Introducing Matthew Tesfahun Heddleson

It’s official he is ours!  Meet Matthew Tesfahun Heddleson.

 We had our court date today (and of course Daniel chose today to have his meltdowns). It is always nerve racking when you go to a different country and have to go before a judge!  It was pretty simple though, we got called into a small room, he asked us a series of questions, the best being “Do you like him” (who would say NO) and asked Daniel if he was happy about the adoption, to which Daniel replied “I am happy” and that was all he said.  We were nervous about what would come out of his mouth since he was in quite a mood today.  Then the judge asked if we knew it was final and said ok I will finish the paperwork and it was done.  Really kind of anticlimactic but it is over and he is officially ours. 

After court we went on the coffee tour and bought all of our coffee to take home. 

Then we had lunch at the Amsterdam restaurant and went shopping.  Shopping always puts my anxiety on edge, I don’t like to barter and I don’t like the people coming up to sell me other things.  As soon as you get there you are attacked by people wanting to sell you things.  We got the boys both matching soccer jerseys and traditional shirts. 

Then we got a great surprise, we got to go to the transition home for about ½ hour.  Daniel was so excited because he was really sad we would not see Matthew today or tomorrow.  He ran right in to get him and as soon as Matthew saw Daniel he got the biggest smile on his face.  Daniel had a hard time leaving him today.  Please pray with us that Daniel will do ok when we leave on Thursday to come home.  He will understand but he keeps saying “I miss Matthew”. 

Tonight is the night we go for traditional dinner with all the music and dancing.   I am so interested to see what Daniel thinks about all of that.  We can’t wait for the food it is so good. Hopefully Daniel will eat some and Mark won’t try to much raw meat.   I will update you more tomorrow on tonights adventures and our trip to the Gorge.  In the mean time enjoy some more pictures of Matthew.

 

Ethiopia Day 2

We spent all day today with Matthew.  He started reaching out for Mark and I and we got a lot of smiles.  He is so happy, calm and laid back.  He eats non-stop, I think we feed him at least 4 times in the few hours we were there.  We met with the doctor also, they have no concerns and he is healthy.  They did reveal that he loves his bottles.  When he is finished with his he will reach over and take the child’s bottle beside him.  He loves to watch people playing ball, any kind. 

It is so hard to leave him there when it is time to go.  I took him in to his nannies when it was time to leave for lunch and he clung to me.  While that is a good sign, it completely broke my heart.  So the rest of the trip Mark will have to take him back.  The nannies are still loving on Daniel and the ladies in the medical office remembered him also.  He is doing so great with just letting them hug and kiss him and not complaining.  He just stands there and smiles.

Here are Daniels thoughts on today (he’s a man of few words today):

Matthew was happier today.  He really liked the cars and his surprise from Kiesha, the little blankie.

Tomorrow we go to court.  Please pray with us because after this day Matthew will officially be a Heddleson.  We can then share pictures. 

Meetcha Day - Matthew

Today was a very long day!  We arrived in Ethiopia at 7:30. By the time we got out of the airport (was pretty sure for about 45 minutes they lost one of our bags) and to the Guest House it was 9:30.  Our guide asked if we wanted to go to church, which was one of our favorite moments of coming to get Daniel in 2010, but we opted to settle in, take showers and put Daniel down for a much needed nap.  Unfortunately, after I took a shower I fell asleep and woke up at 11:55 which they were coming to get us for lunch at 12, so we hurried to pack our bag for today and get ready.  We meet up with 4 other families and had lunch (really good hamburgers) before heading to meet Matthew. We were the only family who wasn’t here yesterday so we were the only ones who still had to meet our child. 

They brought him down those steps and all the exhaustion of 2 days of travelling and not sleeping since Thursday night melted away.  He is sooooo cute and big.  He is adorable even more so than his pictures.  He is so even tempered and didn’t cry at all.  It did take awhile to get a smile out of him though.  Good news too, he liked the cars Daniel brought for him (Daniel was worried what we would do if he didn’t like cars) and he loves any kind of ball.  He looks like he would make a good football player!  He is a nosy rosy and kept looking everywhere and anywhere there was some action happening, even when he was trying to eat.  Matthew loves Daniel, he would smile and laugh when he saw him and when Daniel wasn’t near Matthew kept looking around trying to find him, Daniel thinks it is cute now we will see in 5 years or so! I can't wait to share pictures we got so many cute ones of the boys but I can't share until we pass court on Tuesday (praying we will pass so I can share).

