Happy Birthday Danny!

Dear Danny,

Today is your 4th birthday.  Your dad and I really wanted to be with you, but it just wasn't God's plan for this year.  I can promise your 5th birthday will be an amazing bash!  (In fact some of your friends are already asking about it!)   Today we also learned some fun information about you.  We learned that you are a little guy!  According to the report you are just shy of three feet tall, and weigh around 23 pounds.  You might be embarrassed by me telling this, but you can use the potty when you need to!  This makes me a happy momma, and even though we expect to bring you home in diapers, it's a great sign that you will be ready to fully potty train soon! We also learned some more info about your biological parents.  They live in the village where you reside in an orphanage, and were young when you were born.  To my knowledge you don't have any biological siblings.  You have had a couple of surgeries in your short life, but shouldn't need any more major surgeries that we can foresee.

At your orphanage you play with the other kids, and get to go outside.  You are part of a "Granny Program" and when your Granny comes to see you you cheer!  I just love knowing this about you!  You don't feed yourself yet, but you do like to throw your cup. When I told your dad that he laughed!

We can't wait to meet you next week, and we are really hoping to throw you a little birthday party so that you never have another go uncelebrated.  Your dad and I, along with tons of others, love you so much and are excited to bring you home with us!

Love,

Mommy

Sunday Prayers vol. 28 Christmas Edition!

I can not believe that in less than a week we take off to meet our son!  It's also amazing to imagine what next Christmas will be like with him here.  We are pretty sure that holiday celebrations at orphanages are small at best, and probably don't include specific gifts for individual children, so Christmas 2012 will be like nothing he has ever seen!  I can't wait!!!  (In fact I sort-of want to begin shopping now!)  Here are this week's prayer requests......

1. Danny: please pray his heart is prepared to meet us and accept us as his Momma and Daddy. Also, tomorrow is his 4th birthday, so pray it is happy, and they let us throw a little party for him while there!
2. US!!  Safe travels, no flight delays, good sleep (I do not sleep on planes, so this will be interesting) and safety driving across a foreign country with our driver and facilitator.
3. Our team!  We are so blessed to work with an amazing team both here in the US and in Danny's country.  I'm so looking forward to meeting everyone and spending some time with them.
4. Our families and friends!  You have all been so incredibly supportive, and we could not appreciate you more.  Each of you are in our prayers as we embark on the next steps of this journey.

Merry Christmas to each of you.  We pray that you know the peace that comes from knowing Christ!

Sunday Prayers vol. 27

I've been a bad blogger!  December is so crazy work-wise that I am barely keeping it together, add getting ready to leave for a week to that and I'm out of time!  Please forgive me for not keeping up better.  Honestly, there isn't much new info to tell.  Two weeks from today we will be arriving in Danny's country, but if you've been following along you knew that already!  Here are this week's prayer requests:

1. Danny....please pray his heart is prepared to meet us and accept us as his family.
2. Dexter.  There is still time to make your tax deductible donation!!!
3. Wes and Me: We have so much to finish up to be ready for travel.  Please pray our time is multiplied and our anxiety is eased.
4. Travel: pray for on time flights, easy lay overs, and trips through customs in various countries (THREE!) Oh how I hope we get our passports stamped in both of the countries we will go through.


Thank you again for praying with us and for us.  In two weeks I will be posting from Danny's country!

Sunday Prayers vol. 26

Less than three weeks until we leave to meet Danny!!!  Today we were (finally) decorating for Christmas, and I realized just how unfriendly to children literally all of our ornaments and decorations are!   I also realized that next Christmas we are going to have to do the tree put-up and fluff during nap time.  Can you imagine the excitement of an almost 5 year old who has probably never seen a Christmas Tree!?  At least my mommy heart hopes he gets excited!  Anyway, this week's prayer requests:

1. Danny.....please pray that his heart is prepared to meet us.
2. Orphanage Staff: we have absolutely no idea what we might be walking into, as our facilitator hasn't ever been to Danny's orphanage. Please pray that they take pride in their work, and care about the children.
3. Our facilitators: we aren't sure who our driver will be, but please the whole team in prayer.  Their work is tough, but they love it and the children they work for.
4. US!  We have lots to do, including celebrating Christmas, and 3 full weeks of work to get through before we leave.  Personally, I'm praying for the time to fly by....I want to see my boy!!!


Thank you (a million times) for continuing to pray with us!  Can't wait for week 29 when we are posting from Danny's country of birth!

Sunday Prayers vol. 25

Four weeks from today we will be in the same country as our son!  I can't believe I just wrote that...makes it so real, and reminds me how much I need to get done in a pretty short amount of time! Here are the goods for this week:

1. Danny

2. Dexter....please consider donating, and remember all donations are tax deductible.

3. Us....like I said, lots to get done, plus full time jobs to do as well.

I think that's it for this week, nothing too specific, just straight forward.  Thanks for praying!

nothing new to report

But I thought I'd do you all the favor of checking in anyway.  :)

Here is a question for our 49 followers, and the facebook masses:  what are some easy to transport toys we should take with us for when we meet Danny?  We've noticed from our adoptive friends many of the orphanages don't have much to play with, and we would like to have some fun stuff to do during our visits.

How about you ask US questions too.....what do you want to know about adoption, Down Syndrome, and what happens next?  Tell me, I promise to answer them all!

~ Jessica