Answer to prayer!

We got the call at 6:18pm MI time that our interstate adoption papers have been processed! We are heading back to IA! I don't know if we will get much sleep as we are SO excited to come home, we may start heading back after Isaiah's 3am or 6am feeding. Pray for safe travels! Stop in to meet Isaiah this weekend if you like! GOD IS GOOD!

Moody

I would have to say we are all a little moody the past few days!

Moods down (wah wah): Wednesday we were all sick (Derek, Isaiah and me) all day! Needless to say I now have a strong taste aversion to authentic Mexican food. We are all feeling better today thankfully.

Moods up: We were able to met Isaiah's birth father today. It was a huge blessing!

We are waiting (not so patiently anymore) for IA to process the interstate adoption papers. MI has already processed their papers, we we are waiting for IA. We are optimistically hoping to be heading back to IA tomorrow. Please pray the papers are processed tomorrow AM so we can be home this weekend. We are pretty homesick.

Here are some cute pics of the little man.

Miya's New Friend

We were going through our pictures yesterday and came across a lot of pictures of Miya and Kenzy. These two became pretty good friends over the couple of weeks she was here.

Concluding a Much Needed Weekend

Let's get pictures out of the way first:


We had a great weekend with family here. We hadn't gotten the chance to do all the "tourist" stuff in Holland, we had saved it up knowing that we had people coming.

On Friday we spent the day in downtown Holland. Which is kind of like Valley Junction. Lot's of little shops, restaurants and coffee shops... you get the picture.

We first went to JP's coffee shop. It's a great little local place that serves a great coffee. Then we went up and down the strip hitting all the shops. Holland is a sister city to Pella so they are coming off there tulip festival. So there are remnants along the strip. Joni and my Mom hit just about every shop, while my dad and I made up games with Miya to keep her entertained.

We stopped for lunch at the 8th St. Grille. They have awesome soups, I've been there twice since we've been here.

After that we went back to my parents hotel room to go swimming, play ping-pong and just have some fun, relaxed down time. We then went out for pizza and beer at the New Holland Brewery... good food, good beer. It was perfect.

Saturday we wandered the farmers market downtown, and then went to the beach on Lake Michigan. It was Awesome! Chilly, but very fun. We played in the sand, got our feet in the freezing water, played frisbee and just enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and the chance to get out and do something unfamiliar. We closed up the day with a little miniature golf, that was a lot of fun too.

Sunday came and we had to make a tough decision. On Saturday Miya had a meltdown because she wanted to go home. Sunday morning we sat down and had a talk with her and we decided that she should go home. It was a tough decision because she keeps us entertained and feeling somewhat normal. But she was missing things from home, Gizmo...our dog, and we knew her last day of preschool was this week and she would benefit from having closure with that.

We were very sad to have her leave! It brought out the homesickness in us. We had a rough couple hours as we just let out all our emotions. It's been an emotional month and it all came out.

At this point we are blessed by the people we have met and the time we have spent here, but we are ready to be home. We know that by this weekend we should be on our way, but this weekend just can't come fast enough.

So we are making plans for the week to keep ourselves busy for two reasons. One, to keep time moving so we don't get bored and the time goes fast. And Two, because we don't want to be loafs, we need to have fun while we are here.

Thanks for the support. We love and miss all of you.

Too busy to blog!

You can probably imagine our life is a little more busy these days with a new baby (notice the lack of postings since we gained custody). We are still in MI and Isaiah is keeping our hands full. Miya is LOVING being a big sister and wants to hold him constantly. He is a pretty good baby, but is definantly a night owl.

Derek's parents and my brother and sister-in-law Marcus and Kelli are here for the weekend (one because they missed us so much, but mostly to meet the little dude). Isaiah is loving the attention and has been great with our 'on the move' weekend. We have LOVED having some IA come to us as we are VERY homesick! We have enjoyed our time here in MI, but are very ready to come home! We hope to be home by next weekend.

Will upload some pictures soon!

I've Been Surprised

So Joni arrived back to the house tonight with ISAIAH!!!, after I had emailed a few friends that the judge still had not signed.

She's funny! I didn't go to Sue's because of my health issues discussed in the previous thread. So she thought it would be fun to surprise me. Well, I was surprised... very pleasantly surprised.

