Category Archives: Day in the Life Finally…I’ve managed to download all 1,500 pictures. Yes–seriously that many. SO…it may take me a week or so to actually make our official fun slideshow—but until then…I’ve been snaggin’ some “life at home” pictures and I just HAD to snag some of Isaac Temesgen while he is still 10 months. I always take pictures of […] It’ll probably take me a day or two to download pictures and post our home-coming—until then though…because I know some of you would LOVE to see…I’ll be directing you all to my friend’s blogs who were there to celebrate with us! Here is my friend Melissa’s blog who was there to welcome us. She is […] Beautiful, Andrea! Isaac looks so very happy and comfortable with you. I will pray for Frank; he doesn’t know it now but it won’t be long and he will be in love with his best friend and playmate. Get your rest and enjoy these precious moments of learning about each other; your new family. Soooo precious and exciting and powerful ! Isaac is adorable and will having so much fun in your family ! Little Frank is going to be fine..he just missed you tons! We will keep everyones transition lifted into our Lord’s hand. Pax to you all ! oh…the pictures are amazing. we just signed our paperwork today to adopt from africa….i have a huge lump in my throat as i look through your pictures…amazing. amazing. Praying for you all and especially little Frank. His little life will be upside-down for awhile – rough on him and on mommy for sure, but you have lots of prayers for extra strength going up to the Father! 🙂 Hugs! You better believe you have our love and prayers! You’ll be back to normal (or a NEW normal) in no time I’m sure. Looking forward to your pics, but in the mean time I’ll pop on over. Welcome home Andrea! Get some rest and enjoy your beautiful family 🙂 We will continue to pray for peace and serenity over the next few days as everyone adjusts to a new normal! Big hugs to Frank…it won’t take long for them to be fast friends I’m sure…once they realize how much trouble they can get into together! Big hugs! beautiful pix. what a celebration! can’t wait to see and read more! hope you have a good chiropractor…i needed one from just carrying one bag around constantly and you have two. praying frankie will be able to share his wonderful mommy. You will have to share how you transitioned your 19 month old through Isaac’s arrival – I always wonder how that would go with a little one of my own! 🙂 I will be praying! Frank may be having a hard time now, but just you wait, I foresee TONS of mischief in the making with those two together! : ) Can’t wait to hear & see how everyone else has responded. xoxo I haven’t been able to post—the internet service has been great…my heart though has been processing. Third world countries feel like my 2nd home and 2nd nature to me–so processing the poverty hasn’t been new. The new part–has been accepting and dealing with the effects of poverty in a new way. And that–changes your heart […] So thankful for sharing this miracle with us. I understand this feeling….it is similar to the one I had with our daughter’s birthmom. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it…this happens daily 7 months later. I’m sure it will continue to make humble me the rest of my life. Congrads!! WOW is right! I had goose bumps as I read that. Honestly, I feel so anxious when I think about meeting our daughter’s birth Mother. I am very excited to have the opportunity to meet her, but to do it in the presence of our child causes me anxiety. Reading your account gives me some peace – Thank you. Have a safe trip home! Oh, my stars! I am completely in tears – so filled with [*well, filled with everything, really, so i can’t even choose one word*] that the Lord chose you all – Isaac, his birth mom and the Young family. Your story, the one of which all of you are a part, is amazing, heartwarming, uplifting, comforting, faith-reinforcing, beautiful, inspirational and every other good, emotional word I can think of! Glory to HIM!! I do hope you share the images of you, Isaac and his birth mom sooner than later. I am sure they are filled with the image of God. Blessings to you all! Thank you for this post Andrea, it is extremely motivating! I am struggling with having courage and I am praying, praying, praying to have faith in Him. All I can say is God is AMAZING and definitely answers prayers!!! I am so touched and encouraged to hear how God worked not only in your life, but also in Isaac’s birthmother’s life. I am praying you guys have a safe trip home! You put into words so wonderfully what I haven’t been able to….thank you. Thank God for changing us!!! Andrea, I have no words … only this swollen, aching, yet joyful knot in my chest at the power of your experience and your beautiful way in sharing it with us. You are amazing. I am so blessed to know you. I cannot wait to meet precious Isaac!! Love you! Wow, Andrea! Beautiful. Thank you for sharing your heart. Perfect title to this post…all I can say is WOW! Praying for safe travels and wonderful bonding time for your family. ~Karee Wow! That is beautiful. Tears are in my eyes. Thank you so much for being personal & allowing us a glimpse into your adoption. I can’t wait to bring my baby home! Thank You, Lord, for answering all of our prayers for the meeting of Isaac’s Mothers!!!! What joy the Lord has shown the world through this meeting, and what peace He has given to all of us for knowing this story. Andrea ~ you are a true blessing and inspiration to so many in all corners of this world. No doubt your new family member you met today is at peace with you tonight. Wow. This post has really touched me. I hope that I have the chance to meet with our son’s birth mother! Beautiful…and absolutely true. We did not have the opportunity to meet Caleb’s birth mom and I pray faithfully that some day we will. What a wonderful and precious gift – one that is so very hard to explain to some…but this has been orchestrated by God…all of it…and it is perfect – not only in the rejoicing, but in the pain and loss. He is there. I have been praying for all of you and will do so again this evening. What an amazing journey. Ok…so I just posted a minute ago, but I was too weepy to add this silly comment on the end. Please tell April that we ran into her mother-in-law, Harris and the kids at dinner tonight. Everyone looked good and they seemed to have it all under control. 