Turn off music above before watching this beautiful family’s video on bringing home their baby girl from Ethiopia…
7 more days:)
I really am going to start packing soon…just 8 more days until we leave! But…for now–life continues day by day. And I just have to share the some fun from our last few days!!!
OK…so–it’s been HOT here in the South. I mean…HUMID–catch your breath hot. We hit up the hood pool often–but what do you do when you have a baby brother who still takes 2 naps? We borrowed this idea from a friend (Christy…it has made our days really fun/funny!). We fill up these $5 Target buckets and with $1 squirt guns from the Dollar Tree…it’s just plan cheap fun!
This face Parker is making makes me want to squeal at Laney to BE READY!
Whad I tell ya?!
I have to say. That girl is her mother’s daughter if I ever saw one! What does she do with Parker’s water attack? She convinces him to pretend the container is a pool. Get him in a confined spot where you are one up…that-a-girl…the set up. Then she forgets the squirt gun—she grabs the hose!
He attempts to shoot back…
And then it’s…GAME ON!
They chase each other…squeal…and I sit back and laugh. And then—they are plum tired…
And Mr.P decides Laney’s idea was a good one—and now that she is tired…it’s actually a safe, cool place to be…
Remember the tiling project Rich started upstairs??? Well…it leaked…so we had to call a professional. Meet Eddie…
I just LOVE getting to know new people—and Eddie was here for 3 days fixing our tile problem. Yes, Eddie is his REAL name (seriously…who from Mexico has the name Eddie?). He promised me it was;). Eddie is getting married in a few months in California…congratulations Eddie!!! There are 3 things I like to know about every person who ever comes in our home…1. How do you drink your coffee? (Eddie is a cream only guy.) 2. Do you like sweet tea or lemonade? (Eddie likes lemonade.) 3. Where are you from/How did you grow up/Does your family live here/If you could be anything in the world what would you be/What’s the best thing that ever happened to you/What about the worst/Do you have kids/Do you want kids/Do you like kids/Um…want some more sweet tea?
OK…so that’s more than 3 questions…but Eddie answered all of them:) One thing I love about life is the friendships we make…and I have to say that we’ve found a new friend in Eddie. You wouldn’t believe the stories people have when you get to know them. And to think—I could have missed that if I didn’t bug him his first day working about how he liked his coffee, lemonade and sweet tea. The answers to my questions 1 & 2 just make 3 easier:). In our conversations, I also discovered that Eddie is also a brother in Christ, and I loved hearing his story and his heart to be true to His Savior. He has had an amazine life–and much goodness ahead. His bride-to-be lives in Mexico…and they will live in Denver. He’s all over the place:) And Ole Eddie has some crazy stories about Mexico!!! See, you don’t need cartoons or a TV when you have a new tile friend telling you stories!!!
ANOTHER interesting story…is from the Denton Family…
Some of you may remember me talking about the Denton’s. We have had dinner with the Denton’s EVERY Tuesday for almost THREE years. Rain or shine…we’re breaking bread together:). Dent is a wealth of crazy information. Do you have a FLY problem???? Well, if you have a problem–Dent will solve it! According to DENT (and Snopes AND a bunch of other websites he tried to prove his point with)…SAY to do this…
Weird, huh?! I was trying to cook and was getting annoyed by the pesky flies and Dent put this together and sure enough…IT WORKED!
Fill a ziplock bag with water, drop a shiney penny in it and hang it where you want to keep flies from coming. Here is Dent trying to prove his point on the internet…I believe you now Dent…sorry for doubting your craziness…
FUNNIER than THAT…I walked outside and saw THIS in the driveway the next day (THIS morning)! Laney did this ALL BY HERSELF! We didn’t even know the kids were listening to our crazy fly debate!
I asked Laney what the bag was doing and she said, “Mommy, I’m keeping flies out of the garage by putting it here and then they’ll never make it in the house!” Ahhhh…my 4 year old is a genious;)! Also makes me realize how much they pick up on! I love that she hung this from the “Laugh” sign outside too. This girl does, infact, make me laugh!
