Gotcha Day!

What a day! Words cannot accurately describe today and all of the emotions that came along with it, but I will try my best. Here goes:

The morning started early as we continued our paper chasing. We had to go to several places to drop off forms and get Quinton's passport started today. It takes 4 days so we are praying it will be ready on Friday. We will know by Thursday if it will be possible to have it by the end of this week or not. If we do get it this week, we can book train tickets to the capital, schedule our embassy appointments for Monday and Tuesday, and....are you ready for this?-book plane tickets home!!!!!!!

We picked Quinton up around 12:00 to get his passport pictures made. It was his first ride in a car and he did fabulous! He loved watching all of the people and cars go by. Poor thing though, had to leave the orphanage right at lunch time. They decided he might get car sick if he ate first, so he had to wait until almost 2:30. Despite being hungry, he was a champ. He took about a 15 minute nap or so while we were waiting and the rest of the time he was happy go lucky.

Yeah...He's riding in Brian's lap-no car seat here. Eek!

We returned him to the orphanage for lunch and a nap and went back to pick him up for good at 4:00. We took several dozen homemade cookies and banana bread along with juice boxes for the kids and necklaces for the nannies. We spent some time with them and I loved on them all one last time. It should be no surprise to any of you that I left in tears. I cried tears of sadness for the children we were leaving behind, tears for the nannies (well-the nice ones at least) who were saying goodbye for the last time, and tears of pure joy as we walked out of the orphanage and our of those gates! I was a mess. I was experiencing so many emotions at one time and it was impossible to sort them all out.

 Me, Quinton, and one of my little buddies who has a mommy on the way!

 Us and Sonya-such a sweetie. So heartbreaking to leave her behind :(

 My happy boys!

 Lovin on my Leeza Lou :) She has a mommy coming too :)

 Comical shot of the 5 of us LOL :)

On our way out of the gate!!!!!

We walked back to the house to change clothes and headed to the market to get some things for dinner. We used the baby backpack and it was HOT. We are kinda regretting not bringing our little $15 umbrella stroller with us. It was going to be too much to carry, but I wish we had. We are going to be here anther week or so and we are going to wish we had that stroller. We are considering going out and getting one, but they are expensive here. Oh, well. we shall see.

When we got home I made Quinton a bottle. It was disgusting, but he liked it. We bought some baby food puree of chicken, peas, corn, and some other stuff and had to water it down with fruit juice. Yuck! This is what he is used to though, We do not know why yet, but he refuses liquids...like downright refuses them so the only way to get them in is to mix them into whatever he is eating. It's not so bad to mix in milk with oatmeal or bananas, but fruit juice with peas and chicken? To each his own :)

After dinner, Quinton had a blast playing with some pots and a spoon. The boy loves anything that makes noise. He was pretty sleepy since he missed most of his 2 hour nap he usually takes. I thought I would just rock him to sleep and he would be out, but it turned out to be quite a challenge. Quinton has been so easy going since we met him. He took to us right away and in a whole month, we had never heard him cry. That changed tonight. He was exhausted and bless his heart. In one day we took him away from everything he knows and brought him to this strange place. We were so excited to have him here with us, but he was scared. He cried and cried. He would laugh one minute and then cry the next. He would be fine, but if one of us left the room, he would start to cry again. It broke my heart. I was in tears. Not because he wouldn't go to sleep, but because I could not make it better right away. I know that in the end, a family is what he needs, but tonight he was looking for the comfort of his routine. Instead we bombarded him with the unknown. We changed him into his Buzz Lightyear pajamas and turned the lights off. Brian put on the lullaby music and I rocked him in my arms for what seemed like forever until he went to sleep. He fell asleep in my arms and I cuddled him until my arms were numb.

goodnight munchkin! Sweet dreams :)

As I layed in bed with my baby boy I cried again. I cried tears of thankfulness to God for blessing me with such a wonderful gift and thanked him for such a magnificent and glorifying story. Now, as I sit here and type away, my son (he is really mine!) is laying in a crib in his own brand new pair of PJ's. When he wakes up in the night, I will hear his cries and pick him up. I will comfort him and I will be his rock. He has never had this before. He has only known a life where his cries are unheard. This transition to a new life may be tough for Quinton, but from now own I will hear his cries and when I do, I will come running. I love him so much!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. There is a family here in country who needs your prayers now more than ever. The Warner's have recently adopted Joshua. They took him to the embassy for his medical clearance. They were told that he had pneumonia and needed a chest x-ray. Long story short, the family is having to rule out TB now and are facing a much longer stay here (possible 6-8 weeks) or they can have a different procedure done that would produce immediate results but could jeopardize his safety. To add to this, they are out of money AND Lisa's sister just passed away unexpectedly. Please pray for them. You can check out their page if you like and leave an encouraging comment for them. I know that God can work miracles. I have seem them throughout this entire journey. The Warner's need one now!

Love you guys!