So we are now officially in phase 3. We have gained custody of the little man, now we're just waiting to head back to Iowa after the inter-state papers go back and forth.

So far tonight Isaiah has been a little fuss ball. Letting us know who's boss I guess.

Also when Joni and the girls got back, I had another surprise. Miya and Kenzy were all dolled up from there Libby-Lu makeover. And to my big surprise... Miya got her ears pierced! She was pretty excited about it. I have to admit... she looks cute with them.

Not Feeling so Good

I (Derek) woke up this morning not quite feeling right. At the time I had a bit of a woozy stomach and was really thirsty.

I feel I may have doomed myself when I tried to remedy it. Instead of drinking some water and resting... I went to the coffee shop to get some work done, and at the same time consumed a grande Milky Way Dark Latte. Oops. What can say, I was ambitious to get some work done as Joni and Eryn were taking the girls out for some girl time.

So I sat at the coffee bar slowly feeling worse and worse. Some old guy sat down next to me and wouldn't shut his yapper. I couldn't understand him either. But I felt bad, I think he just wanted someone to talk too. I kind of ignored him and nodded my head. As I listened to him... what I feel, make up stories, I got really cold, dizzy, and fatigued. So I came back to the house to try and take a nap. But instead the caffeine from my drink kept me up. So I went back to the computer to try and work. But every time I work for 15 minutes, I need to rest for the same. My body is starting to feel like I ran a marathon. BODY ACHES!! Whatever. I was hoping to get a lot of work done today... but that just won't be the case.

Because of the bug, I have opted not to go see Isaiah today. Joni will be heading over there momentarily. I installed the car seat... hoping the judge signs the papers while she is there.

Otherwise. The weather is gorgeous! Unfortunately going out there only wears me out in a few minutes.

We'll get some pics posted later of the little dude. And the girls all decked out from there Libby Lu makeover!

Phase 2 Continues...

We are still waiting for the judge to sign our adoption petition. We were really hoping he would sign before the weekend, but he did not. It is very frustrating waiting for a simple signature, but we still get to visit Isaiah everyday. We are also very blessed to be in a great community here and have the emotional and spiritual support we need. We miss our family and friends from Iowa a lot, and can't wait to bring Isaiah home for everyone to meet him. We thank you for your continued prayers as phase two continues.

Kevin took us on a great tour of Holland yesterday. We saw a ton of beautiful tulips and are looking forward to exploring Holland more, especially when we get Isaiah.



We had a great visit with Isaiah yesterday as well. He was talking very loud!

Our Michigan Community

Thursday I was able to visit Isaiah while Derek and Miya stayed at our host home to hang-out. Below are a few pics of Isaiah yesterday. He was wide awake for my whole visit.

We then went to Tunnel Park for a picnic on the beach at Lake Michigan. The lake is quite cold, but very nice to walk along the beach. Miya collected some shells and we played in the sand. It was beautiful!



In the evening we were invited for dinner by another couple for Juve and Eryn's church. I wrote a grant for Hope Ministries when I worked there a few years ago with Kevin. They were very hospitable and we loved meeting them and other friends in their community. There house is one of the most beautiful settings we have ever seen! It's been great! Kevin invited us out for a tour of the rescue mission in town. So we plan on doing that today.

Isaiah's Bedroom

We've had many people ask us about Isaiah's room so let me take a minute to show you. Plus, I wanted to try out embedding a slide show from Picassa. So let me take care of both.

Here are some pictures of Isaiah's room. It's a pretty cool and special room.

Moving into Phase 2

There is much to be thankful for as we are now officially in 'phase 2' of the adoption process. The court hearing went very well and we submitted our formal legal adoption petition to the court and R (birth mother) voluntarily relinquished her parental rights. So, we are now in "Phase 2"... waiting for the judge to sign our petition and we gain custody of Isaiah. It was a very special day as we had 'the last meeting' with R and her family after the hearing. It was very special!

Miya got to meet her baby brother for the first time today as well. It was pretty amazing! She loves him so much and wants to hold him all the time. Here are some special pics and video of Miya and her new brother.



We will get to visit Isaiah tomorrow morning for a few hours. Join us in praying the judge signs before the weekend!

We miss all our family and friends in IA and are excited for you all to meet our special guy.

We have so much to be thankful for and are overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and grace.

