The Adkins Family

Just got a call from the agency that once again, our letter was not there.  I find myself super irritated about it.  I just want to get my little boy home.  Wish some people would work a little overtime.  There were 7 families in Ethiopia for court today and it doesn't look like any of them passed, plus the 4 of us from last week.  Some families posted that they found out their letters were written, they just didn't make it today to the court.  Hopefully our letter is also written, and just hasn't made it there and will tomorrow.  Our agency is going to try again tomorrow to see if the letter is there for us.  Pray for a Merry Christmas Eve for us tomorrow!
Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow, we will be celebrating our Saviours birth, and praising Him that he is in conrol.  I can't post pictures yet, but hopefully I can tomorrow!  Will have to settle for a picture of his hand grabbing his daddy's shirt :)

After a looooong plane ride, delays and missed flights, we are home safe and sound.  So glad to be home and sleep in our own beds, but part of our heart is still in Ethiopia.  I miss him so much already .
Our last day there was great.  In the morning, we went to the transition home and saw Kaiser.  He was sicker, which made me very sad.  Not only do I have to leave my child, but I have to leave him when he is sick.  The tears were flowing.  Despite his fever, coughs and stuffy nose, he was cheerful and laughed quite a bit.  We had to say goodbye, which was a lot more painful than I thought it would be.  We did it with Lilia, so I thought I was prepared.  We only spent about 2 hours with Lilia before we left, but we probably spent close to 18 hours with Kaiser, so I think that was the difference.  The only peace in my heart came from knowing God will protect him, and that the nannies in the transition home love him dearly.  He was cleaner than my own kid usually is.  We said goodbye, and that we would be back soon to bring him home.

After lunch, we went to a coffee factory.  Did you know that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee?  I knew there was a reason we chose Ethiopia!  Specifically the Sidamo region where Kaiser is from.  It was a pretty neat factory.  Then we pretty much packed and went to the airport. 

We are getting ready to lay down our heads.  God is good.  He has given us such a gift, and we hope we can show God that he chose the right people to be Kai's parents.  Embassy here we come!  We need to bring our baby home!  We are hoping for Jan. 19th, but are prepared for a later date if it happens.  The first thing we need is that darn letter from MOWA.  Pray for the 23rd!

5644 S Ingalls St

Littleton, CO 80123

Today was the most emotional day yet. We spent the morning talking with our coordinator Duni about court proceedings, meeting Kaiser's birth mother, etc. It made me feel so sad, a little anxious and uneasy about tomorrow. Pray for peace. Peace for us, and peace for her. I can't even imagine what is going through her mind and heart. I hope we give her a little hope that her son is going to be loved and adored, and possibly that she did the right thing.


We then went to visit 2 separate orphanages. I left in complete tears. I questioned....Why God? Why so many? Why can't you bring parents for them all? Why can't you just snap your fingers and just change the way things are?

We brought 150 matchbox cars to hand out and eaqch and every kid lit up when we gave them one, and carried it around like it was their prized posession. The smiles made our hearts melt. Even with all the loss and poverty in their lives, it is so amazing to see that all of the kids had smiles on their faces. About 5 little kids came up to me when we left and gave me a hung and kissed my cheek. I told them all that Jesus loved them. I don't know if they understood, but I am hoping maybe they felt the love of Jesus through us.

It is also amazing because back in November, some of the families from our agency visited one of the orphanages and it was in dire need. It looks like people heard and helped because we felt like it was in better shape today than it was a month ago. The question of "Why God?" haunted me all day long, but in the end, I understood that things are, just because they are. I can only do as the Lord tells me to do, and let Him figure out all the rest. He is in control, and even though I don't understand, He still holds each and every child in his hand. He is their ultimate Father. But, tomorrow, I am hoping that Ethiopia has one less orphan :)

After the orphanage visits, we went to lunch at the Blue Top restaurant. Americanized food and Ethiopian food. It was a lot of fun, and a little distraction from the morning.