🙂 with tears streaming (again:) – that was beautiful, my friend. Praying you home, lifting you all up ….. cannot wait to see some pics from the airport! Your words are like music to my soul. As I anticipate our birthmom’s court appointment on Friday, I cannot stop thinking and praying for this woman I have never met. I just posted about it too. Your experience opens my eyes even more to God’s amazing design and plans on earth. So thankful we are His children. Thanks for sharing. Oh Andrea…I’ve been following your journey for awhile now, and this post is simply amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your heart. We are currently working on our homestudy for our second adoption with AGCI, and I recognize so much of what you have been feeling – in spite of the fact that we were unable to have a birth family meeting when we met our son last summer. I am praising our Father for you today – you and your beautiful family, and your gift for writing. May He fill your hearts in new and amazing ways as you all come together for the first time on Friday. We will be praying for a safe journey for you and little Isaac! thank you for sharing this, andrea. WOW! Love ya sweet sister! Praying for your return home 🙂 Beautiful, so well spoken. Meeting Abe’s birthmom, crying in each others arms is truly a moment so perfect, so devine, words don’t do it justice—yours came pretty close though. Safe travels. wow. Wow. WOW!!! Okay, I am crying…beautiful. How amazing that you were able to worship our Heavenly Father with your son and his birth mom! WOW! Truly Amazing! Thank you Jesus for your abounding love that passes all understanding! WOW, WOW, and WOW!!!! Wow, this was powerful. So so amazing what the Holy Spirit did there and continues to do! i have chills all over. what holy ground you have stood on…and continue to walk in. Andrea, you are such a gifted and anointed writer. My heart hurts that I will not meet Kiya’s birth family this side of heaven, but I’m so happy that you have had that opportunity, and that it was such a beautiful, blessed, God-glorifying meeting. Praying for smooth flights and safe travels home. Andrea, I have met you before with April at Cup of Joy. I also know April through several friends. I have been following your blog and your journey has been one that has touched my heart and spirit more than one could ever imagine! You are an amazing person for all that you and your family have done and given. Baby Isaac is truly blessed to be a part of your family and it is so incredible to read how Gods hand has brought you through this entire journey!! I have cried, laughed, smiled and have had goosebumps with each post on your blog. Thank you for letting all of us be a part of this special journey. I have had you in my thoughts and prayers each day and can’t wait until you are all reunited with your families again. May God continue to give you all the essentials you need as you begin another chapter in your lives. Huge congrats and many blessings to you always! P.S. you should definitely be a writer…you are incredible! Ok. My wife has forwarded me EVERY post on your adoption journey. EVERY email she has sent me she prefaces the post with “tears streaming” “weeping as I read this” “crying AGAIN”….I think you get the picture….lots and LOTS of tears as she blog-walks this journey of life with you. And from the other commentators…she evidently is not crying alone. Well, I am a man – through and through. We dudes pound back lunches, over-stuff a day alone with kids with wild adventures, grow 4-day old beards, and follow Mom’s craft/food/outfit schedule as best we can. AND, we don’t cry when we read blogs unless some other dude is blogging about the time he scratched the paint job on his new truck. However, I defy ANY man to read this post and maintain dry eyes. Hearing how the Lord orchestrated your meeting with Isaac’s birth Mom, generated authenticity through brokenness, and ultimately provided deep and lasting peace through worship simply rips through the masculine veneer and topples the well guarded emotional core of a man. Brilliant. Inspiring. Full-throttled awesomeness. I worship with you through my own tears today. Blessings to you and your family. Hi Andrea. I found your blog through another AGCI blog and have been hooked on your journey! We are adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia through AGCI and are in the paperwork process. This post touched more than about anything I’ve ever read. Absolutely beautiful. Isaac is seriously one of the most beautiful baby boys I have ever seen! I love listening to your heart – thank you for sharing your journey with people you don’t even know. And thank you for your prayer at the end of the post. It brought tears to my eyes to know that even though we aren’t placed with a child yet that there are people praying for us. What a blessing the family of God is! Blessings to you and your sweet family! WOW! I don’t even have words. The Love of the Holy Spirit just pouring out of you fills my soul. I can’t even imagine how powerful this journey has been for you, and how impactful it is on each of us here cheering for you!! Much love- Rachel Absolutely beautiful and beyond touching as I sit here and read your story with tears in my eyes…You are so amazing and thank you for allowing me to read about this wonderful experience!!! Safe travels~ Thank you SO much for sharing. You have blessed us tremendously by sharing this experience. We are praying that God will bless YOU abundantly as you