Pictures from Yesterday's Visit

Back to MI

We drove to MI today, this time with Miya! She was fantastic, except for the hourly question, "are we almost there?!"

Derek and Miya dropped me off at Grandma Sue's to visit with Isaiah for a few hours (they have a policy that Miya cannot visit the host care). Derek took Miya to a nearby park to get some of the stored-up energy out from being in a car all day. Isaiah is great! He has gained one pound, and is now up to 7 lbs. 12 oz. He is as cute as can be, and we will post some pictures tomorrow.

After a nice visit, we headed to our host families where Miya got to meet Kenzie (3 years old). They were off playing in no time!

Tomorrow is the court date at 11am MI time. Miya will get to meet Isaiah tomorrow as well. What a big day!

Please pray the judge signs our adoption petition papers before the weekend! Thanks for your continued prayers!

Court Date Scheduled

After a "hick-up" things are progressing once again and we are feeling more assured that the "hick-up" is behind us. Thanks for all the prayers! We are encouraged as should you be. We would be naive to think that we could do this all on our own. It's wonderful to be humbled and reminded of who to give thanks to and surrender this all to.

We are currently in what we are calling Phase 1... Waiting for the court date which has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 14th at 11am MI time. Please join us in praying that everything will go well. We will probably be heading back to MI on Tuesday. Prayerfully, when everything goes well at court, we will sign our adoption petetion Wednesday as well.

Phase 2 - waiting for the judge to sign our adoption petetion. Pray he does on Thursday or Friday! Once he signs, we then get custody of Isaiah!

Phase 3 - Interstate adoption paper process. We will have Isaiah, but are not able to leave MI with him until the process is complete. This can take up to 2 weeks. We are hoping it is fast!

Thank you for your prayers and words of encourgement! We have an amazing peace that can only come from our Heavenly Father!

Loving the Lucious Lips

Isaiah was cute this morning. He has an adorable red hue to his hair. Again he has these lucious lips and we found some cute dimples on him sometimes when he makes "smile-like" faces.


He's been slowly getting the hang of this whole bottle thing. The host mom said his second night was much better than the first. We were able to feed him and he sucked down the bottle in record time. When he was done he made some bubbles for us.


6lb 15oz is pretty small. Isaiah is one little dude. When I lift him up, he feels so fragile. But he is like every other little baby... giving off heat and cuddling right up to you. I love holding him close. You can hear his little grunts while he breathes.


Joni and I are most entertained by the little guy's faces. They are so cute and funny. This video kind of gives you some examples of what I am talking about.




Lastly, we decided to head home today after our visit with Isaiah in the morning. With the court date being a couple weeks away and our visits being only a couple hours per day. Our case worker gave us encouragement that its ok to go home and be with Miya and trust our host mom. She is amazing... she has watched over 100 babies so we know Isaiah is in the best care possible. This way we don't have to sit in Michigan using up our time off only for 2 hrs a day. Instead we can use our time for when we have custody. It will be hard being away from the little guy but we feel its a good decision for us. Plus when we got home Miya was so excited. She ran to us and hugged us and was excited to look at pictures. That was very reassuring of our decision.

Oh yeah... this is what she looked like when we got home. It was crazy day at Awana's.

Feasting Like Royal Court

We have been so blessed by our host family in our short stay! Juve (pronounced hu-vee) was adopted from Mexico when he was 15 years old and his birth mom and sisters also live here in MI. Juve's mom Angela came over today and cooked an authentic Mexican meal for us right before we went for our daily Isaiah visit. The pico de gallo was absolutely incredible and I never knew tortilla's could taste so good!

Our host family.


Eryn and Juve then invited us to her cousin's home for dinner (this is their Saturday night recurring event). Delicious shishkabob's with parmesan potatoes. Awesome!

Most importantly, we have decided to come home until the court date (yet to be determined). Emotions are running very high for me as it is VERY hard to be away from both my kids, but we believe this will be the best decision for all of us. We are heading back to Iowa after our visit with Isaiah in the morning.

Even though emotions are high, we have an amazing peace, as we know God is in control! Thank you all for your prayers. We look forward to seeing many of you soon.

Here are some pictures from our visit on Saturday.
Mom and Isaiah.


We just love this little guy's big lips.


A little glimpse of his eyes.


