Next Year

As soon as we go through all the pictures, I'm planning on posting lots from our Christmas.  We had such a good holiday, but there was a part of me that felt a little sad.

Somewhere in Ghana, a little one did not have a family to celebrate with.  I'm guessing that they did not listen to the story of Jesus' birth or receive any gifts.  As I watched Judah playing with his new toys, get smothered with hugs and kisses, and eating all kinds of good food, I knew that our other child was not having the same experience.

The song above played on the radio all through the season.  Even though it was written about soldiers being away from their families during the holidays, it reminded me a lot of our situation and missing our child on Christmas.  We had such a good week celebrating with Judah, but there was part of me that kept wondering how our Ghanaian little one was doing.

Waiting is so hard.  We are so ready to see the pictures and learn more about who they are.  If you think of us, could you pray for our little one?  Prayer is "powerful and effective" (James 5:16).  And when we "call upon him, and come and pray to him, he will listen"  (Jeremiah 29:12).

And pray that next year, he or she will be home with us.

{Judah} 15 Months Old

No more monthly posts for this little guy...but Judah is changing fast so here's an update of what he's like at 15 months old.

Signs "more" and "all done" (we haven't really worked on any others so he's got these down)

Still puts everything in his mouth

Says hi, bye, mama, dada, all done, night night, hi, bye, uh oh, moo, meow, and pants when he sees a dog

Jabbers all day long

Still taking 2 naps a day

8 teeth, plus some molars

Has some rough days in the church nursery :(

Favorite foods:  bananas, yogurt melts, chicken, bread, cheese, puffs, applesauce, macaroni and cheese

loves to "sweep" the floors

loves being read to and brings us books

wiggles his little bottom into our laps

loves "Super Why"

started walking on October 6th, now is practically running


 and weighs 25.6 pounds!

First Trip to the ER

One of the hardest parts of being a mom is having sick kids!  Judah has been such a healthy boy and we haven't had to experience anything worse than a cold and cough.  But yesterday morning, we had to run Judah to the emergency room due to a really scary case of hives.

On Thursday night, Judah was getting a bath when we noticed a couple really small red dots on his belly.  I didn't think too much about it, so we put him to bed and he slept all through the night.

When he woke up Friday morning, he had hives all over his stomach, back, neck, and thighs.  It was so sad looking.  He didn't have a fever though and seemed to be acting fine.  Since I didn't use any new soaps or try any new foods, the pediatrician's office said to give him a little bit of Benadryl and call back if he looks much worse in 24 hours.

Judah seemed to be his normal little self; playing, taking great naps, etc.  The Benadryl seemed to be making the hives smaller and more pink than red.  So I was shocked to see how terrible he looked on Saturday morning -- huge hives were everywhere.  All over his face, inside the diaper area...pretty much covering his entire body.  I called the doctor again and they said that since their office was so full today and some of the hives were starting to have a purplish tint underneath, we better head to the hospital.

It has always been one of my worst fears to have a really sick kid.  I rode in the backseat with Jude and was silently praying during the car ride.  I can be an easy crier and the tears were flowing!  When we walked into the ER, I was surprised that we saw a familiar face because we knew the nurse from church.  I felt such a sense of relief knowing the nurse taking care of Judah.  I do not believe this was a coincidence and immediately felt comforted that God was listening to my prayers.

The visit took a few hours.  Judah did pretty well considering it was nap time and so many people were coming in to examine his mouth, ears, etc.  There were definitely some tears but he did fine sitting in our laps.  The doctors thought he probably  had some kind of virus which caused the hives.  The inside of his ear was a little red with a little fluid, but was not infected.  (Yet!  Hoping for no ear infection coming our way.)  He was given a prescription for some steroids and we went home for a long nap.

The steroids seem to have helped, but he still looks pretty bad.  We are so thankful it turned out to be nothing worse and hope that he looks better by Christmas.  No one ever said being a parent was easy! :)



I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating with your families!

7 Months Waiting

We're still here...waiting...hoping everyday for that phone call!  A referral would make a nice Christmas present, don't you think?  :)

Hopefully I there won't be many more of these monthly updates and we'll have good news soon.

To our newest little one- we are praying for you everyday!