One Year ago...

...We fell in love with you, Micah Bedilu, our son. (Of course we loved you even before this, but at 4:30 on December 17th 2008, we saw your face and were overwhelmed with love for you!)




I didn't think it possible to feel an instant connection, really.. I didn't. But we knew. You were ours.

I wrote about you that evening: This is what I said one year ago. How TRUE these words would be!

We received our referral call at 3:11 PM today (12/17/08). He is such a handsome little man! He is so petite and so beautiful! His eyes are so big - he has such a strong determined look on his face as if to say "I have a purpose - I'm a fighter!" Yes you are Micah - you're our little fighter!

I had no idea what was to come, but you proved to fight so hard for life in the months to come! You DO have a purpose Micah. Your name means "Who is like our God!" He was holding you then and is holding you now.

You were truly tiny stated to be 3 months (we think 2 months now) and 7.9 pounds, 20.9 inches. A petite, yet strong little man.

We received more pictures the soon after from traveling families who saw you over Christmas! Thank you Caldwells and Savages!





Tonight as you struggled to enter dreamland, we made a Richardson sandwich in the big bed. Roscoe on one side, me on the other and held both of your hands. WE told you we loved you even one year ago when you were an ocean away! As if you could understand, you smiled real big :)

HAPPY REFERRAL-VERSARY MICAH BEDILU!

Micah's cribmate in his first orphanage near his village also celebrates a referral-versary today. Happy referral-versary Isaac, Ben and Janet Whipple.Isaac, Ben and Janet Whipple We would get to have the pleasure of traveling with this amazing couple in March. We are connected forever! Love you guys!

Prayer for the Reeds

Hi everyone,

An AWAA family who just arrived home from ET with their baby girl are in need of prayer. They are in the hospital with her as she has a possible heart condition. I don't know this family personally - only via an online chat group, but believe me that they have had more than their fair share of bumps in the adoption journey. Our situations are very different but we do know the pain of spending the first week home with your child in the hospital. It is less than ideal. They could use many prayers for their little girl and for them as I know they are getting over jet lag and this week while dealing with all the unknowns. They are also trying to begin bonding with their baby girl amidst the hospital stay. You can follow them at their blog.

Please Pray Tonight!

Our friends, The Shaws, have a court date tonight in Ethiopia! Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead and so the judge will hear their case as we sleep tonight. I cannot tell you how nervous a mommy can be in the days approaching court! Helplessness consumes the wait as our child is over an ocean in someone else's care. As a mom, all we want to do is go there and scoop our kids up in a protective embrace. Please pray for the Shaws and for all the necessary details to fall in place for an Ethiopian court date:

electricity to be working and on
judge to show up
MOWA to get the letter of approval to the courts
all the necessary people to be there who need to speak before the judge
favorable decision by the judge

Check back tomorrow at The Shaw's blog

Random pics of our "Mr Social"

Micah at Wes and Anne's (Roscoe's dad and new step Mom) wedding trying to do the YMCA with everyone!

Hunger - such an abstract thought to us

Face it - we don't know hunger. We use the word flippantly as we Americans only know to use it. But true hunger - the hunger that leads to malnutrition and stunted growth - it's just abstract to us really. We can't understand it..some choose to ignore it for the mere fact that we don't know what to do with information like the info in the article below. In reality, injustice will always persist in this world. I'm a pessimist I know - but really - it's always been so pervasive. So what to do with something that has always been there and will always be to a degree?

The following is taken from an article I found online entitled "UN says hunger stunts some 200 million children":

"It is unrealistic to believe malnutrition can be addressed by any topdown U.N. scheme," said Philip Stevens, of International Policy Network, a London-based think tank. "The progress UNICEF's report points to in improving nutrition is almost certainly a result of economic growth, not U.N. strategies."

The Rome-based FAO announced earlier this year that hunger now affects a record 1.02 billion globally, or one in six people, with the financial meltdown, high food prices, drought and war blamed.

The agency hopes its World Summit on Food Security, with Pope Benedict XVI and some 60 heads of state so far expected to attend, will endorse a new strategy to combat hunger, focusing on increased investment in agricultural development for poor countries.