journey home with Isaac. I have been following your journey for months now and it is so exciting to be able to walk alongside you through this blog as your son joins your family. What a beautiful post. I am from Pekin, Il and I think there is a family traveling with you to get their daughter from Pekin! All my prayers as you travel home. I am sure you are anxious to see your children/husband and introduce everyone. I am in awe of your ability to put to words what you feel AND inspired! I have been praying for you and following your blog…even had to check in on our vacation and my computer break. Isaac is beautiful!!!!! So glad your family is together now!!!! Reading this post gave me chills. It was another post that you shared that made me cry as well. You are an inspiration! Blessings to you and your family! This was so well shared-THANK you for sharing it-it is truly amazing and I can’t wait for that day! wow. Wow. WOW! Finally getting caught up on your posts. You have taken the sterile textbook topic of adoption in the 3rd world and turned it upside down with reality that can be tasted and felt directly through your words and emotion. Thanks for pouring out with such raw feelings. Blessings to your family! […] while trying to get my heart around God’s sovereignty. His goodness and mercy. The way He answers a believing birth mother’s deepest, most desperate prayers for her son, to preserve his very life. To allow two mothers to rejoice and worship Him together… hand […] Isaac and momma are bonding well. So well…that he decided to share whatever funk he had when I got him from the orphanage. Imodium is my new best friend. Seriously–things are going really well. He is giving me lots of direct eye contact, patting my face with his tender hands when I give him bottles […] Praying tomorrow is an AMAZING experience for both of you and that it leaves you both with a God’s peace. praying for isaac, you and his birthmom. i’m just still soooo in awe of how He has brought this together! i know there’s still more! :)) Thy Will be done … what a precious story God has weaved for you and Isaac and the rest of your family; in America AND in Ethiopia. Ok…so this isn’t a warm, fuzzy comment…just practical. Are you wearing gloves when you change diapers? Caleb came home with the nasty parasite Giardia and also with Campylobacter…the Giardia is tough to get rid of and it is easily spread. I always mention it to everyone (although I’m sure you are well aware)…so that you don’t spread it around to all of your little ones at home. So glad to hear that little Isaac is bonding more and more with you every day! What a huge step! Praying for you tomorrow, what an awesome awesome day it will be for both you and sweet Isaac! Praying for your meeting tomorrow and thankful that sweet Isaac is bonding more. May your meeting with Isaac’s birthmom be a memory you can share with him forever. So glad that he is bonding so well! That is an answered prayer for sure! And I was cracking up at your husband’s update in the last post…hilarious! 🙂 so glad to hear that things are going well for you guys (aside from the orphanage bug…). praying for your birthmom meeting! Loved the mr. mom update- too funny 🙂 What our husbands do for the family- amazes me!!!! So glad things are going well. Definitely a great reminder! Beautiful..We will be praying for you tomm. what your hubby would do as Mr.Mom should you go to Africa while he stay at home with the other kiddos? I can’t help but smile every morning when I get his updates. How funny are these: Monday update: Daddy gets up 6:30…come on man Laney and P are up and ready to roll Coffee, […] I’m cracking up!! What a great husband and daddy…love that he gave you “play by play!” Must make is so much easier to be away loving on the newest member of the family! What a MAN! That is one jam-packed, busy, fun day! Sounds like mama planned an amazing week and sounds like Mr. Mom pulled it off!!! That part about the lady seeing him at the zoo cracked me up. I think of everything that’s happened to you in your life, I’m most thankful for Richard. How great that he takes the time to do that each day. I just love how different men are than us… when would we ever say a child “pounded lunch”? LOVE IT!!! Have fun bonding with your precious little one! i’m totally laughing at the “pounded lunch” too! so neat that he sends you these updates! hahaha — this is TOO CUTE!!!! I love it that he adiosed that lady at the zoo because he’s married to the best woman in the world! 🙂 I think it’s SUCH a gift from God that there’s VBS this week – it gives him a break even if only for a few hours… 🙂 Ok, this absoutely made me smile. 🙂 You def. have a keeper on your hands 🙂 What a great dad!!!!!…. Thanks for the smile. 🙂 You and your hubby are a perfect team!! Your four are blessed to have the two of you as parents. What a great update! =) Richard-you rock. Andrea-hes got it right…they have a GREAT momma! Please don’t get upset Richard … this post ROCKED! You two are an amazing couple to FOUR amazing kids. Cannot wait to see you all together! This is so funny! What a sweet husband to send you these play by plays : ) His vocab was cracking me up! And I love the ‘look lady i’m married to the best woman on earth…’ so sweet! I just loved this! I was laughing out loud and thinking of my sweet husband and how he would have had a break down with just one kid. Yours did a great job with all 3 and is too funny! A friend led me to your blog and I’m so happy she did! Thank you for sharing your story! Your family is precious and I LOVE this post… Daddy does it different… that’s my motto on Daddy-Daughter days with our little girl! |
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by admin
Can’t wait to see all 1500:) my hubby cannot stop talking about Isaac. I think seeing him and talking to other adoptive dads as made the longing for our little one set in. He is BEAUTIFUL!!! So happy to see you all home, and can’t wait to hear more!!
