First day on the job

Today Micah started his first job (with a little help from Mom!). He let's out Lewy, the neighbor dog, while his owners are back to work. Micah carrys the poop bag and I walk Lewy. We walk Lewy around our neighborhood and after he does his deed, we take him home. Micah then throws Lewy a treat and takes the poo to the trash. He was very proud of his job and clapped when he was done. I asked him if he likes his new job and he said "Yeah". Here are some pics! Melissa

The stats are in!!

Micah had his 18 month wellness visit yesterday and the doctor was Very impressed with all the progress he has made over his 8 months home with us. He now weighs 24 pounds (40th%), height is 34.25 inches (95th%), and head size is the 97th%!! He asked if Micah is saying at least 8-10 words...try about 26 words!! That is how many Scott and I could come up with, I am sure there are more since he adds more everyday :). He is also putting words together like, "Da-da Banana" and "Cloth Please". He LOVES playing with his doll, Joe. Here are some pictures of his play time the other day...note that the one where he is holding Joe over his head looks like he is going to throw him, but he is actually trying to get him on the firetruck so they can ride together!
Have a great weekend!! Melissa

Can you help???

We are trying to raise enough money to purchase 6 mattresses for the care center before we travel in November/December. They currently have only 1 twin size mattress and 5 cribs for all the kiddos to share. Being that they average around 25 kids, you can see where this would not be enough space. It will cost about $80 per mattress and we are trying to raise enough to buy 6. We will take the $ with us when we go and will personally go and purchase the mattresses and post pictures here so you can all see how much you helped. All donations are tax deductible and our agency would send you a receipt for taxes. Please post me a comment with your email address if you are able to help and I will send you further information. If you are not able to give a monetary donation, please help us by praying we are able to meet our goal. Thank you!! Have a Great weekend!! Melissa

A few words and a few Pictures!!

Thank you to all who have commented expressing your support of our journey to bring our daughter home. You all mean so much to us and we look forward to sharing our journeys with you all. We found out the courts in Ethiopia are only going to close for 2 weeks this year instead of 6, this is Very good news as that means we can be filed for a court date sooner!!! We got our appointments for getting our finger prints done for USCIS and this will take place on September 9th!!

Micah is doing Great. He is talking SOOOOO much now. His favorite words are: cheese, truck, bye, please, basketball, thank you, welcome, dada, mama, and of course Elmo. He also knows lots of animal sounds: duck, cat, dog, cow, sheep, monkey, elephant, and snake. Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Enjoy!! Melissa

Cake walk??? Uh, NO!

Since we have started telling people of our referral for "S" we have gotten very mixed responses. It is funny how everyone was so happy and excited when we got the referral for Micah. not sure the difference, maybe because he was a baby?!?!? Many people are saying we are CRAZY for wanting to adopt a child "that old", we will have nothing but problems, and those who think that it will be great to have a "little helper". We are not choosing to adopt "S" because we think it is going to be easy to bring home an older child or because we think she is going to be a helper with Micah. We do know that we will possibly have many challenges with her and are trying to prepare for how we will handle the language barrier, the grief she may have regarding the death of her mother and the loss of her home land, the attachment issues we may have, schooling, Micah's adjustment to a big sister, the list goes on and on. Those who have adopted in the past know all to well that you can never be 100% prepared for the challenges you may have because no child goes "by the book". We have taken class after class (mostly because they were required!) about all the things that can go wrong and how to handle the situations as they arise. We were extremely blessed that Micah adapted so well and other than a few minor issues, we had what would appear to be the PERFECT match...
When we were in Ethiopia to get Micah we spent a lot of time in the baby room at the orphanage he was in. It is soooo easy to fall in love with each and every one of those little cuties, but we both said that we know that they will all have families, after all there is a waiting list up to 2 years long for the infants. The kids we were drawn to were the older children, the ones that we were all taking Cute pictures of...and then leaving there in the courtyard. I knew then already that we would bring home an older child someday. I did not know who or when or what age, but I knew that God was placing this mission in my heart and I would follow.
What we are confident about is that God has chosen this journey for us and He will get us through. We also know that now more than ever we (Myself, Scott, Micah, and "S") NEED the love and support of our family and friends....I pray that we have that!!!
Next time new pictures of Micah ( I promise!! Today I just needed to vent). Melissa

It's a Girl!!!

Today we had our home visit for our update to the home study. We talked with our social worker about the possibility of adopting a older girl from Ethiopia. We were made aware of a little girl (5-7 years of age) that was available for adoption. We had been aware of her for a week now and had prayed about her and knew she was meant to be our daughter. He agreed to approve us for her and we called BFAS right away. Agitu is now sending us our official referral letter and then we will have to wait for our home study update to get to them and for USCIS approval and then we can be filed for court!! I can not post pics until after we pass court, but she is beautiful!!! More updates soon!! Melissa

Micah's Day in Court

Today was the big day that we have all been waiting for - Micah's Re-adoption. This needs to be done so that he can become a US citizen and we also got to legally change his name. He is now Micah Muse Troedel Officially!!! The hearing went great and Micah did a good job sitting (as good as any toddler can do!). The judge did agree to correct his b-day, so it is officially February 23, 2008!!!! He was lucky enough to have his Grandmas and Grandpas , as well as Auntie Heidi and his cousins to support him and celebrate his big day. He was so excited that he fell asleep on the way home from court and slept through the party :) Here are some pics!! Melissa