I like the thoughts in this article though. It has me thinking about the recent boom in Microloans and microfinancing for third world countries. It also has me thinking about our country and where our govt is headed (bigger and more controlling). The article below suggests that no govt or agency can save the little men or minority in need - they must be given the tools to save themselves - personal responsibility - I guess that's why I'm so opposed to big govt and socialized programs. Microloans work! They really do! Perhaps it might help with such a large problem as hunger. "Empowering people to become self-sufficient with dignity" - a qoute from Microloan Foundation. Read this success story.

I know I'm thinking a lot about the children in Africa - the ones who are 6 years old and look as if they are 3. Thinking about all I know about nutrition and how vital nutrients are to growth. Thinking of how quickly Micah caught up with good nutrition here at home. One year ago, this Friday, November 13th, Micah was found. Why was he left to be found? I think a lot about this and his birth family in Africa... about hunger, AIDS, trafficking, the injustices we can so easily ignore in suburbia. Then I think about how small I am in comparison to such a huge problem. But Muhammad Yunusprobably felt the same way.

143,000,000 orphans

YODA!

Micah enjoyed his first Halloween handing out candy. He loves to be social so this event was so exciting for him! I was surprised at how many kids knew who Yoda was! We got a lot of comments of how Micah even walked like Yoda. Way to get into character buddy :)

Happy Birthday Micah

Our Gotcha Day Video.... finally only 7 months later :)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My thoughts on my state of mind/soul one year ago - waiting for Micah

Wow! hindsight sure does make you laugh..and cry sometimes! October of 2008 was a very rough time for me emotionally as we waited for Micah. I look back and feel very strongly that he was born this month and that my inner struggle (which prompted much of the pleading and 'crying out' type prayers) were ordained by God - I was to pray for my son as he entered the world and the rough months ahead for him. I also needed to yearn to hold/comfort, as only a mother can, her son. No child should have to face rejection/abandonment at any time after birth (whether immediately after or at a later time). It is such an injustice! A world of injustice really is what we live in - broken and fallen. We all are born into the tragedy of what we coin "sinful nature". Some beginnings are more blatantly tragic... like Micah's. He was left under a tree at about 1 month old. Why would his birthmother, birthfather, relative, have to do this? Such a horrible injustice! But his story is not without hope, or joy. He was found early in the morning (I assume he wasn't left long - and assume he was left early in the morning with hopes of someone finding him). He was taken to an orphanage and eventually to our agency's orphanage. He was tiny but well nourished at that point. This makes me think he was loved and cared for his first month. He was our son - and eventually would be home in his forever family. I cried so often this month - sometimes cried myself to sleep - sometime a primal sort of cry. I was often on the edge of tears and usually just bit my tongue for fear of breaking down in front of a stranger or friend who just wouldn't understand. If you've never adopted and had to wait for your child, you just won't get it - why we who are on this adoption journey, get so emotional over waiting, or referrals. All the adoptive mothers and father (but especially mammas) 'get it' and some reading this may be so agonizingly close to that referral and are experiencing many sleepless nights and frantic reactions to every ring of the phone. Back then, I found NO solace in comments like "one year from now, all your sorrows will be behind you and your son will be home." If you are ever talking to an adoptive mom and are not one yourself - PLEASE don't say this. It gives no solace. (although for some reason, it seemed ok at times on the YG) Back in October, I wanted a shoulder to cry on - someone to grieve with me for my son and pray with me for his safety. An adoptive mother understands the agony of knowing your child is an ocean away and possibly scared, sick, cold, etc and you cannot be there to hold and protect him/her. It just makes you cry and grieve as a mother - and sometimes there are no words of comfort. I did a lot of crying one year ago - a lot of praying - some journaling but a lot of praying/pleading with God on behalf of my son, our Micah.

Here is my post last year on October 19, 2008 - doesn't capture my emotions but captures my assessment of our time. Which was a bit off!

so that is where we are - waiting still - maybe even until the end of November now - we will likely travel 8 weeks after receiving a referral. I know I mentioned in the last post that I thought our son would be at an orphanage or our agency's transitional home - now I really am unsure - not really sure of anything to be honest! So we wait and pray that he is safe and protected!