FINALLY…we haven’t JUST been goofing off…although that IS what we do mostly! We have also been productive in the kitchen with our…BLACKBERRIES!!!
Anyone need a yummy blackberry cobbler recipe??? This was DELISH!
We have more blackberries than we know what to do with this season. We pick them EVERY morning…and this was from JUST this morning…
SO…today’s CRAFT was CANNING! We taught ourselves how to make jam from a YouTube video and then canned them!
WHEW! Now up for tomorrow…cousin Maury who is expecting her FIRST baby is coming over!!! We are making her crib bedding…and then it’s GNO (Girls Night Out) with some of my girls…it’s dinner and then Babies R Us for Isaac’s big trip!!! YAY…8 more days!
Hope you all have a great rest of the week!
XOXO!
Andrea
I love everything about this post! Such fun at the Young house! Makes me want to drive over :).
all of it looks like so much fun!!
Really? All that in 24 hours. Amazing. Love watching you live life to the fullest! Great shots and heart warming stories that caused me to think … AND giggle!
Love & Blessings from Hong Kong,
Kim
Love this post. What FUN you (and great photos) have on a typical summer day. I’ll be thinking about ya tomorrow during GNO; enjoy your special girl time.
Wow girl, you are staying busy! Before you know it, it’ll be time to step on that plane for ETHIOPIA!!!
the tubs & squirt guns are such a great idea! we’re dying here in FL= SAUNA!!!!
oh i just love your pics, you amaze me with the quality of them! I love water fights! :0) I love blackberries too, I wish I could have reached through the screen and grabbed one! :0) I am SO glad you mentioned that fly thing b/c we have pesky ones from time to time here too! :0) I think its awesome that you got to know Eddie…how amazing to know he is a brother in Christ too and how exciting that he is getting married! :0) have a great day!
You guys have been busy! I had to laugh about your conversation with Eddie- you are such a southerner. Did you “bless his heart” at any point? I love it. I am a wannabe southerner stuck in Arizona. Sigh.
Wow! What a fun-filled blog post! Thanks for sharing another glimpse at a day in the life of a Young! Makes me wish I lived closer so I could join in on the fun! 😉 Thanks for the laughs!
ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!! Love the fun pics! So funny. I think we need to use the water in the bag with a penny idea too 🙂
So fun to see that you are so close! I look forward to meeting Isaac someday when we’re home for a visit. Enjoy the adventure and best wishes for a great trip! Loved this post – Dent is the best!
The tubs are a great idea! I know your mom so I’ve been keeping up with your journey. Praying for you as you prepare to leave to get your Issac.
Using those tubs for water play is a great idea! I know your mom so I’ve been following your journey. Praying for you all as you travel to pick up your newest addition.
As we prepare for travel–we want to invest more time in preparing our plan for attachment for our Isaac. Think of it as when you got married and desired to prepare more for the marriage than the wedding. Richard and I have spent almost a year reading attachment books, praying for the Lord to guide us in making the best decisions in how we help Isaac heal, meeting with mommy mentors who have traveled the adoption road and seeking wise counsel from those with counseling and physcology backgrounds. I, oddly, enjoy this type of research and understanding how God created our minds and our hearts to thrive and even heal after they have experienced trauma.
In a perfect world, babies would be raised by their birth moms and never have to experience the trauma of seperation from them. They would be given the gift of knowing their mom’s heartbeat, voice, birth language. “A baby or child is at risk for attachment problems and future behavior difficulties when they have experienced abuse, neglect, separation from a caregiver, changing day cares or using providers who don’t do bonding, moms with chronic depression, several moves in placement or self-centered parenting” (Nancy L. Thomas in Taming the Tiger While it’s still a Kitten). Thankfully, there is a window of time where healing can take place—you can think of it as “Attachment ICU” also called “cocooning”. During this time, our family will be going above and beyond to help Isaac attach to our family and to heal.
