Grant is a REAL DAD now!!!

I got to skype with Grant and Denver earlier today...thanks to Uncle Reggie for using a flashlight as a spotlight so that I could actually see them and not just their silhouette.  They are all doing well, when I talked to them they had had Denver for about 4 hours and said that he was doing great.  It was a little chaotic at the orphanage because their original driver (Solomon) got into a wreck so they had to send them another driver who Grant said was good but his english isn't near as good as Solomon's.   So when they finally got to the orphanage there was no one there who spoke good English and they really weren't able to get much information from the nannies.   Having said that they all seemed to be doing just fine with it and just rolling with the punches.  Grant is an AWESOME dad, it was sooooo good to see him holding Denver on his lap, playing with him and making him laugh.  I cannot wait until they get home on Friday. 
This whole adoption process has been good for our patience and has taught us both that sometimes you have to wait for the things you really want in life;  however, this is going to be the hardest part for me.  I am so used to being with Grant that I cannot stand to be away from him, he is my rock.  The prize at the end will all be worth it, but please keep us all in your prayers.  God bless you all!!!

PS:  Grant is going to try and send me some pics tomorrow depending on how good the interenet connection is so check back for them :)

Grant's On His Way!!!

Well sorry it's been a while since we posted...I know I start every blog off like that but I can't help it I feel guilty for being such a bad blogger.  Grant and Uncle Reggie (my trip stand-in) are about 2 hours away from landing in Ethiopia.  They get in 7:45 am Saturday, Ethiopian time, and go straight to the orphanage to pick up Denver.  I am trying to stay busy washing, drying and folding baby clothes.  Grant made me a "Honey do" list before he left to keep me busy.   I'm gonna be making Home Depot runs, taking trips to the grocery store (it's true, don't have a heart attack), organizing all of Denver's bottles and sippy cups, child proofing the house and hopefully finishing many many more tasks. 
Oh and for those who know my family, my brother and sister-in-law had their little boy Eli 5 weeks early but he is doing very well.  We got to make a run down to Texas to see him yesterday after we dropped Grant off at the airport.  His big sister Lilly is very proud of him and already wants to hold him and give him some lovin'.  It was so fun to see them together, I can't wait for Denver to be thrown into the mix.  Signing off for now, but I will post tomorrow as soon as I hear from Grant.  God bless you all!!!  

Airport Arrival!!!

 

Denver, along with his father, will be arriving at the Will Rogers World ariport (I've never really understood where the "world" part came in but oh well)...anyways, my 2 sweeties will be arriving Friday, June 24th at 4:30.  We are inviting anyone who wants to be there.  The plan thus far will be for everyone to meet up in the baggage claim about 4:30ish.  I will post any changes in the date or time if a delay occurs.  I bought some little Ethiopian flags for people to wave, I know it seems a little corny but it's my version of the gum cigars that people hand out after they have a baby.  Although those gum cigars are mighty tasty so maybe I should get some of those to.  Well we hope to see you at the airport in a couple of weeks if you can make it.  Let me just say that this has been a long time coming but Denver is well worth the wait.  God bless you all!!!

We Have an Embassy Date!!!

Our Embassy date is June 20^th.  We finally get to bring Denver home!!!  In just two weeks I will be headed to Ethiopia.  I will be arriving in Ethiopia on June 18^th which means I will be picking up Denver from the orphanage on fathers day.  I can’t think of a better way to spend father’s day.  Now the fun of packing and getting ready for the trip begins.  Vanessa has been doing a good job of getting everything together for the trip.  I'd be lost without her. 

We also received our monthly update today.  Everything is pretty much the same except he now has 12 teeth.  Here are the new pictures that came with the monthly update.  Notice he's not wearing pink or purple.

Almost there...

We are so close, it almost feels surreal.  All we are waiting for now is confirmation on our embassy date.  We requested June 20th for our 1st pick for our embassy date and we should hear back from the embassy this week.  If this date works Grant and my Uncle Reggie will probably be flying out a couple of days before the 20th and getting back around a week later.  I am just trying to stay busy until Denver gets home that way I won't drive myself crazy worrying about silly stuff. 
I finally gave in and bought Denver some shoes (size 5), its a guestimation but hopefully they will work, if not I have 6 pairs of shoes to return.  Our good friends little boy is about the same size as Denver so I went off his shoe size.  Good thing for Targets good return policy.  Well friends I think that's all for now...sorry for the lack of posting and the boring post.  God bless you all!!! 

It's all a waiting game now

I apologize it has been a while since we have posted.  We’ve been busy.  And we don’t even have Denver home yet, so I can’t imagine what it will be like once we finally get him home.  So what’s new?  We have received Denver’s birth certificate!  That’s right, what took Obama 2 years to do took us only 3 weeks (sorry, that’s the last time I’ll make an Obama birth certificate joke).  We sent our Embassy paperwork to Ethiopia this week.  Our agency will submit it to the US Embassy in Ethiopia on Monday, May 23^rd.  This means we are literally just waiting on a phone call.  How long will we have to wait?  Well that is a good question.  We’ve heard some people only wait a few days while others wait weeks if not months.  So there’s no telling.  I guess we’ll continue to wait. 

Here are a few more pictures from when we were in Ethiopia.   

You have to take your shoes off befoe entering the orphanage

Denver with his mom

He's not too sure yet

Denver won this stare contest

Our First Family Picture

**Pictures courtesy of Wes & Nina Mullins.

Quick Update

Hey, this is Grant posting.  Sorry it has been a while since we have posted any updates.  Unfortunately there hasn’t been much to update.  We received our monthly update today.  Everything was positive.  He continues to grow.  He’s able to stand while holding on to stuff.  Before you know it he’ll be off to college.  They grow up so fast.  Here is the picture we received with his update.

He’s not wearing pink!!!  Maybe he outgrew all the pink clothes at the orphanage.

We haven’t made any progress as to getting an Embassy date.  We are still waiting on his birth certificate so we can fill out the rest of the paper work to submit our petition to the Embassy.  Hopefully we’ll get his birth certificate quicker than Obama got his.  Sorry I couldn’t resist.  I’ve been making that joke a lot at work.

That is all we have for now.  Keep praying it won’t be much longer.