarah


Hello again! We went to the Goodbye Ceremony today. Macy did just fine. At one point Jason and I were out of her sight, and she started screaming and ran to Jason. This was actually good because it showed that she trusts Jason. And even when I was next to him, she stayed in his arms. Right now we are in the office at the guesthouse where some traditional dancing and music is on tv and she is just groovin away watching it. She's gonna have to teach the other kids some African dance moves. Pretty funny. We are seeing A LOT of her funny little personality. I talked with her Nanny today, and she said that she has "a very strong personality". It's good to know that it's not just with me and Jason. Today I asked her if she wanted a banana, she nodded, so I went to peel it and she grabbed it, threw it on the floor, and ran to go pout in the corner. She is VERY independent. OH! Dinner just arrived! I found an Italian place that will deliver. Gosh, I hope it's good!!!

October 31st update

Here is Amanda's e-mail update from yesterday. Sorry it is a day late!

Sarah


Macy is doing really well. She slept 11 straight hours last night, and woke up perfectly happy. She is having some BAD diapers, so that has been very interesting. (And I think our housekeeper is going to end up hating us as she's changed the bedspread on Macy's bed too many times.) She LOVES LOVES LOVES me. But, Jason....not so much. We are having to work on that. I don't think she's been around too many men. She's okay with him if I am sitting with her, or if he has food. But other than that, she screams bloody murder if he tries to hold her. If he tries to play with her she'll either stick out her lip and put her head down, or she'll throw a toy. We are starting to see more of her little personality. This morning she was dancing to some African music and smiling. She's really smart. I am starting to think she might actually be close to the age the dr originally gave her. She LOVES getting dressed. And if you take off her shoes or hairbow she screams and cries. Yesterday I finally just let her nap with both on. As soon as I did that she was asleep in 2 minutes. She'll look in the mirror at herself and kind of "pose". It's pretty funny.

I had a kidney stone hit in the middle of the night last night. At first I though it was just pain from the bed, but soon realized what it was. I ended up taking some prescribed pain killers (that I brought just in case this happened) and drank a lot of water. I woke up when Macy did at 9am feeling great. So hopefully it's okay for right now.

Talk to you all soon! Going to try to make Macy play with Jason!