We are very confident in the attachment Isaac has received at his orphanage. BUT–when we get Isaac–trauma will again happen as he leaves another caregiver he has once again bonded with. There will be grieving even from leaving the orphanage (we actually hope he grieves early–as this is a good sign for healing–but it won’t be easy for him or for us). We recently got an update on Isaac that said he was a “fussy baby” which this is a really good sign that he still has preferences and feels a caregiver will help or react to him if he cries out. We want to be very sensitive to our little guy as “a child in transition, is a child in pain” (Nancy L. Thomas). We want to remember the realities of his transitions thus far—for the first 6 months of his life he heard one language and connected to one caregiver. For the last 5 months he has heard an entirely new language and bonded with yet another caregiver. Next week, he will meet yet ANOTHER new caregiver (me!) and be introduced to yet another language, environment and family. It is very important that our son gets to know me as his caregiver and establishes a strong, healthy bond with us–which will enable him to establish healthy bonds in the future with other members of our family and our friends. But leaving his country, familiar faces and being older–this transition may be the hardest that he has endured yet.
When I think of it from a small scale–I don’t sleep well when I’m on a trip. I can’t WAIT to get home and be in my bed…that is where I simply am comfortable and sleep best. You could take me to the most fancy hotel–yet, I sleep and rest best in where I am familiar. Isaac will feel the same way for awhile. We will need to go above and beyond to help him see our home as his home, to feel safe and comfortable here. There will be brokenness in his little heart as he leaves the caregivers at the orphanage–and just as when you have a broken relationship as an adult some go to counseling and often struggle with trust again–we will be doing things that may look different to help with healing and gaining Isaac’s trust. We acknowledge that many of our family and friends have waited and longed to see Isaac as much as we have. You will be itching to see him and hold him. For this we are thankful! I know it will be hard for many of you when you read our plan and see you’ll have to wait several months until we see signs of attachment and that he is ready to form new attachment with others. During this “ICU attachming/cocooning time”, our family and friends can help us most by supporting us, bringing meals, sending cards of encouragement, respecting our need for privacy and waiting to visit with our little guy has strongly attached to us. Our connecting strongly with Isaac during this “ICU phase” will help him better connect with all of you later…and trust me, we will be anxious and ready to share his sweetness with you when the time is right!
Our plan may change when we meet him and see possible new needs–but this is where we are starting. If you are close to us, we ask that you would carefully read our plan so you can encourage and support Isaac and our family during our transition time…
As you can see–and probably imagine–this will not be easy. BUT, we are certain that our investment will be worth it! We feel there is a greater risk in under-doing it rather than over doing it. “Every minute you invest holding your little one and gazing lovingly in their eyes is one hour less pain when they are teenagers” (Thomas). Soooo…will we be exhausted? Absolutely. Will we regret investing all of this extra into our son? Absolutely not! We know it will be much easier to invest this time and effort into a baby rather than trying to fix unhealthy attachment later in a teenager. We also recognize there is nothing we can do–but ULTIMATELY–it will be the Lord’s healing and miraculous hand that brings healing through ALL of our cocooning time and years to come.
Another family’s plan that I love and appreciate is the Hertstein family. Jesse Hertstein wrote a wonderful post here on their plan as they brought home their itty, bitty infant baby girl. We are so thankful for all of those family’s who have gone before us who have offered us their experience and encouragement. And like Jesse said at the end of his post on their plan, we can’t WAIT, WAIT, WAIT to get started!!!
I like “plans” and “lists” a lot and I really appreciate this post. I’m doing lots of reading and research on attachment and have been feeling overwhelmed. Your summary is helping me break things down a bit. And I am reminding myself that I don’t have to be in control or worry because our Lord and Savior will guide us as we continue in our adoption journey just as He has led us to this point of waiting. Thanks Andrea, you have a great perspective. I’m looking forward to more insight from you as you bring your babe home. Praying for you in the coming weeks.
Karee
Encouraging you to continue the focus and see the big picture as you cocoon and settle in for this new adventure. You can do this, your older children can do this, it is meant to be. Wishing you days of joy and nights of peace. =)
i love this and I am so excited to hear how your bonding goes when you bring Isaac home! I have a question for you, we are adopting an infant first here in the states and it will be just 3 days old when he/she comes home with us! Should we develop a plan of bonding similar to that or would it be way less since we have the baby since practically birth? I would love your thoughts on this! I definitely plan on trying to do as much as I can to bond!