Thank you so much for sharing pictures and your inspirational journey with us! Isaac is such a miracle and a joy to see! I keep thinking about how you and your husband were so willing to trust the Lord through all the unknowns and were so faithful to listen to HIS voice and not the dr.s, etc. Well done good and faithful servant! I am inspired by your faith!
Jenny
Beautiful- I bet ya just get lost in those eyes. Glad you are all home…
April
Happy First 4th of July, Isaac Temesgen! You are a beautiful boy and a perfect gift from God. Keep smiling!!!
Andrea, he looks like he is right at home! Like he’s been there all this time. So happy for him to have a loving home 🙂
Andrea, He is beautiful! I’m so happy for you and your family. I know you are so glad to be home with him. Happy Fourth of July!
SO thrilled that Isaac Temesgen is finally home! Brian and I have loved following your journey- we can’t wait to meet him in person!
Oh my word – soo cute! Loving them all but the picture of Laney kissing his sweet hand brought on the waterworks. I’m mush. =) Thanks for sharing and HAPPY COCOONING!
Andrea he is so gorgeous! Love all the pictures. So happy you are all home together.
Much love,
Amy
Gorgeous! Welcome home! And thanks for reminding me of a song that I used to sing in Et but don’t think I have for a while. It used to stop my boy in his tracks.
Oh, Andrea, he is so, so beautiful!! I just love the pics! It looks like ya’ll are all adjusting wonderfully to being back home! Welcome home, baby Isaac Temesgen!!
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful Boy, Beautiful Song, Beautiful portraits! Love it all, so happy for you guys!
these pictures are Just AMAZING and our Isaac smiles so much too! The name truly fits these two boys!
oh, he’s gorgeous….love that sweet boy, kj
Isaac Temesgen you ARE a beautiful blessed boy! God be with you.
Just wanted to let ya know friend that I was up around 5am this morning after feeding my Isaac and thought of you knowing you too were probably up in the middle of the night with your Isaac, so I prayed for strength for you friend! Hope you have a great day!
Welcome home! What a fun airport welcome you received! So happy you are all finally together! And yes, you’ve got a beautiful boy (well, 3 beautiful boys!) Love the name Isaac Temesgen. Our oldest daughter goes by a double name and we’ve talked about using a double name for our future (African?!?) son.
Andrea and Richard!!
How precious he is!! We cannot wait to meet him. Please hug everyone from Uncle Buck and Aunt Lesa. So happy that you are home safe and sound. Praying for everyone’s adjustment!
We love you all. Let us know if/how we can help beyond that!
Love,
Lesa
He’s beautiful! Congratulations on being home with him.
This song was meant for Isaac Temesgen!! Thank you for sharing this beautiful story through words, portraits and music! Praying for more sleep and continued bonding for you all!
Congratulations on your homecoming! He is beautiful!
Andrea and Richard ~ What a precious gift from God ! A generation saved and such a gift to your family. I cannot even imagine the joy. Thank you for sharing these first photos with us! yes…and to Him be the Glory!
such a handsome boy and a happy family! so glad to see you home!
Absolutely precious! Congratulations to your sweet family!
tears of joy for your family… pure, tears of joy!!!! SO happy to see all of you together, Andrea. Enjoy the cocooning & bonding with that precious little angel. Give the Frankster an extra hug from me.. those cheeks & those eyes.. your entire family is just beautiful! 🙂 Frank will soon warm up to the little fellow & will eventually have a little football buddy to play with 🙂 ….. Congratulations friend.
oh, how i love his round little tummy!
[…] know some of you were worried about me when you saw how I reacted in a previous post to my little bro takin’ over the high chair…but times are changing people–not only am I OKAY with givin’ it […]