It's a girl!!

Why is our blog pink you might ask? It's to celebrate our new addition! We would would like to announce that we are currently adopting a third child. Yes, you read that right. She is a beautiful 10 month old baby girl named Hiwot. If you keep up with our blog, you will know that I have mentioned her before. Thankfully, our friends Brittney and James spent a lot of time with her. They brought home tons of video and pictures. She is so chubby and happy!

She does have some developmental delay. She cannot hold her head up well or sit up on her own. Thankfully, we were able to get a CT scan done and have it read in the US. Besides a little fluid on her brain, her CT scan was normal. She has been through so much in her short life, we were so thankful and relieved with this positive news.

I know this is surprising for many of you, but let me reassure you that we have taken a lot of time to make this decision. We have been planning and praying about it for months. We have consulted with friends, counselors, and doctors. It was obvious from the beginning that we needed to help Hiwot in some way, but it took us a little while to get to our decision to adopt her.

We have decided to name her Zoey. I have always wanted to name a little girl this, without even knowing what it means. The word Hiwot means "life", which is very appropriate for this little girl. When we decided to adopt her, I knew we needed to keep her name meaning if we gave her more western name. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to name her Zoey. When I stated searching names, I found out that Zoey comes from the Greek word for "life." It couldn't have been more perfect! We can't wait for you to meet Zoey Hiwot Brown!

Please keep us in your prayers this week. Hiwot needs a stamp from a office that has been closed for a month, but will be opening this week. Also, someone from the US is going to Ethiopia to look into all of the paper work issues that Chera and Kenenisa have. I will post any updates that we get!

Brownies

We had all of the Browns over for lunch today. I had to share a picture of our sweet nieces Jaleigh and Kiara. They brought over a Brownie that was decorated with our's and the boy's names. Without knowing, they used the same colors of the Ethiopian flag so it was perfect. I can't wait until the boys come home to meet their cousins! Thank you girls!

The boy's room

Hello. I am trying to blog more about our process. We really don't have any news right now, so I will share a little about how we are getting ready. I painted their room a few months ago. We chose a bright, light green. I also bought some letters that spelled out their name and painted each letter a different bright color. We found a really cute bedspread at Target that has a sports theme. It is bright, primary colors and the light green walls will look great with it.
Since we did all of that we haven't accomplished too much else. I have a full sized bed in storage that the boys are going to sleep in. At first we thought that we would get bunk beds for them, but many people who have adopted siblings said that the kids like sleeping together. Since they are sharing beds with other kids in the orphanage right now, I think this will be an easier transition for them.
Hopefully we will have time in the next couple of weeks to set more of their room up. I will post pictures when we do. Until then, here are their names that will go on their walls. Their big brother buddy decided to get in the picture too!

Dawit's Arrival

Hello! So sorry it took me a while to blog about this. Dawit arrived last week and he is such a cutie! It was so exciting seeing him come home. For those of you that are unfamiliar, the airport arrival is super exciting. It's like a big welcome home party right there in the airport. We can't wait until you all can come see the boy's arrival!
Dawit has adjusted so well and his sisters are in love with him. As you can see from the pics, his sister was very insistent on giving him his bottle. For those of you who don't know Dawit's story, it is such a miracle that he is here. He was very underweight in the orphanage because he was premature and had a cleft palate. The nannies did not know the correct way of feeding him, so he was not gaining any weight. Thankfully, a doctor from the states was able to see him and brought some special bottles for babies with a cleft palate. He has been thriving ever since! It has been very inspiring to see Dawit come home.
Brittney and James were able to get some great pictures and video of the boys. We can't post them here, but would be happy to show them to you in person. They are getting so big! The Armstrongs said that they had just gotten up from a nap and were very shy. Chera told them thank you for their things we sent. It's very surreal to watch them opening the gifts that we sent.

Please keep our boys in your prayers!
Donna

A random bunch of information

Hello Everyone. Donna here. We haven't blogged in a while, there hasn't been a great deal of change to report. Thankfully, the Ethiopian official has been replaced. The replacement is new to the position and moving very slow. We have also found out that there are some issues with Chera and Kenenisa's paper work. This needs to be straightened out before they can go before the court. Please pray that all of this will be fixed soon. I know it has taken a while to bring our boys home, but God's plan in becoming very evident through all of this.

On a very exciting note, our friends Brittney and James Armstrong are in Ethiopia right now picking up their son Dawit. While there, they are going to spend some time with Chera and Kenenisa. We sent some things with them to give to the boys. This was the first time we did this. We sent each of them a toddler friendly truck, a squishy soccer ball, stickers, crayons, a coloring book, a t-shirt and some suckers. Sounds like a lot I know, but everything fit into a gallon sized Ziploc bag. We can't wait to hear from the Armstrongs on how the boys are doing.

One last thing. We would like to ask your prayers for a sweet little girl that has been on our hearts. Our agency director Susan met Hiwot, who is nine months old, in September. When she met her, Hiwot had a very high fever and was unresponsive. Susan immediately took her to the hospital. The doctor told her that Hiwot was hours away from dying. Little Hiwot was severely dehydrated from Rota Virus and a sepsis infection due to severe diaper rash. Ironically, Hiwot means life in Amharic. She has recovered from her illnesses, but could have some cognitive and physical delays from all she has been through. She has been on our hearts for the past few months. We have been praying for her and have contributed to some of her medical expenses. She has been through so much in her short life, but God has consistently taken care of her. I know he has an awesome plan for her life.

I will blog again this week when I here news about the boys from James and Brittney. I may even post a picture of sweet little Dawit Armstrong!

Please Pray!!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I was hoping that my next blog would be news of a court date. This morning we received some discouraging news. The official that is in charge of investigating adoptions in the region that the boys are from has been convicted and jailed for corruption. She had apparently taken bribes from an adoption agency to move their process faster. Thankfully, neither our agency our boys are involved in this. Now, all cases in the region that the official covered are stalled. We have no idea how long it will take or what needs to be accomplished before they start hearing cases again. This effects four other families at our agency and many children at the orphanage. Please pray that this resolves fast and we get a court date soon.

Fundraising Update 3

I think this could be the final tally but you never know. Looks like your generosity has brought in $9,208 so far. Adding this to the matching grant or $4,000 we have reached a total of $13,208. This may be just enough to cover the rest of our adoption expenses if we can get a good deal on plane tickets. If not, then the Lord will provide. We thank God for ALL of you! Thank you for allowing God to work through you to lift this burden for us.

In Kyle's sermon this weekend, he talked about how we should wait for God actively and expectantly. He balanced this with the fact that we should not get ahead of God and do things on our own. I believe that God has been showing Donna and myself that what this looks like. I pray that we all learn to soar like eagles, allowing the wind (Holy Spirit) to carry us. It is much better to soar than to flap your wings vigorously and grow tired. Kyle's Sermon

Thank you Lord for loving us so much that you gave your one and only Son to die for our sins so that we may live eternally with you in heaven. Praise Jesus!