We found a pool!

Today was a great day!  Earlier this week we were told there was a small hotel with a pool, Lindsay Cottages, that was 1 1/2 miles away from us, so after breakfast we stuck Jude in a backpack carrier and took off.

We arrived at Lindsay Cottages where we paid $10 for our family to swim for the day.  We felt like we were at a Caribbean resort...it was well worth it! Both Jude and Uriah really liked it, which was surprising since they both cry during baths and since it was SO COLD! Jude loved dipping his face in the water.  We have been trying to teach him to jump on the bed..he hasn't quite figured it out yet, so it was the same with 'jumping' into the pool.  He would bend his knees up and down and then step off the edge.

After swimming we continued another mile to Quality Supermarket, where there are several restaurants.  Josh, Marrisa and Uriah came with us, so we celebrated Marrisa's birthday by eating pizza and ice cream!

Instead of walking the 2.5 miles back to The Lodge, we paid $4 to ride on a Boda Boda....a moped taxi.  Since the traffic is so bad here, these are very popular and much cheaper than a van taxi.  Our family takes 2...they make Andrew get on one and Chapel, Jude, Me on the other.  Chapel thinks it's the greatest thing ever.  We are truly experiencing Uganda..it's an adventure!

Another adoptive family (Misty and Eric) arrived at 2 a.m. today.  Once we were back from our outing, we got to talk with them and Chapel got to play with their children.  They have to girls, 8 and 4, and a 5 year old son.  We hardly saw Chapel the entire night...she had so much fun playing with other kids!  They're adopting a boy from the same orphanage who is around Jude's age, so it will be interesting to see how Jude and him interact.

Jude's first church service

Today was unintentionally a long day.  It started with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. followed by a drive into town to Sojourn, a church plant in Kampala.  Shortly after we arrived where the church was meeting it began to rain.  The roof of the building is tin so it was very loud.  It continued to rain harder and became louder.  The Pastor was persistent and continued to preach, although it was very distracting and hard to hear.  By the time the service was over the rain had stopped and the sun was out, which seems typical here.

While we were at the church, Chapel had to use the potty, so we made our way through a narrow, muddy path to an outhouse type structure.  When I opened the door there was a rectangle hole in the ground.  Chapel looked at me confused then said, "Um..no."  I can't say I blame her. :)

We had a great lunch with our driver, Mr. Gilbert and his 4 year old daughter, Comfort, along with another adoptive family and their son.  After lunch we headed to a store and home.  Again, we sat in traffic, creeping down the road for nearly 2 hours.  With 9 of us in a small van there was no stretching room and when you aren't moving there is no air.  I'm thankful Jude is so content...wherever he sits, he stays and doesn't move.  Today he even fell asleep sitting straight up.

By the time we got home is was almost 6:00 p.m.  I provided a "home cooked" dinner of Ramon Noodles and toast....we had to do something quick because Fantasy Football has started and with the time change it's about dinner time.  Andrew ate his dinner outside in order to get the best wireless signal. This is him and Chapel outside our room.  (Our laundry is still drying)!

 

Just Another Ordinary Miracle Today

When I was thinking of the title for today's post, the song from a Tinkerbell movie, "Ordinary Miracle" kept  popping in my head.  Our days are very simple and ordinary here, but full of little miracles.

Here are some of the lyrics:

It's not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It's just another ordinary miracle today

The sky knows when it's time to snow
Don't need to teach a seed to grow
It's just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say

Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

When you wake up everyday
Please don't throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
'Cause we're all a part of the ordinary miracle

Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

It seems so exceptional
The things just work out after all
It's just another ordinary miracle today

Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It's just another ordinary miracle today

Yesterday and today have been the first days we haven't had to go into the city.  It's been nice, but different.  In the mornings we come down to the Lodge 'kitchen' and get a homemade breakfast from the owner.  It always comes with fresh mixed juice which is something to look forward to.

Today after breakfast, we walked to the orphanage.  We talked with the owner, then got a tour.  In my mind I had imagined more of a 'foster home' atmosphere with a handful of children.  I'm not sure why I assumed that, but this is definitely an orphanage, with 35 children in it.

All the children were sitting on the floor on a blanket and Jude walked right over and joined them. They were happy to see him, yelling, "Dan!" and "Danny!" He contently sat and played while we walked around the orphanage.  When it was time to leave he happily let Andrew pick him up and leave.  This was a relief...we were a little nervous he may want to stay or be confused and cry.

After we got back to The Lodge we ate lunch, leftovers from dinner for Andrew and I and PB&J and an apple for the kids.

Jude was much more talkative (even though we can't understand him) and happy this afternoon. He and Andrew giggled a lot this afternoon...melts your heart.

We ventured out for dinner tonight...walked a little way to a restaurant and stopped at a little store to buy laundry soap and a bucket...yes a bucket....so we could wash our clothes!

Jude is learning his mouth, eyes, nose, ears, ect... He is also learning who we are, mom, dad, and chapel.  He is starting to hold my hand when we walk.  He used to hold his arm and hand funny and not hold ours back.  He also now knows after using the potty to wash his hands.

It's fun to watch him learn and remember things we have taught him.  Simple things like how to hold a marker or drink out of a straw. (I'm sure the staff was entertained at dinner by my facial expressions, trying to show how to suck out of a straw).

So nothing to entertaining happened today, it was just another ordinary miracle kinda day.  

