Update and a photo dump

Hard to believe that two weeks have gone by since I have returned home from Ethiopia......

While in country I was SO excited to see what was thought to be the last document we needed in order to FINALLY submit our I-600 application. Unfortunately, I found out late last week that there is one more thing. So believe it or not, we are still waiting :(

Sigh. It sometimes feels like the delays will never end, as we have had more than our share.

This mama shed some tears last Friday when I found this tidbit of information out, as that news pretty much snuffed out the last glimmer of hope that we had to make it to Ethiopia again before the courts close in August. There just isn't enough time.

On the bright side, I found out today that my super teeny Little Miss is finally putting on more weight. Besides discovering that our gal was older than we previously thought, the most surprising thing about the trip was seeing first hand just how small she was. Seriously. SUPER SMALL. She's been in our agencies transition home for 4+ months and had only put on 2 pounds. A half a pound a month? Not much for an already small kid who is getting good care. When I was in country, I found out from the nurse that they had her on an NG tube for a week or so trying to increase her weight, but to no avail as she would just spit up the excess. I also found out from personal experience that not only does she not eat much, but that she is a really slow eater......concerning when you know that, even in the best type of care possible, there is no way the staff have that kind of time to spend with each baby. (it would take her 45 min. to 1 1/2 hrs. to eat 2 to 3 ounces) - so it was obvious that she needs more calories per ounce, that a specialized formula would give. I assumed at her size that she was already on such a formula. Turns out she was not.

Guess what? Now she is!
Has me wondering if that was the reason this mama really needed to go visit :) Before we were seeing a typical weight gain of at most 2 oz. per week, and some weeks no gain at all. I got an email today with her current stats (separate from our normal weekly updates, which typically are a week behind) and she had gained 6 ounces.......in only ONE week - that was almost a whole month of gain before.

Needless to say, I am absolutely rejoicing!!!!!

So now it is official. Even though she is nowhere near newborn age, she now has the exact weight, length and head circumference that my oldest child had AT HIS BIRTH. 

Crazy, right? Whew. Now on to the photo dump because I realized that I didn't share many pictures from the trip :)

Here are some random pics from our trip.................

Although appearing high maintenance, we had surprisingly little personal effects in all this baggage!

Our quick stop in London - the London Eye from a park across the river

Epic fail. My attempt at a selfie w/ Big Ben in the background......

Big Ben

Westminister Abby

Permanent ping pong table in a courtyard - awesome.

Waiting at the London Heathrow Airport to check our bags for Ethiopia!

Glimpses of Africa out of the plane window

Construction

Connected in Hope

Trying my hand at weaving.....let's just say, I'm not a natural.

No words needed......

Outside of the weaving compound - drying spices

My youngest man was BY FAR the funniest person to facetime. Lots of closeup shots!

View out of the window of the guest home.

The street directly outdoors getting a cobblestone facelift. Quite the project to watch.

Rhonda.......heading off on her own. Did I mention that I'm a big chicken?

When I sent this pic to Jason from Ethiopia - his message back? "Leave it to you to measure our baby with candy"

Can I get a collective Awwwwwww.............

There you have it folks, the bulk of my trip. There are definitely things I wish I would've taken pictures of, but in the moment, it didn't seem right OR was taking away from the experience - such as when we visited Embracing Hope. Hard to capture the awesomeness of that in pics. It needs to be seen. In person. I also took limited pics of things pertaining to my Little Miss that I can actually post - since I can't show her face until we've passed court. 

Please continue to pray for our process, that our paperwork would be freed up soon and for the continued health and weight gain for Little Miss. We really do appreciate all the prayer support of our friends and family!