Then to the transition home to see our bugaboo. He was smiling, and we got him to laugh today playing peek-a-boo and tossing him in the air. I put him in his little Christmas outfit and took his picture with his "Ho Ho Ho" hat and "Santa's little man" onesie. What a cute little doll. He loves to be held while we are standing up. He gets fussy if you hold him too long sitting down and as soon as you stand up, he is happy as can be. He got his hair washed and had some oil in it today, which made it super curly! Like mama like son. He has the most mild temperament so far. He just goes with the flow. A lot like his big sister.

We are done for the day! We get to rest and take a nap before dinner. Fish for dinner, so I will probably be eating cinnamon nuts and caramel again :)

Tomorrow we are supposed to meet Kaiser's mom after she goes to court. Pray for that meeting, and please pray that we pass court!! I don't want to go home without knowing he is officially ours!

We love our little boy!! He is so sweet and smiley. He really has a pretty calm personality. The only time he got fussy was when we layed him down and when he was tired.


We spent the morning shopping for a little while. We went to a street with a lot of little shops kind of like Mexico. There were little kids coming up to us wanting to shine our shoes and asking for food. We had a lot of granola bars to hand out and it made them happy. We got some cute stuff.

We then went to lunch at a little italian place that was like an art gallery. The food was pretty good, but took a long time. My stomach started to get sick a little but it passed. After lunch we went to the transition home (our orphanage) and it was great. We spent the first hour taking pictures of other families children and handing out care packages to them that their parents from the US sent with us. They were all so happy to get their little packages. It was a great moment! I wanted to just hold my baby, but Lee reminded me of how important it is when you are back in the US without your kids to just get a picture or video of them! Something we were happy to be a part of.

We then got to hold our little boy. He had a bath because his hair was so soft and smelled really good. He was super smiley today and was trying to talk to us. He is way more congested today than yesterday. His nose was really stuffy and he was coughing a little. But he seemed in good spirits! We gave all the donations to the transition home today also. Kai pie was tired so I rocked him in my arms and he fell asleep almost right away. It was so cute because 2 nannies came up to us throughout the day and said "he is mine." It was so cute because they wanted us to know they were his nannies, and they love him. It was so sweet and we got their pictures. Kaiser had on 0-3 month stuff today and 3-6 month yesterday, both seemed to fit pretty well.

We get about a 2 hour break and then we are heading to a traditional Ethiopian dinner with dancing tonight. Yes, I will be stocking up on cinnamon nuts and caramel before I go :)

The kids at the transitional home are exceptionally happy. They all play soccer together and were dancing and singing today. It is great to see smiles on their faces!

More tomorrow!

This was one of the most awesome days of our lives!! We started out at the orphanage, standing there waiting to see our buddy. They broought him out to us in the clothes we sent him in November and he is a little doll. He is beautiful! He has the biggest brown eyes, and the whites of his eyes are super white, just like Lilia's eyes! His hair is awesome. It is soft like cotton candy, and loosely curled. And he has a lot of it. In the morning, he acted like he was sick and not feeling good. We felt the rattling in his chest, and the nurse in me was checking his respiratory rate and watching his nasal flaring. He wasn't real smily, just let us hold him and he pretty much just sat there. He started getting fussy so I stood up and rocked him, and he fell right asleep.


We left and went to lunch at a pizza place that was pretty good, and really inexpensive. Then to a coffee shop that looked like starbucks, and they are everywhere like starbucks. We didn't even feel like we were in Ethiopia for a minute. Our guides and drivers have been great. Super friendly and they know the ropes.

In the afternoon, we went back to see him and he was sleeping in his little crib. They woke him up and gave him to us. He was super happy this afternoon. We fed him a bottle and then he was all happy. Lee got him to smile and giggle a little. He was BUSY! Didn't want to sit. Wanted to jump and squirm. The johnny-jumper is going to be fun for him! He got fussy again so I stood up and rocked him to sleep again. Then we put him down in his crib. We got to do footprints of him today, too.

It was awesome to see him and hold him finally! Woohoo! We think he might be the cutest :)

Tomorrow it is shopping in the morning, then back to see him in the afternoon. We have 8 care packages to deliver to other people's kids tomorrow and take all our donations. We are beat. The hours of sleeplessness are catching up. Goodnight!!