I laugh that I thought we'd have our referral by the end of Nov - HA! More like Dec. 17th :) and we traveled 14 weeks after that, NOT 8! :) again another chuckle. Other adoptive parents also know (and if you don't, heed my advice) - you simply CANNOT plan an adoption or the timeline - even if your agency gives you timelines and contines to give you updated timelines. We prayed often for God's timing (I know - it's so cliche and I even cringed when I prayed it out loud with Roscoe because I hate cliche prayers - but we truly wanted it!) There were so many variables that had to fall in place with Roscoes' business. And now we know we couldn't have been a day later - Micah's health was so fragile.

So what's my point with my post. I don't know. I'm pensive today - thinking back on our journey to bring Micah home and his journey to come home to his forever family. Looking back at last year and the waiting of adoption. Soothing my son to sleep (who just woke up as I was typing because his pacifier fell out and his blanket was snagged in his legs). I really don't think knowing or seeing any of this back then, would have made my wait any easier. I needed to go through October of 2008. It wasn't the hardest things I've ever had to go through - not nearly - but it was new and evoked many new emotions I had never felt. The mother in me was taking form.

Walking...or should we say Toddling!

Here is just a glimps of our newest developmental milestone! We're starting the toddle :)

One Year Check Up and First Birthday

So Micah had his one year check up on Wed. He is doing so well! Below are his stats :) I just love stats! The doctor typically doesn't print out the growth charts but when she came in she said "I just have to show you his amazing progress - look at that steep incline!" Micah doesn't quite have a curve - it's more two big steep lines :) He went from under 0% in everything, especially weight, to 50% weight, 40% height, and a little over 50% for his head circumference! We definitely can feel that he is a chunk! He is 22.7 pounds now and 29 inches tall - his head is somewhere around 18 inches or so.

So he had his one year check up - so you're wondering why on earth I haven't posted about his birthday? Well, here is that story. We first did not feel as if we wanted to post many details on his story. It is his story. But it's not shameful, it's not bad - it's God's sovereign plan in the midst of a fallen and broken world. That's how we see it. So while you may not learn the nitty gritty details, we will share enough of an overview for our adoption to make sense and to shed some light on some occurances of how children come to be adopted into forever families. Micah was found on November 13th under a special tree - a eucalyptus tree! That tree can withstand drought and the worst of all circumstances. I don't think it's a coincidence that God chose to place him there to be found by his angel. Micah has such a strong and determined spirit - much like that eucalyptus tree. He could withstand much sickness when we brought him home and fought a tough battle back to health. Back in an earlier post just after our referral, I noted that Micah's eyes showed us he is a fighter! How true that gaze in his pictures turned out to be! While we know nothing about Micah's first few months, we prayed for joy and peace to be filled in him. He emanates joy and peace today!

So this brings me to his birthday. When he was found on November 13th, his age was estimated at 2 months. When we received his referral on December 17th, 2008, he was estimated at 3 months old. We consulted a doctor at the International Adoption clinic at Nationwide children's hospital and it was first mentioned to us that he appeared to be only 2 months at referral and not 3. At time of referral, he was 7.9 pounds and 20.9 inches long. He looked well nourished. When we passed court on March 13, 2009, the ET govt issued a birthday of 9/14/08. There is no significance with that date. It is just an estimate. After having Micah home and watching him grow, we agree more and more with our doctor. We feel his estimated birthdate was not accurate. It is not a big deal - not even that big that we had thought we would not change it. But as we thought more about it and realized there is no significance with that date, we felt more compelled to change it. After all, we have to re-adopt him and change his name anyways. For me, I will always believe he was born in October. We love the month of October and love the odd number days that Micah's God ordained milestones in early life occurred on (found by a special angel sent from God on 11/13, referred to two overjoyed and grateful forever parents on 12/17, deemed our legal son in the eyes of ET court on 3/13). Therefore, we have chosen October 21st as Micah's birthday. This date feels appropriate for his story as it has significance to us and to Micah. You'll have to stop back in October to see the 1st birthday bash photos :)

Bucknut!