Here are Daniels thoughts on meeting Matthew (word for word no editing):

It was fun and cool. I liked that I got to see my brother and that I liked when I got to see my brother play with my cars.  I was excited to meet my baby brother.  It felt good to go back to the Transition home where I stayed before my mom and dad came and got me.  I was surprised that Matthew got a lot bigger. I was happy to see Matthew.  I am sad that Matthew didn’t get to leave with us today. I am excited I get to see him tomorrow though. 

One cool thing about today was Daniel got to go back to the Transition Home where he spent the first year of his life.  So many of the nannies remembered him and he even got this picture taken with the nanny he bonded to 5 years ago.  

She recognized him instantly.  They were all so excited to see him and he ate all the attention up.  Our driver even remembers driving us around when were were here for Daniel.  It is cool for him to realize where he came from.  On our way in from the airport I asked him what he thought about Ethiopia he said “What this is my country”.  I am so glad he got to come and experience it for himself and be involved in this process.  He loved playing at the Transition home with the other boys, playing soccer and football and jumping rope.  It is definitely an eye opening experience for Daniel and one that hopefully will stay with him forever. 

Tonight we ordered dinner in and are going to watch a movie and hit the bed early!  We are all so exhausted Mark fell asleep eating lunch!  Tomorrow we spend more time at the Transition home bright and early which I can’t wait for, I couldn’t even take Matthew back to the nannies Mark had to.  It was so hard to leave him but helpful to know the same nannies who took care of Daniel are the ones that are there with Matthew.  

Passport is Here

Daniels passport was delivered today!  Praise God, Daniel can go to Ethiopia with us. Daniel is so excited he is telling everyone.  We are so excited to meet Matthew as an entire family and for Daniel to see the country he is from.  What a lesson in prayer for this little 6 year old.  Praying relentlessly and God answered his prayers.  Thank you God!  Now on to finishing packing, I had already been packing like Daniel was going with us all along. Donation bags are packed, carry on bags are packed, now on to packing clothes.  Ethiopia here we come!

Please pray for safe and calm travels (especially with a 6 year old on a 13 hour flight).

Prayer by Daniel

In Sunday school today Daniel wrote this prayer:

Be still my heart!  Please pray for his passport.  I can't even imagine what he will go through if we don't get to take him with us.  We went to the cross outside at church today just him and I to pray for God to help us get his passport and to help keep Matthew safe.   Here was his prayer

"For nothing will be impossible with God" - Luke 1:37

Daniels Passport

Please pray for Daniels passport.  We received a request for more information last night.  It is being overnighted for delivery first thing Friday morning.  Please pray that they receive the information and they process it quickly.  We are running out of time.  Daniel knows that if we don't get that passport he can't go with us.  How am I going to leave him behind?  He is so excited and praying for this passport.  Please pray with us.

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him" - Nahum 1:7

"The Lord will fight for you, you only need be still" - Exodus 14:14

Pray for Matthew

Please pray for Matthew we just got word that he is not feeling well.  He has tonsilitis, upper respiratory, ear infection and bronchitis.  Please pray that he gets better soon and the antibiotics work.  We will be there before we know it and want to keep him healthy until we get to bring him home.

"Let us then approach Gods throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

Court Date Received - Oh My we are moving fast now!

Oh my goodness, we have a court date!  June 16th we will go before the judge in Ethiopia.  I was so shocked when she called.  We had just turned in our Pair approval letter at 9:00 am and at 10:30 Lauren called me with the news only an hour and a half later. We were told it would take 2-5 days to get the court date so we were not expecting to hear this news today.  We are so excited and anxious.  They wanted us to leave a day earlier than we are, we can't have Daniel miss his trophy game.  So we will leave bright and early the next day.   Oh my we have a lot of planning to do.

Also, please pray for Daniels passport. We still don't have it and there is no movement on where it stands right now.  If we don't have his passport in the next week Daniel will not travel with us.  This will crush him. Please pray I can get some answers and get it moving in the next day or so.