Sorry about the message!  I will try again...   We made it finally!!  IT was a pretty easy trip overall.  Short layovers, nice people!  The Ethiopian airlines are really nice and the flight attendants were great.  We ate 3 meals, well, kind of.  They ran out of chicken so I got my most hated food on the planet.......fish.  Overall, it was okay.  We made it in last night and had about 4 hour sleep, waking up to wild barking dogs, and a loud muslin prayer guy?  It is entertaining, and really interesting to be in someone else's world!   We are so excited for the day!  We are leaving in an hour to see our sweet baby's face!  We can't wait to hold him in our arms!!  We get to spend the whole day with him!  Hopefully feed him, change him into his Christmas clothes we brought, and play with his toys!  Yay!!!   We will try to post as soon as we see him!   Thank you to all our family and friends for the prayers and the support over the last year and a half.  IT is finally here!!!!!   Love you!

Amy said internet access is slow and her email cut off, so I am pretty sure there was more to her message.  Stick with us while we try to work out the kinks!

We leave Saturday the 11th for Ethiopia.  We will arrive at 9:30 am Sunday Denver time.  Happy B-day to me!  We will get to see Kaiser on Monday the 13th and will get to spend about 3 hours a day with him.  Our court day is Thursday the 16th.  My sister will hopefully be able to update the blog while we are gone.

Pray for us!

We are leaving in 22 days!!!!!  Ahhhhhhh.  I am scrambling trying to get everything bought, donations gathered, bags packed.  All the while trying to work on Christmas shopping and helping Santa build a puppet theater for my sweet Lilia for Christmas before we leave.  Actually, Santa isn't doing any of it.  It's all me!  We get to take 4 bags free of charge and we have so many donations that we are going to have to fit our belongings in one bag and the other 3 will be filled with donations.  I have a lot of formula that was donated by the Enfamil and Similac reps at my hospital and so will have to take some of it on trip #2. It is such a blessing to see so many people come forward to help us!
Lilia is really excited about her brother.  She is really noticing other people's brothers and is trying to pick them up and make them laugh.  I can't wait to see my 2 kids together!  Our agency told us that if we pass court and the paperwork goes smoothly, we will probably be travleing mid January to bring him home.  It is kind of ironic because we got Lilia in our possession on January 18th.
We are really excited this year for the holidays, and especially because it is the last one Kaiser ever has to spend alone.  We are gonna be a family of 4!!  Woohoo! 

We leave for Ethiopia 6 weeks from today!!  We will be leaving on December 11th and arrive in Ethiopia the night of the 12th (which happens to be my birthday and the best present ever!)  We will see our little man the next 3 days, and then head to court on the 16th.  Then we leave the night of the 17th and make it back to Denver at noon on the 18th.  We have so much to do until then!  We are still taking donations if anyone is interested!  We get 4 free bags and are trying to fill them all.  Plus gifts for the nannies and the kids in the state orphanage.
Our dear little South Jeffco Sabercats lost their playoff game today and we are sad about it.  It was a great year and we are proud of them!
Lilia is loving all the leaves and has jumped in them a bunch.   And she has a new FAVORITE show.  Dinosaur train is out, and Dino Dan is in!  Lee and I really miss dinosaur train though, and are sad to see it go.  I just love this picture of Lilia and it might be one of my favorite ones ever of her!  I look at her and think.......you are the most beautiful girl God ever made.  Inside and out.  We are lucky!!  Our good friends have a one-year-old who was pulling Lilia's hair today and she told me about it.  I told her she might have to get used to it because her baby brother might pull her hair.  She said, "Is he gonna pull it all out?"  It is gonna be a transition for us all, but especially for her I think.  I know she will be an awesome big sister, though.

We are going to meet our son!!  We heard today that we have a court date for December 16th.  We will be back home in time for Christmas.  Yay!!