This post is dedicated to family we miss in Africa! We love you Joel, Elizabeth and Isaiah! Buckey season is just not the same this year. We'll see you in Africa for adoption #2 :) (little do you know that we're planning a family vacation around our next adoption - yeah!)

Our friends met their son today!!

Hi all! Our good friends, the Lows, are in Ethiopia and just met their son today!! He is so precious and they posted Gotcha day photos on their blog :) Check out the precious pics here.

Loving the water

Micah is quite a little fish. He absolutely loves water! He even crawled for the first time all the way to the water at Zoombezi bay this past Thursday because scooting on his belly on concrete was a little too rough - I knew he could do it! He just needed that impetus. Now he's crawling on all fours everywhere...finally! He pulls himself up to things and is also now falling a lot more because of his new found movement.

Micah is about 11 months old now. We will celebrate his birthday next month sometime. His birthday is 9/14/08 - toddlerhood, here we come!!

Zoombezi Bay at Cols zoo



Grandma and Grandpa's pool



Micah is quite a little fish. He absolutely loves water! He even crawled for the first time all the way to the water at Zoombezi bay this past Thursday because scooting on his belly on concrete was a little too rough - I knew he could do it! He just needed that impetus. Now he's crawling on all fours everywhere...finally! He pulls himself up to things and is also now falling a lot more because of his new found movement.

Micah is about 11 months old now. We will celebrate his birthday next month sometime. His birthday is 9/14/08 - toddlerhood, here we come!!

fun in the sun

So this was just so funny! Micah has learned this week how to pull himself up to his knees and then onto his feet - he is still wobbly on his feet while holding on to something (Roscoe is right there to prevent a spill on the kitchen tile - too close to bedtime for that kind of drama!) He is also rocking back and forth on all fours but still just can't quite get the crawling this down. He's working on it though - soon!! Now he just scoots all over on his belly - pulling himself with his arms :)

Sleaping Booty :)

I just can't get over the title of this post :) HAHAHA. Calling all cloth mamas and papas - you'll get a kick out of this photo as you can completely relate!!




As you can see, we can't snap all the snaps on his sleeper!

Lately, Micah has been sleeping longer stretches at night - 6 to 8 hours at a time, rather than 4-5 hour stretches. We are now able to give him 8 ounces formula before bed AND he's eating better as far as solids go at dinner time. So more solids + more formula = sleeping baby and happy parents!

Our dilemma however is that Micah has peed through his sleeper for the past two nights in a row. We have been using disposables at night recently as I catch up with laundering Micah's new Medium swaddlebee diapers (yes we switched from Bum Genius One size so we could get a trimmer fit). Anyway, I don't know how any of you mothers out there who use disposables do it - it's probably more that I just don't know what diaper to use since I'm out of the disposable diaper loop :) But we can only go 3-4 hours in our disposables before we start leaking. I haven't seen any nightime disposable diapers for a size 2.

So our solution to this dilemma (holding in the pee) is to double stuff the few Pocket One-size diapers we did keep just for nighttime. That means two soaker inserts in one diaper - major BOOTY!!! One insert gives quite the bum shelf. I just could not get over these photos. Oh and you can see why we switched from the one-sized to the sized all-in-ones (swaddlebees and Sposoeasy are our favorites currently - SOOO trim - his jeans actually fit!!)

This is a test run for uploading video to the blog.

9 month check up

We went for our nine month check up today. Here are the stats..... Drumroll please..... (I know all you adoptive mommy blog stalkers out there love reading up on other ET cutie stats - you know who you are!)

Weight: 18 lbs 14 oz (that's 2 oz shy of 19 lb!!!!!!)
(up from 13.1 pounds on April 22, 2009 - two months ago)
Weight Percentile: 25th!!!! (we were way below the charts in April)

Height: 27.5 inches
(up from 25 inches on April 22, 2009)
Height Percentile: 25th!!!! (just off the charts in April - very close to "0th" though in April!)

