William and Kate

Me, about to walk through the gates of the Admiralty House in January. Today Prince William and Princess Kate rode through as husband and wife.

I cuddled up with my girl today on the couch, pajamas on and coffee in hand, to watch THE Royal Wedding we recorded. It was such a sweet moment for us. We were like two teenage girls ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the style, elegance, and romantic love story. The boys were for sure not interested...Tory says its because Prince William didn't bring his sword. Anyway, super fun time. Having been there with Tory only 3 months ago it was so fun to see on T.V., this very historical day, all the places we had been and walked. Happy Day, William and Kate!!

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Favorite quote of the day...

Abigail: Mom, I really liked watching that wedding this morning.

Me: Me too! Wasn't the princess beautiful!

Abigail: Yes, so was the girl holding her dress.

Me: That was her sister.

Abigail: Will Hannah hold my dress some day?

Me: ::tears:: Yes, Abi, yes she will.

Next favorite quote of the day...

Tory: What was your favorite part about the wedding you watched with Mommy this morning?

Abigail: When they kissed.

What?!?

Adoption: A Video

Rosalynn's Hope is an adoption ministry within our church in which adoptive families fellowship together sharing stories, encouraging one another and walking through adoption together. We were asked to help in making a video of our adoption story which was shared with the church body earlier this month. We are blessed with such a supportive family of believers.

"Best Easter Ever!" -Abigail

My Backyardigans

Warm weather means more adventures for our crew...

This is SuPerNAtE. He joined us for most of the day.

Dearest Hannah,

Today you turned 8 months old. I chatted with Nanny Hywot on Facebook earlier this week. (Random, I know.) It was about 2:30 p.m. there and she said you were laying beside her so happy and smiley. She says you are getting so big, rolling over on your own and almost sitting without assistance. She also says you love any kind of fruit. Oh how I wish you could be here for us to celebrate with you today. I hate that you can't be here yet all together. Our country's Embassy is asking for more information from your birth family before they clear us to bring you home. So again, we all wait. You have so many people who can't wait to meet you. There are 3 little people who ask about you daily, and along with our family pray for you continually. I am thankful that you are unaware of the "the wait" right now. I have to admit, it's a bit of a hard wait for your mama. I long for you to be here...

To feel those soft, soft curls, smell your sweet babyness,

to make you laugh, to watch how you LOVE your Daddy,

to see you fall asleep next to your big sister,

and see you endure your big brothers.

To sing to you of Jesus' love and tell you stories of His faithfulness.

To introduce you to your grandparents and aunts and uncles that love you so much already.

To show you the church family that has prayed for you with us.

To dress you up in all the shoes that have been purchased and given to you, to bathe you,

feed you, change your diaper

and all the other little things that come with having you.

Soon. Very soon that day will come. And we wait, not as those without trust in a sovereign God, but with a hope, a hope that I look forward to telling you all about that one day you might share in that same hope. So hurry home, Hannah Sitota. Hurry home.

Love,

Your Mama

Our Growing Habasha

I wanted to share a few of the pictures of Hannah that we have received from our agency over the last several months since referral. It is somewhat forbidden to publicly post pictures until things become more "official" in Ethiopia. So glad that we are "official" and can share what we have watched in pictures for so long.

When we received the phone call on October 13, 2010, we were told they had a 4-6 week old baby girl who was very malnourished and they did not know currently what the implications of that would be. In fact, it was said to us, at a month old she was a little less than 5 lbs. When you are so malnourished at such an early age, there can be lasting effects in development. When we were there in January, we learned she had received nothing but water, Ethiopia water, for the first 2-3 days of her life. As you will see, our baby girl has done fabulously with her growth over time and is now even showing signs of sitting and rolling over on her own.

We LOVE our little habasha! (Thanks Ginger for the fun word.)

August 2010 - Referral pics - The first time we saw her sweet face.

October 2010

December 2010 - We were able to send her a care package, enough to fit in a gallon ziplock bag. New outfit, pics of her family, and of course TOYS from her brothers and sister.

January 2011 - When we first met her.

March 2011

A little on the adoption progress: Our case was submitted to the U.S. Embassy yesterday. This is our LAST step before we can go get her!! It is unpredictable when we will be given clearance to travel at this time but we are very excited to have her home soon. We could get a phone call next week or it could be weeks before we hear anything. We covet your prayers...even still.

Lobsterfest

For the longest time I have wanted to take a spin on cooking up some seafood. It's a little intimidating for me. When my parents were in town last month we conquered my fear. The kids definitely thought it was quite delightful. Nate named our little guy "Henry" in honor of his bud who moved to Cali only a few weeks before. I don't think he realized what was about to go down when he chose this name.

"Can we keep him?"

We let Grandpa do the honors. Do you realize you put these things in a pot of boiling water ALIVE?

The goods. And that it definitely was.

Ethiopian Cuisine

With all our celebrating having a new sister, we decided the local "Queen of Sheba" restaurant should be included. Basically, you order the dish you want (we went with the combo action to get a little bit of everything) and they bring it out on one very large platter with injera, the Ethiopian flat bread. And you eat it with your hands. Incredible! Culture, people.

Her face says it all.

When our eyes first met: a video

Here is a little video of when we first met our baby girl. Warning: You may be very upset with me at the end. You will only see a few seconds of Hannah because when I saw her my eyes filled with tears and I turned off the camera to pick her up and hold her ever so tight. I'm sure you understand, right? :) But you will get a little glimpse into the transition home where she stays and the other children there with her. (The video is password protected to respect the privacy of the other children. Please do not share the password with anyone for this reason. The password is: giddensfam.)