Happy 4 months!

Our sweet baby girl is 4 months old today! I so wish we could be celebrating that with her in person. I keep thinking about all the milestones we are missing out on as we wait for court. All of her little firsts that I want to share with her. I am missing all her babyness (spell check is telling me that's not a word). It's funny though because I never imagined I would care about that. When we received her referral it came as a little bit of a shock to us that she was so young. The whole time we were on the wait list I had been preparing myself for and expecting a toddler so I honestly wasn't quite sure what to make of an infant. But now that we have a 4 month old I wouldn't change it for the world! Oh how I wish for time to stop so that she stays the same until we can go get her.

Yesterday we received our first developmental update from Gladney. This really made our day because we had been worried about some of the milestones she was not achieving. I know it's normal for these kids to be somewhat behind developmentally, but that still doesn't make me worry any less. Additionally, we know that her medical condition can put pressure on her brain and lead to delays. Much to our amazement, in the six weeks since her last assessment, she has met so many new milestones and has far exceeded our expectations! She smiles, laughs, and squeals with delight now. It makes my heart so happy to hear that!

We also received our first updated picture of our cutie from Gladney yesterday. All our previous pictures were over a month old and she has definitely changed quite a bit in that time. I thought she had chubby cheeks before; but oh my goodness, somehow they got even chubbier! I don't think I've seen an Ethiopian baby with such smooshy cheeks :) They make me smile and I love them!! At least we can be sure she is well nourished!

Last Update Hopefully!

From our caseworker:
"Belay said that E is out of the hospital and was released around noon today. She is doing much better and her oxygen saturation levels are normal. She will continue to be monitored back at the foster care center by our pediatrician, and hopefully will be much much better soon!"

What a relief!!!!!  Well that was certainly a nice introduction to parenthood!

Thank you for all your kind words and prayers!

Updated Update #3

Many many thanks to the awesome Gutwein family for checking on the status of our girl and especially for answering a frantic email while in Ethiopia! Little girl was still in the hospital when they visited the Gladney care center today, but the caregivers said she was doing much better and hopefully would be released today. Goodness, five nights in the hospital, my poor baby! I am so bummed that she was not at the care center to receive our care package, get some lovin, and have photos taken. At least I can rest a little easier now knowing she's hopefully improving. (seems like deja vu) It's probably a good thing, for my sanity at least, that I didn't know anything before yesterday. Thanks everyone for your prayers and support, they mean more than you know!

*Update*

Not being released today, still on oxygen, hopefully will be able to go back to care center tomorrow.

Update #2

Our baby girl ended up being admitted to the hospital on Friday night for her pneumonia.  Belay (in-country staff) visited her on Saturday and hoped she would be released Saturday night. We are not sure of her status since then because our caseworker has been unable to get in contact with the in-country staff to get an update. Hopefully that means the news isn't too bad.

Over The Top

My friend Heidi game me this award. The challenge is to answer the questions below with one word answers and then nominate others to pass the award along. Consider yourself nominated by me if you are reading this and want to participate :) (and then let me know I nominated you so I can read your answers!)

1. Where is your cell phone? Upstairs

2. Your hair? Thin

3. Your mother? Kind

4. Your father? Frugal

5. Your favorite food? Chocolate

6. Your dream last night? Disappointing (Someone got a court date 6 days after their referral...and then I woke up...)

7. Your favorite drink? Tea

8. Your dream / goal? Mommy

9. What room are you in? Office

10. Your hobby? Baking/Reading

11. Your fear? Bees etc.

12. Where do you want to be in six years? Africa

13. Where were you last night? Church

14. Something that you aren't? Extroverted

15. Muffins? Poppyseed (almond)

16. Wish list item? Children

17. Where did you grow up? MN

18. Last thing you did? Dishes

19. What are you wearing? Squeaker

20. Your TV? Obsolete

21. Your pets? Messy

22. Friends? Special

23. Your life? Blessed

24. Your mood? Hopeful

25. Missing someone? Smooshface :)

26. Vehicle? Toyota

27. Something you're not wearing? Ring

28. Your favorite store? Amazon.com

29. Your favorite color? Pink

30. What was the last time you laughed? Now

31. Last time you cried? Thursday

32. Your best friend? Travis

33. One place that I could go over and over? Duluth

34. One person who emails you regularly? Dad

35. Favorite place to eat? Kitchen

Update

Thank you to all you wonderful people for the prayers and support! Our girl is doing better today and breathing easier. I found out she was never actually admitted to the hospital but sounds like she was taken there a couple times for breathing difficulties. Whew, I hope I never have to go through another day like yesterday!!! There's nothing like being across the world from your sick baby to make you feel helpless!

Please Pray

We would greatly appreciate anyone willing to pray for our little girl. She is in the hospital with pneumonia and has already had quite the impressive list of respiratory and other illnesses in her short life.