Head Circumference: 17 3/4 inches
(up from 16 1/4 inches on April 22, 2009)
Head Circumference Percentile: 50th!!!!!! WAHOOOOOO!!!!! Go DHA and ARA :)

New things our baby boy is doing:

Clapping is the newest :) Just started this on Tuesday - Grammy Linda claps with him every morning - to suzuki rythms like "pepp-er-on-ni-piz-za"

Army crawling - not yet fully crawling but moving quite fast on our belly.

Laughing - this is becoming more pronounced - haven't quite heard the "belly laugh" yet but I think it's close!

Sippy cup - we're trying to get this down so we can stay hydrated with all the new solids in our diet

Foods - new ones include green beans, plain yogurt, prunes (a little early but he needed them!!), peaches - bananas and yogurt remain the favorites

Thunder thighs

I would say one of my favorite things about babies is thunder thighs and the little rolls on their wrists and ankles. Here are Micah's thunder thighs! He continues to grow (just not so much up anymore!)

Day at the Park

So we spent the day at the park today - lots of fun! Micah is becoming more and more active so we're doing a bit more wiht him outside - he loves the outdoors! He continues to progress in army crawling - but still can't quite figure out how to get from a sitting position to the army crawl position - just sort of face plants when he gets close enough to the ground. The cats are learning that Micah is now dangerous. Early this morning, Colby came up to Micah and rubbed up against him (Colby is really lovable in the morning after being fed) and to his dismay, Micah grabbed a tuft of hair! Colby jumped and was looking to se who did it - (apparantly Micah couldn't have done it in Colby's eyes) - but then, Micah got all excited, and started panting and army crawling toward Colby, who just stood his ground. (I'm sitting on the couch yelling at Roscoe to intervene, as he was sitting right there - but he didn't - said "let them learn to stay away from each other"). Micah grabbed Colby's tail. At this point colby is annoyed and goes after Micah - and now Roscoe intervenes. Oh my - we are going to have to do some "gentle with pets" teaching as soon as Micah can comprehend!

So anyway, Micah is into everything - cords, fireplace accessories, mail, anything but his toys :) fortunately his army crawl is slow enough to ease us into this next stage of life!

Onto pics of the park!

Almost Crawling!! and saying Mama!

Oh my goodness! Our little man is scooting forward across the room - a new thing TODAY! His bigger cousin, Isaiah is visiting and can crawl. I think Micah is jealous :) He scoots with his little butt in the air and face planted in the carpet - then her just propels forward by pumping his legs in and out - so cute!! I wish I knew how to upload video - I'll try to get photos.

And yes, tonight he said "mamamama" - he fits it in to his vowels - i LOVE IT! He obviously doesn't associate it with me, but hey, who cares?

Slacker of a blogger

Okay so if I write about all the excuses why I didn't write, I'll just waste time. So let me catch you up!

Micah is sitting up unassisted!! yes that's right - he has been doing this for about two weeks. I still stay near and don't go too far since he somtimes will fall back and hit his head. He hasn't yet figured out how to go from sitting ot laying down yet, so when he gets too far to the floor he just continues to fall - the momentum carries him to either face plant or fall back on his head. It's so sad but still cute :) Everything he does is cute!

We are working with an early intervention specialist through the HELP ME GROW program in Delaware. Our specialist (she) comes once a month to play with Micah and evaluate his progress in gross motor and fine motor skills. She also helps to identify any areas where he may need more services (PT, OT, etc). So far we have just been monitoring his progress. He has developed from 3 months gross motor upon coming home to 6 month and some 7month gross motor skills - in 1.5 months time!! His fine motor skills were 4 months upon coming home and now they are also 6-7 months. She has helped us to work with him to promote crawling - apparantly this is very important for him to get as we don't want him to walk too soon and skip crawling - who knew!?

He babbles more and more and louder and louder! Still only vowel sounds, but I'm trying to encourage the "mama" out of him - although I hear "dada" is easier - ha! He is close to the "nana" but not the "mama" - he usually stops dead in his tracks and just stares at us when we talk consonants to him - it's funny! Soon though!