Long day at court

Today we left The Lodge at 8:00 a.m. and drove into town to visit Parliament and the Palace.  This was strongly encouraged to do before court at 11:00.  We enjoyed learning about different tribes in Uganda and have learned what tribe Jude is from, which is known for being a very strong, hard working people.

After our visit we headed to court. We sat in a room with his biological mom, grandfather and other witnesses from 11:00 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m.  Chapel was amazing...especially given the fact that we forgot to bring any entertainment for her (oops!). We had no ipad or games on our phones or books or any activity for her other than playing with Jude, who is currently perfectly content sitting next to us on a wooden bench.  So besides a trip to the potty, we sat... in a room... for 5 hours...without food.

Jude did fall asleep on me, so for 2 hours I did. not. move!

Once in court, the judge asked to speak to Jude's biological mother.  She had an interpreter, so hearing the interpreter and even understanding him was very difficult.  There were several times during this conversation/questioning of the mother that we got a little anxious.  At one point he asked her to hold Jude and repeatedly asked, "Do you want this boy?!" I never heard or understood her (the interpreters) answer.  After court Andrew said she responded by saying she wanted our family to take care of him. So thankful!

Next up was ME! Many of you know I prefer not to speak in public, so speaking in front of a judge was very intimidating, especially one who has the power to give or take away your child! He asked me questions for about 20 minutes!

So, the judge will not make a decision until Monday, September 15th at 4:00 p.m.  He will hopefully grant us verbal guardianship, then we will wait for a written statement of guardianship.

We believe everything will work out for what is best for Jude. Until then we will be lifting up many prayers and enjoy spending time with Chapel and Jude in Uganda. 

We are so thankful for all of your prayers! Please continue to pray for the process as well as for us and Jude.  He is very content...almost like he is scared to do anything.  I can't imagine what he is thinking, so as you pray, remember him too!

On another note...we really enjoy the place we are staying, BUT, have you ever seen a cockroach this ginormous?!  Let's just say when one of these decided to make its presence known on the headboard of Chapel and Jude's bed...when they were in it...bedtime was not happening! Keep in mind they were trapped in the bed by a mosquito net!

It's 4 a.m...and we are wide awake!

We are here!!!

It's 4:08 a.m. and Andrew and I are laying in bed, under a mosquito net, with no air, in Uganda, with Jude sound asleep beside us!

It's crazy we are actually here! 

On Monday we left out of Lexington on a 7:00 a.m. flight to Philadelphia then a 12 hour plane ride (which Chapel thought was the GREATEST...access to Disney movies and they brought food to us in our seat!) to Qatar followed by a 5 hour plane ride to Entebbe.  We then were picked up by someone from Lifeline, Ms. Linda, who took us to buy water and bread and helped us exchange money.  It was about an hour drive from the airport until we arrived at The Lodge...our home for the time we are here.  I want to say it was about 3:00 p.m. but couldn't be for sure.

At 5:00 we were told we could walk to the children's home to meet Daniel!  We are here with another adoptive family from Lifeline, so they showed us the way.  We arrived to find that Daniel was asleep and the director was not there.  :(  Disappointed we walked back to The Lodge to load our phone with minutes so we could call the director to find out when she would be back. 

We were told they would bring him to us, so at about 7:00 the director of the home pulled in with Daniel...in the front seat, in her lap. He had his little arm resting on the door with the window down.

Andrew got him from the car and Daniel held around his neck so tight! We took him over the grassy area here at The Lodge where he sat in Chapel's lap. He didn't cry...but he looked scared.  Shortly after we headed to our room where we played with a ball and cars.

Dinner was 30-45 minutes after we had Jude...he sat in my lap and ate off my plate.  It was kind of a "what do we now?" moment. We don't know what he's been eating, or if he feeds himself, if he drinks out of a cup or bottle or sippy. He ate great and never made a peep.

While Andrew and I finished eating, Chapel and Daniel played.  She tickled his belly and it was the first time we saw him smile and heard him laugh.

Tomorrow we are supposed to meet with Daniel's mom and grandfather.  They are coming in to be present at court on Thursday.  Please continue to pray for a smooth process!

I hope to post pictures of where we are staying...as soon as I find the cord to connect my camera to the computer!

Can this really be happening?!

Today our agency called us and left a message saying she had some great news.  Since the government is still shut down, I didn't expect it to be anything that great, but I was wrong!

We have a court date!!!

We will be traveling the beginning of September to meet our son, JUDE!  This means we have a lot to plan and less than a month to do it.  We are very excited, but overwhelmed at the same time!

Andrew, Chapel and I will be in Uganda for several weeks, then one of us will stay for the remainder of the time. Past families have been there a total of 12 weeks.  We would greatly appreciate prayers that we would find favor with everyone we come in contact with who will be handling our adoption, especially judges and government officials.  We are praying that it will all be finalized much quicker than 12 weeks and that our family of 5 will all be together for Thanksgiving...if not MUCH earlier!

The Waiting Game

Our dossier has arrived in Uganda!  After they review all our information we will be given a court date! Unfortunately, the government shuts down now until the middle of August, but we are praying and hoping that when they resume work in August we won't have to wait to long for a travel date!

When our agency traveled to Uganda last month, they took some pictures of our precious little guy!  He looks healthy and well taken care of.  I wish I could show him off....

Please pray the process to get us a court date goes quickly!