We've got him on binkies to strengthen his sucking.

Meeting Isaiah

So this is from yesterday. Our internet was down, so we had to wait until it got back up.

We met Isaiah Allan today! He is amazing. Our time with R and her family was very sweet, and we will treasure it forever. R is amazing and we praise God for her wise choices at a very young age! First, she chose LIFE and then she chose to provide him with LIFE ABUNDANT that she felt she couldn’t provide.

We were suppose to be discharged from the hospital around 2:00pm, but the pediatrician wanted Isaiah to urinate first as he had been circumcised that morning. So, we waited and waited. He is a very sleepy baby, so we tried feeding him so he would urinate, but he wasn’t interested in eating much. We tried blowing cold air on his ‘area’ to stimulate him to urinate, but that didn’t work either. It was quite comical, three adults sitting around waiting for a baby pee (Jennifer - our case worker and us). Finally we were given permission to leave with him at 5pm, not because he had pee’d yet, but because Jennifer convinced the hospital to let us go because we had a long ride ahead. I rode with Isaiah in Jennifer’s car, and since we don't have legal custody yet we can’t drive him around. We drove from Bad Axe, MI (Isaiah’s birth place) - yes BAD AXE - to Saginaw where we met Isaiah’s host mom (where he will stay until we get custody). Grandma Sue we call her. She has cared for over 100 babies, and is amazing. We then began the second leg of our trip and caravanned with her across MI to Ottawa County. This drive was very hard, not being with Isaiah. We finally arrived to our host home around 10:30pm. What a very long day… we realized that we have driven around 900 miles in the last 48 hours!

We arrived at our host home and were happily greeted by Eryn and Juve who generously offered to host us during our time in MI. They had a large ‘It’s a Boy!’ balloon and sign waiting for us inside along with a baby blanket Eryn made. We had a great talk with them until midnight, got to know them very quickly. Around 12:30am we finally went to bed.

Of course what you all want to see is pictures so, here they are:

Isaiah is Born...on Our Way to Michigan

Well... today's the day!

At 6:30 this morning, our case worker Jennifer called. Joni was in the shower so I answered. I was a little thrown off to be frank, as she told me R (birth mom) was having contractions all night and went to the hospital this morning. I was thrown off because of news that we may be waiting another week that we received Tuesday. We had mistakenly made plans for the weekend. I had unpacked some shirts so they wouldn't get all wrinkly. I should of know better right?!

So after I talked to Jennifer I hung up and said to Joni... "It's begun", told her the news and we began getting ready. We finished packing the bags loading the car and getting Miya ready for another day at Jo's. We told Miya the news... she was excited!!, and then we prepared her for what was going to happen.

We dropped Miya off at Jo's around 9:30 said our goodbye's, tried to keep it quick so as to not make it emotional, and shortly after we were on the road.

At around 11:30 Iowa time, Jennifer called us and let us know that a healthy baby boy was born. Isaiah officially made his grand appearance weighing 6lbs 15oz, and measuring 21.5" in length. We were excited! Of course we quickly made calls to family and friends letting them know the good news. That was great.

It was a strange feeling not physically being there for the birth of our child. And we knew we wouldn't get to see him until the second day. We had a long drive ahead and wanted to give the birth family time with him to say there goodbye's. I can't imagine the emotions.

We had one "scare" on the drive. At our second stop to get some grub I panicked as I couldn't find my wallet. We scoured the car... and I began what I would call a panic attack. Joni made a call to the gas station we stopped at 2 hrs earlier. I started thinking I accidentally threw it away with our garbage. A wonderful employee there immediately began digging through garbage bags in the dumpster.... seriously an angel. After about 15 minutes of me trying not to vomit in panic.... I opened a weird nook in the van and....whalla! My wallet. I felt relieved beyond belief. We called the gas station back and let them know... they laughed we said a super thanks for all there gracious help to do everything to help us out.

So I was able to smile, relax and breathe as we got back on the road, we still had a ways to go.

driving....
driving....
driving....

10:30 pm Michigan time.... 9:30 Iowa we arrived at our hotel. 12 hours of driving later we are here. We are tired.... seems weird since all we did was sit in a car. But were are ready to get a good nights sleep and see our beautiful baby tomorrow.

So yes.... its begun. But we are ready!