He is eating more and so much better. I'd say we hit a breakthrough around mid-month. We were struggling as he just didn't seem interested - and actually didn't quite know what to do with the food and spoon when fed. Now he actually gets excited around food and eating 2-4 oz of veggies or fruit with 1-2 oz of grains at a time. I make him his food at home. He started with sweet potatoes, bananas, and apples. Then we tried pears and squash. All went well. He has recently had peas and carrots and the latest new food - yogurt! mmm. Next up is avacodo, peaches, and green beans. For formula, he typically eats 36-42 oz/day (depending on how much solid food he had) - but we're trying to reduce it to 32 oz with more solids. We're getting there!

He sleeps well for the most part. He wakes up every 4 hours now at night and naps 2-3 times a day - usually 2 - 1-2 hour naps. So we're not complaining here :)

The boy has to be 16 pounds by now - he is sooo heavy! I am guessing 16 pounds but I don't know for sure. He is now in 6-9 month sleepers and onesies but 3-6 pants - his little legs are short - so cute! Maybe he'll be a swimmer like Michael Phelps with a long torso :)

OH and we recently had a first haircut! His hair was just out of control!
BEFORE

AFTER

Urgent Need for Formula in Ethiopia

More and more babies are coming into our adoption agency's transitional home (where our Micah stayed for 5 months while we waited to pick him up) severely malnourished, fighting for survival. At least 4 infants are there now that are on feeding tubes. We saw a baby girl that was literally skin and bones while we were there. We learned she is gaining weight now on Nutramigen and thriving! She is 3-4 months old and 6.5 pounds (this after gaining 2.5 pounds since March). She will hopefully soon be home to her forever family! Many more babies like her are coming to the transitional home that our agency operates for children who are waiting for their mommies and daddies to come take them home. Keeping them healthy and even getting them healthy enough to be referred (matched to a family) is becoming more difficult with the resources (or lack of) in Ethiopia regarding formula and nutrition.

Our Micah arrived at 3 months old, 7.9 pounds. Compared to other babies, he was "healthy" and much more plump. He didn't even make the growth charts in America but was leaps and bounds ahead of other babies in his nursery. Here is a "healthy" update Picture of him from February, weighing 10.0 pounds at 5 months old. In America you would never see a baby's ribs.


Tom Davis, author and advocate for orphans - of Children's HopeChest, is spearheading a formula drive for the babies specifically that are brought to AWAA's transition home. Specifically, he is working to get pre-digested hypoallergenic formula to Africa where nothing like it can be purchased. $30 can by and ship one can of Nutramagen (Alimentum is the Similac equivalent of this Enfamil formula). Read our AWAA family coordinator's perspective here. Micah had to take this formula for the first two weeks upon arriving home, due to damage to his GI tract from his prolonged diarrhea. Almost all the infants battle bacteria, parasites, and thus diarrhea. It is a formula that can give their GI tracts a rest so they may put more energy to fighting the foreign invaders (bacteria, parasites, etc). I speak so passionately because I saw my baby boy almost die from a simple bacteria that invaded his GI tract. Granted, he needed more than formula. He needed IV fluids and IV antibiotics, but the formula helped him absorb nutrients to gain weight and strength to fight off the bacteria in his body. If you or anyone you know want to help out orphans in Africa, or are just interested in this effort or want to pass on the info to others you know, please visit here to read a story about another baby boy named Micah Martin, whom we met in Ethiopia with his forever parents. They were on their way home to America, and we were just arriving, to pick up our Micah Richardson

Here is our Micah now, after gaining 2 pounds in the first three weeks of being home. (notice the lack of visible ribs! I praise God that we have access and the resources for superior nutrition for Micah)

Coffee for a Cause

I saw this on Facebook posted by International Justice Mission. If you are unfamiliar with this amazing organziation, click on the link to the right of my blog to learn more. Briefly, it is an organization whose goal is to fight injustices in the world, namely human trafficking (of ALL kinds). It is REAL and it is GROWING. If this is the first time you have heard about human trafficking, please visit the website and learn more. The founder also wrote a book entitled, "Good News about injustice" which I HIGHLY recommend, especially to those AWAA families who will come home from ET and never forget what you saw and wonder how you are to respond.