Matthew here we come!

Pair Letter Received

We got it.  Just under 2 months we received our Pair approval letter. This is the last piece we have been waiting on and it is here.  We can apply for our adoptive family court date.  It will take 2-5 days to get our court date but we will know when we are meeting our baby boy within the next week!

Please pray for Daniels passport.  Now that we are even closer we really need that to get here.  We were told to plan to travel the end of the month, which is still 2-3 weeks away but his passport has been in process for 4 weeks already.  I have called to check on it but all I get is it is in processing.  I have added the expedited processing so hopefully he has the passport in time.  He will be crushed if he can't go to Ethiopia.

I604 Investigation Complete

The investigation is complete.  In 14 days, the investigation is complete.  This was supposed to take 1-3 months.  I can not believe it, 14 days.  Now we have to wait for the official letter to arrive and we can apply for our court date.  Ethiopia here we come!

MOWCYA Letter - We got it!

The 2nd piece of information we need to get a court date is here!  We recieved our positive MOWCYA letter.  For those of you who followed Daniels journey, you might remember this was a big source of pain.  We didn't pass about 6 court dates because they had not written the letter.   The last thing we need is the Pair approval letter.   

It is funny in the adoption process how you go from waiting, waiting, waiting to things moving so quickly.  It is definitely an emotional rollercoaster and exhausting.  I love watching how our lives have changed and how God is working.  Daniel the ever growing big brother is so proud.  He has his own photo album and every time we get an update with new pictures he adds them and shows them off to his friends and teachers at school.  I can't wait to see both of my boys together!

Happy Gotcha Day - Daniel

5 years ago today our lives were changed forever.  This is the day we got to take Daniel into our home and lives forever.  I thank God every day for the opportunity to be his mom.  He is the light in our life.  

I remember this day so vividly, getting up and packing the bag to take to the Transition Home.  And leaving that Transition Home in the van with Daniel on my lap knowing that this was the day I became his mom!  My heart was so happy for our family and ached for those nannies who stood waving and crying as we all left the place that Daniel had called home for almost 1 year.  I remember getting back to the room and playing on the floor with him and all of a sudden looking down and he was sound asleep on my lap.  I remember not wanting to put him down and rocking him to sleep.  I will always be eternally grateful for this day.  The day he became our son.  

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth” – Isaiah 43: 5-6

I604 Investigation Started

Once again I can not believe I am typing this, I just got the email from the embassy in Ethiopia our I604 investigation has started.  We just turned in the information from the RFE yesterday.  The wonderful agent we had at NBC sent our stuff on its way the day she requested the evidence!  Praise God.  We are even closer.

The next steps are the I604 investigation can take 1-3 months.  Once that is complete we will wait for the arrival of the pair letter.  We also still need our MOWCYA letter.  Please pray for both these pieces of the puzzle.  Once we receive them we can apply for our adoptive family court date.

Praying Matthew home one step at a time.

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously and he will give you everything you need." -Mattew 6:33

RFE Complete!

I can not believe I am typing this!  Our RFE is complete and everything should start moving to Ethipoia within a week or 2.  Thank you for praying.  God truly can move the mountains if you ask!

RFE- Request for Evidence

I got the email for the Request for Evidence, which we were hoping not to get.  Good news, while I was driving Daniel to his dentist appointment I got a call from Lauren at our agency.  They had requested 3 pieces of information, 2 of them were a misunderstanding the agent read the paper wrong and the third was just a request for a more legibile translation.  We should have everything requested by the end of the week!  And the agent processing our request has been kind enough to allow Lauren to email the updated translation.  This usually doesn't happen, usually you have to mail in the paperwork. This will save us 2 weeks of processing time in the mail.  Praise God.  Thank you for praying, keep praying the orphanage gets the translation quickly. One more step closer to Matthew.

Also, we have decided that we will be taking Daniel back with us to Ethipoia.  We will meet Matthew as a complete family.  While this is exciting there are a few things that have to happen.  The biggest is Daniels passport arriving.  We have turned in the application today.  Please pray they process it quickly.  We will hopefully be travelling in July so there should be plenty of time to receive the passport.