  Please say a prayer for our little son!  We got word this week that he is sick with a respiratory infection and is on antibiotics.  There is also a mumps outbreak where he is at.  We wish we could be there to hold and comfort him, but w e know that the Lord is with him.
Court dates are coming along, and there are 16 people in front of us right now.  We are hoping for late November, but thinking it will be December.

My litte girl started kindergarten this past Monday.   I asked her how it went and she said, "It was terrific!"  She has already made a few friends and is having her first play date tomorrow at the park after school.  She doesn't say a lot about what she did at school except recess, and playing in the sand, swinging, etc.  She is going 1/2 day in the morning.  She is getting so big!
We are still #1.  Never ending #1.  Eternal #1.  The only time in life a person could get tired of being #1.   It is gonna be soon, I hope.  Or I am going to keep losing a lot of sleep!!

My little girl is 5 years old today!!  We had a great party for her, and she had a fun day playing with all her new toys.  Dinosaurs everywhere.  No dolls, no makeup, no princess stuff.  Dinosaurs.  You go girl!! 

When we go to Ethiopia, we are going to try to bring as many donations to the orphanage as possible.  We saw the list, and it immediately made our hearts hurt because of all the need.  If anyone has it on their heart to help us with donations, here is the list we were given of the current needs. 

Current Transition Home Needs
1. Underwear for boys and girls from toddler to 10 years of age, especially for boys and children under age 6
2. Wipes
3. Baby Bouncers
4. Scrubs, deodorant, toothbrushes, and toothpaste for nannies

General Needs:
o Paper Towels
o Children’s clothing (new or slightly used); Boys and Girls; sizes 0-8 years. Clothing needs include day clothes (especially pants), pajamas, underwear, and shoes.
o Diapers for up to 30 pounds
o Toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss
o Toys to stimulate babies such as colorful objects, rattles, etc. that are appropriate for babies up to 2 years
o Unscented baby wipes
o Powder formula with DHA/RHA*
o Lactose free formula*
o A + D Original Ointment, Diaper Rash and All-Purpose Skincare Formula;
o Hand Sanitizer
o Pens (to use as gifts at appointments, etc.)
o Candles
o Children’s Notebooks
*For traveling families taking formula the following brands are acceptable:
• Enfamil
• Similac
Soy based or other special formulas are also acceptable as long as they are one of the brands listed above.

Medications/Medical Donation Needs
o Multivitamins
o Tri-vi-sol (o to 6 months)
o Poly-vi-sol (6 months to 2 years)
o Chewable multi-vitamin (2 years to 9 years)
o Adult multivitamin (9 years plus)
o Tylenol (acetaminophen)
o Infants
o Children's
o Suppository
o Syringes for giving medicines (5mL)
o Plastic and Latex disposable gloves
o Baby nose saline spray
o Neosporin
o Mouth and nose masks
o Benadryl liquid/elixir
o Permetherin for scabies
o Lice kits
o NG tube (feeding tube) pediatrics
o Infant & child urine collection equipment
o Surgical gloves
o Pediatrics cannula
o Butterfly cannula
o IV fluids(Normal saline)
o DNS
o DW
o Syringe with needle(10cc)
o Syringe with needle(5cc)
o Syringe with needle (3cc)
o 40% Dextrose
o Ceftriaxone 500 mg IV
o Ceftriaxone 250 mg IV
o Ceftriaxone 500 mg IM
o Ceftriaxone 500 mg IM
o Gentamycin 80 mg
o Plasil 10 mg
o Amoxacillin 500mg/5 ml
o Amoxacillin 250mg/5ml
o Cotrimoxazole 480 mg/5 ml
o Cotrimoxazole 240 mg/5ml
o Augmentin 312mg/5ml
o Masks
o Gowns( Nurses uniforms,scrubs)
o Grisofulvin syrup
o Grisofulvin tabs
o Clotrimazole cream
o Dezor cream and Shampoo
o Anti dandruff shampoos
o Miconazole cream
o Candacort cream
o Hydrocortizone cream
o Alcohol swabs
o Grisofulvin 125 mg tabs

THANK YOU in advance for any help you can give our son's first home and the people that are loving on him.  We pray you will be blessed mightily in return!