Anyway, here is something cool - a note from IJM:

Friends -- We are very excited to share wonderful news here at the beginning of May. All month, drinking great coffee can literally change lives.

During the month of May, Storyville Coffee is dedicating 100% of its revenue to IJM — up to $1,000,000 — to stop slavery, human trafficking, and other forms of violent oppression.

Simply:
1. go to www.storyville.com
2. purchase fine coffee
3. receive fresh roasted coffee beans in the mail
4. brew and enjoy.

Or, consider a gift of gourmet coffee for Mother's Day or to celebrate springtime graduations.

Spread the word with friends and family and enjoy coffee for a good cause all month!

With gratitude,
International Justice Mission

Adoption Language

Sitting in the doc's office the other day, I received questions/comments from others waiting. This is common. Many say "oh how cute! how old is he?" - i really don't like the age questions as Micah is 7 1/2 months old but is quite small. I'll admit I tell strangers is 5-6 months and they still gasp! Sometimes I qualify the statement and say "he was adopted from Ethiopia - we just brought him home". I think now I might just let the strangers believe that I don't feed him enough :) It's easier. Consider this conversation even that I had:

Stranger: How old is he? He's soo cute!?

Me: About 6 months.

Stranger: Wow! He's small.

Me: thinking (golly I hadn't noticed) - "yeah, we adopted him from Ethiopia"

Stranger: "OH, so he's not really yours"

Me: Yes he's ours, we adopted him. He's my son.

I don't think this stranger meant anything rude by her comments - I really don't think she knew what she was saying. She was not educated on adoption language. In other words, she is ignorant of the sensitivity in words needed around adoptive parents, but MOST importantly, their children. I hope Micah never hears a stranger say these words when he is older and can understand what others are saying. How horrible for a child to hear someone say to his mother "oh so he's not really yours"

Micah, you are MY son, you are MINE! You are my "own", "real" and "natural" child. I am your "real" and "natural" parent. I chose you and I would choose you again and again. You will always be my son and will always be a Richardson in our forever family!

So for all you bloggies who read this blog, below is adoption language 101. I encourage you, if you are friends/family of ours, and will be a part of Micah's life, to do a google search of "positive adoption language" if you are unfamiliar with adoption language or catch yourself saying "I might adopt after I have my own children"

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.

Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.

Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.

Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.Rita Laws, PhD

Doc update and other things

I started a post a few days ago but got interrupted by a little man, oh about 13 pounds, 25 inches tall. Yes, he went to the doctor on Wednesday of last week and weighed 13.1 pounds! He's growing for sure - he's definitely eating enough too! On Friday he got his annoying PICC line out. Micah wasn't happy with the procedure to take it out (he proceeded to scream off and on all night long - making sure I knew how he felt about what had happened) but later at bathtime, things were more fun - all arms allowed this time :)

In other news, we started the cloth diapers yesterday and had a hoot with them! He looks so cute! Now I think all the way to wide 3-6 month Old Navy pants/jeans might not just fall right off him :)


And now, more pictures of random cuteness

It takes a village!

Micah is doing very well these days! He has 4 more days of antibiotics left and we are counting them down! Bath time will be much more fun without a saran-wrapped arm held up in the air by Daddy. For now he splashes with three limbs :)

As for giving antibiotics every night, it takes three people for a successful administration and happy baby. I give the medicine which consists of four syringes of fluids (1 salines, antiobiotics, another saline, and heparin). Daddy (Roscoe) holds his cute little arms down ever so gently (the boy hates to be restrained). Grandma Linda provides the most important part - and that is keeping Micah entertained and happy for the roughly 5 minutes it takes to complete the task. So far, only one meltdown and that was last night - the poor guy was just too tired to be held down and since he likes to sleep on his side, he kept wanting to roll over. Daddy wouldn't let him and boy did that make him angry! But overall, he does very well with the whole thing! We're grateful he's still a biddy. I can't imagine trying to do this with a toddler. Whew!

More pics - Maybe I'll write something soon :)

Micah and Daddy doing taxes!


swinging..weeee


sleepy time

Pictures!

We don't know what to do with rice yet :)


Now we're all smiles!