Oh April–I think your attachment will be much different and easier because you are establishing a healthy bond and connection from the beginning. Because a newborn DOES sense his/her mommy because of being in the womb–if I were you I would consider not letting anyone else hold your infact for 2-3 weeks. I would also encourage LOTS of skin to skin contact–especially during feedings. I would even let the baby nap on your chest for the first few months (a baby’s brain is unable to establish a schedule until 3 months according to the author of “Healthy Sleep Habits”…so I would ax the scheduling and let the baby sleep on your chest to bond with you and know your heartbeat for the first 3 months. MUCH easier–but still intentional:)
Sounds like a wonderful, well thought out plan, and I think you are wise to post about this and educate/warn:) friends and family before you get home. Hoping you will be posting LOTS of pictures of your peanut:)
Great plan, Andrea!!! We had/have an almost identical plan, and at 5 months home, Bethlehem is doing well and according to our SW is right where she should be attachment-wise! I’ll be praying for you as you work to transition little Isaac into his forever family and help him form a secure, healthy attachment to you. I also haven’t forgotten the lotion/massage oil stuff I’m sending you – my last batch, which I was going to send you part of was a complete flop due to a certain small child who woke up from her nap in the middle of it and threw off the delicate balance of lotion making! 😉
Wow!! Sounds like a great plan! I am going to have to remember this when we get close to bringing Caroline Faith home!
Can’t wait until you get to hold him- SOON!!!!!! Counting down the days with you 🙂
Great Post 🙂
Great post that I will direct to one more family prayerfully considering adoption from ET!
Counting down the days with you!
Love & Blessings from Hong Kong,
Kim
Hey friend! Love seeing the plan all mapped out. It always helps me to write things down when I feel overwhelmed. Isaac is going to love his family so much, you are such a sweet, selfless, intentional momma!
I can’t believe it is next week!! Crazy! I am out of town all month, with spotty internet access, but I will be anxiously checking in on you!
Blessings on your travels!
Betsy
Thanks so much for posting this Andrea! This is a great plan and so well thought out. I too, need to be thinking in this direction on how to handle it all when we get home…one day! I am so excited for you I can hardly stand it!!!! Can’t wait!!
ANDREA!!! This is so awesome! Your long-time dream is finally coming true! i’m so very happy for the Young family and will definately be praying for ya’ll. I love you friend and can’t wait to hear more about Isaac’s arrival!
Wow Andrea this is intense. You weren’t kidding. But, I am excited you and Richard have a plan and you are both on board. I would love to help by taking Laney and Parker places too, so they won’t be stuck in the house so much. I heard you were making crib bedding tomorrow! It doesn’t surprise me a bit! Oh, and FBC is going to do most of our shots. Thanks for advising me to go there! Praying for fast attachment with Isaac!
This is amazing, Andrea. I have never visited your blog, but deceided to once I saw your last Life Path email with the upcoming details of your Isaac trip. The whole story is amazing along with your photos, your creativity, your family and your faith in Christ. I just love it. It is so inspiring. I would love to spend time getting to know you guys better… you can just see all the life your family brings the world. I will be praying for you guys……
Love,
Shelly Seymour & Jeremy
Brooke (4), Kate (2), Ellie (2)
FBC
(lifepath)
[…] some times–a good social playdate is all the help you need! (But more visitors? Oh, but your cocoon plan said to limit visitors…which brings me to number […]
One of my all time favorite adoption momma mentors recommended this short read (20 pages) accompanied by 2 DVDs: “Taming the Tiger While it’s a kitten”. You can read an online review here. This pamplet and DVDs offer a 3 month program breakdown in 3 phases. It’s geared for children and adoptees who have been through trauma who are at risk for RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder). If you see me within the first 3 months of being home…I’ll likely have Isaac in a pouch and I’ll be singing, humming and talking in a high pitched momma voice—oh, wait…you WON’T see me—because we’ll be at home…”cocooning”. SO…if you want to see us—come to my blog;-). I will be sending my friends and family–as well as posting on our blog in the coming days our plan for the first few months. We truly appreciate all of our friends and family for supporting us during this transition time! And we covet all of your prayers!!! LOVE YOU ALL!
Hope you all have a great Tuesday…10 more days until we board that plane! Thank you Kitty for the time you have spent with us and for all the encouragement and words of wisdom you have given us as we begin this journey of parenting our Isaac…here are just a few of the kids in the Kelly family…how I LOVE all these precious kids!!! I can’t WAIT to meet your newest addition in just a few months!!!
I am very interested to hear how your attachment goes and what that looks like. I think it is wise of you to let family and friends know what that will look like. I worry that when we adopt it will be very hard to explain to family why we aren’t going to be passing the baby around at first.
A friend of ours had an adopted daughter with RAD. She was a preteen when they adopted her after 7 years in the foster care system. Their situation was a nightmare, and I understand why it’s so important to help your child attach.
Praying for you and will most definitely be reading daily (always) to keep up. Wishing you good health and rest before you leave very, very soon.
i always worry it will be difficult for our friends to understand that we’re not just going to be coming to hang out and taking Jai out of the house all the time when we get home. and that they can’t just come over to see him… we’re going to work very hard and trying to get them to understand that before we come home… i’m so glad you posted what you learned so far. it’ll be a great resource to me!
i think its great that your going to do that “cocooning” plan!
We are SO excited that you are leaving in only DAYS to bring Isaac home – YIPEE!!! – and that you found the attachment info helpful. Maybe we can cocoon together..guess that wouldn’t be cocooning though, would it? LOL So wonderful to be on this journey together as we bring little ones home. Give your family love from the Kelleys, and know we are praying for you!
Did ya miss me this weekend?? Well…we got crazy–packed up the family and headed out on a 4 hour trip to see some of our AGCI family AND celebrate a very special little girl’s ONE YEAR being home!!! ONE YEAR AGO…THIS MONTH…Lucy Lane came home from Ethiopia AND 1 year ago this July…I emailed Kristi to ask her questions about adopting. In August, we had our consult call with AGCI and soon after–our journey had begun! This precious little girl stirred something in our hearts, and Kristi was so supportive and helpful to our family…and we just had a sweet, quick connection. SOOOO…OF COURSE we were all about making the journey to celebrate her 1 year being home!!!
Truly, it’s been AMAZING to watch out the Lord has used this girl and her family to encourage others in their own journeys to grow their family to adoption. If you HAVEN’T yet visited her momma’s blog–you MUST. Her heartbeat is to continue advocating for babies and children who STILL need a home…and she’ll not only make you laugh as she keeps it real…but she’ll encourage you too!!!
We had so much fun…Frank got some LuLu love…WHICH…she liked for a minute–or RATHER she let him hug her to be NICE…and THEN she took off running into her daddy’s arms to recover from being squeezed!
Frank kept us all on our toes I must say…he went through several outfits (including the outfit I had packed for wearing to church the next day!)…all at the water table…IN FACT…he even CLIMBED IN the water table at one point. That’s my boy…and MAN, I am about to have my hands FULL!
Parker didn’t leave the trampoline all night and was the only one that managed to actually leave in the same outfit he arrived in. Laney can’t stand to “perspire”…so she had to change after all her see-sawin’…
And the most fun of all…was visiting my AGCI family. Sweet Richard was so kind to chase the kids most of the night…love my man:). It was just so much fun to see my AGCI mommas! LOVE THESE WOMEN! They each are sooooo dear to me and such instrumental parts of our journey. They will ALWAYS be a special part of our lives and hearts…hence why I didn’t think TWICE about the commute! (Ok girls…don’t hate me for posting this pic b/c I know we were all so HOT and sweaty…but I just have to:)
Just a little fun history on each…Kristi is Lucy Lane’s momma, Rachel just got a referral of a 14 month old Ethiopian BEAUTY, and Cris just brought her 2 boys home from ET earlier this year!
More AGCI family…
How THANKFUL I am to be able to have this AGCI family…and how I WISH more of my AGCI family lived CLOSER TO ME!!! It was such a JOY to celebrate the little girl who God used to open our eyes and hearts to growing our family through adoption. This family is so dear and special to us!!!
I have another PRECIOUS and instrumental family I just have to blog about…I have mentioned them before—The Kelley’s! This family has 12 children…and this SUMMER that number becomes 13 as she brings home her Chinese special needs beauty!!! 5 biological children + 8 adopted…AND she homeschools…grinds her own wheat for bread…and teaches her children scripture and truth…and she is unbelievable NORMAL and SOOOOO refreshing and FUN to be around. OK…I know she’d shake her head at what I just said and tell me I don’t know the half of it…but I pop in on her when I’m in town–and I just love this momma! I’m about to fall asleep now though from our busy weekend—so I’ll save that for later:).
I hope you all had a FABULOUS weekend. When I wake up in the morning…it’ll be just 11 days until our trip! YAY! I’m getting so excited…and so ready!!!
XOXO,
Andrea
these are BEAUTIFUL pics and I am so glad you were able to go to LL’s one year party! how awesome! Her journey has inspired us too!
LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing Kristi, YOU, and Cris in one photo! Melt. My favorite blogs and friends in one room. =) Sounds like a perfect celebration for Lucy!!
How fun! God also used Lucy Lane to inspire us to adopt from Ethiopia! And I also emailed Kristi with adoption questions…back in March. She was so encouraging! So glad ya’ll got to celebrate together!!
oh, too fun…you have the best pics..I love “the hug” pic…adorable…SOOO glad yall came…and we’ll see ya on the 2nd, yayyyyyyy, kj
How fun! LL is like the spokesbaby for AGCI – her sweet picture is on the packet they sent us.
Thanks for sharing! I cannot wait for a GA group to get started up!!!!
What a fun weekend! 🙂
~Gini
I am glad that you were able to celebrate with the Johnson’s! I love my AGCI family! 🙂 My husband also chases after the kids whenever we get together with other families. He knows I need that time. Have a great day!
Okay … truth be told … I am totally jealous! :o)
Wow, what a great weekend! How fun! Lucy Lane’s video got me sooo excited for our adoption process. How special to be able to go and celebrate with them and be encouraged as you are about to go and pick up Isaac in just a few short weeks! Can’t wait!
Love that you hauled your family here for our gathering. You know we are here to support you too. Blessings my dear friend. I am praying for you and your journey to your sweet baby boy.
And a HUGE thanks for snapping a family pic of us. Yes we were sweaty but we all had fun. It’s going in our next pp report.
Cris
Andrea! This adoption journey just keeps getting better and better! The Johnson Family and their Lucy Lane video are what have inpired us to pursue adoption! Did not even know that y’all are friends, I just got and email from her this morning and I chatted with you on the phone a couple of weeks ago! God is amazing how he brings people together that would have never had the chance to get to know each other! We are going to Nashville next month and Kristi and I are going to meet for lunch! I am SO excited! AND… several of the moms in the pics are Moms who I keep up with their blogs everyday, funny how all of y’all know each other and are connected. I hope and pray that our family will be at one of these reunions soon! Continue to keep our family in your prayers, alot of change around here. Our house may be sold today and we don’t know where God is going to take us but we are trusting!!! Love, Bobi Bobbitt
beautiful! Can’t wait to watch Isaac’s video!
Beautiful!! I love watching these … and I can not wait to see what your journey will be and what video/photos/message you will bring home to share.
What an honor to have our video posted on my favorite blog! Thanks so much for sharing it with your many readers! Counting down the days with you and so excited about your trip–I know your thoughts and experiences are going to be so beautifully written and photographed–can hardly wait for your Ethiopia posts! Next week, Andrea! NEXT WEEK! Whoo Hoo!
i’m crying happy tears! and andrea, in seven days, YES, just a short SEVEN DAYS, this will be you and precious little Isaac. Mommy & son forever.
WOW!!! What a beautiful video and a precious child!! I cry my eyes out every time I watch one of these…and love every minute of it! 😉 7 MORE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, love, love following your blog everyday Andrea and the anticipation of seeing YOUR “gotcha” video is killing me.
Oh I just love that video…cried and cried…makes me so excited to bring Caroline Faith home! And so excited that you only have 7 more days!